Opening bank a/c as no resident

[JR8]

I'm currently dealing with some personal admin and juggling bank accounts.

I've had SGn bank accounts, but only opened them when legally resident. I've seen it said here that people have opened accounts from abroad in prep. for moving to SG., i.e. as non-resident.

Can anyone confirm that you do not have to be resident to open a checking account? (Or might it come down to individual bank T&Cs?)

[aster]

HSBC opens accounts for non-residents with no intention of moving to Singapore.

[ecureilx]

HSBC opens accounts for non-residents with no intention of moving to Singapore.

Add Citibank too .. they will refer to the specific branches which handle non-resident accounts .. ANZ too is in the list .. not others from what I know ..

[durain]

DBS was ok too for a saving account. all you need is your passport, deposit and your account will be setup immediately with ATM card too.

[ecureilx]

DBS was ok too for a saving account. all you need is your passport, deposit and your account will be setup immediately with ATM card too.

DBS used to ask for a local address, for mailing.

I am not sure now

The safest bet is HSBC/Citibank as they are in almost every country, and you can do deposits, if your local law there allows it, to the Singapore account.

[nburge]

Do you have to be physically present in Singapore for them to set up a bank account for you? I have tried to get HSBC to set one up for me in Singapore (via my existing UK account) but they came back saying I needed the EP before they'd do it. I now have the In Principal Approval Letter, but don't really want to pay the ~£100 fee for them to set it up for me, if I could go direct (or over the phone/net) with either DBS or Citi...

I'm heading out there in about 3 weeks, but the sooner I can set up a SGD account based in Singapore, the sooner my company will pay me my wages...

[ecureilx]

Do you have to be physically present in Singapore for them to set up a bank account for you?

From what I know, you must be physically present to open the account .. alternate, go to HSBC where you are and check if you can open a Singapore account from there, as some foreign banks do allow ..

But the round trip process used to take a couple of weeks, if i remember correctly ..

[nburge]

Do you have to be physically present in Singapore for them to set up a bank account for you?

From what I know, you must be physically present to open the account .. alternate, go to HSBC where you are and check if you can open a Singapore account from there, as some foreign banks do allow ..

But the round trip process used to take a couple of weeks, if i remember correctly ..

Yeah - I tried this already, but the guys in the branch don't tend to know anything (they're just there to direct you to the right queue...) and the people on the phone insist on having the EP already (which I can't get until I've been to Sing!). Seems like circular logic... I guess I'll queue up in branch when i get to Singapore in a couple of weeks.

Thanks for the advice!

[Strong Eagle]

Do you have to be physically present in Singapore for them to set up a bank account for you? I have tried to get HSBC to set one up for me in Singapore (via my existing UK account) but they came back saying I needed the EP before they'd do it. I now have the In Principal Approval Letter, but don't really want to pay the ~£100 fee for them to set it up for me, if I could go direct (or over the phone/net) with either DBS or Citi...

I'm heading out there in about 3 weeks, but the sooner I can set up a SGD account based in Singapore, the sooner my company will pay me my wages...

You have to be physically present because Singapore banking laws require that your signing of the signature card be witnessed by bank employees. You can't just send it in.

[nburge]

Thanks Strong Eagle, I guess that all makes sense.