That payment has gone on the same day of the month to the same place since 2009 and they still randomly do it. Last time was three days before Christmas.
HSBC are terrible.
For any other service, I'd be upset if my bank did this, but Linode is quite literally the least secure paid service I've ever used. I've had multiple credit cards compromised as a direct result of multiple Linode hacks.
Set up a separate card number for each site, and that way I don't have to worry if one site is compromised.
Disclaimer: Not affiliated at all, just a very happy customer! :D
I maintain multiple cards with my bank to get a poor facsimile of this.
The worst incident in my opinion was in 2013. Credit card numbers and password hashes were compromised, and Linode actively denied it until the hackers literally showed proof (which was linked to on HN at the time iirc). I remember reading chat logs that painted Linode as extremely negligent towards security.
The last time Linode got hacked while I was still a customer, I learned about it on HN from a third party before Linode even publicly acknowledged the incident. I decided enough was enough, and switched to a less cost-effective provider with a better security track record.
In so many ways. As a matter of principle I refuse to make business with that bank (living in Mexico). I cannot think of giving even one peso for a corporation that is actively helping something that hurts my country so much:
http://www.foxnews.com/world/2016/02/11/hsbc-knowingly-helpe...
At the end, they 'settled' and thus continued with life as usual. Even if my single "grain of sand" is worthless for HSBC, at least I keep my conscience clear.
Let's pick a supposedly "ethical" very small french bank, the "credit cooperatif"'. As their name implies, they offer ethical financial tools, which forbids child labour or any other shameful practices. So apparently if you select that bank you do not support drug cartels money laundering and your money is invested in environment friendly companies.
So far, so good. Except they are a subsidiary of banque populaire, a larger but still "somewhat ethical bank"'. Banque Populaire has merged with Caisse d'Epargne. The BPCE group is the main shareholder of investment bank Natixis which has a not so ethical track record and a huge building on the kirchberg plateau in Luxemburg. Let's just say they did not choose that building for the view on the european court of justice which is across the street.
And by the way, bpce also own a much smaller "banque des mascaraignes" which is headquartered in Mauritius. I am not exactly convinced they are in the business of supporting Mauritius economic growth.
So which is "better", hsbc which was apparently started to deal with opioids between China and the UK and is regularly accused of shameful business practices or a clean small bank which is in fact a front for a large bank with a track record on par with hsbc? I don't have a definitive answer on that ethical question.
No sources because I'm on mobile atm but everything can be fact checked through a few google queries.
Disclaimer: I have accounts in BPCE and HSBC...