My €50 note to HSBC shareholders

Letter

HSBC released to the media its half yearly statement on how things are going, yet shareholders did not receive any €50 note. In contrast some non-shareholders did receive a credit of €50 when they set about opening a new account.

This contrasts sharply with the cold shoulder HSBC gave and gives to many senior and not so senior citizens, who for decades were loyal customers of Mid-Med Bank with thousands in savings and other accounts which now only obtain abysmal rates of return.

Long loyal clients, at times, have to resort to long drawn out submission of proofs such as utility bills etc. to be “HSBC blessed” again with access to their own money! Many of whom though, getting along in years, are definitely not Addolorata denizens.

Yet these staunch members of our communities need to prove that they are very much alive and kicking when they find that their account(s) have been designated as “dormant” by our very own “local bank”.

Accounts, (who knows?), which could even end up added to the bank’s profits after some more years of inactivity, not perhaps an uncommon occurrence given that mail at times gets delivered to the wrong address or one is so taken up with family worries or ill health.

Sponsoring philanthropic and worthy causes is commendable, but charity should begin at home, that is, by taking care of the common unpretentious savers, shareholders without whom HSBC would not have been able to get Mid-Med Bank on the cheap. C. Grech Sliema