I wanted to share some information about an account I recently opened in Brazil. It is the HSBC Premier account. The cool thing is that HSBC Premier allows you to open up accounts in other countries (in my case the US) for free and allows for free transfers between those accounts at that day's exchange rates. The transfer is almost immediate - in some cases it happens within minutes. Then of course the money is available via ATM for free at that bank's local location using the local ATM card.

The way it works in my case is that I have a Brazilian based HSBC Premier account (since I live in Rio). Any other accounts opened in other countries are free. Since I get paid in the US, my money is now going into the US HSBC account. I then initiate an immediate transfer to my Brazilian based HSBC account via a 'global view'. Everything about my accounts is in one site, both the Brazilian and US accounts available via one login. No exchange fees (i.e. the typical 2%) nor transfer fees.

If I ever decide to move to another country (like Indonesia or Thailand), I can open up an HSBC premier account there for FREE and transfer money in between my accounts from Brazil, US, and X country without a problem.

You also get some other great benefits from a travelers perspective - I get access to HSBC premier lounges in multiple airports (I used on in Jakarta, Santo Dumont (Rio), etc, plus in some select HSBC banking locations there is a private and seperate area for completing your banking needs, along with a seperate more secure ATM.

From a world traveler and Expat perspective this seems to be the ideal account.

just wanted to share..... I hope this is helpful to some. So far this account has saved me a bundle in fees.

Transfer between other US banks is also free.

For those in the US, you can open up such an account, but Brazilian laws still prevent you from opening an account in Brazil unless you have the proper visa type. Thus, this only works to your advantage (speaking now only about Brazil) if you have the proper visa and want to have accounts in both the US and Brazil (or the US, Brazil and other countries).

Sure wish Brazil would loosen its banking requirements a bit.

Can the reverse work?

Can a person from a country such as Colombia or Brazil open an account with HSBC in their country, then when they come to the US to live/work/visit make deposits and/or withdrawls into or out of that account (here in the states)?

In other words, I know a Colombiana who is legally working and living in the US. Periodically she sends money to her mother in Colombia. However, she must wire the money via her US bank to her mother's bank. Or, she uses Western Union or MoneyGram and then incurs a wiring fee of around 10-12% of the money order or something like $25 if wiring from her bank.

Can her mother open an HSBC account in Colombia that will allow the daughter to make "free" deposits into that account while in the US?

It seems to me that there are certain international banking firewalls that prevent this capability.

Thanks.

AJ

Probably the minute they do and we all open accounts is the minute before they freeze all accounts and implement another "Collor Plan" that renders deposits worthless.

Can't you just open a joint account in the US, and have one card for her and one card for the mother. She can make deposits to that account, and then her mom can withdraw it from brazil. The only fees incurred would be the 1% intl. fee and $1 service charge. Or according to the above post, no charges at all. I could be wrong here though.

From Canada I opened up an acct and gave my GF from the PI an ATM card. Now whenever I want to give her money I just put it into the acct. then she goes down to the ATM and withdraws it. The bank has a $2. service fee for foreign withdrawls and the exchange is slighlty lower than the posted exchange rate but still better than WU.

Wurld, I have often thought the same thing while at the grocery store and watching Salvadorans lining up at the Western Union stand to send money. It's easy to open up a US bank account, and then do as you say. The only problem may be getting the card down to wherever but Fedex can take care of that.

The same thing applies to guys who decide to "support" their whorefriend when they're not in town.

I opened an HSBC Premier account in Brazil, but had some problems getting my access cards, etc., before I left. I'll get it sorted out when I return in May. It looks good, but I haven't used it all yet.

In the situation of the Columbia resident with a Columbian based HSBC account wanting to make deposits into a US based account. As long as they have residence papers, i.e. a green card, they can. The US HSBC Premier application includes a form that has to be signed where this information is indicated. But I do not think it would work for someone who has just a tourist visa.

My ex in the US sends money to her family in Peru all the time. She set-up a free checking account alongside her regular account with the same bank and sent the ATM card to Peru. The sole purpose of that account is to send money there.... it is in her name, but the ATM card is with her family in Peru. No problem now for more then a decade..... Getting money into the "Family account"is as easy as online money transfer between her two accounts.

Before I discovered the HSBC Premier account, I used Capital One. Capital One is one of the few banks that does not charge either a currency conversion fee or ATM W/D fee. You can set-up an online account via their website (I set-up a money market). You can then transfer money into that account from another US based account for free - if it is initiated from within the Capital one account. The only downside is that a transfer takes about 5 days to show up. The account, however, is completely free!

Western Union and all those wire transfer services are the biggest rip-off, plus very inconvenient.

Since I get paid in the US, I have always been on a mission to minimize getting the money to Brazil with minimal or no cost. The currency conversion costs and ATM fees really used to add up.

Another tip for those of you traveling to Brazil. In Brazil, HSBC does not charge another fee on top of the typical ATM fee charged by your bank when you withdraw money. So, lets take the Capital One account - if you W/D money at Citibank you will be charged R$6 from Citibank, even so Capital One does not charge anything. HSBC, however, does not charge anything - so the net effect is a no cost ATM W/D and currency conversion at that day's currency rate.

One last comment about the HSBC premier account in Brazil - a BIG plus is their Internet security. I have had an instance on a US bank account before were some had accessed my account. With this account, you need multiple steps and passwords to initiate money transfers. Also, HSBC requires that you enter your password via letter alternatives. A keypad shows up with all the numbers and letters, then you have to click (not key) on another letter that corresponds to your respective number. Also, then before you pay a bill - each time you have to enter your ATM Pin number - again with the scrambled click-on key pad. If you want to transfer money to another bank, you have to add another number the 'via'number on your ATM card in addition to the PIN number.

Makes me feel alot better about my account being protected against un-authorized access.

In Brazil, you actually have two PIN numbers before you can withdraw money. One number combination like the US, plus a letter combo that is entered via the scrambled number/letter pad. (i.e. If you want to key 1, it will show (A= 1, T, 5). You would enter A. This then gets scrambled each subsequent time.

From HSBC website, requirements for Premier Account:

"Maintain $100,000 in combined personal deposit and investment balances or $500,000 in combined personal deposit, investment, and credit/mortgage balances"

Otherwise $50/month charge

In Brazil, the requirement is only R$5000 a month in deposits/salary - much less then the US requirement stated above. The fee is R$45, which is only R$25 more then a standard HSBC account. If you have a standard HSBC account you can establish the R$5000 "salary" with three months of deposits of R$5000 each month (the deposits count as your pay and in lieu of showing an income). The money does not have to be maintained as a balance. This establishes a "salary". The R$45 also gets you three credit cards - An AMEX, Visa, and Mastercard that earn points, plus access to Airport lounges. An excellent value in my opinion.

Sounds like it might not be such a good deal from the US perspective....

I'm getting a Brazilian stipend at R$6000 a month, which is I guess why I was given a premier account. Didn't look at the difference between the different accounts, but was pleasantly surprised with the premier.

I also have an HSBC Premier account in Brazil. Did you open up your American HSBC account in Brazil or the US?

I am in the US right now, and trying to figure out where is the best place to try this out!

I was able to do all via e-mail. HSBC Premier sent me all of the forms via e-mail. I printed, signed, and scanned them. I then sent the signed and scanned forms back to the HSBC premier rep. You can also send them back via fax. Really easy and efficient.