Singapore Expats

Hi

I am moving to Singapore very soon and need to find some information on how long it takes to transfer money back to the UK.

I currently bank with Barclays in the UK and I need an account with a bank in Singapore which allows me to easily transfer funds back to the Uk to meet my mortgage commitments etc.

Does anyone have any advise on the best bank to use and how long it takes for funds to the Uk.

Thanks

I"m not from the UK but it's been discussed many times here. You should try using the search function at the upper right side of this page just below the "Profile" link. I use it all the time. It's pretty good.

What SMS said.

But if you have a Citibank account in both countries, the transfer is immediate. This is my experience, I am not affiliated.

with BACS, SWIFT and CHAPS, money transfer is just a mouse click away with any banks. you can use money broker if the banks are giving you rubbish rates and high fees. check www.hifx.co.uk. they are FSA and HM Revenue & Customs registered, etc.

rjh73 wrote:Hi

I am moving to Singapore very soon and need to find some information on how long it takes to transfer money back to the UK.

I currently bank with Barclays in the UK and I need an account with a bank in Singapore which allows me to easily transfer funds back to the Uk to meet my mortgage commitments etc.

Does anyone have any advise on the best bank to use and how long it takes for funds to the Uk.

Thanks

Hi rjh73, I was a HSBC client so setting up a Singapore HSBC account was fairly easy. In fact, my UK HSBC branch helped communicate my request to Singapore even before we arrived here. Transfer of funds between my UK and Singapore accounts couldn't be easier.

Drop me a line, happy to help.

[email protected]

imogenben wrote: Hi rjh73, I was a HSBC client so setting up a Singapore HSBC account was fairly easy. In fact, my UK HSBC branch helped communicate my request to Singapore even before we arrived here. Transfer of funds between my UK and Singapore accounts couldn't be easier.

Do you access both accounts under UK login or have separate logins for each?

I'd be extremely surprised if a single HSBC login would work for accounts in two different counties, but obviously imogenben can confirm that.

OP, if you do decide to go with HSBC, my advice would be to stick with the Collyer Quay (HQ) branch. When we moved here we did all the account opening paperwork at HSBC in the UK (we were not HSBC UK customers) and then when I arrived here I just went in to the Collyer Quay (HQ) branch and everything was waiting for me. Very good service from them, but we later made the mistake of using the Parkway Parade branch (as it was much more convenient to get to for us) and found the staff there to be inept. We lost patience with them in the end and closed all our HSBC accounts.

Whatever route you choose, you'll always get bummed on the rates.

Use one of the money transfer places instead such as those in lucky plaza etc.

If you're looking to change currency as part of the transfer, these folks might be worth checking out:

http://www.currencyfair.com/

I have no affiliation with them btw, I just heard about them via a Motley Fool podcast last year. The basic idea is to do 'peer to peer' transactions to get the best rate for both parties, although they themselves also have default rates if required, which are supposedly better than what the retail banks offer (that wouldn't be difficult). A slightly scary concept I know, but a clever idea nonetheless. I didn't use them in the end as my requirement was to transfer GBP to GBP and reduce the costs compared to the banks' TT and other charges. I got a very friendly email back from when I asked about this and they explained that this wasn't really their forte.

Just thought I'd mention it in case it's of interest. The hifx.co.uk site that durain mentioned earlier looks interesting too.