Money transfer
 

Dear all,

I have an MM2H visa since last Feb but with no intention to move to Malaysia for maybe another 18 months.

I have my FD with HSBC.

I am seeking advice regarding money transfers into Malaysia and would be grateful for any guidance.

Presently I am transferring money (Sterling) via HSBC Global and exchanging it online but I noticed on other topics the mention of use of exchange firms such as Transferwise who seem to give a better rate than HSBC.

I was deterred as after I opened my Malaysian HSBC account (plus GBP & USD accounts) as I tried to transfer USD to my HSBC USD account but was advised the transfer costs were exorbitant (correspondent bank) and I also tried via another currency and was bitten by double exchange and charges so I am looking for a hassle free method.

Can I transfer Sterling from a UK bank account to a Malaysian bank account (same brand of bank or even a different one) with no additional charges other than the costs highlighted by (again for example) Transferwise and is it a smooth process?

Any advice on this topic would be appreciated and also my thanks to all the regular forum posters who's sageness on many areas in this forum assisted me greatly in my MM2H application and other areas of interest.

Re: Money transfer
 

Transferwise don´t care for your UK and Malaysia bank, they will do this within a few days. The banks cannot take any fees for this. The process could not be smoother. We all do it with them for a very good reason, that is to save on fees and avoid troubles.

Re: Money transfer
 

Hi Macsta and welcome to the forum
If you have a UK HSBC Global Account and a Malaysian MYR account your best is to use TransferWise.
Once registered with TransferWise you will see exactly how much MYR you will get for your GBP before continuing....that is the net amount...no bank charges or other fees are involved.
Basically you transfer GBP to TransferWise and they send MYR to your Malaysian account...it takes somewhere like 2 work days to receive so weekends takes longer.

Re: Money transfer
 

Many thanks to you both for the advice, I will try a transfer with them from GBP to both MYR and USD.

Appreciate your posting.

Re: Money transfer
 

Thanks expattravel appreciate the offer, although at the moment my issue is more transferring USD into Malaysia but I will bear it in mind for when I move there as I might have need of their services.

Just as an update, TransferWise are not able to exchange and transfer GBP to USD to a Malaysian based USD account (or anywhere other than US it seems) due to same issue as all other banks, correspondent bank regulations for transfer of USD.

It seems the only solution when exchanging GBP to USD is to use HSBC or any other major bank that has US recognition and an Malaysian presence utilising their global transfer system if they have one.

Re: Money transfer
 

I'm not so sure they'll exchange from a GBP account in UK to a USD account in Malaysia.
Maybe only to a USA bank....better check that.
edit: seems you were writing same time as I was.

You could also use HSBC Global Transfer from your UK GBP to your Malaysian GBP accounts and ask your Premier Relationship Manager what is the best rate to exchange to MYR. They usually give a better rate than the internet rate of exchange.
If you have an HSBC account in USA you could do the same with USD.

Re: Money transfer
 

Hi Macsta, expattravel (although with a new account) here. As I was saying all brokers can help you, especially with getting your money into Malaysia and exchanging at good rates. What is good about them is you can talk to them on the phone and they can guide you through the process (especially where it is difficult to find out the best way to get your money into a place. What is the problem exactly? You are trying to exchange and send the money to a bank account in Malaysia?

Re: Money transfer
 

Why do you need the USD in Malaysia?

Re: Money transfer
 

Hi JKTJ (AKA expattravel) and Stepen.

Thanks for your replies.

Answering both, I am paid in USD (I work outside UK) and I wanted to send USD directly to my Malaysian bank account but this is not possible (for me) without using an intermediate bank and paying extra charges.

I don't need the USD "for" Malayasia I am actually wanting to keep some funds in USD as a hedge as I am concerned Sterling will tank as Brexit (in whatever form) becomes a reality and USD gives more options open for other countries should that ever become a necessity.

Thanks Davita for your advice, yes I am currently exchanging GBP to USD through HSBC Global I was hoping Transferwise, who give a better rate, would exchange but as you confirmed they do not provide this service outside USA banks (which I do not have).

Thank you all for your comments.

Re: Money transfer
 

Might be worth exploring Standard Chartered Bank.

My salary is paid into my Malaysian wife's Public Bank account in Malaysia in USD and they convert to RM. They require my pay slip to prove and am not laundering. I get a living allowance in Japan. Other than that "'er indoors" gets all my money:(

Re: Money transfer
 

Just curious, why does one have to go via a correspondent bank for transfering USD from a USD account overseas to a USD account in MY?
Is this specific for USD and/or Malaysia only?

Re: Money transfer
 

Thanks Hovite,

I will look at them.

I think I saw your wife on my last visit to KL she was in Tiffany's shopping :nod:

Re: Money transfer
 

Hi Gunnar45,

That part of the equation I have not tried due to location circumstances (its a bit complicated) but my belief is that any USD transfer made from outside the US anywhere other than to the US has to be routed through a correspondent bank.

I stand to be corrected on that but recently I have had this experience from two separate countries when trying to send (admittedly) AED and Euro payments exchanged to my USD account in Malaysia and I got hammered by such charges.

Maybe a USD account to USD account would work and I am sure one of our American friends on the site might have more insight on this.

Re: Money transfer
 

Macsta,
Thanks for clarification.
As mentioned I was wondering if this was a special case for international USD transfers.
And I thought you wanted to transfer USD to USD.

Re: Money transfer
 

Can someone explain which rate is better

1) Premier HSBC dollar account in UK/US transferring to Premier HSBC dollar account in MY
2) Transferwise to transfer from said Premier account direct to MY account?

Re: Money transfer
 

Hi doggmeister,

Over the past few days from other forum members comments and advice I have been checking the comparison but mainly from GPB to MY because as mentioned previously TransferWise cannot complete GBP to USD to Malaysia.

For example if I was transferring USD to MY through Global View with HSBC for 1000 USD I would get 4,241.08 (4.24107).

If I made the same transfer of 1000 USD with TransferWise I would receive 4243.07 (4.24307)

These rates are within the past 30 minutes.

So its negligible.

However it has been advised by some HSBC forum members that if you contact your Premier Personal Advisor directly you may receive a better exchange rate.

I am unaware if this has to be done in person if so that rules me out for now.

The problem is if you are trying to take advantage of a short term rate then the potential time taken to contact your PPA might negate any saving if rates are moving rapidly.

Life in the fast lane eh!

Re: Money transfer
 

That's really helpful thanks! I have been converting UAE to dollars within HSBC through my premier manager in UAE and expect to do the same once the money arrives in Malaysia via global transfer (so US dollars to MYR), I have in the past foolishly converted UAE to GBP then GBP to MYR and waster literally thousands of MYR as a result, only now have I started working in Dollar pegged currencies for conversions!

Re: Money transfer
 

But this is not HSBC-specific, it goes this way with all the banks. One of the reasons why I always use Transferwise, I am usually not in mood to discuss this with my relationship manager at CIMB, because if they beat TransferWise (what they usually don´t do), anyway only in a minumum margin.

Re: Money transfer
 

There is a limit to the currencies TransferWise will convert from....but the currencies they convert into is vast.
I'm very surprised that Macsta's HSBC rate for global exchange GBP-MYR is so close to TransferWise.
My HSBC exchanges from GBP-IDR is considerably less than what TransferWise provides....even my Indonesian Relationship Manager accepts that. The only advantage is the HSBC transfer, once accepted, is instant.... whereas TransferWise usually takes 2-4 days to transfer.

Re: Money transfer
 

Hi Davita,

Thanks for the comment.

Just so I am not confusing anyone.

TransferWise rate was indeed better than HSBC on all occasions I checked but the example I gave was based on calculating the rate on the amount that is actually received into the account. So I just took the nett amount received and divided by the transfer amount to get the true rate.

On this basis HSBC Global displays the amount without any fees with obviously any charge already built in (which is one of the reasons for the disparity).

So you are correct on a direct rate to rate comparison TransferWise win hands down but my example was on amount received which I would say is the bottom line and on this basis, as I stated, the difference (on this occasion) was negligible.

It may vary and I will continue to check.

Re: Money transfer
 

Hi,

At first I used a forex firm (UKForex) and was happy with the service and rates, but since opening a HSBC bank account in KL use a different method. I have opened a sterling savings account at the Malay branch and transfer sterling directly to this from my UK HSBC account. I tick receiver to pay fees which results in a charge of £3 at the Malay end. When I want to exchange sterling to ringgit I pop into the branch and ask for a rate, always better than the rate on the website, from memory around 1% less than the interbank rate. The transfer into my ringgit account is immediate. I then open fixed deposits with HSBC online so that the money earns interest and cash these when I need the living expenses.
The sterling account has a charge of RM10.60 per month. This would be waived if I kept a £4000 balance, but the interest outweighs the charge.

I can’t comment on dollars, but if you had a US HSBC account I assume the same would apply.

Re: Money transfer
 

If you were to update your Malaysian HSBC to Premier all your other HSBC accounts worldwide achieve that status and you pay no transfer fees nor charges unless your balance drops below the minimum required..

It requires a minimum balance of MYR200,000, or equivalent, to qualify for HSBC Premier status in Malaysian HSBC.

I used my MM2H Fixed Deposit (MYR150,000) plus another FD (MYR50,000) to achieve Premier status....and both accrued interest to my current account.

Re: Money transfer
 

Thanks for the useful advice, DaVita. I am thinking of upgrading to premier for that and other benefits. I would transfer my fixed deposit from another bank to achieve this.