Re: Opening a Bank Account in Kuala Lumpur
 

Regarding rental cars, my latest was in the US and it was explicitly stated that debit card was not accepted. (And that the limit of the credit card should be sufficient to cover for max liability)
Where to Rent a Car Using a Debit Card | USA Today

Re: Opening a Bank Account in Kuala Lumpur
 

I have a different experience with AirAsia in that they would charge a payment with (any) VISA credit card something like RM 45 whereas with a debit card of a Malaysian bank (e.g. CIMB) only a few RM. I forgot whether that was RM 3 or 4. I remember this as it is one of the very few exceptions where I paid online with a debit card instead of a credit card.

Re: Opening a Bank Account in Kuala Lumpur
 

You are sure that it was the debit card and not CIMBclicks with the RM4 fee? If you not have accounts with CIMB or Maybank you can book AirAsia for RM4 also with the other online banking option called FPX or similar.

By the way, FD rates are quite good at the moment with numerous 1 year 4,xx % options. As my MM2H FD is passing the 12 months again, I am fighting at the moment for climbing over 4% again after being pulled down from 4,50 to 3,95 last year.

Re: Opening a Bank Account in Kuala Lumpur
 

Yeah, did it with 4,20. That should allow a couple of steaks more in 2018 :D

Re: Opening a Bank Account in Kuala Lumpur
 

What bank do you have ? And do you have to bargain every year at renewal, even when it's locked with them for the mm2h FD ?

Re: Opening a Bank Account in Kuala Lumpur
 

Have many, but the MM2H FD is @ OCBC ;)

And yes, you have to bargain every year. Only other option is to choose a bank that does 60 month FD. Affin Bank is doing this for around 4%. Would have preferred this, but I did not have an agent, so I did not have the information how to handle the FD best. And did not know this forum. I just took the bank that offered the best rate when I had to place. At least I did not end up with HSBC whch was my original plan.

Re: Opening a Bank Account in Kuala Lumpur
 

So OCBC offering 4.2%? Much better than on their website. It seems like your bargaining power is limited when you can't move the FD. Do you have other FD with them also that you can threaten to move?

How is affin bank? Online they state rate for MM2H is 3.45%, 4% would be quite good.
CIMB also offer 60month FD, but not sure if they do that for MM2H?

I'm also looking at who has best FD rate for USD, might put some there, as the rates are much better than in the US.

Re: Opening a Bank Account in Kuala Lumpur
 

OCBC have have: https://www.ocbc.com.my/personal-ban.../FixedDeposit/

Promotion finishes on Friday. "Fresh funds required" is always negotiable. And yes, I also have other FD with them, but much more important is a good relationship with your priority manager.

CIMB usually has good FD rates, I just did 3,9 for 3 month. But so far they never offered me anything longer than 12 months, at least not with preferred rate.

So far I did not make business with Affin, plan to do so next year.

Re: Opening a Bank Account in Kuala Lumpur
 

To have a "priority manager" you have to deposit above the threshold for priority accounts right? so if you do smaller amount is it still possible to bargain?

Re: Opening a Bank Account in Kuala Lumpur
 

Does anyone faced problem while open secondary bank account recently?

Re: Opening a Bank Account in Kuala Lumpur
 

In theory yes. But you can open a priority / preferred account directly and tell them that the funds will follow. Anyway you need an account first before you can transfer in with Transferwise or bring in the MYR from the moneychanger. Actually at CIMB it took me a couple of months to reach the required 200k.

All is negotiable in Malaysia ;)

Re: Opening a Bank Account in Kuala Lumpur
 

I remember from last year that either AmBank or Public Bank does not accept MM2Hers as customers. I think it was AmBank, but I am not sure.

Many do not give out CreditCards to MM2Hers, but that is a different topic.

Re: Opening a Bank Account in Kuala Lumpur
 

Some require you to take out a fixed deposit to act as a kind of safety net for them in return for a credit card.

Re: Opening a Bank Account in Kuala Lumpur
 

Is there any bank that does not require this?

I am talking about the banks that not give a CC even with putting in this deposit.

Re: Opening a Bank Account in Kuala Lumpur
 

I don't know. I use mainly ATM debit cards for purchases. Maybe someone else can suggest....

Re: Opening a Bank Account in Kuala Lumpur
 

So I got my first Malaysian Credit Card...since the topic is hot and people are asking advise/comment on the matter. I will share my experience for greater good.. YMMV

I have two bank accounts (CIMB Preferred for my MM2H FD...they gave me pretty good rate and were very quick in approving accounts etc.. read my earlier postings on the subject and a HSBC Premier account, which i use to transfer money from my US accounts etc).

I have Debit cards from both banks.

When i asked the CIMB to give me a card they told me they will require a FD to cover the card .. so put 50k myr in an FD and we will give you a CC.. I didnt like the idea.. to me that beats the objective of a CC.

I talked to my HSBC bank premier accounts relationship manager. She was (or so it felt) a bit reluctant at first. but then agree to let me apply for the new HSBC Travel CC..which has many benefits if you are a frequent traveler (such as free access to lounges etc) .

While HSBC did NOT ask me to setup a FD to cover the CC. They did demand a lot of documentation (3 months pay slips, bank account statements, and called my company to verify job/salary information).

But yesterday I got the text from my RM to tell me the card has been approved, I will be in KL next week so will go pick it up.

Hope the saga will help someone out there. as I said YMMV (Your Mileage May Vary).

Cheers.
P.S. just found out cant buy duty free booze at Changi if you are coming from Malaysia...broke my heart..in a million tiny pieces.. :(

Re: Opening a Bank Account in Kuala Lumpur
 

Thanks for sharing!

With the FD for the CC it is indeed annoying, but there is no need to put in 50k or so. You can take 10k as a limit and then just pay the CC balance any day if you come close to 10k. The CIMB CC only gives you lounge access in South East Asia.

So the HSBC CC seems to be a good choice, but for me HSBC is the most unattractive bank at all. Not good FD rates, surprising fees, very, very limited branches in Europe and China.

Duty free booze at Changi, I am not excited about the prices there.

Re: Opening a Bank Account in Kuala Lumpur
 

eCdD..
That is why i have two bank accounts, i have a premier HSBC account in USA and it got me a premier account here in Malaysia .. i can move money in either direction quite quickly and easily.. and the Premier Travel Card seems to have pretty good advantages for someone (like me) who travels a lot.

I have the CIMB account for most of my local (Malaysia) banking needs. and my MM2H FD is with CIMB.. they gave me a good rate for it.

Re: Opening a Bank Account in Kuala Lumpur
 

I have a question which might have been raised before:
I'm not working in Malaysia and not yet under MM2H. Can I open an account at a local bank? I have contacted a bank in Malaysia and their reply is no.
Anyone has the experience of successfully opening a bank account in a situation like mine?

Re: Opening a Bank Account in Kuala Lumpur
 

I went to about 10 different banks in Sarawak and the answer was a decisive "No" for a regular account.

Even weirder is that I brought along a letter from the Ministry of Tourism saying that I could open a fixed account for MM2H...half the banks said yes.

Then I asked if I could open a regular account once I got approved "NO"...seriously, you'll take my money, stick it away for 5-10 years and you won't let me bank here????

Half of the banks SAID they would allow me to open an account ONCE I had my visa.

My case may be special b/c I'm an American and there are special reporting requirements...though FATCA-like reporting forms (for home country tax scrutiny) and international banking requirements are becoming more and more standardized.

Re: Opening a Bank Account in Kuala Lumpur
 

The bank I tried needed to see the MM2H approval letter before they were willing to open an account for me. I did have the approval letter, but not yet the visa in my passport. This letter enabled me to open a regular bank account, plus the fixed deposit account for the MM2H.

Re: Opening a Bank Account in Kuala Lumpur
 

That's ridiculous. How do you settle daily expenses? by withdrawing money from your foreign account?

Re: Opening a Bank Account in Kuala Lumpur
 

Currently from ATM's and from cash brought over.

This week (b/c I now have my Long-Term Social Visa) I'll be able to establish an account with one of the banks that allows foreigners with that visa to open accounts (Public Bank, AmBank, etc.)

Re: Opening a Bank Account in Kuala Lumpur
 

Hi,

Recently got approved for MM2H, and planning to visit Malaysia in April to complete the 2nd stage of MM2H Visa processing. Very glad to have found this web site, and reading of this topic of opening bank account in KL. After reading through this topic, I have formulated the following plan, and please let me know if there is anything below I need to make changes:

a) I plan to deal with CIMB, and to open with CIMB a MYR saving account, a USD saving account, and a FD of $150,000 MYR. I have heard that with some banks in Malaysia, a pre-approval procedure needs to be carried out first, in order to prepare for the actual opening of account in person at KL? Is this pre-approval needed for CIMB? I am hoping that I may just show up at the branch for the opening of accounts?

b) Which CIMB branch I should visit? Apparently, even with the same bank, some branch chooses to deal with only those with MM2H visa in their passport, and not ones with conditional approval of MM2H. Also, I would prefer to deal with those branches that are familair with the MM2H procedures. Will the branch at Wisma Genting or StarHill Gallery do?

c) I plan to international wire transfer USD funds from my USA bank to the USD account at CIMB. Once USD is received, USD will need to be converted to MYR. Who will be actually doing this foreign currency conversion, the Malaysian government or CIMB? Where can I find the actual exchange rate used for this conversion, so that I may compare it to Google posted rate in real time?

d) Any idea as to the current MM2H FD interest rate paid for a 12 month term at CIMB?

Thanks in advance for any help.

Qwert

Re: Opening a Bank Account in Kuala Lumpur
 

I found TransferWise offer a much better 'net' rate of transfer/exchange than most banks.
i.e. if I were to transfer/exchange US$1,000 from an account in USA to an account in Malaysia I would receive MYR3,8881.71 by Monday...net of all fees.

Re: Opening a Bank Account in Kuala Lumpur
 

You will need your conditional MM2H approval letter all the time. Also later.

Wisma Genting is my favourite CIMB choice in KL.

Need to negiotiate. If you are not CIMB preferred, no good. Always bring the 10k per person cash with you when coming to Malaysia and then visit the money changer of your trust. And yes, Transferwise is better than your personal transfer.

Around 4,1% I guess.

Re: Opening a Bank Account in Kuala Lumpur
 

Do you mean 10k USD and exchange cash in Malaysia? Will you get better rates for cash then transferwise?

What rate can you get without cimb preferred status? Is it not possible to negotiate without preferred status ?

Re: Opening a Bank Account in Kuala Lumpur
 

The exchange rates @ banks are abolutely terrible, but there are very competitve moneychangers. Most people have their favourite, mine is giving me 0,5% off the Interbank, while Transferwise is 0,7%. Or better rate if he is in need of Euros and text me a message if I have :)

All rates are negotiable in Malaysia, with or without preferred status.

Re: Opening a Bank Account in Kuala Lumpur
 

Congratulations on passing the first stage of the MM2H visa. Do you plan to live in KL after the entire procedure has been completed?

It has already been mentioned that you need to show the MM2H pre-approval letter if you want to open a bank account.
Besides that have stories appeared on this forum about Americans who faced a lot of additional paperwork hurdles and red tape. It appears that Malaysian banks have become more wary about accepting American customers. It could be that the entire process can not be completed within one day, so it would be wise to have some extra days in your travel schedule available in case things turn out to be more complicated than expected.

Re: Opening a Bank Account in Kuala Lumpur
 

Hi,

Thanks to Davita, eCdD, stepen and Sushifan for providing valuable feedback.

I am actually a Canadian citizen who had been working in US for many years until my recent retirement. Hopefully being also from Commonwealth country, I would not encounter the difficulty from Malaysian banks as US person. I plan to live in KL at least for the first year, until I figure out the more long term location.

I have a few more questions if I may:

1) If I wire transfer USD from US bank to USD account say at CIMB, does it mean that I must convert USD to MYR with CIMB only, and take whatever exchange rate CIMB gives, regardless of whether one is able to negotiate with CIMB to get a rate that is better than what is being offered by Money exchange houses. Is it possible to withdraw USD cash from the USD account at CIMB, and take the US notes to the Money exchange house for conversion if it offers a better rate? If possible, I wonder if the CIMB branch would have on hand $100 USD bills amounting to USD 40k total for withdrawal?

2) On March 2nd, around 9:45 AM Eastern time zone, I did the following experiment comparing USD2MYR exchange rate from several sources:

a) With transferWise, $40k USD converting to MYR:
$300.74 USD fee is charged, leaving 39699.26 USD to be converted at
a guaranteed rate of 3.9035 to give 154966.06 MYR -> or an effective
exchange rate of 3.87415.
b) At around the same time, Yahoo finance quoted a rate of 3.905, which is time delayed by several hours.
c) Whereas Google finance quoted a rate of 3.9267;
d) I also goggle money exchange houses in KL with the best exchange rate:
I picked UAE Exchange which showed online quote of 3.86595 (buy);
also VITAL which showed online quote of 3.8950. No idea whether their
online quotes are time delayed and match their actual rates posted at their
respective physical premise?

From the above numbers, it appears that exchanging USD at VITAL would give the best return, with TransferWise being second best, and a difference of 834 MYR between the two.

Thanks,
Keung

Re: Opening a Bank Account in Kuala Lumpur
 

Hello qwert,
Regarding US tax liabilities, the below might be of interest.
And the MY banks ask for this in their customer questionnaires.
https://1040abroad.com/faq/who-is-a-...-tax-purposes/

Re: Opening a Bank Account in Kuala Lumpur
 

So you want to first establish a non-Fixed Deposit account (to bring in your US$ @$40k) THEN withdraw that money in US$ currency and take it to a money changer to convert it to RMY? Then bring that back in to CIMB to establish your RMY Fixed Deposit account? There may very well be additional transaction fees involved in all of this (e.g. removing your regular deposit below the minimum to make it a free account) besides being dangerous security-wise. And, as you say, VITAL is only telling you what their exchange rates are...not their service charges.

Re: Opening a Bank Account in Kuala Lumpur
 

Yes the definition of a "US Person" who must report foreign bank and investment holdings for tax purposes is quite broad. It's not simply a US Citizen. But I understand that these reporting requirements are now becoming widespread internationally. The US began it, other nations are now implementing it as well.

Ironically, most US holders of bank accounts are not making the amounts of income that would even require paying US taxes. The movement of US assets abroad are on accounts that are already paid for (salaries previously taxed)...and the interest (say 4.5%/annum) is not likely to reach the $110k Foreign Asset Waiver. One would have place about $2.5million in an account to reach that.

Re: Opening a Bank Account in Kuala Lumpur
 

A very good point. That's why I use TransferWise...you know exactly how much will net into the account before sending. I've done it many times, in many different currencies, and it always worked... often ahead of their predicted time for the deposit to appear.

Re: Opening a Bank Account in Kuala Lumpur
 

Have anybody tried with Bitcoin? To buy from coinbase, etc and sell on Malaysia exchange? The rates seems slight higher in Malaysia, so could effectively be the best exchange rate available.

Re: Opening a Bank Account in Kuala Lumpur
 

Why not give us an example like I did in my post # 145 yesterday where a guaranteed amount would be deposited within a stated time.

Re: Opening a Bank Account in Kuala Lumpur
 

Ok, so now buy price on coinbase is $11281. Sell price on coins.my is MYR44473. So would be rate USDMY 3.9422. But some fees on coins.my end (not sure how much) and the bitcoin transfer fee (will vary).

So it's definitely not a fixed rate, but could turn out quite good. Especially if you keep some bitcoin to act as "buffer", so you could sell in Malaysia at the same time as you buy in US (or other exchange).

Re: Opening a Bank Account in Kuala Lumpur
 

Re; Highlight.
That's my point...the devil is in those details and it's the same with many other forex traders. That's why I prefer TransferWise...it is a guaranteed net amount when you click 'send'.

Re: Opening a Bank Account in Kuala Lumpur
 

Yes, however with bitcoin there is a possibility to get better than interbank rates, because of the difference in Bitcoin prices between markeds.

Re: Opening a Bank Account in Kuala Lumpur
 

Or Worse