British expat in SG looking for advice on opening a UK bank account (in my name).

[RimBlock]

Hi All,

I have a UK private pension that is tiny and I cannot do anything with to boost its value from SG . I have been advised to cash it out which I can do using the small pots process. The pension company will transfer to a UK bank account (although not a savings account) or send a cheque to me here in SG.

It also just happens that the value is pretty much exactly (after tax deductions) the same as is required to top up my NI contributions in order to qualify for a UK state pension.

Ideally I would like to avoid transfer fees and exchange rate costs shaving off value when transferring it to SG only for me to transfer it back to the UK.

Does anyone know of any UK banks that will allow a British national (SG PR) in SG to open a UK bank account (ideally without large deposit requirements / fees / lock in periods). My folks are still in the UK so a joint account with one of them may also be a possibility.

Alternatively are there any services out there that may make the process less costly / painful that anyone is aware of ?.

Many thanks for any help or advice.
RB

[victorhsu]

I am an American expat in SG, looking for a bank that converts my monthly income in SGD to USD and transfers the USD to my U.S. bank account, of course hoping for the best exchange rate and misc fees.

May I know which bank did you end up using?

Thanks!

[PNGMK]

Use wise

[victorhsu]

Use wise

Wise's location is quite far from Orchard Road, where I work, so having an account with them doesn't seem very convenient. What are your thoughts on Wise's other services, such as ATM withdrawals and credit card options?

Thanks so much!

[sundaymorningstaple]

Wise can be entirely done online. Like PNGMK, I've been using Wise since they first set up here. I do my transfers the opposite route from yours, e.g. sending USD from a US account to a SGD account. Easy-Peasy. I'm 77 and started drawing US SS at 70. It's direct deposited into my US bank (which I had for over 50 years and only keep for paying US CC bills, IRS Payments and SS payments) It's deposited in USD into the US banks and I then do a transfer to my SGD SG DBS bank. Cheap to use, and excellent rates. Usually transfers take 3 to 5 minutes although most of last year it only took around 15 seconds to transfer. All done on my PC here in Singapore.

[malcontent]

I had some issues with Wise just last week. Normally the send time is near instant for USD to SGD, but for some reason they are now saying it’ll take 4 business days.

At first they were only doing the 4 day wait with accounts that were not verified with Plaid (which is a 3rd party that captures your bank login credentials — I know, kinda scary). But now it’s with Plaid verified accounts too. Hopefully this is just a hiccup.

Wise is still the best deal out there though, AFAIK.

[malcontent]

BTW, send time from SGD to USD is typically around 2 business days and arrives via ACH, not a wire (which is good, because many US accounts charge inbound wire fees).

[sundaymorningstaple]

I had some issues with Wise just last week. Normally the send time is near instant for USD to SGD, but for some reason they are now saying it’ll take 4 business days.

At first they were only doing the 4 day wait with accounts that were not verified with Plaid (which is a 3rd party that captures your bank login credentials — I know, kinda scary). But now it’s with Plaid verified accounts too. Hopefully this is just a hiccup.

Wise is still the best deal out there though, AFAIK.

I didn't mention it as my transfer about 4 days before Christmas I was hit with the 4/5 day wait as well. First time that's happened. Fortunately, I have plenty of lead-in time so no damage done. Still have no issues with them.