A couple of months ago I went traveling around Western Europe. Before I left I personally walked into my nearest HSBC branch and informed them of my travel plans, told them where I was going and that I would be drawing money out from lots of different ATMs as I paid for youth hostels and the like. I asked if it was necessary for me to get a separate account for use abroad but they told me my existing one would be fine. What was initially a problem was that HSBC do not let you check your balance on ATMs overseas (at least not at any of the... read full review »