How to export statements from HSBC (PDF, Excel and CSV)

HSBC UK keeps official statements as PDFs, and offers spreadsheets only from a different screen — the transactions list — with different coverage. Knowing which screen produces which file saves the usual hour of hunting, because the two are not alternative formats of the same thing: the PDF is the issued monthly statement, and the CSV is a rolling activity download that doesn't line up with statement months.

The official PDF statement

1. Log on to HSBC online banking.
2. Use the quick links menu and select Statements.
3. Choose the statement type, then the year and month.
4. Download the statement as a PDF.

The mobile app has the same archive under the account's statements section. Both channels hold up to 6 years of statements, so historic months for a mortgage application or tax return are normally still there.

The spreadsheet download (Excel / CSV)

Excel (xls) and CSV exist, but only from the transactions list: open the account, use Search and filter, then Download. HSBC's help pages don't mention OFX or QIF at all — the export is spreadsheet-shaped or nothing.

The catch is what the file contains. The CSV reflects the rolling transaction list, not issued statement periods — so a calendar month's total from the CSV can differ from the statement's, and recent card payments may still carry temporary pending descriptors. Anyone needing a full statement month in spreadsheet form generally ends up converting the PDF statement instead, which is the file the bank actually stands behind.

Reading HSBC's statement lines

• HSBC documents its own type codes: DD (Direct Debit), SO (standing order), TRF (transfer), CHQ (cheque), CR/DR (credit/debit), ATM, BACS (automated credit such as wages). Our glossary covers the full set across banks.
• Contactless card payments are marked with a ))) symbol on HSBC statements — a small thing that reliably trips up naive text parsers and copy-paste into spreadsheets.
• Very recent exports may not match final statement wording: card payments post first as pending with a temporary descriptor.

Getting a clean month either way

If the period you need is recent, the transactions-list CSV is exact — use it. For issued statement months, download the PDF and run it through the HSBC statement converter: it reads the PDF's own text (the ))) symbols and type codes included), reconciles every line against the statement's printed balances, and outputs CSV, Excel, QIF or OFX — the two formats HSBC itself never offers — with every merchant named.