Get Rid Of Your Local Bank! Go For Offshore Banking: Hsbc. Apply Online Here

[ColinChapman]

Can anyone tell what I'm doing wrong? For several weeks I have been seeing this message or similar when I view Thai Visa:

Get rid of your local bank! Go for offshore banking: HSBC. Apply online here

Obviously, HSBC sounds like a better bet than Thai local banks (possibly even "too big to fail"!), but whenever I click on the link it takes me to a blank white page. I have just tried it again and the URL of the page is:

http://www.kqzyfj.com/click-1489051-10708631/

but I can't remember if it is always this URL.

Have I got a virus or is something in my computer's set up wrong?

P. S. There is another link there at the moment which says:

Unlimited calls from/to and within Thailand (incl. mobiles) from 199 Baht/month

But the same thing happens if I click on it, except the URL of the blank page is different:

http://www.kqzyfj.com/click-1489051-10576928

[roiethome]

Have also been seeing these appear over the past few weeks. Just thought they were another advirt and never took any notice of them

[Slaps]

Both links work for me Col, bkk, True

[onlooker]

Both links work for me upcountry on TOT ASDL.

HSBC link: http://www.offshore.hsbc.com/1/2/internati...B_2009_06_AF_CJ

But you need to deposit GBP 60,000 minimum to sing up for an Offshore account. So for many expats I think a regular Thai bank account will do the job.

[Warlock]

60.000 GBP for premier account, you can start basic account with 10.000, but if you have basic you have to pay 25 gbp monthly

[ColinChapman]

Thanks for that Onlooker, your link works for me. Sadly, your assessment of my financial status is also accurate!

[Soutpeel]

Thanks for that Onlooker, your link works for me. Sadly, your assessment of my financial status is also accurate!

Go and have a look at Citi International Personal banking in Singapore, you can get an offshore account set up for US$ 20,000 and they are far better than HSBC, this is based on personal experience....

[brd]

60.000 GBP for premier account, you can start basic account with 10.000, but if you have basic you have to pay 25 gbp monthly

entrusting money those days to any bank that becomes theirs not yours any more including HSBC offshore better you keep a close look at it and not to pick one far especially offshore from where you live. 35 years of banking internationally none to recommend in particular except knowing yourself seriously what you need one for but Bangkok Bank Head Office I must say is offering excellent services as an example.

[chiang mai]

60.000 GBP for premier account, you can start basic account with 10.000, but if you have basic you have to pay 25 gbp monthly

£50,000 if you open in the UK but Bangkok, Hong Kong and Singapore are progressively more expensive.

[YanTree]

I've been HSBC premier for years - love it - would never bank anywhere else. Once you meet the minimum premier requirement in one location there is no minimum for others. In Bangkok it is 3,000,000 THB. In Singapore it is 150,000 Sing $ I believe. It seems pegged to be right around USD$100,000.

You have a personal relationship manager which is great for numerous reasons. The facilities are also top notch when you go into the branch. Premier has a separate area with nice seats and plasma TV's, newspapers and they serve you drinks while you wait. Also very private teller.

I could go on, but if you can afford it I promise you will not be disappointed with HSBC Premier.

hsbc.co.th

hsbc.com.sg

offshore.hsbc.com should all be able to point you in the right direction. I know they have offices around the UK in various locations.

http://www.thaivisa.com/hsbc

[YanTree]

One thing to keep in mind though is they are not all one bank, they are separate. Because you are an HSBC Offshore or HSBC Premier customer in one country does not mean you can go in and conduct normal business in them all. You need to open up separate accounts in those various countries. There are some services that overlap but not the major ones. If you open up accounts in multiple countries and meet the minimum Premier requirement in one of them though, there are no fee's or minimums for the others - and you can link your accounts and make pretty easy transfers between accounts online.

[aussiebebe]

The OP sounds like pop-ups are blocked on the PC; if you want to open an account just use google to find the homepage.

I've been HSBC premier for years - love it - would never bank anywhere else. Once you meet the minimum premier requirement in one location there is no minimum for others. In Bangkok it is 3,000,000 THB. In Singapore it is 150,000 Sing $ I believe. It seems pegged to be right around USD$100,000.

Well, yes, HSBC.com does read: 'To qualify for an HSBC Premier relationship, you need to open an HSBC Premier checking account and maintain $100,000 in combined U.S. personal deposit and investment balances.' However, if you check the less-than-market-leading interest rates on current and fixed accounts you'll surely see that you are paying for the benefits and service, through the nose.

[YanTree]

The OP sounds like pop-ups are blocked on the PC; if you want to open an account just use google to find the homepage.

I've been HSBC premier for years - love it - would never bank anywhere else. Once you meet the minimum premier requirement in one location there is no minimum for others. In Bangkok it is 3,000,000 THB. In Singapore it is 150,000 Sing $ I believe. It seems pegged to be right around USD$100,000.

Well, yes, HSBC.com does read: 'To qualify for an HSBC Premier relationship, you need to open an HSBC Premier checking account and maintain $100,000 in combined U.S. personal deposit and investment balances.' However, if you check the less-than-market-leading interest rates on current and fixed accounts you'll surely see that you are paying for the benefits and service, through the nose.

Yes the interest rates do suck. For certain of their customers though, I suspect this is an okay tradeoff for the benefits an offshore account provides. Besides, no bank is paying a good interest rate these days. If your objective is to make your money work for you, parking it in cash is a pretty terrible decision.

[PattayaParent]

60.000 GBP for premier account, you can start basic account with 10.000, but if you have basic you have to pay 25 gbp monthly

This is going to change from 1 April.

There will still be an 'underfunding fee' of 25 Quid monthly if you're under the 25k 'relationship balance' with HSBC but you will also have to pay 15 Quid monthly for the privelidge of having a current account with them, unless you are a Premier customer.

[thaidrew]

Speaking personally all I can say is that the level of service supplied is a long way from the level of service promised. Much the same applies to their transfers between branches that are free, so they are if you want to transfer about $5000, any more and, it is either not possible to do without paying for their staff and associated heavy costs, or fill out a mountain of paperwork.

You also need much patience if you try to call the '24 hour line' sure it works, providing that you can press the appropriate buttons quick enough to avoid having to repeat the whole process because "sorry your call has been terminated through lack of response". And even if you do get to speak to a human, you will be told to call again when your relationship manager is available. I have had accounts with them in 3 countries and have closed all. My stress levels are now lower, as opposed to my balance which is higher!!! Good Luck. You will need it!

[PattayaParent]

^never had those problems with them.

I'm told I'm allowed to transfer GBP100,000 per day between HSBC accounts using Internet Banking, although I've never tried it but have transferred GBP20k with no problem and no charges before.

And I get through as soon as I call them, and they are extremely helpful.

I hope the new bank I'm transferring to will be half as good.

[YanTree]

thaidrew,

I never had those problems either. Since you mention relationship manager I gather you were premier. I've never been able to get my relationship manager on the phone by directly calling in but they've always had people available who could answer my questions - and the one time I needed my RM she called me back within an hour.

Regards to the transfers, if you do that stuff online the maximums are much higher and you don't need to fill out any paperwork. Just get the security device and do not lose it (!!) and use that and you should never need to fill out paperwork for any kind of transfer, ever.

[YanTree]

And I get through as soon as I call them, and they are extremely helpful.

Ya, and this. I think thaidrew might have been calling the main HSBC support center. Call the Premier center if you are a Premier customer, you get through faster and they speak better English/are smarter. Though I still haven't upgraded to Premier in another country (laziness) and have to deal with general support. It is pretty simple. Press 1, Press 1, Press 2, 'here is my account number and my name - here is my problem - thanks, goodbye'. Not that difficult. Perhaps English is not your first language? lol

[Bizz]

And I get through as soon as I call them, and they are extremely helpful.

Ya, and this. I think thaidrew might have been calling the main HSBC support center. Call the Premier center if you are a Premier customer, you get through faster and they speak better English/are smarter. Though I still haven't upgraded to Premier in another country (laziness) and have to deal with general support. It is pretty simple. Press 1, Press 1, Press 2, 'here is my account number and my name - here is my problem - thanks, goodbye'. Not that difficult. Perhaps English is not your first language? lol

as a matter of interest what rate of interest is paid on these accounts.

[PattayaParent]

And I get through as soon as I call them, and they are extremely helpful.

Ya, and this. I think thaidrew might have been calling the main HSBC support center. Call the Premier center if you are a Premier customer, you get through faster and they speak better English/are smarter. Though I still haven't upgraded to Premier in another country (laziness) and have to deal with general support. It is pretty simple. Press 1, Press 1, Press 2, 'here is my account number and my name - here is my problem - thanks, goodbye'. Not that difficult. Perhaps English is not your first language? lol

I call the main support centre and have no problems with them, and I'm not a Premier customer.

Just get the security device and do not lose it (!!)

What security device????

[PattayaParent]

as a matter of interest what rate of interest is paid on these accounts.

<deleted> all

[Naam]

What security device????

there are different ones from one major company. i work with these devices since years.

[PattayaParent]

^ I don't have one from HSBC.

[Naam]

^ I don't have one from HSBC.

neither do i. but i have one from CS, one from UBS and one from EFG.

[Forethat]

What security device????

there are different ones from one major company. i work with these devices since years.

How on earth can you be spending money on that <deleted>, I bet some expats are having a ball spending your money right now!

[YanTree]

^ I don't have one from HSBC.

Strange. I have HSBC in three countries and all have issued a security device to me. It is for internet banking. I can't logon to my internet banking account without this device. They also issue me a phone banking PIN that I must have in order to do anything with my account over the phone. Losing either my security device or my phone banking PIN, especially while traveling, has been the source of an extreme amount of stress in my life. They will under no circumstances allow you to do anything with your account without them. Do not lose them (should they ever be issued to you).

In regards to interest, at present, it is effectively 0. Before interest rates crashed they were competitive with places like INGDirect, though a bit lower.

Maybe they are not for everybody but I could not be more happy with them, unless maybe if they included a free special massage with one of their office girls each time I visit the branch.

[YanTree]

What security device????

there are different ones from one major company. i work with these devices since years.

How on earth can you be spending money on that <deleted>, I bet some expats are having a ball spending your money right now!

I'm not sure what you meant but I don't think you understand what those are. When you logon to internet banking you have a username and a password - then it asks you for the number from your security device. You press the button and it issues a random number that you then enter into the computer. Without that device and the number, you cannot logon. It ensures that it is actually you logging on.

You can't use it to access your account or "spend money" in any other way - and it doesn't cost anything, they are issued free when you open your account. There are companies other than banks that issue these as well, such as online poker sites.

[PattayaParent]

I'm not sure what you meant but I don't think you understand what those are. When you logon to internet banking you have a username and a password - then it asks you for the number from your security device. You press the button and it issues a random number that you then enter into the computer. Without that device and the number, you cannot logon. It ensures that it is actually you logging on.

You can't use it to access your account or "spend money" in any other way - and it doesn't cost anything, they are issued free when you open your account. There are companies other than banks that issue these as well, such as online poker sites.

Well I don't have one and I log on to HSBC Internet Banking and transfer money by entering my user name and password.

In fact when logging on the screen displays a virtual QWERTY keyboard for entering the password, why would they need that if they require numbers only?

[YanTree]

I'm not sure what you meant but I don't think you understand what those are. When you logon to internet banking you have a username and a password - then it asks you for the number from your security device. You press the button and it issues a random number that you then enter into the computer. Without that device and the number, you cannot logon. It ensures that it is actually you logging on.

You can't use it to access your account or "spend money" in any other way - and it doesn't cost anything, they are issued free when you open your account. There are companies other than banks that issue these as well, such as online poker sites.

Well I don't have one and I log on to HSBC Internet Banking and transfer money by entering my user name and password.

In fact when logging on the screen displays a virtual QWERTY keyboard for entering the password, why would they need that if they require numbers only?

Must be by account type. I would imagine the reason is that in Thailand Premier customers use the security device and non-Premier customers do not. In other countries everybody gets the security device (I'm guessing) because I'm not Premier everywhere and I have the device everywhere.

The login page is not username and password. It is username first, then it takes you to the next page for password. I'm sure that is how they sort the two account types. Yours goes to the QWERTY page and mine goes to a password+security device page. Same way they sort us in the branch. You go downstairs to sit in stiff chairs and wait for your number to be called. I go upstairs and sit in plush chairs and have coffee served to me by hot chics while I wait

[PattayaParent]

Must be by account type. I would imagine the reason is that in Thailand Premier customers use the security device and non-Premier customers do not. In other countries everybody gets the security device (I'm guessing) because I'm not Premier everywhere and I have the device everywhere.

The login page is not username and password. It is username first, then it takes you to the next page for password. I'm sure that is how they sort the two account types. Yours goes to the QWERTY page and mine goes to a password+security device page. Same way they sort us in the branch. You go downstairs to sit in stiff chairs and wait for your number to be called. I go upstairs and sit in plush chairs and have coffee served to me by hot chics while I wait

Yes, quite correct.

Username first and then a page to enter 2 passwords.

So it's maybe 'cos you're a Premier and I'm not.