Debowing

I was interested in opening a savings bank account in Singapore, as I am reluctant to deposit any money in my bank in Cyprus. I am working for a Cypriot company in Libya and I have Cypriot origins. I already have a bank account in Thailand, and I wonder whether Singapore would be a better Asian location to have a bank account. After visitng Singapore with my family during Christmas I was very impressed with the city and I think it is not a bad place to spend a few days after a visit to the bank. (Although it is very expensive)

bakedbean

I'm neither a financial adviser or bank adviser, but seems like a fair bet to park some money there. In terms of perceived "safeness" DBS, OCBC and UOB all in the Top 20 Safest Banks according to Global Finance.
http://www.gfmag.com/tools/best-bank...#axzz2PlYiinlc

rusty747

I lived in Singapore for 7 years and banked with DBS (Development Bank of Singapore) throughout. I now live in Dubai but have maintained my DBS account. I arranged a mortgage through them, had my salary paid into a DBS account and tel transferred funds out of Singapore every month. I would be very happy to recommend them as reliable.

ex reg

No doubt the banks are safe but the interest rates are soooo low.
1.1% if you lock your money away for 12 months is about the best you can get.

If you wanted though you can join Dollardex or Poets or Fundsupermart which are Platforms for UTs.
A low risk UT will return 5% plus pa on past performance and the money is readily available.
And of course high risk UTs will perform so much better with Thailand and Japan returning 50% approx in less than a year at the moment.

Interest is not taxed in Singapore.

These accounts can be managed, buy/sell/switch, from outside Singapore over the internet or telephone.

bakedbean

Agree with above two posts but presume exReg is referring to Sing dollar savings. You can hold other currency accounts with DBS no problem and as exReg says no tax paid on the interest.

Have to say that these days I am not finding DBS Sing very competitive on Aussie dollar deposits. Finding CIMB in Malaysia has far better rates by a mile, but I've no idea what the deal is for those not actually living in Malaysia.

ex reg

correct bb.

TheMonk

Hi

Debowing did you get anywhere with this ?

I am in a similar position - I am UK expat in the Middle East but want the reliability of a bank account in Singapore. I have tried to contact DBS but no avail to see if they accept non-resident clients.

jcport67

ex reg... what do you mean by UT? Thanks

TheMonk

Unit trusts ?

ex reg

correct.

There are websites for the three platforms I mentioned so google and you can check things out.

TheMonk

with Dollardex "Those not resident in Singapore may apply in person at our office"

jcport67

What do people think of the options Dollardex Vs. Poets Vs. Fundsupermart

ex reg

IMO Fundsupermart used to be the best by a long way. They also had a good and very active forum.
Then for some reason they implemented an annual platform fee and many migrated over to DD and Poems. I did myself.
The forum on FSM is now almost dead so I'm not sure how many stayed with them.

IMO there is very little difference between the three as far as things go but the additional platform fee killed FSM stone dead for me.