2 dollars a month is a good deal,... lol,.. Then I think it's worth it to put inside eSavers, and move the funds back and forth to earn the 1% if the amount is big enough. BUt is this program seasonal, ie can be withdrawn ?

Haha,.. opening 2 eSavers Accts to move back and forth ?? That's funny,... big slip there for SC Sgp.

I suspect the banks got wind of this activity when the money-changer went to the bank to bank-in your cheques. It may not have happened the first time they did it, but after a few rounds, the bank realized that the money-changer is offering TT services too. The bank complained and BNM raided the money-changer,...

When you were giving them cash, things were fine, right ?

Then again, banks are very tight today in protecting this line of business. The money-changers are allowed to deal in hard cash being exchanged over the counter only. Times are hard.

Its seasonal , but every 3 months they release the new promo rates for the next 3 months. This has been going on for the past few years so i dont think it will stop anytime soon.

Regardless, whether there is a promo or not i still need to keep that account to fund my trading, so it does not impact me that much. I treat it more as a bonus. Most of my money are locked up in FD as i plan to buy a house soon.

Thanks for the feedback. How about HSBC? I was told that a HSBC Malaysia Premier customer can open the respective sg accounts (savings + trading) without physically in sg.

Tq. Yes, I know of such promos. In Msia, we have that too,... offered by OCBC Msia, requiring fresh funds only, except for iQ customers,.. we can just rollover with the new promo FD rate without fresh funds.

Yes, now is quite a good time to buy a house in Sgp. But be careful of the loan interest rate and the rise of SOR/SIBOR if you are not taking a Fixed Rate package.

Yes, that's what I heard from my friends too. YOu can even open an account in Toronto or in London if you wished to. But be careful of the fees.

Seems like SC Priority banking customers also offered this service:

"Pre-arrival account opening
2.14 We will assist you to open accounts at Standard Chartered Bank in other countries (subject to the local laws and regulations there) at your request."

No mention of fees tho.

no fee required. U just need 200k (if not mistaken) to be their premier customer in order to eligible such service. Of course they most likely giving u a lousy exchange rate compare to other bank

No lah. The reason BNM lock down is because of money laundering. At that time, many politicians were transferring money out of the country using money changer. Escape the banking system and the records. So eventually this route is eliminated.

Confirm? How about premier customer?

why so troublesome? politicians can transfer directly and tell bnm that they are donations

if you are not citizen or permanent resident, you will be required to pay additional stamp duty of 15%.

pre-arrival usually means when you are relocating.

Yeah, that's what I meant to say,... but I lumped it all up as just 'fees'. Banks would just say ths has no fees, that has no fees, but they would just find a way to 'profit higher' in other means when the service they are giving is 'valuable' enough. No free lunch, especially nowadays.

Perhaps this could be a reaon... How the banks identified which money-changer was doing TT on behalf of their clients was done when the money-changer went to cash out a cheque given by the client. I'm quite sure of that. As a matter of fact, a money-changer shared with me subtlely on this, though he dared not mention it directly to me.

If I give cheque upfront, they could still do a TT, but not too often.

Tq.,... yes, and for private properties and certain classes of executive condos belonging to the HDB only. IT's not too difficult to go around this,... just buy the prop under the name of someone you can trust.

http://www.hsbc.com.sg/1/2/personal/invest...securities_home

This post has been edited by apathen: Sep 19 2015, 10:14 AM

you can buy REITS in Singapore. REITS in singapore enjoy close to zero taxes if they distribute 90% of their earnings as dividends.




Maybank Kim Eng Remisier

Still need to be careful when investing in Sgp REITs though,... I wouldn't call it a low risk investment. he authorities will do their best to regulate, but if anything should 'slip through', we stll have to accept that we went in with our eyes wide open, and to bear the consequences.

Yes can go for the more reputable ones with good previous record