Singapore bank Accounts

[susah_sih]

...just buy short dated Investment grade bonds from big corporations and get 3-4% interest with practically little risk.

tday, dear children, we will analyse and find a definition for the expression "wet dream"

Maybe seeing is believing. Now a wetdream becomes reality.

http://finra-markets.morningstar.com/BondCenter/BondDetail.jsp?ticker=C649140&symbol=XRX4077753

Xerox is rated investment grade at Baa2 for one of its short dated bond due 2019 yields 3.442% pa.

http://finra-markets.morningstar.com/BondCenter/BondDetail.jsp?ticker=C496399&symbol=ETE3675466

Panhandle Eastern Gas Pipeline in Texas which is also rated Investment Grade by Moodys at Baa3 yields 6.251%, last traded on Thursday, the 24th.

i stand corrected, however... it's less than 2 months since Xerox' rating was changed from stable to negative and looking at the chart...

xerox.jpg

u can keep it to maturity i dont think Xerox will go bankrupt. or hedge it with the cheapest put option on Xerox shares with part of coupon interest. But that's not the point of the discussion. The point is there are many ways to make better yield other than putting money in a bank deposit. All these bonds come with denomination USD1,000-2,000 and that is the minimum for purchase.

[susah_sih]

Nonsense.

It's obvious that we read different books.

[susah_sih]

I am on my way to SG to open up a bank account to "pay the bills"...I am an American...and I shall report back...

any success with bank account opening for US citizen in Singapore?

[fireplay]

Still traveling around the States I won't be in SG for another few months but I will be attempting...I will let everyone know here what happens thanks.

[NanLaew]

Still traveling around the States I won't be in SG for another few months but I will be attempting...I will let everyone know here what happens thanks.

I will wager that in "another few months", if you don't have enough to make the opening deposit for a 'signature' account, there will be no other options offered. Also, if you do have a decent wedge to deposit that gives you all the bells and whistles that come with what they call 'wealth management' (these include inflated bank fees and a personal 'manager' to wring as much as possible out of your account and into the banks coffers), they will be pretty rude if your account falls below the pre-agreed account minimums. They may even decline to offer you tea or coffee! Terms and conditions are changing very, very rapidly these days as banks seek to ring fence whatever over-inflated services they have and cock a snoot at the average Joe with only a few tens of thousands to spare.

[rwdrwdrwd]

Letter from Citibank IPB this morning, min balance for digital account upped to 100k US

[Gary A]

One of the few good things about being a poor pensioner is that I don't have to worry about these types of bank accounts or any other type of high finance. I am content being a baht millionaire and having an ATM card. Even the hassles from the US government are fairly minor and my accountant in the US takes care of them.

[Naam]

One of the few good things about being a poor pensioner is that I don't have to worry about these types of bank accounts or any other type of high finance. I am content being a baht millionaire and having an ATM card. Even the hassles from the US government are fairly minor and my accountant in the US takes care of them.

why would anybody worry Gary? i am banking since 14 years in Singapore which is a clear cut law and order jurisdiction where banks are supervised by one of the world's toughest financial regulators, i.e. the Monetary Authority of Singapore.

[Heng]

One of the few good things about being a poor pensioner is that I don't have to worry about these types of bank accounts or any other type of high finance. I am content being a baht millionaire and having an ATM card. Even the hassles from the US government are fairly minor and my accountant in the US takes care of them.

Offshore banking isn't only for the super rich. Even plain Jane accounts in SG (the kind with $500 SG opening minimums for example) are a good idea (IMO) for that potentially rainy day in TH. Super easy to transfer funds anywhere in the world with (and okay, I only regularly use the UOB and OCBC interface) with SG banks too. Not quite so for your funds in TH.

[Gary A]

My main bank account is with Citibank in the US. My pensions are direct deposited there and I wire transfer funds whenever needed. I don't have any love for Citibank but after looking at other options, I always stick with Citibank mainly because I am able to make wire transfers online without any other requirements.

ADDED - I also use their bill pay service. I pay my monthly BoA credit card charges and also pay my accountant that way. That service is free and there are a few other bills that I pay that way. I use a BoA credit card because Citibank chose to cancel my credit card because I am not a US resident.

Edited June 7, 2016 by Gary A

[Halfaboy]

 

 

Thanks for all the contributions so far. I went (again) through the whole thread and made many notes.

 

We are now roughly 6 months further in time since the last post. Is there any news or are there any new developments ?

 

Would be pleased to hear as I have plans to open a Singapore account soon.

[jayceenik]

I've had a bank account in SIN ever since I started working in Indonesia ages ago.

I started with SCB and moved to Citi when SCB made an egregious mistake in my account (rectified eventually)

Since last June Citi charges  monthly USD50 to accounts below USD200K

And transfers to banks outside SIN are charged ¼% fee plus cable costs.

Not good. I'll eventually move to another bank maybe HSBC.

[Savilesghost]

On 13/12/2016 at 9:16 AM, jayceenik said:

I've had a bank account in SIN ever since I started working in Indonesia ages ago.

I started with SCB and moved to Citi when SCB made an egregious mistake in my account (rectified eventually)

Since last June Citi charges  monthly USD50 to accounts below USD200K

And transfers to banks outside SIN are charged ¼% fee plus cable costs.

Not good. I'll eventually move to another bank maybe HSBC.

HSBC are even worse

 

With citibank the USD 50/m charge only commences from March 2017 on existing accounts, automatic on new accounts..so if you have had your account as long as you say you have they shouldnt be charging you yet provided your balance stays above usd 20k which used to be the minimum needed to open a IPB account 

[Savilesghost]

On 12/12/2016 at 10:14 PM, Halfaboy said:

 

 

Thanks for all the contributions so far. I went (again) through the whole thread and made many notes.

 

We are now roughly 6 months further in time since the last post. Is there any news or are there any new developments ?

 

Would be pleased to hear as I have plans to open a Singapore account soon.

You basically need USD 200k on account with the likes of Citi and expect HSBC etc will the same....blame the yanks for all this