If you choose Pay by Bank Account at a merchant’s online checkout, you’ll be asked to select the bank where you hold your account(s). We’ll then show you a ‘Payment Request' screen with the following information about your transaction that you must review and confirm is correct:
- the payment amount;
- the beneficiary’s name (usually the name of the merchant you are purchasing from), sort code and account number;
- the name of your bank; and
- a unique reference so you can track your payment on your account statement.
You’ll then be redirected to your bank’s online portal or mobile banking app for authentication before your payment order can be initiated by us.
Authentication and choosing your account
Once you’re redirected to your bank’s online banking portal or mobile banking app, you’ll need to authenticate yourself as required by your bank. If you have more than one account, your bank may ask you to confirm which account you want to make the payment from.
Initiation and confirmation of the payment order
We’ll then initiate the payment by submitting the payment order to your bank for execution or inform you if we’re unable to process and initiate your payment order for any reason.
We’ll confirm the details of your payment order on screen once it’s been successfully initiated, or let you know if the initiation of your payment has been unsuccessful or is taking longer than usual to process, before you are redirected back to the merchant's website or app.
Remember that once you've used our payment initiation service to make a purchase we cannot cancel or stop that payment transaction.
4. Refusing payment orders
There may be instances where we will not process and submit your payment order to your bank for execution, for example, if we reasonably believe:
- there’s a breach of security or misuse of your payment device;
- there’s been fraudulent or criminal activity of any kind and it’s reasonable for us not to send the payment order. It doesn’t matter whether the fraudulent or criminal activity is linked to your account with your account provider or your purchase.
- sending the payment order would cause us to break the law. Or to do so would go against a regulation or code we follow, a court order or other duty, a requirement or obligation; or
- doing so would expose us to action or censure from any government, regulator or law enforcement agency.
5. Refunds
We’re not responsible for processing refunds and we cannot request a refund from a merchant on your behalf. You must contact the merchant to discuss how to get a refund for any purchase you made using the HSBC Open Payments service.
6. Who to contact if you need help
HSBC UK
You should contact us if you have a question about HSBC Open Payments, if you need information on the transaction or if there's a technical problem with the HSBC Open Payments service, for example if you’re not redirected from the merchant's website to your bank’s online banking portal or mobile application. You can contact us using the details in the 'Contacting us' section above.
Your bank or building society
You’ll need to contact your bank if:
- you suspect that someone has made an incorrect or unauthorised payment from your account using the HSBC Open Payments service;
- the merchant’s details you've confirmed are incorrect, or you want to dispute or query the payment for any other reason;
- you're not able to complete your authentication, or you're not able to login to your online banking or mobile application; or
- you've logged in to your online banking or mobile application and your bank rejects the payment for any other reason, for example because there are insufficient funds on your account.
The merchant you purchased from
You should contact the merchant if you have a complaint or query about the goods or services you purchased, or if you want a refund for something you paid for using HSBC Open Payments. We can’t help with refunds for faulty items or for issues with delivery of your purchase.
We're not responsible for any complaints or disputes about purchases you make using the HSBC Open Payments. You should settle these with the merchant that you purchased the goods or services from. We're also not responsible for the quality, safety, legality or any other aspect of any goods or services purchased using HSBC Open Payments.
7. Availability
HSBC Open Payments will be available 24/7, unless we're making changes to our systems or if we can't provide the services for technical, security, legal or regulatory reasons or due to unusual events or circumstances beyond our reasonable control (for example, if a service provider stops providing services to us for any reason or your bank’s online banking system is down). We will not be liable for any losses you may suffer if HSBC Open Payments is not available.
HSBC Open Payments, or some features of it, may not be available or may vary depending on your computer, mobile device or operating system, or the terms of your relationship with your account provider.
8. What's our liability to you?
We provide HSBC Open Payments "as is" and it's your responsibility to use them in an appropriate way. We'll take reasonable care to make sure they work as described, but you shouldn't solely rely on them and we won't be responsible if they don't work as you expect. Our responsibility is to provide the HSBC Open Payments Service in accordance with these terms.
It's your responsibility to ensure that your device has an up-to-date operating system and can access your bank’s online banking website or mobile application. We cannot guarantee that we’ll continue to support the operating system on your device.
9. When we aren't responsible for things that go wrong
We'll do all we can to carry out our side of the agreement but we’re only responsible for how HSBC Open Payments operates. We're not responsible for any losses you may have if we aren't able to perform our obligations under the agreement because of:
- legal or regulatory reasons; or
- circumstances we couldn't predict or that aren't normal, that are outside our (or our agents' and/or subcontractors') control and that we couldn't have avoided even where we used all of our efforts to, for example industrial action or mechanical failure.
10. If you have a complaint about HSBC Open Payments
If you have a complaint or question about HSBC Open Payments, you can contact us using the details in the 'Contacting us' section above. Within five working days, we'll let you know in writing we've received your complaint. We'll then keep you up to date about our progress until we've finished looking into your complaint.
If you still aren't happy, you may be entitled to refer your complaint to the ombudsman service. Here are the details to use for the UK:
