Last week, while their competitors were pulling mortgages, HSBC announced a new deal that seemed almost too good to be true – a promise to match borrowers’ fixed rate deals to rates as low as 4.54 per cent.

The HSBC Rate Matcher Mortgage, which has been available to existing customers since February, offers to match the rate of non-HSBC customers who are coming to the end of their fixed-rate deal. To qualify, homeowners must have a loan-to-value of 80 per cent or less, and will have to pay a variable fee of up to £5,000, dependent on the loan size and interest rate agreed.

The credit crisis has seen other lenders withdraw hundreds of deals form the market; last week, Abbey became the final lender to pull 100 per cent mortgage deals – the highest LTV available to UK borrowers is now 95 per cent – and on April 2, First Direct withdrew its mortgage range from sale to new customers, so HSBC is certainly bucking the trend by offering its new deal.

Moneysupermaket.com’s Head of Mortgage and Protection Services, Louise Cuming says she thinks the move is a clever one, but wonders how the bank is going to cope with the influx of enquires they are bound to receive.

“I think HSBC have pulled off an amazing marketing coup which has had the effect of not only hitting every headline, but will also significantly grow their market share,” explained Ms Cuming.

She believes that the fact that an international bank the size of HSBC ranked outside the top 5 Lenders in the UK (8th in the last CML survey), “underlines that they have historically not had serious intentions to be seen as a ‘big player’ in the mortgage arena.”

“With this offer, all that changes. HSBC have seen their opportunity and seized it and given their resources and the fact they are playing in a market with little real competition, they must be a force to be reckoned with in the coming months.”

Ms Cuming says that from a borrowers’ perspective, the Rate Matcher Mortgage has to be seen as positive news because it shows that HSBC actively wants to do business against the growing trend of lenders closing their doors, but thinks that HSBC should be prepared for the extra business it is bound to bring them.

“The only word of warning is service,” she says, “I have no doubt HSBC will be deluged with enquiries, and the question is ‘how will they cope’?

© Fair InvestmentCompany Ltd