HSBC on Thursday reversed its decision to take away students’ interest-free overdrafts in the UK as soon as they leave university, after suffering a consumer revolt by graduates on the pages of Facebook, the cult social-networking site. HSBC had decided to abolish the interest-free overdraft facility on its graduate account but this week said it was not “too big” to listen to customers and that it would freeze interest charges on overdrafts up to £1,500 for students who graduated this summer and repay any interest charged in August. The move follows a campaign by a group set up on Facebook called “Stop the Great HSBC Graduate Rip-Off”, which embarrassed HSBC at a time when banks are marketing their services to new students entering university this September.
