Best bank account for online/wire use

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  1. #1

    Best bank account for online/wire use

    Hi.

    I am currently living and working in Guangzhou from Australia, I have been here for about 2 years, I have dealt with several banks here in GZ but it seems everything I ask for is an uphill battle such as multi currency and a number of other features I need to wire and manage currency from the mainland, HK and Australia.

    I went to mainland HSBC and Heng Sang (spelling??), but found they are waaaaaaaaaaaaay too expensive in service fee's, the minimum deposit was crazy.

    Anyway.

    Can anyone recommend a good account which can deal with multi currency, wire transfer and online management? Oh without the outrageous fees ???
    I also asked about a Visa debit card (from the international banks in the mainland), only to have every reply "What's that?"


  2. #2

    Join Date
    Jun 2005
    Location
    Hong Kong
    Posts
    23,205

    Define "outrageous".

    And debit cards are really not very common in this part of the world. The HK equivalent is EPS, but not sure what (if any)the mainland version is.

    HSBC Premier is the way to go IMO. Then you can have accounts all round the world and there are no fees for transferring money between your different accounts in each country. But you do have to have enough value to the bank for this service to make sense for them (they are not charities). A total relationship balance (including deposits, investments and so on) of HK$1M is needed if HK is your "home" account, but I believe it is somewhat less in the mainland.


  3. #3

    Join Date
    Dec 2002
    Location
    薄扶林
    Posts
    47,964

    Don't even bother with HSBC Premier .... the minimum deposit level is high.

    The SmartVantage account has a low minimum and decent online banking + transfer fees are not all too bad.

    But then it all depends on what you determine as outrageous ...


  4. #4

    Join Date
    Oct 2005
    Location
    Sham Tseng, NT
    Posts
    452

    I also think HSBC Premier is the way to go as PDLM suggest. The fees for wiring money around the world are actually quite low, as long as you can maintain their 1 Mil. balance.

    Opening and maintaining the account is very easy as well. If you live in Guangzhou, you can quickly travel to HK and arrange it under an hour. Big difference with a China bank. (i used to be deal with them and their crazy queues).

    HSBC has 2 drawbacks though: 1. the "high" minimum balance and 2. their ridiculously low deposit rates.


  5. #5

    Join Date
    Dec 2002
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    薄扶林
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    47,964

    China HSBC has a lower minimum for Premier.


  6. #6

    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Tai Kok Tsui
    Posts
    997

    500,000RMB or equivalent in foreign currency for HSBC Premier in China.


  7. #7

    HSBC best for Online

    For online banking i think HSBC is the best.. I have HSBC PowerVantage.. i tired other banks but for online is HSBC...