Friday, August 21, 2009

High Bank Charges

I have to make a remittance of USD 2,000 to a factory in Shenzhen. A check with several banks showed the bank charge to be SGD 40 or more. I find it to be quite high. The actual cost to the bank of making this remittance should be small. They are over-charging customers to make a big profit. What happen to competition in bringing down cost?
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7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Mr. Tan, for remittance to China, you can use citibank service which charges s$10 at a time, but you need a citibank account, I think,

August 21, 2009 9:56 AM
Anonymous said...

Mr. Tan, the charges need to pay for nice offices, branches, staff cost and multi million packages for senior staff. So they have to charge more.

August 21, 2009 10:52 AM
A Tan said...

Chill out -- look at the total package the bank offers.

If services that you use frequently are "cheap", while those that you use ocasionally are high, then why complain?

If the bank's package of charges is high for services you use regularly, then change banks.

And always remember to take account of gd counter or telephone service.

August 21, 2009 12:05 PM
Anonymous said...

Nowadays services at the bank are chargeable, whereas previously are free e.g. cashier's cheques payable to your own name.

August 21, 2009 1:17 PM
Anonymous said...

Mr. Tan,
you may like to try Western Union.
I gathered that they are secure & reliable and safe.
But I do not know how much is their service charges.
Cheers,
james

August 21, 2009 2:34 PM
Vincent Teo said...

Mr Tan

The S$40 TT remittance charge is actually quite reasonable, considering that you are doing a manual transfer (i.e. filling up some form and let the bank teller/backroom staff perform the transfer).

In my line of work, I handle this sort of TT transfer for big corporate and they are charged on average between USD20 to USD30. That is considered special corporate rates. For other type of retail customer, the TT charge will be much higher.

My current company uses online e-banking to perform such TT transfers. The rate is USD15 per transaction but you have to do most of the filling up of transfer details yourself via the bank internet portal. A task not consider difficult but still need some general knowledge before you can perform effectively.

Generally, most banks in Singapore have raised their banking charges ever since the Financial Crisis in US.

August 21, 2009 4:09 PM
Anonymous said...

Beside, the outrageous charges that the bank impose they are making a "killing" in the spread in the offer and bid spread of the currency.

To remit money to the Philippines at one of the remittance outlets at Lucky Plaza is, get this... $5

To send money to a developed country like NZ through a bank is..$40-$50, beside the riduculous spread. WHY???

Mr Tan you should use one of the remmittance service for sending money to China, it is legal and much cheaper.

August 21, 2009 6:00 PM

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