I was just wondering whether there is a similar discussion board like fatwallet dedicated for banks/finance in Singapore, like this:
http://www.fatwallet.com/t/52/437553/
I find that banks in Singapore conduct predatory business.
Charges for banks in Singapore are probably among the highest in the world, while interest rates are really puny.
OCBC for example charges 1/4% commissions + cable for a USD transfer.
1/4% commissions against what costs? this is totally a made up excuse to rob clients. They say 1/8% commissions for their transfer effort + another 1/8% because I used my USD fixed deposits to transfer USD.
For SGD transfers, OCBC "only" charges 1/8% commission.
Many banks in Indonesia including Citibank only charge USD10 flat for a USD transfer (from USD account) to anywhere.
Banks in the US even give better deal. No fees for transfers within the US.
For overseas transfers, it is only USD10 to USD30. Some even allow free wire transfer once a month or so. Banks in the US also offer interest rates in the range of 4% (compare this to Singapore banks).
Sample of offers:
Emigrant Bank pays 4.0% APY (no transfer fees, no charges, minimum USD1)
http://www.emigrantdirect.com
HSBC pays 3.75% APY, offers USD35 bonus for opening account (no charges, no transfer fees, minimum USD1)
http://www.us.hsbc.com/personal/deposit ... code=ccs20
ING pays 3.40% APY and no transfer fees, no charges, min USD1
http://home.ingdirect.com/
Citibank pays 3.25% APY for online savings account, similar condition
http://citi.bridgetrack.com/cbol/05/eSa ... mo_ID=CJ95
Citibank offers USD200 bonus for opening EZ checking, conduct bill payment 2x a month (which is free).
http://citi.bridgetrack.com/cbol/05/200 ... omoID=CD3J
