# Any suggestions on good banks for expats?



## Young Professional (Jul 7, 2008)

I'm an American who will be moving to Dubai in the near future and will need to open a local bank account. Could you please suggest which places are relatively hassle-free to bank with? Any feedback from people already there who have experiences with banking in Dubai would be appreciated. Thanks!


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## alli (Mar 6, 2008)

HSBC SUCKS THE FAT ONE.

That's all I can add.


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## Young Professional (Jul 7, 2008)

Could you please elaborate?


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## British Kiwi (Jul 5, 2008)

I'm not going to recommend a bank as such, but just give general banking advice. I work for an Offshore bank and we basically advise that the majority of your money should be kept Offshore, not only is it eligible for tax free status (may need to check tax advisors on that esp. if you are american - though think as long as you declare the income you are ok) but also because your money can't be frozen. I think this is mainly a problem in Saudi Arabia. Then have a local bank account for day to day things. We have quite a lot of customer working in Dubai and that seems to be the common approach. I've also heard that HSBC isn't that great, but I don't have first hand experience, plus I'm probably biased  You should definately try to have a bank which has multi-currency accounts esp USD with a USD debit or credit card. But I suppose that will depend if you need sterling or euros as well. I work for AIB if that helps.


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## Young Professional (Jul 7, 2008)

Thanks for your reply, British Kiwi. By keeping the majority of my money offshore, do you mean outside the USA or UAE?


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## Elphaba (Jan 24, 2008)

As Dubai UAE has no income tax there is no difference from that point of view for monies held in onshore or offshore accounts. American citizens are subject to tax on their worldwide earnings above $85,000 (approx) even if resident in a tax-free country. The situation is different for other nationalities.

You will need a Dirham account (more on that in a minute) for receipt of salary and for day to day expenses. Savings should be held offshore to avoid the impact of both local and Sharia Law. There are certain circumstances when the monies in a UAE bank account can be frozen - on death and sometimes on changing companies. Having the bulk of your assets offshore will avoid these issues. 

Local accounts have very low rates of interest on savings accounts and offshore accounts will offer better rates depending on the currency. All USD accounts are very low, with better rates for Sterling. 

Before you open a UAE account consider a couple of issues - access to branches and who your employer banks with. You can only open accounts with a couple of banks (HSBC & Mashreq) without residency. 

Banking standards in the UAE are generally fairly poor and you will hear everyone complaining at some point. I bank with HSBC and have had no problems, but I also have several offshore accounts and am a 'Premier' customer so that does make a difference. Overall, I hear least complaints about NBD (National Bank of Dubai) and Lloyds TSB. 

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## British Kiwi (Jul 5, 2008)

Yeah, Offshore would be outside the USA or UAE and Elphaba is right about the tax bit. Offshore banks generally don't automatically tax interest which is handy for living in a country with no tax rate. If you were British working in Dubai, you would only need to pay tax on income originating in the UK, but for Americans it is different. If you wanted you could keep the majority of your money in America and just transfer what you need to a local bank account. The main advantage with Offshore or International banks is that they usually offer multi-currency accounts and it tends to be easier to transfer money around the world. I have a Natwest account and it's a pain to send euros and I cannot send international payments via Internet Banking, I need to set up an International Account. Whereas I have GBP, EUR and AUD accounts with work and can easily transfer money in different currencies around the world. One of the main things to check is what the transaction costs will be. No point having a high interest rate account if it going to cost a small fortune to move your money!


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## Elphaba (Jan 24, 2008)

Of course I am right about tax & banking. I am an IFA for heavens sake! 

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