Banking Question

mlamontagne · Post by **mlamontagne** » Thu, 16 Jul 2009 12:03 am

Hello! My husband and I are moving to Singapore at the end of the month (and we're very excited). I had a question about banking though. We are to be receiving a lump sum relocation payment about 6 weeks after we get there (which is a little too late!). Since we won't be receiving that when we arrive we need to figure out a way to get money from the US over there. We would be able to obtain a cashier's check prior to leaving, but would a bank in Singapore accept that? If not, does anyone have any suggestions on the best way to transfer money from overseas so that we would have immediate access to it? Thanks!

Hir0ki · Post by **Hir0ki** » Thu, 16 Jul 2009 1:59 am

I relocated from New York last year. This is what I did:
1) Opened an account with www.hifx.com (thanks to Durian on this forum) and wired funds to that account. I believe I got a pretty decent FX rate.
2) Carried TCs and cash for the first couple of weeks.
3) After I got my employment pass, opened a bank account here. Initially I tried to open an account with Citi, but the process seemed to take forever. Standard Chartered was much better - I was able to open an account within minutes. You can open accounts with just $1.
4) Sent the account details to HIFX so that they can initiate a wire transfer. The funds take 2-3 days to show up.

Good luck with the move

mlamontagne · Post by **mlamontagne** » Thu, 16 Jul 2009 4:22 am

Thanks! I didn't think of travellers checks. That's a good option for the beginning!

durain · Post by **durain** » Thu, 16 Jul 2009 6:44 am

even as a tourist, you can open a saving account with DBS (www.dbs.com.sg). if you got all the right paperwork, they will open an account for you immediately and with an ATM card. with an account number and a SWIFT code, you should be able to electronic transfer funds from US to singapore. so open an account asap when you are in singapore.

cash is king, so bring as many as you feel comfortable with. with cash, you will get a better exchange rate with the local money changer dotted everywhere in singapore. tip: shop around a few money changer as some rates are better then others. you can even haggle if you are exchanging a large amount.

moving large amount of money in or out of singapore is best done with a money broker such as www.hifx.com (i dont work for them or even use their services!) instead of the local banks. the rates are better and the fees/commision are less (or none).

Buscador · Post by **Buscador** » Thu, 16 Jul 2009 8:37 am

If you are considering making a bank transfer after you get an account set up in Singapore, make sure that your bank will let you do it remotely. The bank I use in the USA will not allow that--I have to go to an office in person.

deetee · Post by **deetee** » Thu, 16 Jul 2009 2:51 pm

Hi I'm new to Singapore and we made the mistake of putting our funds into Citibank. Now the problem I have is how do I access these funds easily? I don't like to carry cash and with citibank international they don't have a credit/debit card available for these accounts. As a result I am using a CAD. visa card and looking at transferring funds back to Canada.
Is there an easier way OR a better bank? This is very frustrating

durain · Post by **durain** » Thu, 16 Jul 2009 6:00 pm

did you read the whole of this thread? the solution is there.

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