Singapore Expats

Opening bank a/c as no resident

Discuss the different banking options, rates, offers and perks.
Post Reply
User avatar
JR8
Immortal
Immortal
Posts: 16522
Joined: Wed, 24 Mar 2010 12:43 pm
Location: K. Puki Manis

Opening bank a/c as no resident

Post by JR8 » Wed, 30 Mar 2011 9:45 am

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?)

User avatar
aster
Manager
Manager
Posts: 1621
Joined: Fri, 15 Jan 2010 12:15 pm

Post by aster » Wed, 30 Mar 2011 9:59 am

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

User avatar
ecureilx
Immortal
Immortal
Posts: 9817
Joined: Fri, 20 Aug 2010 5:18 pm

Post by ecureilx » Wed, 30 Mar 2011 10:33 am

aster wrote: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 ..

User avatar
durain
Director
Director
Posts: 3666
Joined: Thu, 23 Aug 2007 8:15 pm
Location: Location: Location: Location:

Post by durain » Thu, 31 Mar 2011 3:50 pm

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.

User avatar
ecureilx
Immortal
Immortal
Posts: 9817
Joined: Fri, 20 Aug 2010 5:18 pm

Post by ecureilx » Thu, 31 Mar 2011 3:59 pm

durain wrote: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
Regular
Regular
Posts: 103
Joined: Tue, 30 Nov 2010 8:01 am

Post by nburge » Thu, 14 Apr 2011 7:06 pm

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...

User avatar
ecureilx
Immortal
Immortal
Posts: 9817
Joined: Fri, 20 Aug 2010 5:18 pm

Post by ecureilx » Thu, 14 Apr 2011 7:16 pm

nburge wrote: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
Regular
Regular
Posts: 103
Joined: Tue, 30 Nov 2010 8:01 am

Post by nburge » Thu, 14 Apr 2011 7:36 pm

ecureilx wrote:
nburge wrote: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!

User avatar
Strong Eagle
Moderator
Moderator
Posts: 11744
Joined: Sat, 10 Jul 2004 12:13 am
Answers: 11
Location: Off The Red Dot
Contact:

Post by Strong Eagle » Thu, 14 Apr 2011 9:56 pm

nburge wrote: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
Regular
Regular
Posts: 103
Joined: Tue, 30 Nov 2010 8:01 am

Post by nburge » Thu, 14 Apr 2011 10:59 pm

Thanks Strong Eagle, I guess that all makes sense.

Post Reply
  • Similar Topics
    Replies
    Views
    Last post

Return to “Credit Card & Banking in Singapore”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 1 guest