Which banks are good?

[aster]

Not sure which direction you headed towards, but outside marriot...

Where are your reading comprehension skills? I mentioed clearly: ION >>> Wisma >>> Takashimaya.

almost all DBS atms now are not in single, they are in banks of two or more

Define "almost all" for us please. The one in ION upon exiting the MRT is a single one. Plenty more of those, and even where there are two you can find that the lines will still be ridiculous compared to OCBC/UOB.

So what exactly is your point if it's much more convenient to use OCBC's chain of ATMs?

if you think OCBC is # 1 - good

Ummm, yeah. Good. Your point?

If you lived here long enough, you would know

And if you lived here long enough you'd know that if I'm going from ION to Takashimaya then I'm not heading towards Shaw House...

So much so, long term residents will know when you get into a cab and tell the driver to stop by an ATM, it will be 'nearest POSB is .. ' the driver will not even bother to ask if you are on POSB/DBS or otherwise ...

Right, cause even cabbies know that if you need to take them to reach an ATM then surely you are not looking for an OCBC/UOB machine. What an own goal, mate!

[ecureilx]

[quote="ksl"]
You gotta be kidding .. It was and is 1,000 per withdrawal, and if you need to pull out 2,000- just do it twice - rarely did I have to withdraw so much, except when I had 'remittance'

Maximum daily withdrawal limit for DBS/POSB was and is 2,000, which you can increase by going to the bank and requesting / or sending the form to increase withdrawal limit ..

If you are referring to daily limit for foreign cards, in Singapore ATMs, no clue .. and not sure how it affects people living here ..

[ecureilx]

Right, cause even cabbies know that if you need to take them to reach an ATM then surely you are not looking for an OCBC/UOB machine. What an own goal, mate!

Not sure what you are on, I meant, if you get into a cab without money, and if you tell the driver you need to withdraw, he will assume that it is DBS/POSB, and ...

never mind ..

Dunno how long you lived in Singapore, but in my ten plus years, DBS/POSB atms are like mushrooms, everywhere and I mean everywhere, in heartlands and far off areas, unlike other banks which dump their atms in the city and once you are away, you are lost for atms ..

Ah- never mind .. I am not on a shooting match here ..

If you insist OCBC is the best, ok, so it is ..

[nutty]

I believe MayBank iSavvy account has the best savings interest rate if you intend to just park your money in it.

There's probably a thread on this but it's easier to ask....

I liked my current bank until they pulled a shady move recently, so am going to pull all my savings and put that elsewhere.

Some banks with linked credit cards have better, sometimes much better, benefits such as points, airline miles, F&B discounts, etc.

Although the bank and service were ok the credit card rarely if ever had any benefits useful to me, where friends and colleagues were always using theirs for lunch discounts, etc.

[ecureilx]

I believe MayBank iSavvy account has the best savings interest rate if you intend to just park your money in it.

Seriously, if you had a lot of money, and want to 'park' banks do give better interest than they give to the poor man on the street ... like somebody said, if you are worth a 1000 $, the bank treats you like so, if you are worth 100 million then the bank treats you like a big partner ..

And to quote an ex-boss of mine, who had dropped the proceeds of his property sale, crossing over 14 mil, into a bank here, the banks had asked him to take the money out, or let the bank manage the money for other investmnet and all, since, for the bank, 14 mil sitting idle is a big headache for them, considering the interest .. so they prefer to add another 14 mil and ask the depositor to invest in something ..

[JR8]

What are you on Ecu?

You can stick 14m in a bank and do nothing with it, or invest it. It is no 'headache' for a bank either way as they're gonna be getting their margin off it.

[BillyB]

I believe MayBank iSavvy account has the best savings interest rate if you intend to just park your money in it.

Seriously, if you had a lot of money, and want to 'park' banks do give better interest than they give to the poor man on the street ... like somebody said, if you are worth a 1000 $, the bank treats you like so, if you are worth 100 million then the bank treats you like a big partner ..

And to quote an ex-boss of mine, who had dropped the proceeds of his property sale, crossing over 14 mil, into a bank here, the banks had asked him to take the money out, or let the bank manage the money for other investmnet and all, since, for the bank, 14 mil sitting idle is a big headache for them, considering the interest .. so they prefer to add another 14 mil and ask the depositor to invest in something ..

I think you'll find the context was probably - 'we want you to invest it in some product where we take a nice slice of commission'. The management of the branch where the account was held will be incentivised to allocate it into something else where the bank can take commission. Simple as that. If $14 mn is sitting in an account, the bank will still use it as capital that can be loaned out to people, thus they are still getting a return on the money. Just because your internet banking balance shows that there is $14 mn on screen doesn't mean its completely liquid and can be accessed immediately. Even on overnight inter-borrowing rates, banks will still squeeze some sort of return on their (your money) capital.

[ecureilx]

What are you on Ecu?

You can stick 14m in a bank and do nothing with it, or invest it. It is no 'headache' for a bank either way as they're gonna be getting their margin off it.

I am not on anything .. yet - its a sunday right ??:D

Well, I was observing the banks personal banking officer, trying to entice the depositor to pump some money into one of the banks investment projects - including a property they were eyeing in London ...

Maybe it was the banking officer having he headache of trying to explain to his bosses why the 14 mil is sitting nothing, instead of getting the depositor to work on a geared investment ..

Well, the bank I am referring to is an offshore bank and is into serious investment, and an European bank .. and I hope they haven't got money in Portugal .. or Spain ...

[JR8]

Ah I see.

Frankly I wouldn't stick a donkey-choker into the bank unless I was clear what I wanted to do with it (or not).

Then if some boy in an $80 suit had any ideas about my millions contrary to 'the plan', they can simply F off can't they.

[Splatted]

I think you will find that here in Singapore, most locals have about a dozen credit cards to take advantage of the numerous offers and discounts.

The other week we went for desserts at raffles city, and just out of curiosity we asked whether there were any promotions on for any credit cards. Turns out there was... pay for 2 crepes with X brand of credit card, and get the third for free. it was a huge saving at the time.

There seem to be quite a few of these types of offers wherever we go, be it dining or cinema.

[JR8]

And did you actually want a 3rd one, or just felt obliged to take it

[x9200]

if you think OCBC is # 1 - good

If you lived here long enough, you would know, DBS/POSB has ATMS in [..]

A bit off this part of the topic but I use both OCBC and DBS CCs (past for DBS) and the i-net banking and DBS just works this way that you have an overwhelming impression like they want to milk you out with every single opportunity they have. Example: If I pay OCBC CC or some other bills or transfer money to another OCBC account it is an instant process. In DBS "online" banking it can take days. I've been using OCBC for almost a decade now and actually I did not encountered any more serious issues. For DBS, only 3y experience and a No of issues already.

[James-83]

From my morning today I had problems with UOB, then HSBC, then OCBC all in the space of about 20-min so take your pick. My colleague has problems with AmEx (though i'll quantify that by confirming i know that it not a bank specifically) and Citi.

Banking service in SG is worse than in many places even some of those so called 3rd world places.

UOB seems to have the best exchange rates though. HSBC is good and bad. Good because its easily managable all over the world, bad because they know this and stiff you when they can.

[ksl]

You gotta be kidding .. It was and is 1,000 per withdrawal, and if you need to pull out 2,000- just do it twice - rarely did I have to withdraw so much, except when I had 'remittance'

Maximum daily withdrawal limit for DBS/POSB was and is 2,000, which you can increase by going to the bank and requesting / or sending the form to increase withdrawal limit ..

If you are referring to daily limit for foreign cards, in Singapore ATMs, no clue .. and not sure how it affects people living here ..

Yes I'm on about foreign debit cards...not Singaporean cards. I think they have set the limit down to screw the card holder on holiday, cash withdrawal is not cheap now. though its still free for purchasing goods.

[aster]

A few years back when the ATM gave you the option to debit your account in your home currency, it used to be worth it. Nowadays I've noticed that it's a major ripoff, and that it's better to skip this completely and have your bank back home do the conversion.

Seems like a lot of things are set-up according to the rip-off mentality, incl. international roaming rates, hospitals doing bogus overcharging, etc.