First thing first. Keep your Malaysian HSBC account, don't close it. Get an ATM card linked to this account. If you needed money in an emergency, the FASTEST way to get money to you is to have your father deposit cash into your this Malaysian HSBC account and next minutes, you can withdraw from any ATM machine in UK. If the UK ATM machine belongs to HSBC, then the charges is around RM5 or 6 per withdrawal (up to your Malaysian maximum daily limit).

You said your parent also have HSBC account, may I ask are theirs HSBC Premier account? If yes, then it is even better. Let me know and I can tell you why.

Make the UK HSBC Premier a joint account between you and your father. It's very easy because all you need to do is tell Malaysia HSBC to do it for you. And because your father qualify for free Malaysia Premier account, it is also free for joint Premier account (with you) in UK.

If you do it now, your joint UK HSBC Premier will be ready before you landed in UK plus any cards (debit, credit) you wanted.

When you father transfers money from his Malaysia HSBC to UK HSBC, there is no charges if he does it online because it is treated as transfer between his own account.

And since this UK account is a joint account, you get to use that money immediately and if you use your UK ATM card, there is no charges.

One advantage of using UK Credit card is this. If you buy anything over GBP100 like airline tickets or other big ticket item and if the merchant failed in anyway, you can claim loses from the UK card company as if the card company itself sells you that goods. That is UK country's consumer protection law.


One more thing. Mlalaysia HSBC treats their Premier customer like gold but UK treats theirs like dirt. So anything you wanted done, better ask Malaysia's customer service to do it for you.

This post has been edited by Optiplex330: Aug 1 2009, 06:47 PM

HSBC Premier

1. Malaysia account belongs to your father alone.
2. UK account is a joint account with your father and you.

Since your father has names in both accounts, he can transfer between Malaysia and UK for free doing it online. He can also access the UK account because his name is on it as well.

But for Malaysia account, he alone has access, not you.