HSBC versus DBS

This comparison depicts the underlying principle of delivering on promise. But before that comes around, I want to contrast the services of these two banks, with regards to their credit operations.

This September I applied for DBS Women’s Card, and waited a long two months plus for the card’s arrival. The process was tedious – I had to get an application form at its bank branch, attach copies of my CPF statement as well as my IC, and send it through snail mail. The acknowledgment letter did not come within two weeks; I had to call to enquire about the application status. Lousy.

Last week I applied for HSBC’s Gold Card through online application. Off-hand information was required, but this ain’t information that proves hard to remember. After navigating through four pages of the application form and less than five minutes’ time, I clicked the Submit button and printed out the confirmation page with ease. Together with this copy, I attach a copy of IC and sent it via snail mail to HSBC. I didn’t even have to print out my CDF statement; I simply provided HSBC the permission to access my CPF online statement for a grace period of five working days. Smooth-sailing.

Yesterday, I opened my letterbox to find the cards themselves delivered, right to my doorstep. All and all in within a calendar week. Amazing, isn’t it? While for DBS, I had to wait more than two months to get the card, while in the midst of waiting, I had to call relentlessly like I was chasing for some debt owed to me. So what if they are the biggest bank locally? I’m going to terminate that card and give the business to some other banks.

There were other occasions when I couldn’t get DBS customer officers, and had to wait super long for a simple task performed (yet still in the end, that wasn’t done!). A simple request to link my credit card to my savings account for withdrawal proved so difficult for them. No relevant application forms online, staff couldn’t perform the task, delays and drags in the middle and staff ignorance (stupidity?) like sending a form which required another form (which they didn’t provide me) – all these point to the overall inefficiency of DBS.

Well, if they have a blog unit that sieves out customer feedback via blogs, they had better act on customers’ complaints like mine. And meanwhile, kudos to HSBC!