A lot actually. many services that many local or community banks can't provide. HSBC and Citibank both clearly have an edge here because of their global presence (as mentioned earlier in my previous post). For example, it is easier for you to open an account overseas (wherever they have a branch there). No handling fee when withdrawing money at their overseas ATM. You can also transfer your money ... say from HSBC Singapore to HSBC Malaysia without paying a single cent in remittance (remittance fee sometimes is quite high mind you) and many more.


I believe Maybank Private Banking is by invitation only ? So they definitely will call you up to join their Private Banking when you meet their requirement to be a Private Banking customer. Anyway, i think they should change their name "Private Banking" as some people might confuse it with Private Bank. Private Bank is not a locally incorporated entity of a bank and caters only to ultra high net worth people. Such as those people with USD10 million of investable assets etc. The nearest Private Bank can be found are all in Singapore such as HSBC Private Bank, Citi Private Bank, Standard Chartered Private Bank and many more. We used to have Private Banks in Malaysia but not anymore. The last Private Bank in Malaysia, which is HSBC Private Bank pulled out of the Malaysian market in 2004 or 2005 citing the Malaysian government policies do not allow Private Bank to operate profitably here in Malaysia.

By the way, HSBC will definitely call you up when you meet their minimum requirement for HSBC Premier Banking. I have also heard many different relationship managers will keep calling you to invite you to join HSBC Premier if your total fund inside HSBC is well above the minimum requirement because you are like a big fish to them


More like so they can get the best service and more convenient for them etc. It makes total sense when someone stack so much money in one single bank. The bank will really appreciate this kind of customer, especially during this hard times.



This rule has always been there and it will be automatically waived so long you meet their fee waiver criteria.


The CIMB Bank branches i went to have very unfriendly and unhelpful staff. And those in the customer service helping people to open an account or to attend to customers enquiries are extremely slow in whatever they are doing and rude. And i am talking about the CIMB Bank branch in Api-api centre Kota Kinabalu and CIMB Bank branch located next to the Standard Chartered Bank building in Gaya Street.

This post has been edited by MilesAndMore: May 17 2009, 12:35 AM

You will have to ask one of the current HSBC Premier or Citibank Citigold customers to ask his/her relationship manager about this. What i do know is that you will get preferential rate for currency exchange.


Contrary to popular belief, not all billionaire have a swiss bank account. But most of them do have offshore accounts as it is safer, lower tax (or no tax at all). Very often they will be able to give you higher time deposit rate (compared to published rate) and it will be easier for them to move their money around as there isn't much restriction. Labuan offshore unit is a very popular one. In Asia the two most popular offshore banking system are Hong Kong and Singapore.

And NO. There is absolutely NO limit how much money one can deposit in a bank.

This post has been edited by MilesAndMore: May 17 2009, 08:28 PM

TYPO.

I meant to say "Labuan offshore unit is NOT a very popular one".

This post has been edited by MilesAndMore: May 19 2009, 12:18 AM

Sure badly hit. Reputation is very important in the banking business.

But i think it's too early to say whose fault exactly it is. It could be Citibank that is trying to run away from responsibility or the Singaporean who filed the lawsuit is just like most investors, so greedy and when they lost money they blame someone else so they can recover their losses despite warnings from the bank

Can some with the authority to update some of the figures posted above ? It's been a while since it's posted and the minimum balance requirements for certain banks have since changed.

- Standard Chartered - RM250k
**info provided by Tgeoklin

- Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) - RM200k

By the way, can someone please confirm the the minimum balance required to be eligible for Public Bank Red Carpet Banking ? I heard one needs only RM100k of time deposit to qualify for it. I have also heard RM200k. Anyone can confirm ? Thanks in advance.

Indeed. They have also relaunch their Priority Banking website. Check this out > Standard Chartered Priority Banking




@Hye
Check out the promotion below. Not sure if it applies to existing VISA Infinite cardholder though.


This post has been edited by MilesAndMore: Sep 17 2009, 09:44 AM

In all other countries the VISA Infinite is free for life as long as you maintain your Standard Chartered Priority Banking status. You guys should check with your RM


Private Banking service and Private Bank are different. Maybank also has Private Banking service. Most well known Private Bank need you need have at least USD10 million of investable assets in order to qualify to Private Bank customer.

Talk to your RM. Can switch it to the new one.

By the way, i just found out HSBC Premier ATM card can only withdraw a maximum of RM5,000/day instead of RM10,000/day, unlike Citibank Citigold ATM/VISA debit and Standard Chartered Priority Banking ATM which can withdraw RM10,000/day

Only VISA Infinite will be issued to all Standard Chartered Priority Banking customers from now onward.

HSBC Premier

HSBC is well known for their customer service. It is great if you happen to travel overseas a lot. There is no other bank, not even Citibank Citigold can offer you all the perks that are associated with HSBC Premier Banking. If you need more informations on HSBC Premier Banking, i suggest you call them up and they will help you to make an appointment with a Premier Relationship Manager.

But the minimum requirement of USD1 Million is subject to management approval and as far as i am concerned, the well knowns ones have all turned down on such application. UBS, Credit Suisse and J.P.Morgan come to mind. The minimum requirement is USD10 Million (not written publicly) and that too is subject to the management approval as if USD10 Million is sometimes still deemed not enough But i guess that is what make Private Banking so prestigious.


This post has been edited by MilesAndMore: Oct 17 2009, 05:15 PM

This is not quite so the case. The mentality hasn't changed. Retail banking is not so or not profitable at all. Investment banking is still ripping in a huge net profit for these giant financial houses quarter after quarter by relying solely on their existing customers.

One can start with an initial investment of US$1 million but then you always have to prepare for the worst case scenario. In case you lose money you might default on payment and all and eventually go bankrupt and this is going to be the private bank's worst nightmare. When you lose money you might need to pay the private bank's tenth of millions of dollars and where exactly are you going to get those money ? This is the very reason why these big private banks are aiming only a very high and ultra-high net worth individuals and not someone with only US$5 million of cash.


Smaller banks with private bank division may be but definitely not the big players. Very pompous private banks such as UBS (especially UBS), HSBC Private Bank, Citi Private Bank and J.P. Morgan are all very selective with the kind of customer they feel are eligible to become a client. Very often they will quote you a higher than usual minimum required amount to be their client and that too, is subjected to management approval. They will also ask for your net worth statement.

HSBC Private Bank and Citi Private Bank will at least still entertain you when you go looking for them. UBS however, will not. In fact they seem so disinterested in having you as their client unless you're a friend or relative of their existing customers with flawless records. It takes them forever to return your call. Credit Suisse is not such a saint either.

For Cit Private Bank Singapore, your net worth must be at least US$10 million to be a client. As for how much you want to start your investment with them you can always negotiate with them. With US$1 million of deposit, one is only eligible for Citigold Select membership but not Citi Private Bank Singapore.

As for HSBC Private Bank, their requirement is US$2 million (or was it SG$2 million i can't remember) but it applies only to HSBC Group existing customers. For those new to HSBC Group, the requirement is much higher and is also subjected to management approval.

For someone completely new to private bank with tight liquidity, forget those big names. There are so many small private banks but smaller doesn't mean they are not any better or don't go for it at all. You are more than welcome to enquire about their service from these pompous big private banks but if you want to join the club, it is a whole different matter. It is as if you want to apply for Yale and a huge chance you are going to be disappointed.

This post has been edited by MilesAndMore: Oct 18 2009, 08:18 PM

Used to be a Standard Chartered regular banking customer. As always they are slow. A friend of mine who is a Standard Chartered Priority Banking customers also complained they are slow but then the interest rate for the range of bank accounts they offered are one of the highest in Malaysia.

HSBC Premier is especially useful only if you travel a lot and you need many overseas bank account.


Wow ! Partner account existed like a really long time ago My dad was a Partner customer in the 90s but then Partner service was abruptly cancelled and all existing Partner account holding was automatically converted to PowerVantage account. My dad told me last time there was a private dedicated lane for Partner account holder to carry out any sort of transaction over the counter without having to get a ticket number prior. But i guess too many people were qualified for Partner account which is why they decided not to offer that product anymore

It was cancelled in 2001, when they introduced Premier banking.


The "global link" is already out. Just that only a few countries are available in this "global link" at the moment. But then you can't expect the same level of global reach HSBC and Citibank can offer you.

By the way, HSBC was the first global bank to introduce this "global link" thingy which HSBC called "global view" in their online banking portal back in 2006 or 2007. Citibank then also followed suit and introduced a similar feature to their Citigold account last year but just like Standard Chartered, only a few countries have adopted this feature. HSBC is the only bank that offers this kind of feature globally, be it in Asia, Europe or North/South America.

Opps ! Did not notice the fine prints

This "global link" is available only in countries where Standard Chartered offers traditional retail banking which mean only in certain parts of Asia and Africa. Standard Chartered do not have retail banking services in other continents.


Hmm ... CIMB ... Poor and dismal service is all i can think. Most of their staff are clueless and not professional at all They do have one hell of a credit card program though But the big boss' brother is screwing it all up



This post has been edited by MilesAndMore: Oct 26 2009, 03:18 PM

Here's a list of countries in which Standard Chartered is offering traditional retail banking services :
(ASIA)
- Afghanistan
- Bangladesh
- Brunei Darussalam
- China
- Hong Kong
- India
- Indonesia
- Malaysia
- Nepal
- Pakistan
- Philippines
- Singapore
- South Korea
- Sri Lanka
- Taiwan
- Thailand
- Vietnam

(ASIA - Middle East)
- Bahrain
- Jordan
- Lebanon
- Oman
- Qatar
- United Arab Emirates

(AFRICA)
- Botswana
- Ghana
- Kenya
- Nigeria
- The Gambia
- Uganda
- Zambia

This post has been edited by MilesAndMore: Oct 26 2009, 03:19 PM

Remember to read the fine prints. This is similar to STATUS account offered by HSBC in the middle-east. You will be eligible to join under certain conditions but you will need to pay RM150/month in order to enjoy the service. If you are not willing to pay for the account service fee than you must maintain at least RM200,000 of deposit or investment with HSBC at all time.

I just read that Standard Chartered Priority Banking ATM cardholders are allowed to make FREE withdrawals at any HSBC, UOB and OCBC ATM in Malaysia. On top of that, there is also no fee when making withdrawals at any overseas ATM that do not belong to Standard Chartered**.

This is GOOD ! I mean really really GOOD