Question for US based pilots
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Question for US based pilots
Hey Guys,
I have a question regarding pay. I understand that we have to open an HSBC account during induction day. What do most guys do to get the money to their accounts in the US? I would imagine two wire transfers per month might start to cost more than it's worth. I don't want to change banks so hopefully there is an easy answer out there.
I have a question regarding pay. I understand that we have to open an HSBC account during induction day. What do most guys do to get the money to their accounts in the US? I would imagine two wire transfers per month might start to cost more than it's worth. I don't want to change banks so hopefully there is an easy answer out there.
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RJ
Welcome to Cathay. We're paid once a month (usually the 26th unless a weekend or holiday) so only one monthly transfer to worry about. The most cost effective seems to be to get a cashiers cheque from the HSBC and deposite it to your bank at home. Limited fees in Hong Kong (80 HKD?) and no fee at your North American Bank. HSBC give a better exchange rate than my bank at home as well. Good Luck.
Bell
Welcome to Cathay. We're paid once a month (usually the 26th unless a weekend or holiday) so only one monthly transfer to worry about. The most cost effective seems to be to get a cashiers cheque from the HSBC and deposite it to your bank at home. Limited fees in Hong Kong (80 HKD?) and no fee at your North American Bank. HSBC give a better exchange rate than my bank at home as well. Good Luck.
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Also HSBC has branches in the US, I'm planning on openning an account in the next few days so even if I have to open another one when I get to HK at least all I have to do on payday is transfer funds from one account to the other, and no wire transfer between two diff. banks.
I already asked them if I still need to open an account on indoc. day if I already have an HSBC account and they responded with this "you can just open one when you get here on indoc day", so we'll see.
I already asked them if I still need to open an account on indoc. day if I already have an HSBC account and they responded with this "you can just open one when you get here on indoc day", so we'll see.
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I've been told to be careful with this as HSBC in Hong Kong is completely different then HSBC in the US. I dont have specifics to back that up but apparently HSBC likes to charge for all sorts of stuff ie transfers, deposits, etc......I've heard the best bet and easiest is to keep your US bank and pay the $10 or whatever to wire it once a month.
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Well if it is only ten bucks then there is no problem. Unless they require a minimum balance then we might have to leave some in there. I definitely don't want to change banks so I'll have to do something. Maybe even just a normal foreign check if it is pre arranged with my bank. We really don't have much of a choice I guess.
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good info guys i'm also intrested in transfering money back to the states cost free.
Ive looked into rewards credit cards and Capital one visa does not seem to charge a INTL transaction fee. Just an idea if you want cash back, or miles while using your US CC over seas.
Ive looked into rewards credit cards and Capital one visa does not seem to charge a INTL transaction fee. Just an idea if you want cash back, or miles while using your US CC over seas.
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XEtrade
Anyone use this place to transfer money internationally? From what it says on the website, it seems pretty competitive.
http://www.xe.com/fx/
http://www.xe.com/fx/
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HSBC etc
I have an HSBC USA and HSBC HKG account, they are seperate companies
and you can not transfer money between the two without the wire fees.
I tried the same with Bank of America Asia and BOA USA.
The cheapest way to transfer the funds is to find a USA based credit
union that does not charge fees for incoming wires (Delta airlines
credit union or Members America Credit Union for instance). Some
credit unions charge, some do not so you need to ask first. You
will still pay the HSBC $12 US outgoing wire fee but not the traditional
$20 USD incoming wire fee.
The other method would be the 80 HKD charge from HSBC to have a
paper check issued, or 'walk' the actual cash USD's back on each trip.
Or, get an HSBC HKG credit card and charge all your expenses to the
credit card and try to avoid bringing over cash every month. (there
are no foreign transaction fees to use the HSBC HKG card in the USA).
and you can not transfer money between the two without the wire fees.
I tried the same with Bank of America Asia and BOA USA.
The cheapest way to transfer the funds is to find a USA based credit
union that does not charge fees for incoming wires (Delta airlines
credit union or Members America Credit Union for instance). Some
credit unions charge, some do not so you need to ask first. You
will still pay the HSBC $12 US outgoing wire fee but not the traditional
$20 USD incoming wire fee.
The other method would be the 80 HKD charge from HSBC to have a
paper check issued, or 'walk' the actual cash USD's back on each trip.
Or, get an HSBC HKG credit card and charge all your expenses to the
credit card and try to avoid bringing over cash every month. (there
are no foreign transaction fees to use the HSBC HKG card in the USA).
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Use e*trade...it's the best!
This is the easiest and best way since you won't have to pay ANY bank fees. -- This is for U.S. citizens only (or those with a soc. sec .# and can set-up an e*trade account in the usa).
Set up a free e*trade account in the states. Takes minutes online.
Then in HKG with your HSBC account, set it up so that e*trade Hong Kong is one of your Payees. Then, whenever you need money in your USA account, "pay" or transfer money to e*trade HKG and since e*trade HKG is linked to e*trade USA they don't charge you any fees. Your money just get's converted at the best exchange rate at the time which you cannot avoid since we get paid in HK$. It's good if you're transferring large sums of money. Forget wire transfer fees and bank charges etc! HSBC charges you so much to do that. It's ridiculous you gotta pay to access your own money.
Once the money is in your e*trade USA account you can write an e*trade check to yourself and deposit it into your USA bank account, or you can online trasnfer it. Lot's of ways.
First step is to setup a free e*trade account if you haven't already.
Then goto this website: https://hk.etrade.com/hk/contact_en.html and or call e*trade HKG to ask how to fund your account. It's so easy since everything is done online and u don't have to pay a thing...and as everyone knows, e*trade is the premiere online self-service discount brokerage industry leader.
Aloha!
Set up a free e*trade account in the states. Takes minutes online.
Then in HKG with your HSBC account, set it up so that e*trade Hong Kong is one of your Payees. Then, whenever you need money in your USA account, "pay" or transfer money to e*trade HKG and since e*trade HKG is linked to e*trade USA they don't charge you any fees. Your money just get's converted at the best exchange rate at the time which you cannot avoid since we get paid in HK$. It's good if you're transferring large sums of money. Forget wire transfer fees and bank charges etc! HSBC charges you so much to do that. It's ridiculous you gotta pay to access your own money.
Once the money is in your e*trade USA account you can write an e*trade check to yourself and deposit it into your USA bank account, or you can online trasnfer it. Lot's of ways.
First step is to setup a free e*trade account if you haven't already.
Then goto this website: https://hk.etrade.com/hk/contact_en.html and or call e*trade HKG to ask how to fund your account. It's so easy since everything is done online and u don't have to pay a thing...and as everyone knows, e*trade is the premiere online self-service discount brokerage industry leader.
Aloha!
HSBC is the same bank - wherever it is! In the UK about ten years ago, HSBC bought up one of the big 4 banks (The Midland) and renamed it HSBC. They may argue it's a different bank, but it uses the advertisng logo "The worlds local bank". I asked my local branch in the UK why I was being charged transfer fees if the branch at CLK airport and the one in Oxford was part of the same local bank. They coudn't answer that, but wouldn't relent either.
So I tried a different tack. I started to take my entire months pay from my HK account out of the ATM machine (preferably late on a friday when they had just filled up the machine for the weekend) and depositing the cash into my UK account at the counter. No transfer fees! They didn't like that much but still wouldn't give me free transfers. W@nkers! I got bored with that after a while - that and the fear of geting mugged between the machine and the counter - so I paid for the transfers.
Incidently, in the UK, they use the HSBC logo but there's no mention of Hong Kong or Shanghai in any of their literature. Seems mentioning it might be bad for business!
So I tried a different tack. I started to take my entire months pay from my HK account out of the ATM machine (preferably late on a friday when they had just filled up the machine for the weekend) and depositing the cash into my UK account at the counter. No transfer fees! They didn't like that much but still wouldn't give me free transfers. W@nkers! I got bored with that after a while - that and the fear of geting mugged between the machine and the counter - so I paid for the transfers.
Incidently, in the UK, they use the HSBC logo but there's no mention of Hong Kong or Shanghai in any of their literature. Seems mentioning it might be bad for business!
If you have an HSBC Premier account in the UK and the same equivalent in HKG they claim you shouldn't pay charges. Haven't had 1 million dollars in my account to open the HKG end. Anyone had any luck?
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Alohajec,
How long does it take for the money to get to your e*trade USA account?
Do you have to do anything once you have transferred the money to e*trade HKG for the money to appear in your e*trade USA account?
Thanks......I like the concept!!
FYI
How long does it take for the money to get to your e*trade USA account?
Do you have to do anything once you have transferred the money to e*trade HKG for the money to appear in your e*trade USA account?
Thanks......I like the concept!!
FYI
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Alohajec,
Ok, following up from my last post, I've looked into your way of doing things a bit more and have some followup comments.
First of all, looking on the HSBC banking page, it looks to me like you can only "Bill Pay" to E*Trade (as opposed to "Transfer") because E*Trade didn't come up as a possible destination under "banks" that you can transfer to (either HKD or foreign currency). Thats OK, however, setting up E*Trade HKG as a Payee will work except that it only accets HKD transfers to them. That would be fine if my pay is in HKD. As I'm on a US base, my pay is in USD. So to make this work, I would have to convert my pay to HKD (take a exchange rate commission hit), then transfer to E*Trade HKG who will then, as you state, change the money back to USD (take another exchange rate commission hit) for it to get to your E*Trade USA account.
Am I missing something?? The main catch is that if you are US based, your pay is in USD. So, yes it can all be done for free, but what you save in wire transfers, you pay in multiple foreign currency change commissions.
What I do see though is that E*Trade does not charge for incoming wire transfers. So that will be a savings of at least $10/month (Bank of America incoming fee is $10, other banks I know of are $20).
I think my next step could be to open up an E*Trade USA basic checking account (no min balance fee) and wire my pay from HSBC ($130 HKD) and then write a check from E*Trade checking acct to deposit into my local bank account. If you have a Wamu acct, they don't charge any min balance fees either, so hence the only banking charge is the wire transfer fee to HSBC. Getting a cashiers check written in HKG saves a little, but how often are you there at exactly the right day for that to happen?? For me, I need $$ in my acct in the US a week before I get paid in HKG, so its desparation time and wiring is the only way to go.
Thats how I see it. If I'm missing something please let me know. It seems to me that the main catch is whether you are transferring HKD as a bill pay to E*Trade HKG vs having to change USD to HKD first and then doing it.
FYI
Ok, following up from my last post, I've looked into your way of doing things a bit more and have some followup comments.
First of all, looking on the HSBC banking page, it looks to me like you can only "Bill Pay" to E*Trade (as opposed to "Transfer") because E*Trade didn't come up as a possible destination under "banks" that you can transfer to (either HKD or foreign currency). Thats OK, however, setting up E*Trade HKG as a Payee will work except that it only accets HKD transfers to them. That would be fine if my pay is in HKD. As I'm on a US base, my pay is in USD. So to make this work, I would have to convert my pay to HKD (take a exchange rate commission hit), then transfer to E*Trade HKG who will then, as you state, change the money back to USD (take another exchange rate commission hit) for it to get to your E*Trade USA account.
Am I missing something?? The main catch is that if you are US based, your pay is in USD. So, yes it can all be done for free, but what you save in wire transfers, you pay in multiple foreign currency change commissions.
What I do see though is that E*Trade does not charge for incoming wire transfers. So that will be a savings of at least $10/month (Bank of America incoming fee is $10, other banks I know of are $20).
I think my next step could be to open up an E*Trade USA basic checking account (no min balance fee) and wire my pay from HSBC ($130 HKD) and then write a check from E*Trade checking acct to deposit into my local bank account. If you have a Wamu acct, they don't charge any min balance fees either, so hence the only banking charge is the wire transfer fee to HSBC. Getting a cashiers check written in HKG saves a little, but how often are you there at exactly the right day for that to happen?? For me, I need $$ in my acct in the US a week before I get paid in HKG, so its desparation time and wiring is the only way to go.
Thats how I see it. If I'm missing something please let me know. It seems to me that the main catch is whether you are transferring HKD as a bill pay to E*Trade HKG vs having to change USD to HKD first and then doing it.
FYI
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To answer the original question. No you do not have to open a HSBC account. The reason they suggest it is that HSBC in hkg is as ubiquitous as McDonalds and Starbucks combined in the states!
When I was based offshore I used to get a demand draft (bank cheque in pilot english) as that was the cheapest way to transfer. You pick up the cheque and deposit it at home and usually it gets cleared immediately. If you are going to be a freighter fo etc then HSBC is a good option as there is a branch in the CX building.
Minimum balance....hmmmm... there are a few different accounts called premier, power saver etc. If you are going to use the bank like 2 times a month just get a regular savings account...especially if you are based. you can do all your banking online anyway...you can set up telegraphic transfer accounts to cover those times you are not in hkg for a while.
If you do a monthly demand draft it should cost you less than 100hkd per month to take the money home!
When I was based offshore I used to get a demand draft (bank cheque in pilot english) as that was the cheapest way to transfer. You pick up the cheque and deposit it at home and usually it gets cleared immediately. If you are going to be a freighter fo etc then HSBC is a good option as there is a branch in the CX building.
Minimum balance....hmmmm... there are a few different accounts called premier, power saver etc. If you are going to use the bank like 2 times a month just get a regular savings account...especially if you are based. you can do all your banking online anyway...you can set up telegraphic transfer accounts to cover those times you are not in hkg for a while.
If you do a monthly demand draft it should cost you less than 100hkd per month to take the money home!
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FYI
Hey FYI,
I think your information is all correct. My apologies, I shouldn't have used the word "transfer."
I'm not quite sure what the rest of your post was in regards to since you are USA based and get paid in U.S. dollars. I was originally replying to rjmore's post - it sounded like he's going to be a HKG based pilot who used to/or still lives in the States (like me) and has an account there and wanted to get his money to his U.S. bank account without incurring many fees.
I'm gonna talk to e*trade HKG today and get more info. Or if anyone wants to call them in HKG their local # is: 3191 3000
Aloha
I think your information is all correct. My apologies, I shouldn't have used the word "transfer."
I'm not quite sure what the rest of your post was in regards to since you are USA based and get paid in U.S. dollars. I was originally replying to rjmore's post - it sounded like he's going to be a HKG based pilot who used to/or still lives in the States (like me) and has an account there and wanted to get his money to his U.S. bank account without incurring many fees.
I'm gonna talk to e*trade HKG today and get more info. Or if anyone wants to call them in HKG their local # is: 3191 3000
Aloha
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Oops, I just noticed that I didn't clarify in the original post. I will be LAX based on the freighter. Sounds like the easiest thing to do is just wire transfer. I have a total of six accounts with my bank here so I think I will put the screws to them to work out a deal for the transfer fees.
On the paperwork I received it says we are required to open the account on induction day so maybe that changed. Either way, I doubt they have my bank there so it is just as well. Thanks for the info.
On the paperwork I received it says we are required to open the account on induction day so maybe that changed. Either way, I doubt they have my bank there so it is just as well. Thanks for the info.
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rjmore / FYI
rjmore - if you want to wire transfer money HSBC always charges you a percentage based on the amount you want to transfer. it's ridiculous having to pay fees to move or access your own money. but you do what's easiest for you. e*trade is the best way to send large sums without paying any fees.
fyi - i spoke with e*trade. If you make the 'bill payment' before 1 p.m. it only takes 1 business day and your money is reflected in your usa account (converted to USD). no fees! from there you can do with it whatever u want.
all you have to do is setup your online banking with HSBC - choose "E*Trade" as a Bill Payment merchant (under the Securities Brokerage category), input your 8-digit e*Trade USA account number in the BILL PAYEE Acct. # and 'pay' or 'transfer' as much money as you want! you're essentially 'transferring' your money into your USA account and it'll show up in USD the next day. no fees. pretty cool. make sure you adjust your HKD transfer limit (ceiling) with HSBC when you setup your online banking. you have to do this in person at the bank.
Aloha
fyi - i spoke with e*trade. If you make the 'bill payment' before 1 p.m. it only takes 1 business day and your money is reflected in your usa account (converted to USD). no fees! from there you can do with it whatever u want.
all you have to do is setup your online banking with HSBC - choose "E*Trade" as a Bill Payment merchant (under the Securities Brokerage category), input your 8-digit e*Trade USA account number in the BILL PAYEE Acct. # and 'pay' or 'transfer' as much money as you want! you're essentially 'transferring' your money into your USA account and it'll show up in USD the next day. no fees. pretty cool. make sure you adjust your HKD transfer limit (ceiling) with HSBC when you setup your online banking. you have to do this in person at the bank.
Aloha
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Thanks for the info! I guess it will boil down to whether or not I need the money or if I can spare a couple of days. In the beginning I will probably just have to pay the fees while I adjust to getting paid once a month.
So I have it straight, US based guys get paid in USD at HSBC in HKG. However, the e*trade account only accepts HKD. So it would have to be converted from USD to HKD and back to USD again?
Seems strange, it would be really simple to set up a US corporation and just pay us here through any run of the mill payroll company. Of course the payroll company charges fees for that so I just answered my own question!
So I have it straight, US based guys get paid in USD at HSBC in HKG. However, the e*trade account only accepts HKD. So it would have to be converted from USD to HKD and back to USD again?
Seems strange, it would be really simple to set up a US corporation and just pay us here through any run of the mill payroll company. Of course the payroll company charges fees for that so I just answered my own question!