Open a personal bank account in SG/HK 2023

[Mimimel]

Hi, i will be soon in hong kong and Singapour for few day and i need recommandation about bank, agency, banker, documents needed etc.. for open an a personal account fastly in person. (i prefer to open in SG than HK)

About my situation : malta/panama residency + french passport and for start i would like to deposit maximum 50-100k$ to an multicurenccy account.

i would like to know if :

- Someone have recently do this in 2023 or end of 2022 ?
- What documents can be needed for a non resident ?
- Any usefull infos about, bank branch foreigner friendly, banker or contact

Thank you.

 

[Sols]

You'll struggle if 100,000 USD is a firm upper limit.

In Singapore, I think only UOB will consider non-residents for amounts under 100,000. The other two of the big local banks (OCBC and DBS) want 150-250,000 minimum.

In Hong Kong, you can try OCBC Wing Hang, DBS, Dah Sing, Citibank, Standard Chartered, and CMB Wing Lung. The usual minimum for wealth management (which is what's required to open a personal account most of the time nowadays) is one million HKD.

Contact the banks ahead of time to make an appointment. Focus on wealth management and private banking options. That usually works better as you might be able to get a lot of the onboarding process done remotely. They'll also let you know which documents to bring in person.

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This is the probably the answer to your question.

 

[Mimimel]

Sols said:
You'll struggle if 100,000 USD is a firm upper limit.

In Singapore, I think only UOB will consider non-residents for amounts under 100,000. The other two of the big local banks (OCBC and DBS) want 150-250,000 minimum.

In Hong Kong, you can try OCBC Wing Hang, DBS, Dah Sing, Citibank, Standard Chartered, and CMB Wing Lung. The usual minimum for wealth management (which is what's required to open a personal account most of the time nowadays) is one million HKD.

Contact the banks ahead of time to make an appointment. Focus on wealth management and private banking options. That usually works better as you might be able to get a lot of the onboarding process done remotely. They'll also let you know which documents to bring in person.
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Thanks for the reply, I might reconsider my deposit, after that if we just have to leave the funds 24 hours I can put more, but I would never leave 200-300k on a new account it's too risky.

 

[JustAnotherNomad]

Just out of curiosity, why do you want to open an account there? If you have EU residency + EU passport, shouldn't there be many other options? Like IBKR?

 

[Sols]

Mimimel said:
Thanks for the reply, I might reconsider my deposit, after that if we just have to leave the funds 24 hours I can put more, but I would never leave 200-300k on a new account it's too risky.
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After a while of just charging you a higher monthly penalty fee, they will close your account if you don't keep the minimum deposit. Maybe banking in HK or SG just isn't a good fit.

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This is the probably the answer to your question.

 

[Mimimel]

JustAnotherNomad said:
Just out of curiosity, why do you want to open an account there? If you have EU residency + EU passport, shouldn't there be many other options? Like IBKR?
Click to expand...

I need multicurrency and diversification. I already have enough accounts in Europe and the US

Sols said:
After a while of just charging you a higher monthly penalty fee, they will close your account if you don't keep the minimum deposit. Maybe banking in HK or SG just isn't a good fit.
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That why i need a small deposit to 50-100K im not looking a saving account, just a checking acc for use it in asia, with asian currency. At 200-300K I don't know how much they offering in interest rate but I don't think it will be any better than what I already have.

 

[Sols]

Mimimel said:
That why i need a small deposit to 50-100K im not looking a saving account, just a checking acc for use it in asia, with asian currency. At 200-300K I don't know how much they offering in interest rate but I don't think it will be any better than what I already have.
Click to expand...

Banks in HK and SG don't open accounts for non-residents like that anymore. The regulatory climate has changed. In most cases, the risk/reward calculation just doesn't make sense anymore for opening regular retail banking for non-residents.

If you just need a checking account with local currency, maybe an EMI/non-bank financial institution is a better fit? Wise, Revolut, Airwallex, Currenxie, and so on.

Toggle signature
This is the probably the answer to your question.

 

[Mimimel]

Sols said:
Banks in HK and SG don't open accounts for non-residents like that anymore. The regulatory climate has changed. In most cases, the risk/reward calculation just doesn't make sense anymore for opening regular retail banking for non-residents.

If you just need a checking account with local currency, maybe an EMI/non-bank financial institution is a better fit? Wise, Revolut, Airwallex, Currenxie, and so on.
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It is a bad news, maybe be here on this forum some introducer or contact to bypass this, but probably low chance. About EMI not fan too many problems. i use airwallex/currenxie but they do not propose personal acc, it is only for business purpose.

 

[lacomaco]

Mimimel said:
Thanks for the reply, I might reconsider my deposit, after that if we just have to leave the funds 24 hours I can put more, but I would never leave 200-300k on a new account it's too risky.
Click to expand...

DBS is one of safest banks in the world. You can of course think that keeping EUR 250,000 there is risky, but then I do not know which bank is your preferred bank for safety - maybe Pictet or Lombard Odier but otherwise...

 

[Mimimel]

lacomaco said:
DBS is one of safest banks in the world. You can of course think that keeping EUR 250,000 there is risky, but then I do not know which bank is your preferred bank for safety - maybe Pictet or Lombard Odier but otherwise...
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The safety of the bank is not an issue. It is just that i dont like to put 200-300k on the same place even if the bank is totally safe. I prefer to split on different banks.

 

[Moonlighter]

These banks have brokerage options and you could put your funds into a money market fund. SDIC is fairly low at S$75,000 and if you hold investments it counts towards your AUM.

DBS has one of the highest liquidity coverage ratios in the industry and is one of the largest Asian banks. Very unlikely it will go bust.