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

Agree with most, if not all, the comments here.

Banks in the UAE - SUCK.

All of them them that I have tried - no experience of Llyods - but have been with NBD, mashreq, Citi and HSBC over the years, and they all suck.

HSBC will screw you on the exchange rate, but if you send money in US$ there's little they can do. I deal with the Jebel Ali branch, the manager there is an smart Emirati guy, who is very helpful.

Best to keep your dealings with the bank to a minimum. get a Citi/Emirates credit card (free) and send your money overseas with one of the exchange houses. They offer good rates, will negotiate for larger transactions and chrage a small flat fee regardless of the amount.

Have to say both HSBC and Citi have Credit card teams that are very good.

Mutt,

I'll check it out. If it's that good I'll owe you a cold one and will edit my post to all of UAE banks....
Cheers

HSBC credit card services are very good???? You gotta be on drugs mate they are the most useless impicilic bunch of #$%^:mad: idiots I have ever had the missfortune to deal with. I am stuck with them because my employer banks with them, I have 1 card with Mashreq and they run rings around the dolts from HSBC 'the Worlds [worst] Bank'. My experience has been shared by most of my colleagues and anybody else standing in front of you at the queue in the HSBC branch:yuk:

There are no good banks in the UAE some aren't as bad as others.

What does HSBC stand for anyway?

Is it "Hopeless Staff, Big Charges"

I guess I'm lucky with jumeira DIB branch...

avoid,avoid HSBC,they are useless,until it comes to charging u for everything and anything,also Citibank and Standard /Chartered,terrible,Emirates Bank are good,branches everywhere and if u are EK crew they sort out ur problems very quickly,hope this helps.

I am transferring from HSBC. They were ripping me off with their 1 "free" transfer. My gosh what a lie. They rob you blind with their version of the exchange rate.

National Bank of Abu Dhabi has been great so far. So I am leaving HSBC never to return.

- Same day personal loans though.
- still can't get them to undo the credit cover (another rip-off)
- status account and personal bankers - another useless service
- 15 emails to try and get something done
- customer dis-service centre at Mercato is another useless piece of driftwood that needs to be chopped up and burnt.
- still don't know what my phone banking PIN is
- no idea what my credit card PIN is
- what a hassle trying to reset your online acount
- cancelled my credit card without tellin me then taking 3 weeks to deliver the new one with Aramex - who couldn't find the villa.
- can never find parking at the Bur Dubai branch.
- applied for a revision to my car loan tenure twice without success and then just gave up.
- free tea at the status waiting area. They can't even afford some bloody milk or at least pay for a guy to make a fresh cup.


I gave up on HSBC. Glad I am moving to National Bank of Abu Dhabi. So far so good.

Hi,

feel a little misled with the status account i signed up for.

Four years of 70 Dhs per month for the privilege only to be told by a member of staff at the HSBC Jebel Ali that as EK staff i have the same benefits as a status account holder.

Cancelled status from then and called the lady who signed me up. She got very defensive when queried on the product she is promoting.

I am going to try and retrieve the money paid over the 4 years. Will be intersting to see how it goes, as i have had a few fairly significant problems with HSBC during my time here.

Rgds.

Avoid Rak Bank
 

Never, ever do any business with Rak Bank.

Similar issues as other posters, total lack of customer service, totally incompetent staff, useless products & services, rip off charges, unresponsive and ineffective call centre, bizarre and pointless policies .. the list is endless. Everything they do and the way they do it makes your life more difficult.

Avoid them like the plague.

I have said this before on this forum, and will say it again..NEVER deal with HSBC. Concur with all previous comments..hopeless service, rip off exchange rates.

With Lloyds now, still a few problems but overall much better. Lost 25,000dhms on a card fraud, but got the money back quickly. Ever tried to do the same with HSBC?...doubt you'd ever see the money back.

Unfortunately every bank in the UAE spends far more time trying to get new customers, rather than spending much effort on keeping their existing customers happy.

The main thing to consider is never ever sign a security check to get a credit card. It may land you in prison if you are away and forget to pay your card. The banks are quick to cash them if they cannot contact you.
To all the guys who have signed them i suggest you confront your bank and have them cancelled and destroyed, change banks if you have too as it is a serious noose around your neck.

HSBC Service
 

I attempted to make a transfer of AED 36000 to a UK bank in early February, they completely screwed it up sending the money to a non existent account in Abu Dhabi. HSBC have admitted their mistake but still refuse to even put the money back in my UAE account until they themselves get the money back from Abu Dhabi.

50 plus calls to anyone I can contact and still no result.

The trouble is I don't think any bank in UAE will be much better, there is no regulator and writing this is probably the only way I can hurt them at all.

In the past, I have been reasonably satisfied with what they have done but I am only measuring them by the standards I have come to expect in this region.

Mutt,

Made a quick research on the subject looks like SHB is not included in the middle east charts, they seem to be on their own, www.mideastinfo.com/banks.htm. If you look at HSBC middle east, they will include UAE, Bahrain, Lebanon, Jordan, Oman, Qatar, Kuwait, not Saudi. So I maintain my original statement of the middle east chart, all a bunch of crooks. They would not last a week in any civilized part of the world.

Interesting when you say quickly what time frame are we talking about? I have been told it is 3 month minimum and it is now almost 4 months since the fraud happened with no sign of refund.

Lloyds blame NDB and seem to have no leeway to fix the general incompetance on their cards dept, effictively means I cannot use their card when away since it is easily cloned and they do nothing to question transactions, Citi while generally a bit of a pain at least are fast to respond to unusal transactions. Have rattled up loads of Skywards miles over the years as well.

Why should a bank be different from our employers? It's local culture: When the oasis is all littered up, they just move on to the next one.

HSBC = :yuk:. They are bad:E.

Card Fraud Refund
 

"Interesting when you say quickly what time frame are we talking about? I have been told it is 3 month minimum and it is now almost 4 months since the fraud happened with no sign of refund. "

Seem to recall about a month. Certainly not 3 months.

I agree Lloyds' Visa service could be better. Perhaps the ideal situation would be to bank with Lloyds, and hold a credit card with one of the larger banks (but NOT HSBC!!!!!)

HSBCrap
 

First : NEVER convert money with them. NEVER.
They ripp you off on money transfers and credit card conversions. I still can't believe the rate they offered me some time ago.

Second: try their helpsdesk. You WILL get better answers from the monkeys at Al Ain Zoo.

For the standard spinneys bill over here : they are fine.

I would never recommend them; But have no idea where to go from here.

National Bank of Dubai!
 

Any thoughts from anyone in regards to the National Bank of Dubai???

Thank you in advance