As an investor, if you are looking for a Singapore company incorporation for the first time, you need to open a current corporate account with a bank operating in the country to enable you to receive funds from your customers as well as manage the cash for the company’s operations.
Some banks in Singapore can be opened remotely without your physical presence whereas some other banks require you to be personally present while opening a bank account for your new business.
BANKS ALLOWING YOU REMOTE ACCOUNT OPENING
1. OVERSEAS CHINESE BANKING CORPORATION (OCBC) is a multinational banking and financial services corporation based in Singapore. Two types of accounts are usually opened and are
Business Growth Account for 100% Local Shareholders and Directors Only. A start-up friendly account suitable for Online Banking purposes with no initial deposit and minimum balance requirement. It needs
- Account maintenance fee of SGD 10 per month but not levied for the first two months.
- No service fee but incidental overdraft charges of SGD 30
- SGD 50 early Account Closure Fee if closed before one year
- Cheque Book Fee of SGD 25 per cheque book except for the first one
- For transactions, a free bundled package via Velocity@ocbc is available with Free unlimited GIRO and FAST transactions
Business Entrepreneur Account Plus is for both the local and foreign shareholders and directors with or without Business Operations in Singapore. The account features are
- Minimum Initial Deposit of SGD 30,000
- Minimum Balance of SGD 30,000.
- No account maintenance fee
- A monthly service fee of SGD 50
- SGD 30 if balance falls below the minimum level
- Early Account Closure Fee of SGD 50 for accounts closed within 6 months of opening
- Cheque books are issued at no cost and each cheque costs S$0.75
- A GIRO transaction fee of SGD 0.10 through Velocity@ocbc for every transaction
2. UNITED OVERSEAS BANK (UOB) is a leading bank in Asia operating in Singapore. There are three types of bank accounts available to the business communities and include
E-Business Account is suitable for all startups and comes with the following features
- Deposit of SGD 1000 during account opening
- SGD 35 as a yearly fee
- Minimum daily balance of SGD 5000
- An additional service fee of SGD 15 if the minimum daily balance falls below the required level
- Early account closing within 6 months attracts a fee of SGD 30
- Cheque Book Fee is SGD 0.75 per cheque
- SGD 20 per transaction
BizTransact Account is good for those doing online transactions and offers the below-mentioned features
- An initial deposit of SGD 1000
- No annual fee
- Minimum daily balance of SGD 80,000
- An additional service charge of SGD 80 for a low account balance
- SGD 200 for early account closing within one year
- Cheque Book is complimentary for the first 30 cheques per month and then charged at S$0.75 per cheque
- No transaction fee if monthly subscription done for BIBPlus Premium Services
SGD Current Account is ideal for businesses carrying out both online and over-the-counter transactions and comes with the following features
- An initial deposit of SGD 1000
- Annual fees of SGD 35
- Minimum daily balance of SGD 10,000
- An extra service fee of SGD 35 low account balance
- SGD 30 towards account closing within 6 months
- No Cheque Book Fee for the first 30 cheques in a month and then charged at S$0.75 per cheque
- SGD 20 transaction fee per month if BIBPlus Premium Services subscription is done
3. THE DEVELOPMENT BANK OF SINGAPORE (DBS BANK) is a multinational banking and financial services corporation in Singapore offering the following bank accounts to the entrepreneurs
A business Digital Account is an ideal option for Small Business startups, with a low minimum balance. And online transactions facilities with the below mentioned features
- An initial deposit of SGD 1000
- No minimum balance
- No extra charges for low account balance
- Free GIRO transactions
- SGD 18 monthly fees
- SGD 25 per cheque book
A corporate Multi-Currency Account is ideally suited for companies with a business presence in many countries who can open a single account and do banking in 12 different currencies. The account comes with features as
- SGD 3000 initial deposit
- Minimum balance of SGD 10,000
- SGD 40 monthly fee
- Low balance charges of SGD 35
- Free cheque book facility
- No transaction fee for GIRO and SGD 20 for FAST
Standard Chartered and City Banks are also popular and offer a single type of account.
BANKS NEEDING YOUR PHYSICAL PRESENCE WHILE ACCOUNT OPENING
Other banking solutions that are available in Singapore normally require the physical presence of foreign investors while opening a bank account. Some of the notable and popular banks with an established market presence in Singapore are discussed below.
1. MAYBANK alias Malayan Banking Berhad, Malaysia is a very popular bank in Singapore offers
FlexiBiz account offers attractive options to young entrepreneurs and startup companies with no monthly charges, no minimum account balance, good interest rates on balance maintained and 24 hours free net banking facility.
- SGD 1000 for account opening
- SGD 50 for the closing of accounts before 6 months
- A cheque book fee of SGD 0.5 only when the minimum balance falls below 30,000 SGD
PremierBiz account offers 0.318% interest per annum with a free cheque book facility and needs
- SGD 1000 during account opening
- SGD 30,000 minimum balance
SGD 50 for early account closure
2. CIMB Bank is headquartered in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia is a strong bank and offers the following account types
SGD Current Account with no interest and no monthly fee needing
- SGD 8000 initial deposit
- SGD 8000 minimum balance
- SGD 40 for early account closure in less than 6 months
- SGD 35 for balance below 8000 SGD
- Free cheque book
SGD BusinessGo with 0.30% interest per annum and no monthly fee requiring
- SGD 30,000 initial deposit
- SGD 30,000 minimum account balance
- SGD 40 for early account closure
- SGD 88 fall below the service fee
- First cheque book free and then SGD 25 for every cheque book
Bizpower Quad account offers a competitive interest rate of 0.188% to the account holders with the below features
- A minimum initial deposit of SGD 1000
- Average daily balance of SGD 5000
- A service fee of SGD 25 if the daily balance falls below a minimum level
- Closure of account within 6 months attracts SGD 60
- Offers preferential FD rates for a balance of SGD 50K and above
- Provides two free cheque books during account opening and afterwards at SGD 5 per cheque book
Bizpower Quad+ offers a better interest of 0.588% per annum and needs
- Minimum deposit of SGD 30,000
- Average daily balance of SGD 20,000
- SGD 50 for non-maintenance for daily balance
- Early account closure fee of 200 SGD
- Preferential FD rates are offered for a minimum 200K balance
- Provides complimentary cheque books
The bank’s price guide shared above may vary bank to bank based on business activity and structure of the Company.
The private banking industry is expanding rapidly in Singapore as they are offering high-end sophisticated banking solutions e.g. corporate and investment banking apart from traditional lending and borrowing activities. Singapore banks are professional, providing a high level of service, security, safety and banking secrecy coupled with tax-friendly attitude towards their customers and extremely cooperate with new investors for new company set up in Singapore.
