Foreign currency saving/time deposit account.

[hannah01]

Hello everyone,

The question is straight- which bank offers the best rate for foreign currency saving/time deposit account? To be specific - for Singaporean dollars, Swiss Franc, British Pounds and US dollars. Did some diggings around the internet,and found that almost all banks have the same (more or less) ''offers'' ( though,many information were outdated).

Could anyone provide me a better insight into this,please? Thanks and happy new year

[AJZ]

Are you in a position to shop around for a bank in Hong Kong? It can be difficult for some people to open a single bank account here.

[freeier]

depends on how much money you are putting up. i have seen USD quoted at 0.5%; i have also seen hkd quoted at 1.8% for a 2mth depo. etc.. really depends on sizes.

[pin]

If you want something safe, maybe also consider a US government bond ETF?

[freeier]

Original Post Deleted

actually not true. simple plain vanilla deposit. its probably for 3m IIRC, but it very much depending on the size of the deposit and depending on the client.
i agree no retail bank will quote retail client that rate. but for other clients yes.

[pin]

actually not true. simple plain vanilla deposit. its probably for 3m IIRC, but it very much depending on the size of the deposit and depending on the client.
i agree no retail bank will quote retail client that rate. but for other clients yes.

So pretty much pointless for anyone here?

[pin]

Original Post Deleted

I am guessing 3million hkd in deposit.

[shri]

Original Post Deleted

, if I recall correctly, IIRC means "If I Recall Correctly"

[freeier]

Original Post Deleted

It really depends on the amount and the credit status of the bank, especially during year end.

There are alot of ways to look at this.
E.g.
CHF: The last i remember Citibank charges 0% on deposit on CHF current deposit. Even for retail client. That is around 50bps higher than their SNB rate for overnight account. So it is technically hibor + 50bps or so if you flip the currency over via a FX forward that you can obtain in IG or Saxo.

Generally, if you have more, retail banks might start charging or refuse deposit. Then you go to CSFB and they do keep deposit of CHF/EUR at 0% again for their private client. The last i heard its uncapped.

For corporate, just one week before Xmas i saw a 1.80% p.a. in HKD deposit (cant remember its 2 or 3mth). Those are generally smaller banks that want to beef up their balance sheet for window dressing.

So like i have originally posted, it really depends on how much you are putting out. Sometimes if you put small sum, you get the better deal. Sometimes for much larger sum, you get the deals.



Anyway comparing HK and SG, seems hk banks are not that affected by the liquidity requirement as Singapore bank does. i.e. in Singapore if you open a payroll account and do some online banking/credit card payment/spending via the account, you can bump up your monthly interest to 2~3% p.a. or more. I suspect that account is classified as 'stable' account and the bank does not need to provide short term liquidity reserve, so they are willing to pay more interest into it. Obviously they also add in sweetener if you purchase some investment products with the bank.

[freeier]

btw, just for reference, you might want to look at the following banks to see if they offer better rate (not going to be mid 1s, but still potentially better than the hsbcs).

Agricultural bank of china
Bank of communication
China construction bank
China citic bank
china Everbright bank
Chong hing bank
Nanyang commercial bank
Shanghai Pudong development bank

Quite a few of them are BBB rated and i figured they are likely to want to take some deposits, especially the chinese banks if the chinese new year are coming up in a few weeks.