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It helps if you are not black also
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cd
20 yrs ago
Actually the Bank of America has a minimum of $5,000 to open an account.
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Prepare to fill in lots of forms
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believe it or not if you are of south east asian nationality ie filipino, indonesian or one of those countries who has not signed the money laundering charter - then you're going to have a hard time. you would need proof of employment, letter or recommendation etc etc. and sometimes this does not guarantee getting an account specially hsbc
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everyone.... sadly this is very very true and very very common. complaints have been raised already thru scmp take action last year and even made it to the headlines...yet it still exists. some say it is because the philippines has not signed or joined the money laundering charter.
a friend of mine of filipino nationality, director of a big international investment bank tried to open a bank account with hsbc. not only was this person asked for letter or arecommendation blah blah blah but they stated that that it would take several days to approve the bank account if ever it was approved.
hsbc tries to cover this up as a misunderstanding and communication hooplah blah blah blah but this is a fact....i think they are more discreet about it nowadays but certainly hands down that a western gwailo will get an account at the blink of an eye as compared to an expat of southeast asian nationality.
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There is an internationally recognised list of "non-compliant" countries in this respect, and from memory the Philippines is on it. So are Russia and various other "white" countries, I think.
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money laundering is one thing but obviously this is not the case for my friend. and besides how much do you need to open an account, certainly not millions and millions so that ordinary folks you mentioned would not be able to open one. i would guess the minimum opening account is 1000 which is reasonable amount for nurses, school teachers and mid ranking civil servants.
and we're not discussing people who happen to pass by hong kong and decide to open an account.
we are talking about people who live in hong kong and have jobs in hong kong and who may not necessarily be a resident who wants to keep their money in a bank hence they want to open an account.
it has to do with money laundering yes but more so for those nationalities whose country is not a member of this money laundering alliance (i think its the Financial Action Task Force on Money Laundering or FATF) not because they are money launderers themselves.
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At Citibank, I just needed a passport and filled out a form or two, stating the address and company info. The requirement was 30,000 HKD. At that time I wasn't even living in HK.
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when i opened my account at hang seng i didn't even need proof of address as i hadn't been in the country long enough to actually have anything sent to my address. bank of china definitly needs proof of address and id card. hang seng and bank of china do not need a large deposit to open the account. at bank of china i just used $1000. the accounts were set up immediatly and i recieved the pass books but had to wait for the card to be sent to me (BOC) or the letter saying to go and pick up the card (Hang Seng) within a week.
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I found it more difficult to open a bank account in London as a new arrival than it was to open one in HK.
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I've just been round all the banks, it seems you definely need proof of address but how I am suppose to get this when I've only just come to Hong Kong?
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Go to a mobile pbone line provider and subscribe to cheapest plan. One that you can cancel if you want to... I guess others have better suggestions :)
This assuming you do have an adress; or someone you can direct your mail to ?. Anyway; this is interesting cause someone asked me how to do this while they are in China (and not living in HK). Is there any monthly fee nowadays to keep accounts open ?.
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Justa
20 yrs ago
What are the chances a letter from ones employer confirming employment, package etc will suffice for the bank?
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