International bank accounts?

[syee]

Anyone familar with any banks that offer services internationally? Specifically what I am looking for is a bank for my brother who is moving to HK. Ideally, he'd like to be able to move money back and forth between HK and Canada with the minimum of hassle and cost.

So far, the only option we've found is HSBC's International Premier account, but it requires a minimum "Total Relationship Balance" of $1,000,000HKD (roughly $150,000 CDN) which is a bit out of his league at the moment.

Is there any other banks anyone might know of that might offer something similar (specifically be able to transfer money electronically from a HK account to CDN account and vice versa) that doesn't require the high balance be kept?

The last resort we've thought of is to just send bank drafts or something similar back and forth, but it's slow and there's always the possibility of it getting lost in the mail, etc. An electronic means is more reliable and simpler but we can't seem to locate anything that seems to meet our criteria.

I know there's a few HK'ers around RS that may be doing the same thing who might be able to chime in.

[achiam]

its not that slow; for HSBC the txn fees for drafts are quite low (around $20-$30CAD) for about $10,000CAD per transaction.
if you're sending to canada, usually it arrives either in 2 days, or my fastest, is 3 hours.
If you're sending to HK, usually takes about 2 days.

[syee]

Originally Posted by achiam

its not that slow; for HSBC the txn fees for drafts are quite low (around $20-$30CAD) for about $10,000CAD per transaction.
if you're sending to canada, usually it arrives either in 2 days, or my fastest, is 3 hours.
If you're sending to HK, usually takes about 2 days.

Yeah, it's not too expensive (I remember I'd sent $5000USD drafts home every so often and it was $15USD for an International Bank draft) It just sucks having to wait for it to get mailed, etc. My folks bank also hassled them about putting 30 day holds on it, etc (even though they shouldn't be since a draft is almost as good as cash - it IS guaranteed funds) I guess the other option is to wire transfer the funds but that in itself is pretty pricey as well. (ends up costing about $50 each transaction)

[achiam]

mailing draft? nonono
just send it electronically
with my HSBC online account i can send cash to anyone in the world
i just need their name/sortcode/account number

[ewong]

HSBC is the best in terms of international banking, especially in Asia. When my friends went backpacking in Asia, they all opened accounts at HSBC, incase they needed money from family back home.

You could do the mailing drafts, though if it's lost/stolen there is a delay on returning the money to the original owner.

If you don't wanna do the HSBC route, could do wires. Many currency exchange companies owned by Asians seem to have a good deal when it comes to wiring money to Asia. Like some banks charge $25-$125 for a wire depending on the amount. Those currency exchange places have a flat rate less than what the bank charges.

[impactX]

No choice other than HSBC Premier.

If not, the wire transfer fee thru HSBC's online banking in HK isn't that bad either. Of course, there's going to be fee on both sending and receiving.

[SkinnyPupp]

I use the cheapest HSBC account, and when I need to move money from Canada to here, I just use my HSBC ATM card. Because

1) They do not charge the $5 withdrawal fee
2) The exchange rate is a true "middle" rate, not the bank's crappy "sell" rate. In other words, if $1 CAD is worth $7 HKD, that's what I get. Not $6.70 like I would from other banks.

This is the easiest and cheapest way. The only issue is that you would be limited to transferring $500 per day (at least that's my limit) but that has never been an issue for me. If I need a lot of money at once, I just plan ahead and transfer it over a few days. Since there is no fee to withdraw each time, it's irrelevant.