Banking in the Middle East

[jinkster]

Looking at moving out to Dubai with work - paid in Dirhams. Who would you bank with in the Middle East and why?

[simon458]

HSBC would seem a logical choice with branches both there and UK?

[Asterix]

First off, all the banks are crap - really crap.

They're hamstrung by federal directives and hugely inefficient partly to do with having to have a significant percentage of Emirati (local) employees.

When you look at accounts, make sure there isn't a minimum balance requirement - some do and if you dip below they start throwing lots of fees at you.

I'm with RakBank for no other reason than they had a branch closest to where I was living - for the day to day stuff they're good and their Titanium Credit Card is handy if you travel a lot as you get 5% cash back on all purchase out of the country (2% in).

I also have a HSBC account that I rarely use.

One thing I would suggest is to see who your employer use - it means instant salary payments which can otherwise take days, or even a week plus depending how any holidays fall.

[simer553]

I'm with Rak Bank too. Probably the best here from a customer service POV. Avoid HSBC like the plague, lots of my friends and colleagues have been ripped off by card skimming and the bank won't refund them!! Make sure you send your money home/offshore regularly and keep a minimum amount in the banks here as they will freeze your accounts if you have any visa problems etc.

[Asterix]

Also, you can't set up accounts until your visa is sorted so you'll have plenty of time to see who is the least crap for you.

[jinkster]

At present I bank with Barclays in the UK. Would it make sense to keep those?

[Asterix]

100%

[z4chris99]

things can go tits up in dubai pretty quickly so it makes sense to move your money out the country, id get yourself a jersey account and move your dubai earnt savings over to there. have a local account for day to day. and keep your uk one for when you return.

[jinkster]

Thanks for the help all. I have asked a few more finance questions but moved them to the Middle East forum.