Welsh 'foreign' HSBC tell customer

“A major bank told a customer who wrote to it in Welsh to complain that some services were not available in her language that she should communicate with it in English rather than a “foreign” tongue.

Nia Lloyd, a classroom assistant from Wrexham in north Wales, wrote to HSBC pointing out that online services were not available in Welsh.
Customer support replied that her message was in a “foreign” language and asked her to resend it in English. Both Welsh and English are official languages in Wales.

Lloyd said: “I was shocked that they would respond to my complaint in that way. I thought the bank would have more respect for the Welsh language. They should celebrate all the beautiful cultures and languages of the world.”

The Welsh-language campaign group Cymdeithas yr Iaith criticised the bank’s reply. A spokesperson for the group, Tamsin Davies, said: “These comments are insulting, but unfortunately not unexpected; after all, banks are disrespecting Welsh speakers every day. There isn’t a single bank that provides online banking in Welsh.”

Full report here at ‘The Guardian’:

https://www.theguardian.com/…/hsbc-bank-tells-welsh-custome…

The same bank was the subject of a complaint to the Welsh Language Commissioner last year however she had no formal powers to address it (see BBC link):

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-45657561

Image: Tamsin Davies of Cymdeithas yr Iaith

Bernard Moffatt

Assistant General Secretary
Celtic League