Singapore Expats

It looks like I'll be relocating to Singapore, from the UK, in a couple of months. In considering which bank to go with, I'm most interested in the online banking facility. Ideally, I'd like a bank that would allow me to make transfers of cash to my UK bank account online, using the SWIFT/IBAN codes. Is this offered by anyone? Even if I can't set up such a recipient online, and need to visit first, would I be able to make subsequent payments online? What about the other aspects of online banking, who has the best service?

I am completely uninterested in interest rates. Given that, are there other reasons to choose between one bank and another? Push from friends I know has been DBS.

Thanks!

you are better off using a forex agent if you gonna be doing regular money transfer as their exchange are usually much better than the banks.

Thanks, durian. But would they then offer the transfer into a foreign bank account as a separate service, after converting the currency?

Saracen wrote:It looks like I'll be relocating to Singapore, from the UK, in a couple of months. In considering which bank to go with, I'm most interested in the online banking facility. Ideally, I'd like a bank that would allow me to make transfers of cash to my UK bank account online, using the SWIFT/IBAN codes. Is this offered by anyone? Even if I can't set up such a recipient online, and need to visit first, would I be able to make subsequent payments online? What about the other aspects of online banking, who has the best service?

I am completely uninterested in interest rates. Given that, are there other reasons to choose between one bank and another? Push from friends I know has been DBS.

Thanks!

I believe with the standard ibanking package dbs does not offer TT but it does if this is a corporate account. I use internet banking with ocbc (also no TT for private banking) and dbs and found the first one more friendly and reasonable, Reliability-wise no major differences.

Saracen wrote:Thanks, durian. But would they then offer the transfer into a foreign bank account as a separate service, after converting the currency?

here's how the forex broker works.....

> you setup an account with them (have a look at www.hifx.co.uk or www.ukforex.com)
> in singapore, you wire the money to the broker
> broker wire money to your UK (or foreign) bank account

no, they are not 419 scam but a legit way of money transfering from one currency to another with lower fees and better rate.

Saracen wrote:I am completely uninterested in interest rates. Given that, are there other reasons to choose between one bank and another? Push from friends I know has been DBS.

DBS/POSB has the biggest ATM network, but UOB and OCBC share each others' ATMs and aren't far behind. I wouldn't recommend any other banks though, because their ATMs (and branches) are few and far between, even though they're networked up as well.

I'm not aware of any personal banking accounts that allow TTs, although it's a standard feature for corporate banking.

You could consider setting up an account with xe.com. They allow you to transfer the money to their bank account in the first country, then they convert it and place it into your nominated account in the second country.

Their rates seem quite decent, for AUD to SGD, it is within 2 cents of the spot market rate. You initiate the transaction. You set the amount to transfer, and are shown the market rate. It is only available for 30 secs, so you either accept it, or click again to get whatever the current market rate is at that moment. Then you confirm you want it. The order goes through.

You have two days to transfer the money into their account, then they send it through to your nominated account. They say it takes a week, but has usually only taken a few days for me so far.

Apparently it is a private company based in BC, Canada. It still is owned by the two founders, and apparently is solvent and profitable. But do your own due diligence there!

I have been happy with their service.

http://www.xe.com

wcs wrote:You could consider setting up an account with xe.com. They allow you to transfer the money to their bank account in the first country, then they convert it and place it into your nominated account in the second country.

Their rates seem quite decent, for AUD to SGD, it is within 2 cents of the spot market rate. You initiate the transaction. You set the amount to transfer, and are shown the market rate. It is only available for 30 secs, so you either accept it, or click again to get whatever the current market rate is at that moment. Then you confirm you want it. The order goes through.

You have two days to transfer the money into their account, then they send it through to your nominated account. They say it takes a week, but has usually only taken a few days for me so far.

Apparently it is a private company based in BC, Canada. It still is owned by the two founders, and apparently is solvent and profitable. But do your own due diligence there!

I have been happy with their service.

http://www.xe.com

The problem with this is that you must still initiate a wire transfer to xe.com from your bank account since Singapore doesn't allow EFT.

DBS/POSB have online banking but not for international transfers.

Citibank is the best for that particular feature.

I use DBS but have them draw a cheque which I then mail. Cheap but not fast. I should change to Citi but it's more work to change.

If I was starting new I'd choose Citi though it isn't as convenient in other ways.

Don't fall for the "DBS has the most ATMs, so open your account there". I just moved from the UK 6 weeks ago, duly opened my DBS account as advised by everyone and their grandmother. Only to find that DBS ATMs are rarely seen on the MRT (the tube). If they exist in POSB format (they share ATMs), there is usually a queue of 10 or so folk. While the UOB or OCBC ATMs nearby lie empty and in pristine condition..

Like you, I am looking to make regular money transfers back to the UK; haven't found an account yet. So I'll be checking your posting regularly!

jpatokal wrote: I'm not aware of any personal banking accounts that allow TTs, although it's a standard feature for corporate banking.

UOB allows TT from personal online banking, at least i managed to pay my pending taxes via uob online account. No idea about the exact costs and fees related to it.

anyone else have anything to say about Citibank? i'm also looking for good online banking and ATM presence in particular.

thanks! =)

Stan Chart offers online transfers, but at a cost of S$50 per transaction it is really steep. I also find their ATM footprint (or lack thereof) very fustrating. I have probably 10 UOB, OCBC, DBS ATMs near where I live and the nearest one I can use is an MRT ride away!

Also look to see if your bank gives you a NETs card. This is a debit card and soem mrechants and specials require payment in this manner (the fee for paying by NETS in a taxi is also less than for a credit card).

You chose which is best for you.

Strong Eagle wrote:
The problem with this is that you must still initiate a wire transfer to xe.com from your bank account since Singapore doesn't allow EFT.

Admittedly I have only used the service inbound to Singapore so far. I am assuming I could make a payment to a local Singapore account for the service. (Xe.com usually has a local bank account in the countries it accepts outgoing transfers from.) I have been able to do third party payments with OCBC before. Just there is some process of having to get verification number that allows me add a third party but only gives me a limited period of time to complete the adding of the person. A bit fiddly but overall it seemed to work.

So my caveat is that I presume two separate processes will give the desired result. Or when I start earning again I'll send some money back and let you all know what happens.

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Ok, I looked up how I was able to do an electronic transfer to another person's bank account in Singapore. I have put the details below. From a layman's perspective I considered it EFT, but that might not be the correct term for what I am doing here.

How do I set up another bank’s account as beneficiary for interbank funds transfer?
To set up another bank's account as beneficiary for interbank funds transfer, please log into Internet Banking and select Fund Transfer > Add Beneficiary.

You will be prompted for a One-Time Password to be input on the page thereafter for verification purposes.

Once the account is added into your beneficiary list, you can transfer funds to this account via Internet Banking, Mobile Banking or Phone Banking.

http://www.ocbc.com/personal-banking/he ... tBnk_FT_04

if travel back home frequently, the cheapest way to do is to convert your money in a money changer and bring them back in cash?