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24-11-2005, 01:28 PM
|  | Registered User | | Join Date: May 2005 Location: Hong Kong
Posts: 3,740
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Originally Posted by Lammarite I have my company account at Bank of East Asia because they give a shit about the company that has less than 20 million dollars income per month and you don't have to waste an hour of your day standing in a Q waiting to be served because they decided to close 50% of their branches. | I agree with you wholeheartedly being an HSBC customer too. I seldom have to visit a branch so it's something I can live with. Why do you need to visit a branch so often (large cheques to deposit eh!)?
BEA offer very good HKD time deposit rates. A couple of months ago it was around 3.2% for one month. Certainly an alternative to TT'ing it to the UK. | |
24-11-2005, 02:00 PM
|  | Resident Peacekeeper | | Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: Pokfulam Age: 40
Posts: 10,761
| | | >> Why do you need to visit a branch so often
In our case, it is US$ checks. Sort of figured that if I walk in mid month on a Saturday morning, I can get the job done in 10-15 minutes. | |
24-11-2005, 02:09 PM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: North Point Age: 28
Posts: 148
| | | Paying fees for a credit card (not counting late fees) is outrageous! Simply tell them "Bank X offered me no fees so waive mine or i switch to them". | |
24-11-2005, 06:21 PM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Oct 2005
Posts: 441
| | | Premier Account requires min balance of HKD1 million, so not the most accessible type of account. Citi/CX card has fee waiver the first year I think. How do you know the tax payment amount - have notices been issued yet?? | |
24-11-2005, 06:28 PM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Hong Kong
Posts: 6,387
| | | You can get into Premier for $500K (total relationship, so it includes investments through them, not just the cash in your savings account) though there is a small fee until it reaches $1M. 80-90% of my balance with them is in HK stocks and various Managed Funds, Time Deposits and Certificates of Deposit.
I got my tax notice (after a couple of rounds of clarification letters) perhaps 3 months ago. Payments are due very early in January (75%) and early April (25%).
I believe that is the normal schedule, but the first year after you arrive can be different. | |
24-11-2005, 07:29 PM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Apr 2005
Posts: 215
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Originally Posted by Lammarite Hmmm, leave it here and get 0.0125% interest or send it offshore and get 4%+.......I know which one I have done. The staff at HSBC was most concerned that I wasn't keeping my money in HK and wondering why! | So, where can I get 4% risk free right now? | |
24-11-2005, 07:35 PM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Apr 2005
Posts: 215
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Originally Posted by PDLM Just a note for people who may not be aware... tax payments on HSBC cards (and, I believe, most others) will cease to be eligible for Rewards (and hence AsiaMiles) for payments made after 15th December. If you were planning to get miles for tax this year then you'll need to pay early.
(Look in the small print here: http://www.hsbc.com.hk/hk/personal/pdf/crrterm.pdf ) | Thanks for the reminder. To think I just got the HSBC credit card to pay my tax bill.
I was actually thinking about pre-paying my tax bill 2-3 months in advance when I saw the fine print with this month's statement. I haven't gotten the tax bill yet, but then with interest rates above 2% and only 1 mile per HK$12 charged, I have a tougher time justifying the decision. HSBC also charges a redemption fee for converting points to airmiles, so that is another reason not to do it. | |
24-11-2005, 09:42 PM
|  | Registered User | | Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Canada, sometimes Hong Kong
Posts: 24
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Originally Posted by sarahratcliffe Is anyone else amazed that you have to pay for all your banking services in Hong Kong? Coming from the UK where I can't remember the last time I paid to have a credit card (and certainly didn't have to have min balance in account or ensure it was active) this has been a real eye-opener.
Or maybe I've been looking at the wrong banks???! | Last year I opened a bank account at HSBC and I have NEVER been charged any banking fees. It's called the Easy Savings account, no minimum balance required. However, I never go to the branch unless I have to, I love online banking and ATM machines. I don't even get charged for taking money out of the ATM when I'm in Canada. I opened a Current account this year and they still don't charge me any fees. and I'm no one special!  | |
24-11-2005, 11:07 PM
|  | Registered User | | Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Not friggin' Lamma no more!
Posts: 1,852
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Originally Posted by tsuiwah So, where can I get 4% risk free right now? | Anglo Irish- google it- I can give you more details tomorrow.
Nothing's risk free though! | |
24-11-2005, 11:18 PM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Hong Kong
Posts: 6,387
| | 3% on average with a small chance of winning of winning GBP1M through National Savings Premium Bonds is about as safe as you can get: http://www.nsandi.com/products/pb/rates.jsp
Maximum investment of 30K GBP though. | | Tools | Search | | | | | Rate This Thread | | | All times are GMT +8. The time now is 03:46 AM. | |
