Hey there, interesting thread here.

I was looking in to opening a bank account in SG for work purposes. It seems the consensus here is that the best option is opening CIMB MY and CIMB SG.

- CIMB SG has the best rate to transfer money back to Malaysia to CIMB MY.
- Transferring from Malaysia to CIMB SG however should use MoneyMatch/Sunway Money for better rates to SG.

I am also interested in IBKR for investment purposes which of course can be deposited through CIMB SG.

CIMB SG could be my salary deposit account, the downside is that they don't seem to have much ATMs at all if I need cash withdrawals.

Does this make sense for someone working in SG? Or was it mostly for someone working in MY wanting to use SG accounts with IBKR Investments?

This post has been edited by SwarmTroll: Jul 29 2025, 01:26 AM

Thanks for the advice presented guys! I have been looking in to it and it seems the one Ramjade presented might be the best option.

- DBS MY Account for salary purpose and deposits to IBKR, there doesn't seem to be any fees or minimum/initial deposits required at all for this DBS account, largest coverage/branch.
- Transfer from DBS to CIMB SG and then CIMB MY for cheapest transfer back to Malaysia.

3 banks is all I need I suppose, my Maybank savings account can just leave it dormant with RM20 inside.

Oh I was referring to my current Maybank MY account, which will be mostly redundant once I start work over there I guess.

I thought about it, being in Singapore I will probably pool most of my investments in IBKR so majority of my savings will go there. But I still need some form of reserve for emergency use so it will sit in a bank account.

DBS MY Account - has no fees and minimum/initial deposit, but interest is only at 0.05%.

OCBC 360 - 1000 SGD initial deposit and minimum balance of 3000 SGD to avoid fall below fee of 2 SGD (waived for 1st year), interest is at least 1.60% with the option to go higher by saving or spending more, don't see any other fees other than fall below fee.

Decisions. Decisions. Decisions.

By the way, is everyone here mostly investing in IBKR only?

Ah yes, I guess each platform has their pros and cons, will look to see which is suitable.

Ah yes! MMF, I almost forgot about them. Higher interest and almost as liquid as savings account (T+1 working days) for withdrawals, minus extra conditions but slightly riskier. You are using MMF through IBKR? Actually being in Malaysia, you would use a local MMF platform I suppose.

Thanks for mentioning MMF to me, I forgot about them myself. Now it makes sense for me to use DBS My Account as salary deposit and the MMF as my liquid fund, don't have to be tied to the terms and conditions of something like OCBC360 and still having equivalent or higher interest returns.

What other investment advice could you share to me?
Do you perhaps invest in Individual shares/ETFs/etc. in IBKR?

This post has been edited by SwarmTroll: Jul 30 2025, 12:14 AM

Mostly beginner I would say, it's a new learning experience everyday. Some investments in ASNB, StashAway (withdrew), Versa (withdrew), Foreign US Share by previous company I worked at, Rakuten Trade but stopped awhile ago, Crypto (Binance), etc.

Expectation is to beat ASNB/Retirement fund returns mostly.

CIMB Fast Saver has better rates and cheap to maintain in comparison to the one I was also looking at which is UOB One Account. UOB One Account is however cheaper to maintain compared to DBS Multiplier or OCBC360 (1000 SGD Minimum vs 3000 SGD Minimum).

I will probably go with UOB because of branch/atm/presence in SG for salary/spending purposes. I will still open CIMB Fast Saver for transferring money to Malaysia at best rates.

Live below your means and reach savings of 50% salary. Great motto indeed, you seeking early retirement?

I will look in to those ETFs you mentioned. Do you perform DCA for your investments?

For stocks I would imagine not so much for DCA but for ETFs perhaps yes. Time in the market is better than timing the market as the saying goes.

Need some helpful advice here. My plan was to open a UOB One Account in Singapore, however it seems to require my EP card, which I can only possibly have a few days after I start work (work start date + processing time). So, I would not have an SG bank for approximately my first two weeks there.

I thought about just fully bringing cash and then depositing when the UOB bank account can finally be open, but seems rather inconvenient and a bit dangerous. Another option could be just setting up WISE, bank transfer to WISE, and then transferring SGD to my bank account when it's open.

Then there is also CIMB, technically I can open both CIMB MY and CIMB SG online before setting foot in SG. Conversion cost seem cheaper to compared to the others (MYR>SGD). Correct me if I'm wrong, the accounts are Malaysia (CIMB Basic Savings Account) and Singapore (CIMB FastSaver Account)? Do I open these two together at the same time, or perhaps open one first, and through the app/website I can open the other?

Ah, I didn't consider MBB SG and OCBC SG because my intention was to open a UOB One Account (just pending the limitation of waiting for EP to be issued). The issue is more like when I'm there for first 2-3 weeks without a bank so I'm holding hard cash.

Ah CIMB SG is not a debit card, so that also means there is no QR payment function in their banking app to pay for stuff I reckon. Would WISE be an option? I wouldn't need to worry about withdrawals since It's more like a temporary measure until I get my UOB account open in SG.

The fees/cost to transfer from MBB MY to MBB SG also quite high cause their exchange rate is pretty bad. Initial deposit is 500 SGD which I think they require transfer direct from MBB MY.

Perhaps I'll bring some amount in cash and the rest will be in WISE, which I can use the debit card there, and then transfer to my UOB Account once its ready.

Ooohhh I see, even sending back from MBB SG to MBB MY seems not too far off compared to CIMB method.

I was looking at i-Savvy Savings but I noticed you shared the Ar Rihla Regular Savings. Seems to be the same, but Ar Rihla has a minimum amount of 200 SGD compared to iSavvy's 500 SGD.

Interest paid is also at discretion of the bank and need to have minimum deposit of 50 SGD per month. But iSavvy's 0.05% and then 0.60% for above 10k SGD isn't much better off either lmao.

Other than that am I missing something? Seems I still have access to the app in SG for PayNow and also have the debit card. Function wise it seems the same.

I see lol. Well it's mostly to be used as a foothold before I open the UOB One Account. Maybe I'll use it to transfer money back to MBB MY if the rates are as competitive as CIMB. Minimum 200 SGD is better than iSavvy.

Other functions and features seem no different to iSavvy. I think I'll just apply for this then. Thanks Medufsaid.

This post has been edited by SwarmTroll: Aug 16 2025, 11:57 AM

Alright got my Maybank SG account approved and open. I was checking the transfer rates between using Maybank MY or Wise to deposit in to Maybank SG. Wise has the better conversion rate but, the transfer fees actually makes the cost higher lmao. It seems I would get a higher final amount with Maybank MY even with higher conversion rate because the fee is just RM10.

Hey how did you enable and link it together? I tried but it says it requires transaction signing and that I don't have security token lmao. Just checking if you were using another process.

Edit: I think it may be caused by 12-hour new account cool down for all service use, or 24-hour cool down for new secure2u registration. Will try again tomorrow.

This post has been edited by SwarmTroll: Aug 19 2025, 06:11 PM

Okay I've managed to link my SG PayNow to my current Malaysian phone number and so am able to see how much it costs to transfer using DuitNow/PayNow.

As of 10:30 PM, the conversion rate for Maybank SG is 3.306878, whereas Sunway Money is 3.3023.

so RM10000 would yield;

DuitNow/PayNow
3024 SGD (No Fees)

Sunway Money
3028.19 SGD - (RM8 Fee/ 2.42 SGD) = 3025.77 SGD

So Sunway Money has the larger final amount even after hours transfer. I will check again tomorrow during working hours, the rates will be even better.

Comparing MYR/SGD rates between MBB DuitNow/PayNow and Sunway Money

As of 3:00 PM:

MBB DuitNow/PayNow, 3.305785

Sunway Money, 3.2924

-----

Converting RM10000

MBB DuitNow/PayNow: 10000/3.305785 = 3025 SGD

Sunway Money: 10000/3.2924 = 3037.30 - Fee (RM8/2.43SGD) = 3034.87 SGD

-----

Final Value with Sunway Money is greater at 3034.87 - 3025 = 9.87 SGD

Correct me if I'm wrong, going to a physical currency exchange (e.g. Mid Valley exchanges) has the best rates even compared to Sunway Money/ MoneyMatch right?

I'm already in the process of opening a Sunway Money account. If changing direct in Mid Valley is cheaper, I will probably do that since I am physically going to SG anyways. I will keep Sunway Money account open as back up.

Sending money back to MY, I will test see if MBB SG DuitNow/PayNow route is as low as CIMB method. If not, need to consider CIMB MY and SG account opening.