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If possible, any conditions?

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3 Answers

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It's possible. Not really that hard, the exact details of what you need differ depending on how you got the right to reside in Singapore (EP/WP/PR/Long-Term Social Visa). Best to contact the bank before hand.

It's been a few years but if I remember right you just need:

  • Something to prove your local address such as a utility bill in your name or a lease agreement.

And one of:

  • A Singapore government issued ID -- which is evidence of your right to reside in Singapore -- such as a Work Pass (WP), Employment Pass (EP) or Permanent Resident (PR) National Registration Identity Card (NRIC).

Or

  • Your foreign issued passport with a valid Long-Term Social Visa (i.e. your partner/parent has one of the above and you have a visa in your passport linked to that.)

My experience at POSB a was few years ago but I don't remember having any issues. I did not have a valid EP at the time, I was between jobs, but they took my Passport and a letter from my new employer. Once I got an EP they updated the bank details.

As a side note: POSB/DBS are the most popular banks and the most ATMs, but have the worse service and there is always a line at the ATMs. OCBC/UOB have fairly good coverage and you won't have to wait long to use ATMs thought there are less of them. Citibank/HSBC have only been given the right to offer personal banking in the past couple of years and don't have very good ATM or branch coverage yet.

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UOB/OCBC ATMs are linked. So if you are an OCBC account holder, you can withdraw cash from UOB ATMs and vice versa. However, please note that the 3rd withdrawal onwards will incur a $0.30 fee. That means you get 2 free withdrawals a month when using the other bank's ATM. – Edmund Tay♦ Oct 27 at 11:15
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You can open an account as a foreigner (as the question begs). This will depend on the bank. You will need:

  • Your passport
  • A min. deposit

The above are the two minimum requirements from my experience. Locally owned banks as I recall are be prohibited or just do not allow this - their loss.

If you have lots of cash you can go to any foreign bank because you will of course meet the min. deposit requirement (some can be as much as USD100,000). For example Standard Chartered Bank requires something like USD10,000 (or some big amount).

If you do not have large amounts of cash HSBC will require SGD500. You can even use your address in your home country and your statements will be sent there. They even SMS your foreign mobile if you set mobile alerts on for deposits, withdrawals, transfer and so on.

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Please take note that while HSBC requires an initial deposit of SGD500, there is a fee of SGD5 deducted from your account if the average daily balance for the month falls below SGD2000. Most if not all banks practice this "minimum balance fee". – Edmund Tay♦ Oct 27 at 18:15
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We need to open an offshore bank account in Singapore.

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