Hsbc In Bangkok

[probert]

Hi all,

I am wondering, has anyone any experience with the one and only HSBC in Bangkok.

Has anyone opened an account there ? If so how easy or hard was it ? Or maybe this is only a commercial branch and not for personal banking.

If anyone has any info that would most helpful.

Thanks in advance.

[prefabs]

I have used it several times and always enjoyed the experience. Everyone I dealt with spoke good English, no problems at all

[probert]

I have used it several times and always enjoyed the experience. Everyone I dealt with spoke good English, no problems at all

Hi, thanks for the reply. What was the criteria to open an account, or were you just using another service ?

Thanks

[prefabs]

I have an HSBC Premier Account in Singapore, but will be opening one also in BKK just shortly. Tell the truth, I hope that my type O visa,, my letter from immigration showing place of residence and also my Singapore account details will be all that I need

[SantiSuk]

I'm a UK HSBC Premier customer and opened Bangkok accounts in December. They have a special floor for Premier customers and treat you very personably when you walk in. Lots of bowing and scraping if you're into an ego trip.

However, getting to operate the accounts electronically means jumping through successive hoops of mail receipts and mail replies - first for the ATM card, then for telephone banking and then for internet banking. It seems unnecessarily bureaucratic compared to the UK and why it has to be done in this successive waves fashion eludes me. I still haven't quite reached the end of their process after 2 months though I suspect it would be easier if I were not in the sticks where 10% of mail seems to go missing or gets delivered very late.

Yes prefabs, that's all you will need. They can access your details immediately once they have your home territory HSBC bank details. Passport needed as well of course

[KunMatt]

If I opened a HSBC account in the UK, would it be easy enough to transfer money into the one in Bangkok? Or would you get the usual bank charges at both ends, and few days processing?

Also, what about exchange rates between the banks?

As far as I understand it, the HSBC in Thailand does not operate the same as the ones in Singapore, it's like a different banking company. Any info on that?

Edited February 14, 2011 by UKMatt

[probert]

Thanks for all your replies on this.

[SaratogaRay]

If you have an account in the UK or any where you can open a global acc to your BKK debit acc and transfer funds etc.

[Mobi]

I'm a UK HSBC Premier customer and opened Bangkok accounts in December. They have a special floor for Premier customers and treat you very personably when you walk in. Lots of bowing and scraping if you're into an ego trip.

However, getting to operate the accounts electronically means jumping through successive hoops of mail receipts and mail replies - first for the ATM card, then for telephone banking and then for internet banking. It seems unnecessarily bureaucratic compared to the UK and why it has to be done in this successive waves fashion eludes me. I still haven't quite reached the end of their process after 2 months though I suspect it would be easier if I were not in the sticks where 10% of mail seems to go missing or gets delivered very late.

Yes prefabs, that's all you will need. They can access your details immediately once they have your home territory HSBC bank details. Passport needed as well of course

I had to go through a similar bureaucratic process to set up my internet banking with Kasikorn, but ATM cards only take about 10 minutes and are issued by hand to me at the bank as soon as the account is opened. Even if I lose it, I can go to any branch with my passport and passbook and within 10 minutes I am issued with a new ATM card.

A friend is moving to Thailand and is determined to open an account with HSBC, even though I understand that bank does not issue passbooks, (is that correct?) and that the absence of one will make matters a little difficult for him when applying for a retirement visa.(Immigration like to have a copy of the passbook so that they can review the level of financial activity over the past few months).

He will be living in Pattaya so I assume he will have to go to Bangkok to obtain his bank letter that supports his visa application.

Finally as there are few , if any branches of HSBC, I assume that every time he uses his ATM card at a local bank he will incur a fee - or are there places he can go in Pattaya (or elsewhere in LOS) where he can obtain 'fee-free' cash withdrawals.

To my knowledge he doesn't currently hold any overseas account with HSBC so I just can't understand his obsession with opening an account with HSBC rather than a normal Thai bank.

Are transfer charges and other bank fees cheaper than at Thai banks? Or is it just down to snobbery and/or mistrust of Thai institutions? Can someone enlighten me of any advantages of banking at HSBC vs local Thai banks? Thanks.

[BigJohnnyBKK]

Each country bank of an international bank is set up as a completely separate bank, and I've yet to find one that actually makes it any easier or cheaper to transfer between accounts at their overseas locations compared to doing so between unrelated banks - SWIFT is SWIFT. My experience is with Citibank and HSBC (and Chase a long time ago).

If anyone knows different, please advise FFR.

I have had very good experiences from a customer-service point of view with Thanachart, UOB and Kasikorn. The latter is very convenient for having many branches all over Thailand (used to be "Thai Farmer Bank"). While Bangkok Bank has the same advantage, I find them to be overly bureaucratic and not as customer oriented.

I doubt if there will be any practical advantage using HSBC, and if there isn't a branch local to where he will be living he will occasionally be inconvenienced. From a financial security POV my recommendation would be "don't put all your eggs in one basket", so keeping the bulk of his Thai funds in HSBC and few month's worth at one of the others I mentioned would be a good solution.

If possible, open your account at a branch located in a shopping center that keeps extended hours seven days a week. Some transactions require visiting the "home branch" of your account.

[clinique]

If I opened a HSBC account in the UK, would it be easy enough to transfer money into the one in Bangkok? Or would you get the usual bank charges at both ends, and few days processing?

Also, what about exchange rates between the banks?

As far as I understand it, the HSBC in Thailand does not operate the same as the ones in Singapore, it's like a different banking company. Any info on that?

From experience with HSBc funds transfer between overseas branches normally reach your account the same day, indeed within hours, only subject to the time difference between the countries and any central bank requirements/limits.

Oh and there are always transfer fees that apply..

Edited February 15, 2011 by clinique