montakute

HSBC Malaysia will not accept any USD bank drafts, cash or checks of any type in US Dollars for deposit. That is their policy since July 2016. In my very recent experience, this restriction does not apply at OCBC and Public Bank in Malaysia, so it may just be an HSBC Malaysia restriction.

Gunnar45

Yes, if you can avoid HSBC it would be maybe be beter. I just got special 4.15% on a FD with CIMB. To me it seems that HSBC is really not interested in 'small' business, that is below a few MRM.

spellraj

Thanks everyone for all the messages and guidance. The reason I wanted to open an account with HSBC is because they have a branch in America and hence I can make an internal transfer of funds from my American account to the Malaysia account when I am there. As far as I can see I do not see any CIMB branch in America. How easy or hard is it for me to transfer funds from HSBC America to CIMB Malaysia if that is an option I need to consider? Are the fees going to be crazy? Any ideas.

eCdD

With 300k that is a lot of many every year.

Did they keep this 4.15 also in the second year? OCBC dropped my interest rate from 4.50 to 4.10 in the second year (which still is quite attractive).

I guess so. And also the exchange rate will be a complete disaster probably. If your money is changed at the "board rate" in Malaysia, you willcry many tears. In your case I would just go to the bank of your choice in Malaysia, open the account with the approval letter and then send the money in by transferwise. That goes extremely fast.

spellraj

Thanks eCdD for your message. If I do not open an account now before I come to Malaysia, then it looks like it will take forever for a new account to open. So in my situation, the best option is to try to open an account in HSBC, Citibank or CIMB before I come to Malaysia.

The big question is the best way for the money to be transferred from the American account to Malaysia. As for TransferWise, I have used thier and multiple other online services to transfer money to India and have always noticed a limit between 5000 to 10,000 USD per transfer. So for the amount which I need to transfer it's gonna take months. Hence I don't think this would be a viable option for me.

Has anybody had any experience with using international cashiers to get the money transferred into Malaysia?

Thanks

eCdD

Ah,OK, from EUR to MYR there is no limit. Or it is so high, that i never noticed it. Because you can transfer at least the equivalent of 300.000 MYR in one transaction.

spellraj

Thanks eCdD. I am hoping that I will be able to get the paper work for the account opening started here so that everything will be ready for the FD before we get there.

Raj

SushiFan

I thought that some PC would be in place, given that the topic starter is in the USA...... (or is this comment too subtle )

Davita

I've just done a dummy run on TransferWise.

US$ to MYR is limited to US$49,999 per transaction and US$200,000 per annum.
To exchange US$49,999 will receive MYR220,957

There is no restriction on Euros
To exchange EU64,000 will receive MYR301,874

spellraj

Thanks Davita for that. Even if I do 2 transfers via Transferwise, I would still to open an account in a malaysian bank for the money to go to. So hopefully I can get that account opened while I am still in USA.

As far as the FD rates, I was doing some reasearch and saw this:

1. Bank Rakyat- 5 year deposit- 4.3%
2. Bank Rakyat- 2year deposit- 3.85%
3. Bank Islam- 2 year deposit- 3.45%
4. CIMB Bank- 5 year deposit- 3.4%
5. HSBC Bank- 5 year deposit- 2.9%

Dont know if these are the latest figures or not. Is it possible for me to transfer the money to my malaysian account in hsbc and then encash the money, go to either bank rakyat or bank islam and purchase just a FD. Is that something even possible? Because if I am not wrong, 1% difference in interest rate for 300000 RM comes to like 3000 RM.

spellraj

As suggested in the forum. I just looked at the exchange rates I am going to get for transferring the money to KL.

I looked at transfer through HSBC, Transferwise and US Forex. For 50000 USD, I am getting 211386 with HSBC, 220961 with Transferwise and 221205 with US Forex. So by doing transfer between HSBC accounts, I am going to lose 15000 RM for 80000 USD, I need to transfer. So am more and more thinking of opening an account in HSBC malaysia, but then use either Transferwise or US forex to make the transfer in two transactions (as for USD transfer, the limit seems to be 49,999 USD) per transaction. Do you guys think it is feasible? Will I be able to make 2 transfers in a week or so? Will also need to check with my accountant and make sure, will not have any issues with the IRS for such big transfers.

Thanks

Gunnar45

My 4.15% with CIMB was a special Premier Customer rate and it is not related to MM2H FD. For the MM2H it may be best to lock the rate for 5 years, but the banks, knowing that you have to make it may not se a reason to give too good rates...

spellraj

Thanks Gunnar45. It definately looks like Bank Rakyat has the best rate at 4.3% for 5 year fixed deposit. Does anyone know if this bank is good? Can I buy the FD from them?

Gunnar45

I think that 4.3% is a very good rate.
As for IMB that they gave 4.15% is not published.
But when you are preferred customer you can get a better rate than the published.

Gunnar45

But don't lock in all your FD for five years if you are planning to use a portion for allowed purchases.