Which Bank is the BEST in DXB????
 

Dear All fellow EK employees!

I have just arrived in DXB to start employment with EK, and I was wondering if I could please get some advice which is the best bank to have a Bank account with in DXB??? for fees, accessing overseas, transferring funds to eg. Australia??
As we all know banks like to rip us off...so having some info with peoples past and present experience I think would help all.


Thank you in advance for any information and assistance.

I am with AbuDhabi Commercial Bank (ADCB) and quiet happy with it. Pretty much all the banks in Dubai are going to rip you off with their hidden fees. Make sure you find out the following:

1.Number of times you can use ATM. (There are extra hidden charges sometimes)
2.Number of times you can use the Teller.
3.Online banking fees
4.Minumum amount you must maintain in your account before they start ripping you off!

Good luck.

Aatif!

Thank you very much for taking the time to reply. I will take your advice and make some enquiries!.

Thanks once again!

Not only from my personal experience, but also from what i've gathered from random conversations, people seem to be very happy with Mashreq Bank. Although that was about a year ago... i don't know about now, but maybe you can pass by in SZayedR and find out.


good luck

Was with Mashreq, bloody awful and left them several years ago.
Now with LLoyds TSB (main branch - Safa park). Without wishing to be racist, when I go in there I can speak to someone and know that not only are we speaking the same language but...... we are speaking the same language :ooh:

Suggest you speak to a number of banks, they do deals for EK if you have your pay put into them. No annual charges etc etc.

Same goes for credit cards, a number of deals available without paying in your salary. Check out Citibank amongst others.

I was with the HSBC, found them to be the most arrogant and un-helpful bank. I always had to drive to their major branch to deal with small errors caused by them. Staff are rude!!

Now banking with Lloyds.
Slightly better!

Oz

Same from me re HSBC.

They con you into their bank in the first place by promising free transfers to home country. However to recover that cost they charge 4% EXTRA on the exchange rate. Lloyds only charge 0.8% extra plus a 50 dirham transfer fee.

If you are sending 20K dirhams home there is a potential saving of 3.2% with Lloyds which will translate to nearly AUD$200 more each month in your account. Meaning over 2000 dollars extra per year.

I will also be changing over to Lloyds shortly as are many others.

The things I don`t know about Lloyds yet are:

1) Their internet banking Facility's
2) How many Lloyds ATMs are about - haven`t seen any?
3) Other account keeping fees.

So if anyone else can answer those questions. Thanks

Started off with Lloyds-USELESS!!!, Now with Mashreq, so far so good!
Good Luck :ugh::ugh:

Was with Mashreq until I finally got fed up (for the 4th year in a row) of them charging me for my free credit card and having to go and explain their incompetence to them each year.

Oh by the way, they lost my 15,000Dhs monthly debit back to the UK which had been in place for 5 years. Ended up sitting in the branch in front of the deputy branch manager and refused to move until the money was back in my account, took 5 hrs but at least I got it back (less the difference in the exchange rate over the 5 days it went missing).:ugh:

Emptied my account and went to Lloyds TSB, no problems and the sound of civilised, helpful employees from the Home Counties!!! :ok:

what about NBD???
 

Thank you very much for all of your replies, greatly appreciated!

Any thoughts on NBD (National Bank Of Dubai) now merged with Emirates Bank???

Thank you

Took a loan with NBD to buy the car... no hassle, dealt solely with one contact. Once I sold the car it was a breeze closing the account. Reccomend them for that side.

General banking with Lloyds TSB and had no problems until I wanted to close the account when we left. They cocked it up big time but one sharp letter got things in order and everything ended well. Much easier to open an account as I have banked with TSB in uk for 23 years.

DIB
 

CRM is nearly inexistant in the UAE and call-centers aggressive during the week-end, you'll figure it out very soon, unless you're into private banking ( which is just another way to pay for a unique account manager ).

You will be surprised, but after tries with citibank, hsbc, nbd-emirates bank & dubai bank, I'm quite happy with dubai islamic bank!

Ok, don't expect them to be excellent, fast and hard working, but at least i didn't notice any hidden/extra fee or unexpected little surprise!
You could even manage to get your paperwork ( clearance, etc ) done extremly fast if you push them a bit!

Cleared a car loan in advance and got ALL interests refund transfered the same morning, was amazed ! :D

All banks on the middle east chart are crooks, liars, treat you like dirt. They would not last a week in the civilized world with all their fees (27$ for a copy of monthly statement, 27$ to have a non liability letter) and incompetent clerks. They're all the same, some worst than others. Big avoid on ADCB, avoid Mashreq. Pick a bank that as a branch near your place. Have fun choosing, it's just the beginning!

National Bank of Abu Dhabi.. EXCELLENT.. was with HSBC for 3 years, what an insulting experience...

HSBC truly is appalling. They find the most clever ways of complicating and screwing up the most simple tasks. Their fees are outrageous, customer service is disgusting, branch locations with no parking in the center of each traffic 'hotspot', and inevitably at some point they will do something that takes you 2 months to rectify.

Oh wait, they ARE good at coming to your place to sign you up and do all the paperwork........ but once they HAVE YOU......... its painful being their customer.

HSBC, ShowTime, and getting company furniture were the big 3 mistakes I made when I first got here.

Lloyds is excellent. You can use the NBD ATM's for free as well.

The problem with sweeping general statements like that is someone like me is going to say you are wrong!!!

When I first opened a bank account in the ME, it was written in a large ledger, every visit, the teller would add or subtract funds.

Since that day, i have never paid bank charges for anything but transfers. Free checkbook, free atm, free statements!!!

Gotta love Saudi banks :):)

Mutt

Gotta say I agree with the crooks statement, Lloyds are all very well when it comes to face to face service but are too small to run their own card services so a huge part of their busines is actually with NBD.

This is where the fun begins, their card fraud precautions are appalling, I lost 14.000dhs off the credit card in 3 transactions in Argentina before christmas, they didn't pick it up at all despite the fact I was using the card between those transactions in DXB, I had to tell them.

And when fraud occurs? They take 3 months to refund the money, except when the lose the paperwork and then it takes much longer.

HSBC have an excellant service to sms whenever the card is used and citibank call me every time I use the card OS both good services to have, both citi and HSBC have good online services but their branches are in Bur Dubai and always packed.

Lloyds loan services are pretty expensive as well so I'm afraid no easy answers

Mutt

Good for you if you enjoy the local bank treatment. In general here my opinion is shared upon fellow expats, but once again good for you. Since you enjoy it so much, I need to go pick up a bank letter in downtown Deira since it can only be collected there (mail is not a option for them) can you do it for me?

Nuuk,

Suggest you change your bank to www.shbonline.com.sa and you might actually start to enjoy the service :):)

If you had stated that All banks in Dubai are crooks, liars, treat you like dirt, then i couldnt have passed any comment.

Mutt