Recently tried opening up an account in HK with HSBC and was told that they they won't accept a Thai address.

Anyone else had this issue?

Some questions.

Did you walk into a branch and ask or did you try to do it online?

Do you have an HSBC account in say the UK with a UK address?

Do you have a friend with an address in HK?

Is it for any particular purpose eg purchasing a property or just opening a deposit account?

Perhaps it breaches an anti-compete agreement that HSBC reached with Krungsri (the bank that those b_st_rds at HSBC sold us up the river to).

I doubt if you can open first time with an Thai address, I opened an account in 2010, but had to verify HK address and a letter from my employer, I then left in 2011 and changed address to Thai , no problems there.

Some questions.

Did you walk into a branch and ask or did you try to do it online?

Do you have an HSBC account in say the UK with a UK address?

Do you have a friend with an address in HK?

Is it for any particular purpose eg purchasing a property or just opening a deposit account?

Opening a company where I am the director. HK based accountant handling it all and that is what he told us.

I had no problem opening a HSBC Hong Kong account. I walked into the branch at HKG airport, gave my passport and a copy of proof of address (thai) which was issued by the British Embassy here in Bangkok. I guess the key is the proof of address.

It was one of the easiest experiences I have ever had with a bank.

Now it's all set up, everything is done online. However I receive paper statements to my Thai address.

When you do open the account, be mindful where you withdraw money. BBL used to charge 50 THB, however this recently jumped to 150 THB, inline with other banks, UOB charge 50 THB but their ATMs are not as widespread.

Some questions.

Did you walk into a branch and ask or did you try to do it online?

Do you have an HSBC account in say the UK with a UK address?

Do you have a friend with an address in HK?

Is it for any particular purpose eg purchasing a property or just opening a deposit account?

Opening a company where I am the director. HK based accountant handling it all and that is what he told us.

In general that is the case but if you follow what LDNBKK has suggested further on PLUS you provide documentation re your company formation in HK then you have a chance. The second issue is whether you have a UK Premier account or not. If you do then you can go and open an account in the HSBC Premier branch in Terminal 1. If you don't then go to the standard account customer branch in Terminal 2. As long as you have a UK Premier account then you can use Premier facilities in HK even if you have a lesser status account. The Advance account requires a min deposit/savings of HKD 200,000. Premier HKD1million. Once you have opened up your account then you can use any branch in HK for transactions/advice etc.

be mindful where you withdraw money. BBL used to charge 50 THB, however this recently jumped to 150 THB, inline with other banks, UOB charge 50 THB but their ATMs are not as widespread.

Are you sure that Bangkok Bank raised the ATM fee? If the ATM card is on the UnionPay network (my HSBC HK card is), the ATM fee should be 50 baht shouldn't it?

From Bangkok Bank Fees:

• Cash withdrawal using an electronic card issued by a foreign bank within the China UnionPay (CUP) network

50Bt per transaction

be mindful where you withdraw money. BBL used to charge 50 THB, however this recently jumped to 150 THB, inline with other banks, UOB charge 50 THB but their ATMs are not as widespread.

Are you sure that Bangkok Bank raised the ATM fee? If the ATM card is on the UnionPay network (my HSBC HK card is), the ATM fee should be 50 baht shouldn't it?

From Bangkok Bank Fees:

• Cash withdrawal using an electronic card issued by a foreign bank within the China UnionPay (CUP) network

50Bt per transaction

correct BBL and others are all now 50THB. At the time i posted my earlier post BBL were charging 150THB per withdrawal, i know this as the ATM near by was the one i used and i was hit with the higher fee. Now they are all aligned, no need to worry.

Historically HSBC HK has been pretty fussy about opening bank accounts for individuals, current accounts especially. Indeed, there was a time when they expected to see either an employer's letter or a letter of introduction from an existing account holder. I'm surprised the procedure at the airport was so simple. I would have thought that with increased anti-money-laundering procedures the process would have become more not less cumbersome.

Some questions.

Did you walk into a branch and ask or did you try to do it online?

Do you have an HSBC account in say the UK with a UK address?

Do you have a friend with an address in HK?

Is it for any particular purpose eg purchasing a property or just opening a deposit account?

Opening a company where I am the director. HK based accountant handling it all and that is what he told us.

Get new accountant.

I opened one earleir this year.

Open with HK address and then change of address 7 days later.

Done

Some questions.

Did you walk into a branch and ask or did you try to do it online?

Do you have an HSBC account in say the UK with a UK address?

Do you have a friend with an address in HK?

Is it for any particular purpose eg purchasing a property or just opening a deposit account?

Opening a company where I am the director. HK based accountant handling it all and that is what he told us.

Get new accountant.

I opened one earleir this year.

Open with HK address and then change of address 7 days later.

Done

Turned out fine in the end using a non-thai address. The HSBC people I spoke to also said that their approvals team had problems with Thai addresses. Ended up using an Australian address.

Some questions.

Did you walk into a branch and ask or did you try to do it online?

Do you have an HSBC account in say the UK with a UK address?

Do you have a friend with an address in HK?

Is it for any particular purpose eg purchasing a property or just opening a deposit account?

Opening a company where I am the director. HK based accountant handling it all and that is what he told us.

Get new accountant.

I opened one earleir this year.

Open with HK address and then change of address 7 days later.

Done

Turned out fine in the end using a non-thai address. The HSBC people I spoke to also said that their approvals team had problems with Thai addresses. Ended up using an Australian address.

Went through this problem, with HSBC in the IOM many years ago, I give up with them in the end, but they still had the cheek to send me an email about 6 months later stated they had noted that I had not opened an acount with them.....