Checking Account Minimum Balances/Fees

[FordA55]

Hello All,

I did a fair bit of searching before posting, but apologies if this has been discussed before.

I'm moving to Singapore in about two weeks and am looking into bank accounts.

It seems that all of the banks that I have looked at (Citi, HSBC, DBS) have daily minimum balance requirements of S$3000-S$5000 dollars. Is there any way to get these lowered or waived (i.e using direct deposit, linked savings, ect.)?


Thanks!

[AngMoG]

A number of banks will waive the minimum balance requirement if you are receiving salary into that account.

[zzm9980]

POSB has an account that only requires $1000. And a lot of those banks you mention will look at "combined business". As counter-intuitive as it may seem to the consumer, if you don't meet the minimum balance but have a large outstanding loan balance (or credit card) that goes over that $5000 number, you're OK. Basically they're looking to make money about you, they're not concerned about your financial health.

[FordA55]

Thank you both!

As I told the HSBC rep that my company put me in touch with, "I'm not really worth much!"