[kombuchakid]

HSBC will not allow withdrawals of less then $300 from ATMs. Come January I will have to open a new account, to use as a filter whenever I need a hundred bucks.



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What do you call Santa's little helpers?


subordinate clauses

[PDLM]

Do you get some strange pleasure from going to an ATM or something? Why on earth would you only withdraw money in chunks of 1.5-2 beers?

[Katanga]

I was really suprised that people would withdraw such small amounts that HSBC have to put a minimum HKD300 limit.

[KnowItAll]

Katanga / PDLM - Not everyone is an expat in the Mid Levels.

Spend 5 minutes in the Aberdeen branch of HSBC and you'll get an idea of their real customers in what is the majority of HK - older people, fixed incomes, pensions etc. They even have full time staff dedicated to walking up to the folks waiting in line and trying to see if they can use the ATM or if they want to learn.

This is exactly the demographic HSBC wants to get rid of ... and I would not be surprised if the bean counters ran some numbers and said .. screw this percentage of the population. We'd rather they go to BOC.

Just like some bankers say . "we're surprised there are people who have less than US$10 million and want facilities and want to deal with a real person."

Its all relative.

[kombuchakid]

Originally Posted by PDLM

chunks of 1.5-2 beers?

I'm the freeloader from your worst nightmares.

I can get by with a hundred a week, maybe ten days. So carrying the extra two Cs is just bad economics.

Actually I pack two Octopi and a credit card and rarely need cash on a normal day.
Which leads neatly into my 2nd silly season rant.
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CitySuper in their infinte wisdom have various discounts during the busiest times. The catch is you must have their e-card to get the discount BUT you can't pay using the e-card.!
I wonder who came up with that one
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Whats gray yellow gray yellow gray yellow gray yellow gray yellow?
An elephant rolling down hill with a daisy in its mouth.

[KnowItAll]

KK start using the Park N Shop as an ATM. I've been doing that.. pay by EPS and ask them to add $100-300 on the bill.

[PDLM]

But then you lose the AsiaMiles you get from putting your grocery bill on your credit card...

Like KK, I really don't spend much cash during the working week these days - as much as possible on credit card or Octopus (auto-recharged by credit card). But even so, I don't like having less than a few hundred dollars in my wallet "just in case". I don't get the "bad economics" bit: the cost of carrying $200 dollars in your wallet uninvested isn't going to be more than $20/year, which is less than the cost/hassle of one trip out of your way to an ATM to get cash in an unexpected situation.

[chimo]

FYI- If you have less than 300$ in your account, than you can still withdraw $100 or $200 from the ATM.

[kombuchakid]

Originally Posted by chimo

FYI- If you have less than 300$ in your account, than you can still withdraw $100 or $200 from the ATM.

Thats exactly what I meant by a filter account[in my original post]

If I need a hundred I move 101 to my filter and remove the hundred.
But KIA's idea of holding up the supermarket is brilliant, the lad will go far.

No 'ho ho' rant so early in the day, but this is for the chunky beer men on geoexpat

http://skoften.net/index/item/biertjes

[Sigga]

I still don't get the filter thing.

I'm considering going back to BOC anyway - JETCO just makes it so much easier to withdraw money. I pass 5 JETCOs and 1 HS on my way to the MTR.

I'm only with HSBC for the online account. Just let people take out whatever they want! Jesus!