opening a bank account

[andrewskg]

hello,
coming to Sg middle of July, PhD student (receiving stipend) from N.U.S.
I read somewhere that I need to present a statement of my current bank before I can open an account in a Singaporean bank, is this true? If so, what kind of document is this?

Any other hints and tips to share so I can save some time with the paperwork?

thanks

[katbh]

No, I do not believe you need this but no harm in bringing just in case. You usually can not open a standard account at a standard bank until you have a pass of some kind - a tourist pass is not enough. So when you have your student pass, or what ever pass you will be getting, you can simply go into a bank and they will open it on the spot - and give you a debit/atm card immediately.
If you do not have a pass to remain in Singapore (student pass, long term social visit pass work pass), there are only a few banks that will allow you to open an account and u usually need a larger deposit to do so.
Do not bother trying to use your home bank to set up account here (even if is HSBC or ANZ or another bank with a presence here), it will not work.

[andrewskg]

thanks for the reply, it all makes sense.