CaptHaddock Posted May 20, 2011 Share Posted May 20, 2011 JFC, As always, it comes down to analyzing your own expected costs carefully and deciding accordingly. In our case the interest differential on the HSBC Premier currently costs us USD 54 per year. That's from the portion of our account that earns HSBC Direct's current interest rate of 0.80% instead of the 0.90% we would have been earning at dollarsavingsdirect.com which is where our emergency cash fund would otherwise be. The brokerage portion costs us nothing since it has a long-term holding that we would otherwise keep at Vanguard. So, for us the HSBC Premier benefits come at a quite acceptable cost of USD 54 per year. For the credit cards, we never carry a balance and don't expect to spend much on the cards so neither the interest rate nor the cash-back rate matter to us. For some people those factors may be decisive. At any rate, keep up the good work on analyzing transaction costs, JFC. I particularly enjoyed your data on actual exchange rates in another thread. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jfchandler Posted May 20, 2011 Share Posted May 20, 2011 (edited) The sad part is, I had an HSBC account back a couple years ago when their regular liquid accounts, not CDs, were paying around 5% APR interest... To their credit, every time of the many times they've cut their interest rates down to now almost nothing, I still get HSBC emails saying, diplomatically, that they've yet again "adjusted" their rates to reflect the latest market conditions.... Most banks just cut their rates without individually notifying their customers at all, so I actually appreciate that HSBC does that...even though the news the past few years has been invariably bad. By the way, you can still do a fair bit better than 0.8 or 0.9% on liquid, insured accounts these days... Salem Five Bank in New England, a stable and well established bank, is currently running a promotion of 1.25% on balances up to $1 million with no catches or gotchas...guaranteed rate until April 2012... http://www.salemfive...hp/eone-savings http://www.salemfivedirect.com/index.php/special Alliant Credit Union, Discover Bank and American Express Bank each have 1.15% accounts, among national players... Even Cap One has a 1.15% savings account for Costco members. And then there are some less well known ones with rates that are a bit higher than 1.15% on liquid, insured accounts... Captain, have you actually done U.S.to Thailand international funds transfers via the HSBC Premier account? If you have, could you post on just how those work, and what kind of exchange rates you've received as of any particular date.... And are they really fee free? None on the U.S. end...none on the Thai end, no middlemen bank cuts???? Thanks very much.... Edited May 20, 2011 by jfchandler Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaptHaddock Posted May 21, 2011 Share Posted May 21, 2011 No, I haven't done any transfers yet. I am just now applying for the BKK account at HSBC since we will be moving there in Aug. I don't expect to do my first transfer for a month or two. Will let you know how it goes with full details. I was a little taken aback when I asked my relationship manager to start the process to open the BKK account and she mentioned that doing so requires a local address. They never mentioned that when we opened the Premier relationship. We'll use my sister-in-law's home address and hope that their verification procedures are not as rigorous as some of the US banks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jfchandler Posted May 21, 2011 Share Posted May 21, 2011 (edited) I remember when I talked to HSBC in BKK about Premier years ago at some length, that they also wanted some kind of address info... But it was nothing problematic....and I'd seriously doubt on the Thai end there's any kind of "verification" process for that... Basically, as far as Thai banking is concerned, to the best of my knowledge and experience, the banks postal mail virtually nothing to their customers... They want to know where you reside, but they don't actually send anything to you, by and large. PS - Welcome to Thailand in advance... Hope the move is a smooth one for you... For either good or bad depending on what a person makes of it, it's certainly a life-changing experience... Edited May 21, 2011 by jfchandler Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaptHaddock Posted May 21, 2011 Share Posted May 21, 2011 I remember when I talked to HSBC in BKK about Premier years ago at some length, that they also wanted some kind of address info... But it was nothing problematic....and I'd seriously doubt on the Thai end there's any kind of "verification" process for that... Basically, as far as Thai banking is concerned, to the best of my knowledge and experience, the banks postal mail virtually nothing to their customers... They want to know where you reside, but they don't actually send anything to you, by and large. PS - Welcome to Thailand in advance... Hope the move is a smooth one for you... For either good or bad depending on what a person makes of it, it's certainly a life-changing experience... Thanks for the welcome. My plan is to become fluent in Thai first. Seems like an obvious approach for any move to another culture. It also seems that much of the negative sentiment that we see on TV comes from those who are isolated by the language. One can only give it your best shot and then see how it goes. I gather that the subsequent changes in your life from the move have been positive? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jfchandler Posted May 21, 2011 Share Posted May 21, 2011 Happy as a clam.... Never had one day where I regretted moving... And, my life back in in the USA before moving was successful and fine.... I spent about a year seriously researching and preparing before I finally pulled the trigger...just in time for an early retirement visa. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chriskimpton Posted May 21, 2011 Share Posted May 21, 2011 do not use HSBC. Be aware that they do not adhere to the Fair Credit Billing Act in Thailand. If your card or identitiy is used at any time then HSBC will charge you 100% of the damage. This is why they want Premier customers because they can simply take the money from your 100k deposit. Do not do it. Cancel any HSBC risk you have. Better to keep your money under the matteress of a cheap Pattaya hotel than give it to these people. Please let anyone who might have a card know the risk they are in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jfchandler Posted May 21, 2011 Share Posted May 21, 2011 I don't know about HSBC Thailand... But the other day, because of this thread, I actually read through the terms and conditions document for the Premier accounts on the HSBC website for Singapore... And apart from having a very low insured deposit amount per account, $50,000 Singapore dollars, it also appeared to place all the liability and risk on the account holder... I just assumed that was the nature of Singapore's banking regulations.... Maybe not... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NALAK Posted May 21, 2011 Share Posted May 21, 2011 i have prem account absoutly useless, messages not returned, cant use card as it asks for post code on net to verify and i have thai postcode so cant use it. missed appointments by my persoonel manager, i just e mail CEO now and things get done. if this is how they treat people with a £140k investment gawd help the others Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jfchandler Posted May 21, 2011 Share Posted May 21, 2011 But can you transfer pounds from the UK to baht in Thailand via HSBC online banking for free....and really not pay any fees...and get a good exchange rate? That ought to be worth 140,000 pounds... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patronus Posted May 21, 2011 Share Posted May 21, 2011 do not use HSBC. Be aware that they do not adhere to the Fair Credit Billing Act in Thailand. If your card or identitiy is used at any time then HSBC will charge you 100% of the damage. This is why they want Premier customers because they can simply take the money from your 100k deposit. Do not do it. Cancel any HSBC risk you have. Better to keep your money under the matteress of a cheap Pattaya hotel than give it to these people. Please let anyone who might have a card know the risk they are in. You must be some sort of <deleted> with a grudge against this bank. They are probably the most respected (slight misnomer when talking about banks) international banks. I believe the Fair Credit Billing is particular to USA ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KoreaElte Posted May 22, 2011 Share Posted May 22, 2011 I remember when I talked to HSBC in BKK about Premier years ago at some length, that they also wanted some kind of address info... But it was nothing problematic....and I'd seriously doubt on the Thai end there's any kind of "verification" process for that... Basically, as far as Thai banking is concerned, to the best of my knowledge and experience, the banks postal mail virtually nothing to their customers... They want to know where you reside, but they don't actually send anything to you, by and large. HSBC BKK do conduct some due diligence but it will not include your Thai address. They use http://www.world-check.com/overview/ and run your data through there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KoreaElte Posted May 22, 2011 Share Posted May 22, 2011 do not use HSBC. Be aware that they do not adhere to the Fair Credit Billing Act in Thailand. If your card or identitiy is used at any time then HSBC will charge you 100% of the damage. This is why they want Premier customers because they can simply take the money from your 100k deposit. Do not do it. Cancel any HSBC risk you have. Better to keep your money under the matteress of a cheap Pattaya hotel than give it to these people. Please let anyone who might have a card know the risk they are in. That blanket statement is not accurate. I use HSBC Premier in 4 jurisdictions around the world and had lost my wallet and on one occasion I had HSBC cards skimmed in Malaysia a few years back. HSBC had my back in all cases. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ExpatJ Posted May 22, 2011 Share Posted May 22, 2011 Main benefit for me with HSBC Prem is being able to open accounts in other countries very easily- just set up an account in singapore with no paperwork- just signed a form and they did it all for me from Bangkok. I move countries alot so being able to open a local bank account before i arrive helps. In Bangkok, HSBC prem have just opened a new branch- for prem customers only in Thong lor soi 8 ish- so thats handy, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jfchandler Posted May 22, 2011 Share Posted May 22, 2011 In Bangkok, HSBC prem have just opened a new branch- for prem customers only in Thong lor soi 8 ish- so thats handy, That's interesting... I wonder how they're able to do that...given Thailand's rule about foreign banks being limited to one branch location in country..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ExpatJ Posted May 25, 2011 Share Posted May 25, 2011 In Bangkok, HSBC prem have just opened a new branch- for prem customers only in Thong lor soi 8 ish- so thats handy, That's interesting... I wonder how they're able to do that...given Thailand's rule about foreign banks being limited to one branch location in country..... Perhaps they were able to get around the definition of a branch by making it for premmier customers only?? not sure though.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mangomango Posted September 14, 2011 Share Posted September 14, 2011 HSBC Thailand internet banking SMART local transfer only availbale to resident account. For non-resident account, can use only BAHTNET transfer. But BAHTNET charge 100Baht each time, SMART charge only 12baht. Anyone have experience on doing local banks transfer by HSBC Thailand internet banking? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rubin Posted September 14, 2011 Share Posted September 14, 2011 Maybe one of the HSBC account holders here can explain something about this... To qualify for Premier status in the USA, HSBC wants total deposits with the bank of $100,000 U.S. $. And yet, even with that amount on deposit, their interest rates on all their various accounts are pitifully low.... Parking $100K with them earning virtually nothing is a huge waste of potential earnings.... So the question is.... why in the world would anyone park that kind of money with HSBC to obtain Premier status when you could be earning far more with the same amount of funds in any number of other safe, government insured investments? And where are they supposed to keep tneir money? Under mattress? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
london Posted September 14, 2011 Share Posted September 14, 2011 I always found HSBC (all services) to be expensive. Frankly, for the services that I use, Bangkok Bank is as good as any and also UOB. I have accounts at Barclays (quite expensive too) and ANZ (rip-off merchants !!!!) and would not recommend them to anyone. Necessity, unfortunately ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaptHaddock Posted September 17, 2011 Share Posted September 17, 2011 (edited) HSBC Thailand internet banking SMART local transfer only availbale to resident account. For non-resident account, can use only BAHTNET transfer. But BAHTNET charge 100Baht each time, SMART charge only 12baht. Anyone have experience on doing local banks transfer by HSBC Thailand internet banking? Yes, but actually it's a little worse than that. With my non-resident account here at HSBC Thailand, on a third-party payment I will be charged an outgoing 100 (or 150) baht by HSBC and another 100 baht by the receiving bank. So, that means each payment to a third party will have an overhead of 250 baht. Our solution is to open a Bangkok Bank account into which we will do one transfer per month, costing 250 baht, and then pay local bils out of the Bangkok Bank account at the lower transaction fee. Alternatively, I could transfer the money from my own HSBC Thailand (non-resident) account to my wife's HSBC Thailand (resident) account, presumably at no cost, and she could pay the bills. Another discovery about the resident/non-resident account issue. Because I have a non-Imm O visa (NOT the O-A), but do not have a work permit, I am not eligible for the resident account. So no interest on the balance, but I don't plan to keep much there anyway. In response to jfchandler's earlier question, transfers from HSBC US to HSBC Thailand do appear to be free of transaction costs on both ends. In addition, if the transfer is >= USD 5000 they automatically give it the "best rate." I think this is the TT rate, but am not sure. On 9/6/2011 I did a transfer with a rate of USD 1 = 29.8000417. On 9/6/2011 I got USD 1 = THB 30.0100233. In both cases the transfer was > USD 5000 and took two days, but it might have gone faster if I had done it earlier in the day US time. Not sure about that since it wasn't important. Also, HSBC does not provide for initiating payments to third parties at the ATM. Must be done online or by phone. Does not happen in realtime. If initiated before 1:00 PM transfer will occur next day. I find the Premier service both in person and on the phone in Thailand to be adequate. They pick up the phone quickly and call back promptly. Their advice is not always consistent, but that was true in the US also. In person there hasn't been any wait time to see a representative. Edited September 17, 2011 by CaptHaddock Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aurelius Posted September 17, 2011 Share Posted September 17, 2011 [quote name='CaptHaddock' timestamp='1316230848' post='4703054' Another discovery about the resident/non-resident account issue. Because I have a non-Imm O visa (NOT the O-A), but do not have a work permit, I am not eligible for the resident account. So no interest on the balance, but I don't plan to keep much there anyway. I'm not sure if this is HSBC policy or not; but certainly at Bangkok Bank non-Imm O is treated the same as a regular Thai for opening a savings a/c and it pays interest for sure. (The Non Resident Baht Account is only opened for particular investment purposes, has no ATM card or internet banking and can only do transactions at the HO branch - this is not a common account at all. ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaptHaddock Posted September 17, 2011 Share Posted September 17, 2011 I'm not sure if this is HSBC policy or not; but certainly at Bangkok Bank non-Imm O is treated the same as a regular Thai for opening a savings a/c and it pays interest for sure. (The Non Resident Baht Account is only opened for particular investment purposes, has no ATM card or internet banking and can only do transactions at the HO branch - this is not a common account at all. ) My non-resident savings account at HSBC comes with both internet/phone banking and an ATM card. ATM charges when using the card at non-HSBC atms are reimbursed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
asiaexpat Posted September 19, 2011 Share Posted September 19, 2011 I opened several accounts at HSBC Thailand in 2007. They would not allow a resident account so I opened non-resident accounts. No one explaned that there would not be interest paid on the accounts or that later, I could not change them to Resident accounts. The online service is very limited and they have made mistakes when I pay for Bahtnet transfers. However, the premier account is the best I have found for banking in both USA and Thailand when a lot of money is being transfered to Thailand. I found that I must ask a lot of questions to get answers that make sense. ALso, there are just two premier locatoins in Thailand. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trajan Posted January 10, 2012 Share Posted January 10, 2012 is all of this discussion moot? I understand that early this year (2012) HSBC is selling its Thai operations to Bank of Audyha (1/3 owned by GE Capital)... http://mobile.bloomberg.com/news/2011-12-30/hsbc-s-sale-of-thai-unit-shows-priority-is-scale-not-geography Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chiang mai Posted January 11, 2012 Share Posted January 11, 2012 is all of this discussion moot? I understand that early this year (2012) HSBC is selling its Thai operations to Bank of Audyha (1/3 owned by GE Capital)... http://mobile.bloomb...e-not-geography Credit card and personal loans divisions only. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chiang mai Posted January 11, 2012 Share Posted January 11, 2012 (edited) Sorry, I'm too late to edit the previous post - According to HSBC locally it's still somewhat unclear but the odds are that it will ALL be sold, bummer! Edited January 11, 2012 by chiang mai Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trajan Posted January 11, 2012 Share Posted January 11, 2012 (edited) from the reports, I understand that HSBC is selling its retail operations in Thailand... http://www.bangkokpo...ending-approval if that's the case, yes, the discussions here about HSBC locally are moot Edited January 11, 2012 by trajan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trajan Posted January 11, 2012 Share Posted January 11, 2012 another article http://www.boosharticles.com/34405/hsbc-to-sell-thai-retail-business-for-1-28-billion-www-hsbc-com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chiang mai Posted January 11, 2012 Share Posted January 11, 2012 from the reports, I understand that HSBC is selling its retail operations in Thailand... http://www.bangkokpo...ending-approval if that's the case, yes, the discussions here about HSBC locally are moot I don't understand the following extract from the Bangkok Post: "HSBC still plans to expand its branches in Thailand, as per its global strategy" It's selling its business but it's expanding its branch network in Thailand???. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trajan Posted January 12, 2012 Share Posted January 12, 2012 (edited) I don't understand the following extract from the Bangkok Post: "HSBC still plans to expand its branches in Thailand, as per its global strategy" It's selling its business but it's expanding its branch network in Thailand???. I dont understand that reference either...details are often lost in the news articles...if HSBC will only concentrate on commercial banking, there wont be a need for a retail branch network... Edited January 12, 2012 by trajan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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