From: "Rich Gauszka" 

Your salary is less than œ75,000 or your savings are less than œ50,000

HSBC   proclaims  "We are trying to treat everyone fairly - not everybody in
the world is equal."

http://money.guardian.co.uk/news_/story/0,,2055071,00.html

It calls itself the world's local bank, a slogan which conjures up images
of kindly cashiers ushering rich and poor alike through the door to deposit
their savings. At the HSBC branch in Canford Cliffs, Dorset, however,
customers are judged by quite different criteria. The bank has offended
residents of the elegant seaside village in Poole by banning all but the
most well-off from using the branch.

Only customers with œ50,000 or more in savings, a hefty mortgage or a
salary of at least œ75,000 are being allowed to talk to staff. Everyone
else has to make do with the cash withdrawal and automated paying-in
machines.

An HSBC spokesman's attempt to justify the decision only served only to
intensify the consternation. "We are trying to treat everyone fairly -
not everybody in the world is equal. Some people have higher incomes and
need greater services through the bank. These customers demand a better
service," he said.

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