Banking question for Indonesian citizens overseas...

[Bad_azz]

What bank from this specific list would you recommend for Indonesian citizens to open so that when they travel overseas (for a year) they can deal with deposits being made into it, online banking /paying bills etc.?
CimbNiaga
DBS
CitiBank
& SwissBank - not sure if this is the correct name (spelling) as I cannot find it online (in relation to Indonesia)

 

[snpark]

Why those specific?
Surely Hsbc is best
Open one here then any other country in the world you can also open an account there too
Plus here can open separate IDR GBP EUR USD etc

But you said those 4 specifically which is odd
Even Bca not on there?

 

[Bad_azz]

Why those specific?
Surely Hsbc is best
Open one here then any other country in the world you can also open an account there too
Plus here can open separate IDR GBP EUR USD etc

But you said those 4 specifically which is odd
Even Bca not on there?

it is what it is

 

[Wisnu]

Why those specific?
Surely Hsbc is best
Open one here then any other country in the world you can also open an account there too
Plus here can open separate IDR GBP EUR USD etc

But you said those 4 specifically which is odd
Even Bca not on there?

Agree with HSBC. We do open HSBC premier join account in Indonesia IDR, GBP, Euro and USD - and for kids at their country of residence. Wife also has BCA.
Give us lot of flexibilities. We can exchange the currency when favorable.

 

[snpark]

From what you said, from that list only, DBS or Citibank because they are more used to International transactions
Niaga are a nightmare even domestically
The Swiss whatever, even you can't remember its name lol

So yes from what you told me - DBS or Citibank are globally recognised and probably easier to deal with - and Citibank is truly global from UK, Asia, Middle East and USA

DBS more Asian

 

[Helpful Herbert]

Citibank IPB (Singapore) is very good, although the number of countries it operates in has decreased a lot in recent years. It exited consumer retail in Indonesia earlier this year.

Citibank leaves the retail business in Indonesia, this is an explanation from the OJK

Bisnis.com, JAKARTA – The Financial Services Authority (OJK) has provided an explanation regarding Citibank, which will close retail banking services in Indonesia.Citigroup Inc. announced it …

netral.news

 

[snpark]

Ok so interesting little test I did

Had to send 2500gbp from here to Lloyds GBP in Uk

I sent 1250 GBP at lunchtime noon Friday, with BCA online klikbca, cost me in total 24,859,xxx rupiah and the money was there around 5pm Indo time so basically UK morning SAME DAY when it opened

I sent 1250 GBP at the same time, noon Friday, through my old usual way HSBC online etc, cost me in total 24,901,xxx and arrived also yesterday morning UK time (specifically I don't know but I checked in the evening Jakarta and it was there already)

So basically now from an IDR account I can send GBP from BCA and or HSBC from Jakarta to UK and it arrives within a few hours at pretty much the same cost

On XE the straight 1250 gbp to IDR was about 24,600,xxx at the time

So for everyone always raving about transferwise etc, just goes to show traditional banks nowadays are just as quick and cheap as these third party apps but obviously a lot safer and more secure.
I was pretty impressed to see it arrive first thing UK morning time, not even on the lunchtime system update but pretty much when the bank opened the BCA one was showing and when I checked later the HSBC one was also there before noon UK time

 

[Bad_azz]

Ok so interesting little test I did

Had to send 2500gbp from here to Lloyds GBP in Uk

I sent 1250 GBP at lunchtime noon Friday, with BCA online klikbca, cost me in total 24,859,xxx rupiah and the money was there around 5pm Indo time so basically UK morning SAME DAY when it opened

I sent 1250 GBP at the same time, noon Friday, through my old usual way HSBC online etc, cost me in total 24,901,xxx and arrived also yesterday morning UK time (specifically I don't know but I checked in the evening Jakarta and it was there already)

So basically now from an IDR account I can send GBP from BCA and or HSBC from Jakarta to UK and it arrives within a few hours at pretty much the same cost

On XE the straight 1250 gbp to IDR was about 24,600,xxx at the time

So for everyone always raving about transferwise etc, just goes to show traditional banks nowadays are just as quick and cheap as these third party apps but obviously a lot safer and more secure.
I was pretty impressed to see it arrive first thing UK morning time, not even on the lunchtime system update but pretty much when the bank opened the BCA one was showing and when I checked later the HSBC one was also there before noon UK time

FTR Transferwise is now known as just Wise.
It was doing its job faster & cheaper than the banks - obviously from your experiment the banks have caught up. Good to know.
Initially, I think its main competitors were PayPal / WU with the almost instant transfers.

 

[harryopal1]

From my last keystroke for a transfer with Wise it took 6 seconds from my Aus bank to BCA.

 

[Will_M]

So how do these third party programs work ? You register the account first on your foreign account (or BCA/indo account) and transfer to them first ?

I can understand if you want to transfer a few thousand quickly between accounts but if it’s a sizable sum 50k-100k USD why bother ?

 

[snpark]

Exactly. Its for people who suddenly need money in minutes not hours.
I wouldn't trust a third party app but some do
I've never needed to send money so urgently that I have 6 seconds. If someone wants to borrow money from me they should be grateful to get it that day let alone instantly

Some people like to save a few thousand rupiah I guess thinking that banks are expensive ??
I guess depends on the individual and their financial situation
I'd never send large amount through an app
You have no legal recourse if the money goes missing. Who you going to see? Where do you go to find out where you money is?

 

[Bad_azz]

Exactly. Its for people who suddenly need money in minutes not hours.
I wouldn't trust a third party app but some do
I've never needed to send money so urgently that I have 6 seconds. If someone wants to borrow money from me they should be grateful to get it that day let alone instantly

Some people like to save a few thousand rupiah I guess thinking that banks are expensive ??
I guess depends on the individual and their financial situation
I'd never send large amount through an app
You have no legal recourse if the money goes missing. Who you going to see? Where do you go to find out where you money is?

Do you have kids though? ... they want money, instantly, at once , if not sooner haha

 

[harryopal1]

A critical factor can be the exchange rates for the transfer, One can check the bank rate and fees and then Wise.com

 

[dafluff]

So how do these third party programs work ? You register the account first on your foreign account (or BCA/indo account) and transfer to them first ?

I can understand if you want to transfer a few thousand quickly between accounts but if it’s a sizable sum 50k-100k USD why bother ?

Exactly. Its for people who suddenly need money in minutes not hours.
I wouldn't trust a third party app but some do
I've never needed to send money so urgently that I have 6 seconds. If someone wants to borrow money from me they should be grateful to get it that day let alone instantly

Some people like to save a few thousand rupiah I guess thinking that banks are expensive ??
I guess depends on the individual and their financial situation
I'd never send large amount through an app
You have no legal recourse if the money goes missing. Who you going to see? Where do you go to find out where you money is?

Wise is not a random "third party app", it is regulated in all countries it operates in.

How is Wise regulated in each country and region? | Wise Help Centre

Australia Wise Australia Pty Ltd is regulated by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) and holds an Australian Financial Services Licence (AFSL) and Australian Prudential Regu...

wise.com

It is no more or less safe than Paypal or Western Union.

It works by them having local bank accounts for each country and what you deposit at the "sending" country is paid out in local currency at the "receiving" country. This process is near-instant and Wise uses mid-market rate so you normally get a better exchange rate than the banks will give you.

Sometime ago I made two transfers from Singapore to Indonesia at the same time for S$1000 each, one via Wise, the other via bank. The bank one ended up costing me S$30 more and arrived 1 day later.

That said, they recently increased their fees and made it scale to the amount you're sending. Combined with banks having to improve their game due to competition from services such as Wise, I think Wise only makes sense for small amounts now (<$3k). So things like remittances, allowances, gifts, emergency money etc.

 

[gemima]

I transferred 20 juta to my EU-based revolut account last week using Topremit. The exchange rate much was better than what I would get with HSBC on the day (I checked online on the day). I did the transfer at 11am and I got the money into my account at 3pm (4 hrs later) - the Topremit guys are on WA keeping you updated the whole way through.
The fee was 75k but this was "paid" for by the superior exchange rate and you can transfer much larger amounts for that same fee (I wanted to keep the amount small for my first go). Will certainly be using them in the future.

 

[snpark]

I guess all down to personal preference really but certainly banks are getting up to speed literally with way much faster transactions these days

 

[gemima]

I guess all down to personal preference really but certainly banks are getting up to speed literally with way much faster transactions these days

Yeah - to be honest, I would prefer to stick to banks if possible but they still need to improve their service..they do seem to be catching on. The competition can only help speed that up.

 

[pantaiema]

TransferWise is a great way of getting money quickly. But if you do that regularly it might not be the best solution due to recurrent fees.
If you could still have a bank account from your country of origin, you might also consider opening a bank account which allow withdrawal in Indonesian using Master/Visa Exchange rate. Master/Visa Exchange rate quite is quite similar to interbank/mid market exchange rate like the one available in xe.com. These banks are mainly challenger banks, not the well established traditional Brick and Mortal banking.
In Indonesia you withdraw using debitcard from ATM which allow withdrawal using foreign debitcard, free of charge. I know BNI46 do that.
The following Bank Account will allow people to have a Master/Visacard Exchange rate.
One has been mentioned e.g Revolut.
The others might be
Starling Bank https://www.starlingbank.com/
JP Morgan Chase: Chase current account https://www.chase.co.uk/gb/en/
The other one is N26. N26 could be opened from many countries in Europe. https://n26.com/en-eu/free-bank-account

 

[Samoerai]

TransferWise is a great way of getting money quickly. But if you do that regularly it might not be the best solution due to recurrent fees.
If you could still have a bank account from your country of origin, you might also consider opening a bank account which allow withdrawal in Indonesian using Master/Visa Exchange rate. Master/Visa Exchange rate quite is quite similar to interbank/mid market exchange rate like the one available in xe.com. These banks are mainly challenger banks, not the well established traditional Brick and Mortal banking.
In Indonesia you withdraw using debitcard from ATM which allow withdrawal using foreign debitcard, free of charge. I know BNI46 do that.
The following Bank Account will allow people to have a Master/Visacard Exchange rate.
One has been mentioned e.g Revolut.
The others might be
Starling Bank https://www.starlingbank.com/
JP Morgan Chase: Chase current account https://www.chase.co.uk/gb/en/
The other one is N26. N26 could be opened from many countries in Europe. https://n26.com/en-eu/free-bank-account

I use Wise regularly, because the rates are much better than the rates of my bank (ING) in Holland. I checked that 2 years ago. But I didnot checked this recently. Not knowing that the banks improved " their game". Also didnot know that -maybe- withdrawing money with my ING card at the ATM machine here could be cheaper than transfering money to my Indonesian bank account. I will check this today.

Update: I tranferred just now money using Wise EUR 1000. Recieving IDR 15,195 836. Exchange rate is IDR 15,287.1 And the fee is EUR 5.97

Withdrawing same amount of IDR 15,195,836 at ATM machine would cost EUR 18,10. + EUR 3,50 for using the bank card in a foreign country. I calculated that with a special ING-app. So that is for me a NO then.
Problem also in real life in Indonesia.. only limited amount of rupiah is possible to withdraw at ATM machine (batas dari bank Indonesia): max 1,250,000 IDR.

So, I stick to Wise aja.

 

[fastpitch17]

Later I will withdraw money from ATM machine with my ING bankcard here.
Update: I just did. Problem ... only limited amount possible. Max 1,250,000 IDR. Later I will check my ING account what this cost me.

Your bank sets the limit and normally what you want it at. The ATM may have a limit but you can withdraw more than once. Find an ATM that is 3 juta. BNI has many with that rate especially in larger malls. Mandiri has some too. My US bank has no charge for ATM use so I only pay the local rate of about Rp2,000 per transaction. It is the only way I get money from my US bank. My wife and I can visit an ATM with our cards, make withdraws as we wish. Take some spending cash and deposit the rest in her local bank account. We found the rates we get with an ATM about the same as XE post in their app.