HSBC refunds £350m to customers after banking rules blunder

Some customers are said to have received offers for up to £4,000 from the bank

Thousands of HSBC customers have been receiving welcome post-Christmas gifts: big cheques totalling £350m as compensation for failing to comply with banking rules.

Some customers are said to have received offers for up to £4,000 from the bank after it mistakenly failed to let them know they could repay part of their debts early. The fault came in the wording on documentation sent out with loans taken out by customers from October 2010 to last July.

HSBC said it identified the problem during an internal check last year, and had decided to make compensation payments even though it did not think any customers lost out financially as a result of the blunder. “We are contacting affected customers. Customers do not need to take any action,” the bank said.