Try DBS/POSB. Or you can try with Maybank Singapore. Many Malaysians who do not study or work there have an account with them.

This post has been edited by MilesAndMore: May 30 2010, 11:57 PM

I do not have an account with Maybank Singapore. Therefore, i can't comment much. But i believe it is very easy for Malaysian to open an account with Maybank Singapore. As a matter of fact, i believe you can open a Maybank Singapore through any local Maybank branches here in Malaysia without you physically going to Singapore.



I would have preferred to open an account with DBS/POSB too due to their vast ATM network on the island. DBS also do not charge any fee when we use their Singapore issued ATM/VISA debit card to withdraw money through their ATM in DBS Hong Kong, DBS Taiwan and DBS Indonesia.


It probably is OCBC Bank.

DBS Bank wanted to apply for one of the two commercial banking licences which to be awarded this year but dropped out in the last minute. It is reported that they are more interested in venturing into the retail mass banking market and the commercial banking licences won't allow them to do that hence the last minute dropout.

Anyway, the owner of DBS Banking Group, Temasek Holdings is the single largest shareholder of Alliance Bank. Rumor is that they are waiting for Bank Negara to open up the local banking industry to foreign players and they will eventually merge Alliance Bank into DBS Banking Group.


DBS is not in the retail banking in Thailand. They are currently present only in Singapore (obviously), Hong Kong, Taiwan and Indonesia. Another rumor is that PT Bank Danamon Indonesia, one of the largest banks in Indonesia which is also majority owned by DBS Banking Group's parent, Temasek Holdings will eventually be merged into DBS Banking Group too.

This post has been edited by MilesAndMore: Jun 1 2010, 05:29 PM

Even if you have a UOB Singapore ATM card, you will still be charged for each cash withdrawal at any UOB Malaysia ATM. I am however not too sure what are the charges like though.

As for OCBC, if you have a OCBC/OCBC Al-Amin Malaysia ATM card, you will be charged RM2 each time you withdraw money at any OCBC Singapore/OCBC-NISP Indonesia ATM. Same goes to OCBC Singapore ATM/VISA debit cardholders. When they withdraw money at any OCBC/OCBC Al-Amin Malaysia ATM, they will be charged SGD2/withdrawal.

I also can confirm that you do not need a prior approval from BNM to open an account overseas.


S$1,000 is for S Pass and EP holders. For all other foreigners, you need S$5,000 of initial deposit as well as to maintain the account (to avoid the S$2 fall-below fee).

Anyway, UOB Bank is a better choice if one is looking for a more affordable Singapore based savings account as one only needs an initial deposit of S$1,000 to open a savings account as well as to maintain the account.


**post edited. S$2 mistakenly written as S$2,000.

This post has been edited by MilesAndMore: Jan 6 2012, 11:24 AM

For new holder should be S$1,000 or S$5,000, depends on what kind of foreigner are you.

Yes. And it is one the lowest in Singapore already. The other two Singaporean banks require you to keep an average balance of S$1,000/month to avoid the account service fee. It used to be only S$500 only at DBS but foreigners are not allowed to open that account anymore.

Anyway, do bear in mind that if you do not work or live in Singapore, the bank reserves the rights to reject your application to open an account.

They will no doubt ask you why do you want to open a SG bank account when you do not work or live there.


Not necessarily must be a Private Banking customer. Mass Affluent Banking customers such as HSBC Premier, Citibank CitiGold or Standard Chartered Priority Banking is another alternative to open a SG account.

I know you can open a UOB Bank Singapore account without going to Singapore but i think it applies only to the UOB SG Privilege Account and UOB SG Private Banking Account. For normal account, you will still need to go to Singapore yourself but as i said earlier, there is no guarantee that they will open the account for you if it is a normal account. For UOB Privilege or UOB Private Banking Account, it usually is no problem and the opening of either of these two accounts can be done through email+DHL

This post has been edited by MilesAndMore: Nov 20 2012, 01:12 PM

Do note that there is no fall below fee for this account.


SGB5 Million to qualify. It used to be only SGD2 Million last year.

That is not true.

Still not entirely true. Singapore after all, is still one of the biggest offshore banking centres in the world and it still aims to be the preferred offshore banking centre to foreigners. It is still very easy for foreigners with no work permit or right of abode to open an account. Just the the minimum deposit they may request from you is not just the usual $250, $1000 or $5000.

Can't comment anything on why they turned your friend down. But there are many other banks he can try and Citibank Singapore is one of the many options available. They have a special division for offshore banking and the minimum deposit is only USD5,000. But since your friend has SGD400,000, they will most likely suggest him to open a Citibank IPB Singapore Citigold account instead. These giant international banks also prefer to open this kind of big account, hence the chance of your friend to be able to open this account is brighter as well.

To those interested, mark this down

And thanks for sharing your experience here


SGD70k ? I believe that is for a normal HSBC SG offshore account. For HSBC SG offshore Premier account, the minimum deposit is SGD200k.


No. There is no interview. One doesn't even have to go to Singapore personally just to open the account. Your Premier RM in Malaysia can get everything done for you from your home branch here in Malaysia.

Sometimes different branch can give different answer. Yes. It happens in Singapore too. Whether they approve your account or not is at the branch manager's discretion. Anyway, the minimum balance needs to be maintained to avoid the monthly fee even just for a regular savings account at Standard Chartered Singapore is quite high so you aren't really losing out. It's better to open one at a local bank.

With the exception of HSBC. The minimum AUM for HSBC Malaysia Premier Account is RM200,000. But I won't be surprised if HSBC Malaysia increases the AUM to RM300,000 or even RM400,000 later this year or next year.

And besides the foreign banks in Singapore mentioned above, it is also easy to open a DBS International Treasures Account or UOB Bank Privilege Account. For DBS International Treasures Account, the AUM to qualify for DBS Singapore is SGD350,000 but the AUM for DBS Hong Kong is only HKD1 million, which is a lot less than DBS Singapore. So if you have some money to spare, another way to easily open a DBS Singapore Treasures Account is to first open a DBS Hong Kong Treasures Account. Then ask your DBS Hong Kong Treasures RM to help you to open a DBS Singapore account. Just like HSBC Premier, you only need to maintain your status in one country.

This post has been edited by MilesAndMore: Mar 4 2017, 01:34 AM

It is possible with DBS International (basically it means DBS Offshore) and it requires you to join DBS Treasures which you need SGD350,000 to open and maintain. It is also possible with UOB Bank Singapore but they also require you to join their Privilege Banking which comes with an AUM of SGD500,000. Another one will be HSBC. Open a HSBC Premier account in Malaysia with RM200,000. Then call HSBC International Office at Claymore branch Singapore which handles all offshore clients account.

Do note that HSBC Malaysia has he lowest AUM for Premier banking service amongst all the major foreign banks in Malaysia. I would not be surprised if HSBC Malaysia increases the AUM to RM300,000 or RM400,000 like Citibank CitiGold Malaysia in the near future.

For HSBC SG, you can transfer USD online to your overseas account.

You can either send an email to HSBC Premier SG or you can try to open it via your HSBC Premier RM in Malaysia. There is absolutely no fall-below fee and you can get a debit card for free. All you need to make sure to maintain your HSBC Premier status in Malaysia.

If he only wants a SG account then HSBC SG is good enough without him going all the troubles just to open a SG account. HSBC MY or HSBC SG will do everything for him. He doesn’t even need to pay a single cent to DHL. Besides, HSBC SG debit comes with NETS too and HSBC SG is in ATM5 network. There are plenty of Citibank ATM in Singapore for him to withdraw cash should the need arises. And last time HSBC SG will also issue a HSBC SG Premier World MasterCard. But unfortunately not anymore these days due to MAS had tightened the rules a few years back.

And HSBC SG does share trading too and it is running a promotion now on brokerage fee.

This post has been edited by MilesAndMore: Sep 11 2018, 04:31 PM