I signed up for an HSBC Premier account a month or so ago. The _Premier_ part comes with a lot of neat benefits. The most important for me is the ease of opening a UK bank account. The other unfortunately surprising benefit has been great customer service. Example: I called the Premier customer service number this morning. Phone option #2 is: talk to a human. I pressed 2, and was connected immediately, no time spent on hold. I nearly fell over. The drag about the Premier account: $100k minimum balance, or $50/mo service charge. Good service doesn't come cheap I suppose.