Like Tree4Likes

american and banking in HK

Closed Thread
Page 2 of 3 FirstFirst 1 2 3 LastLast
  1. #11

    Join Date
    May 2011
    Posts
    10

    Ok, good to know they are. Thanks

    Last edited by ohmmmm; 12-01-2015 at 09:10 AM.

  2. #12

    Join Date
    Jan 2007
    Posts
    33
    Original Post Deleted
    I opened a bank account with Standard Chartered last week and I am an American.

  3. #13

    Join Date
    Jan 2015
    Location
    Wan Chai
    Posts
    18
    Quote Originally Posted by mjrose514:
    Ok so I've tried the search feature to no avail and i'm googling as well, but since we know that this is a very transient lifestyle I'm wondering if the more experienced travelers will have better ideas...
    I am a US citizen (born in the US), and have lived in both Australia and the UK. I've recently relocated to Hong Kong, and every month have to move money around the world to pay bills in the UK and the USA. I have HSBC Premier Banking, with accounts in New York (Buffalo), London, Sydney, and Hong Kong.

    My salary is paid monthly into my Hong Kong HSBC account, and through Premier Banking online services I can quickly transfer money to my other accounts around the world - then pay the bills I need to pay via online banking in each of those countries.

    I find the service excellent - especially Global View, where I can see balances in all my accounts at a glance, and move money between them. The great thing about it is that when I transfer money from Hong Kong to the US (for example), the funds are immediately available as cleared in the US account. It also shows you the exchange rate prior to confirming the transaction. When I move money from Hong Kong to the US, I can specify the amount in either HK dollars or US dollars.

  4. #14

    Join Date
    Feb 2009
    Posts
    8,280
    Quote Originally Posted by VegasDWP:
    I find the service excellent - especially Global View, where I can see balances in all my accounts at a glance, and move money between them. The great thing about it is that when I transfer money from Hong Kong to the US (for example), the funds are immediately available as cleared in the US account. It also shows you the exchange rate prior to confirming the transaction. When I move money from Hong Kong to the US, I can specify the amount in either HK dollars or US dollars.
    It is an excellent service but don't think its 'free' and there is a hidden cost in the form of crappy exchange rates. Depending on how much you transfer each time, HSBC rates vary between poor and outright shockingly bad. If you transfer relatively small amounts (sorry cannot remember the exact amount) the rates are significantly worse than every other bank in Hong Kong. If you transfer larger amounts, the rates are still worse than every other bank in Hong Kong but not too much of a rip off and probably worth the convenience factor. Nothing in life is free. But I do find HSBC quite sneaky in the way they operate. They even show in big red letters on their website when you transfer over a certain amount a "priority exchange rate" to make you feel special and they are giving you some kind of service, but its marketing bullshit and the special rate they are giving you is still lower than what other Hong Kong banks give normally without any special treatment.

  5. #15

    Join Date
    Jan 2015
    Location
    Wan Chai
    Posts
    18
    Quote Originally Posted by bdw:
    It is an excellent service but don't think its 'free' and there is a hidden cost in the form of crappy exchange rates. Depending on how much you transfer each time, HSBC rates vary between poor and outright shockingly bad. If you transfer relatively small amounts (sorry cannot remember the exact amount) the rates are significantly worse than every other bank in Hong Kong. If you transfer larger amounts, the rates are still worse than every other bank in Hong Kong but not too much of a rip off and probably worth the convenience factor. Nothing in life is free. But I do find HSBC quite sneaky in the way they operate. They even show in big red letters on their website when you transfer over a certain amount a "priority exchange rate" to make you feel special and they are giving you some kind of service, but its marketing bullshit and the special rate they are giving you is still lower than what other Hong Kong banks give normally without any special treatment.
    Not true. Today I transferred US$500 from my Hong Kong account to my US account, which cost me 3,888 Hong Kong dollars. That's an exchange rate of 1 HKD = 0.1286 USD. The institutional rate - from XE.com - was 1 HKD = 0.129 USD. So at the institutional rate, it would have cost 3,876 Hong Kong dollars. I don't think 12 HKD is going to break the bank.

    However, you're correct in that Premier Banking isn't "free" - it's only free if you have a mortgage over a certain amount with HSBC, or maintain minimum balances above a certain amount (HKD 500,000 I think).

    Where you get screwed on the exchange rate is when you do that transfer outside of normal banking hours - then it can be pretty far outside the institutional rate.

  6. #16

    Join Date
    Feb 2009
    Posts
    8,280

    Attached are the rates as of now and DeletedUser I seem to recall during our last discussion on this topic that these rates are correct for small amount transfers (eg US$500). The 'special' rates you get on your internet banking in big red letters are better than the attached but still worse than other banks. You argue the difference is negligible and I agree for large transfers its negligible and even for small transfers you can argue its not worth the difference if you want. But please accept that HSBC base exchange rates are the worst of any bank in Hong Kong. Whether it's material or not is not really my point. Its that they are sneaky bastards and throw marketing bullshit at you etc, which is really my point. Name:  Screenshot_2015-02-05-15-30-55.png
Views: 1027
Size:  319.1 KB


  7. #17

    Join Date
    Apr 2014
    Posts
    33

    HSBC rates ive found are pretty good. I use them for large sums all the time. The difference in lost cash sometimes is 25HKD or something. BIG DEAL

    dossier and TheBrit like this.

  8. #18

    Join Date
    Oct 2014
    Posts
    4,188

    I only have experience with HSBC here in HK but I'm happy with them. I'm a US citizen and have accounts with HSBC in UK and US as well with Premier. The ability to link the accounts really helps. I also have an account in the US with another bank and it's much more of a challenge to get funds out to the UK or HK. For example my US bank charges me $15 per incoming international wire transfer.

    If you regularly move money and have incomings/outgoings in more than one country I would strongly suggest using a bank that is present in all of them. So even if there are claims that HSBC has worse rates (which isn't my experience so far by the way), you will be much worse off using a local HK bank if you have to move funds internationally, as you will be hit by fees. So I would say HSBC or Citibank for that reason alone.


  9. #19

    Join Date
    May 2012
    Posts
    1,186
    Quote Originally Posted by VegasDWP:
    I am a US citizen (born in the US), and have lived in both Australia and the UK. I've recently relocated to Hong Kong, and every month have to move money around the world to pay bills in the UK and the USA. I have HSBC Premier Banking, with accounts in New York (Buffalo), London, Sydney, and Hong Kong.

    My salary is paid monthly into my Hong Kong HSBC account, and through Premier Banking online services I can quickly transfer money to my other accounts around the world - then pay the bills I need to pay via online banking in each of those countries.

    I find the service excellent - especially Global View, where I can see balances in all my accounts at a glance, and move money between them. The great thing about it is that when I transfer money from Hong Kong to the US (for example), the funds are immediately available as cleared in the US account. It also shows you the exchange rate prior to confirming the transaction. When I move money from Hong Kong to the US, I can specify the amount in either HK dollars or US dollars.
    That's the HSBC premier banking pitch word by word. You must be working for HSBC.

  10. #20

    Join Date
    Jan 2015
    Location
    Wan Chai
    Posts
    18
    Quote Originally Posted by alexdown:
    That's the HSBC premier banking pitch word by word. You must be working for HSBC.
    Haha! No, I'm actually a Marketing Director for a technology company. BTW, I'm no fan of banks - the number of recent scandals from PPI mis-selling to LIBOR rigging makes the whole industry morally corrupt in my opinion. I'm just being honest with my experience with HSBC Premier. I think it's great - in fact, the travel insurance included with the account really came through for me when our belongings, wallets, cash, etc. were stolen while on holiday in Portugal.

    They efficiently processed the claim, and paid out over 1,400 quid.