I eventually
cancelled my BOCHK bank accounts. I had been the bank customer since 1983 or may be
even early when it was not that popular. As it is now the most dominant bank in
Hong Kong, the bank always has queues outside its doors.
I cancelled the
accounts for several reasons, mainly high transaction costs and service charges
but no added values.
When I did my home
mortgage, I went for 2 banks, BOCHK and CCB Asia. I expected to use BOCHK as it
had been my bank for many years; CCB was a backup just in case. However, as it
turned out, BOC had not finished my application when the deadline was due,
whereas CCB had. So I went for CCB. Bear in mind, do not think the bank helps
you for mortgage finance; it is yourself as a customer to provide the bank
business as you pay them interests.
In HK, the
transaction cost for warrants trading is lower than stock trading because there
is no stamp duty on warrants. Wing Lung bank charges as low as HK$4.88 per
transaction regardless the transaction amount. Some banks charge a minimum but
most banks charge based on the transaction amount. Standard chartered Bank does
not charge a minimum, they charge a standard market percentage proportionate to
the transaction amount. Also, SCB does not charge stamp duty on warrants. If
you go to broker firms such as Bright Smart and IB, their charges are even
lower. However, if you go for BOCHK, they charge a lot higher, in particular,
warrants trading. I did lots of warrants trading between 2014 and 2015, but I
seldom checked the fees as I supposed they were just a small fraction. However
a particular transaction brought my attention because that transaction was
supposed to be even but the amount settled was $1400+ less. I was charged an
addition of HK$500 for warrant trade whose amount was around HK$80K for a
couple of times. I later on checked with their staff and confirmed they charged
min $100 for warrant trading and $500 was the ceiling. They said it was the
bank's policy even though the stock exchange does not charge any additional on
warrants. That had left me no choice but gone to other firms. Mind you, it is a
big difference for $4.88 per transaction of Wing Lung and $500 + based fees
($200 or more) for BOC. I am talking about the same online self-service
transactions.
Some years ago, the
major banks required their customers to maintain a certain amount to avoid
monthly account fees. That’s been removed for most of them as long as the
accounts do not involve manual transactions such as deposit and withdrawal at
counter. BOCHK will charge $60 per month for any account below HK$10K
regardless how long you have been with the bank.
In nowadays
electronic age, a lot of banking transactions can be done online. Unless a bank
provides value added services that differentiate it from others, otherwise the
differentiation is on price.
So bye-bye BOCHK.
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