Singapore Expats

I'm from Canada and have heard horrible things about the service there. Was wondering if it's the same in Singapore.

Thanks.

Like most "relationship managers" at banks in Singapore, they are mostly brain dead. Being an RM means flogging the current attraction. Ask anything out of the ordinary and get a deer in the headlights stare.

HSBC have a bad reputation for persistently trying to up-sell you onto their Premiere account, as well as getting you to sign up to as many fee-based products as possible.

They trumpet being global, but still charge you for moving your own money from your own HSBC account in country A to ditto in country B.

JR8 wrote:They trumpet being global, but still charge you for moving your own money from your own HSBC account in country A to ditto in country B.

What! I thought one of the allure of Premier is that it doesn't cost anything to transfer your funds from your HSBC account to another HSBC account far away.

quicksilver1024 wrote:

JR8 wrote:They trumpet being global, but still charge you for moving your own money from your own HSBC account in country A to ditto in country B.

What! I thought one of the allure of Premier is that it doesn't cost anything to transfer your funds from your HSBC account to another HSBC account far away.

That might only apply to 'offshore accounts', don't know?

I looked at the site again to try and find the fees table but cannot (they bury it deep!). What I can say is that I was pretty amazed at the fees that they do raise for things that you expect will be free. Open an account in say Jersey (UK), and they charge you something like £20 a pop to pay a direct debit to the UK. And yes, they charge for intra-HSBC transfers too.

After much digging about on offshore accounts I went with Barclays Isle of Man instead. Those braver than me might take a look at Saxo Bank Singapore...

quicksilver1024 wrote:

JR8 wrote:They trumpet being global, but still charge you for moving your own money from your own HSBC account in country A to ditto in country B.

What! I thought one of the allure of Premier is that it doesn't cost anything to transfer your funds from your HSBC account to another HSBC account far away.

I don't get charged, but the accounts DO have to be in your name. If they charge you for that, then they should credit back. I've never been charged for any transfer to any of my accounts held via HSBC.

I also remotely opened accounts in the UK and Offshore from here in Singapore and not a penny charged.

To pay a D/D to the UK I set up a (free) UK account and have it paid from there, occasionally sending money from the Offshore account (for free) to top up the balances.

I will admit that their FX rates are worse than other banks, their saving interest lower and their mortgage rates higher but overall the general experience works out even. This might be because I don't have a mortgage at all otherwise the extra spent with HSBC might be too much.

With regards Relationship Managers here....... there is neither "Relationship' nor 'Management' given I've not seen or been contacted by mine in at least two years and the one email I did write to her a couple of months ago was not replied to.

In my experience, the quality of 'relationship management' seems to vary considerably between different branches. When we first moved to Singapore we opened accounts at the HSBC Collyer Quay (HQ) branch and received consistently good service there. Then we made the mistake of using the Parkway Parade branch, as it was much more convenient to get to. Two words spring to mind: utterly inept. The performance and attitude of the staff (so-called 'relationship managers' included) reflected that of the branch managers, who didn't seem to give a damn. Even when I went in to close all our accounts and move the funds to another bank they made no attempt to discuss the reasons or try to address my complaints.

So if you do go with HSBC, my advice is to stick with the Collyer Quay branch.

Found it... top link
http://www.hsbc.co.uk/1/2/interest-rate ... t-accounts


Scoobydoes you seem to be avoiding some of the fees listed. £100 each for opening additional accounts. Electronic payments £20 to other HSBC a/c, £30 to non HSBC (no indication this excludes BACS/DDs).

I based my decision on published fees. Good on you for not paying them all!

Maybe it like CC's & overdraft facility fees. As soon as you call them up about it, they waiver the fees. It would seem that they depend on people not being bothered or not being able to stand waiting for half an hour on hold trying to get through to a real person.......

sundaymorningstaple wrote:Maybe it like CC's & overdraft facility fees. As soon as you call them up about it, they waiver the fees. It would seem that they depend on people not being bothered or not being able to stand waiting for half an hour on hold trying to get through to a real person.......

Which reminds me I did try and call HSBC Intnl to try and resolve a few questions, including whether DD's and BACS (Giros and online transfers) are that expensive. I was on hold, so I requested a 'Call me back' via their website, and they never did. That made the decision on them for me...

JR8 wrote:Found it... top link
http://www.hsbc.co.uk/1/2/interest-rate ... t-accounts


Scoobydoes you seem to be avoiding some of the fees listed. £100 each for opening additional accounts. Electronic payments £20 to other HSBC a/c, £30 to non HSBC (no indication this excludes BACS/DDs).

I based my decision on published fees. Good on you for not paying them all!

It hasn't anything to do with me not paying, there simply is no charge.

With the one direct debit I set up with them, they were going to charge me I think 30-50quid a transfer because of one reason or another to do with the length of the account number and it not being a HSBC account. The useless girl in the UK said the number should only have 8-digits but I gave 11, or something like that. I lopped off the first three numbers and suddenly the D/D was free and it goes through no problem.

Transferring to own named accounts, setting up Offshore and UK Premier Accounts remotely is/was all free, and is serviced as free, not that I negotiated anything. Contact HSBC Int'l at Claymore Hill.

It's not that I 'love' HSBC but I have to give credit where it is due.

HSBC in Singapore has made me cry. Several times. Seriously.


In my experience, they are the most poorly trained pack of idiots I've ever come across. We opened there b/c they were the only bank that also has retail in Canada but it turned out to be a moot point as their fees are MORE than those I pay now dealing through an F/X broker for international payments. And more than I would have paid through Citi. I could go on and on and on with various examples of how bad they are but won't bore you. The thing I have found is that if you stand up and fight with them about each point of stupidity then eventually they will do what needs to be done. But I personally don't have the patience for it.

Citi, however, are pretty good. As are OCBC for local stuff. My 2c anyhoo, maybe I just have bad luck.

My Relation Manager at HSBC Singapore has a stock answer for any query "Please contact the help line". And I'm a Premier member! Now i get all my work done by the HSBC New Delhi branch RM, who goes out of the way to make things happen remotely.
Never been charged for moving money to India.

If HSBC routinely provide services for free, as seems to be the case, then their T&Cs should state that fact.

My decision not to go with them was made based upon the simple fact that based on their published charges, I'd be paying something like S$4k/pa alone on direct debit (giro) fees.

p.s. Plus the fact that their associated trading offering is pretty limited in scope.

JR8 wrote: My decision not to go with them was made based upon the simple fact that based on their published charges, I'd be paying something like S$4k/pa alone on direct debit (giro) fees.

At that level, you don't go with what their web page says, you go with what somebody at the bank says. There's always 'work arounds' but these can be on individual basis or at least, uncommon requests and the web can't cater for those.

It does, though, and more so here in Singapore, depend on you going in knowing exactly what you want because some guys here are pretty useless. It is a general problem with banks here and not just HSBC.