MrsKiasu\" post_id=\"2103239\" time=\"1680048250\" user_id=\"43981:

From the surname, Msia/SG ba?

Yes, the parents are likely not from China. Surname of father is Chew, not a China Chinese surname (would have been Zhou)
Internet says his father is in construction, mother is a book keeper. That’s all, no additional info.

slmkhoo:

Do you know how long it takes for a student to set up a bank account in the UK (with a UK bank)? Basically, how much cash will my daughter need to bring to use until her bank account with online banking facilities is activated?

Generally it should take less than 2 weeks, for the bank to send you the bank cards, token and PIN. To open a student account, you will need the uni to give you a letter stating the student’s name and address. Some banks may also require a UCAS code.

You may read below for info
https://www.student.com/articles/how-to-open-a-student-bank-account-in-the-uk/

slmkhoo:

Do you know if the DBS MCA can be a joint account?

Yes DBS eMCA can be a joint account. But having a single name (your child’s) has the advantage of no fall-below fee till child is 29 years old, else you will need to maintain S$3000 or equivalent amount to waive the monthly charge.

Note there is a service charge for depositing and withdrawing foreign currency cash into and from eMCA. If you convert the foreign currency directly from and to S$ over iBanking, then there is no charge.

DBS eMCA account is quite straightforward, you can convert S$ to £ whenever the exchange rate is attractive and keep in the eMCA. When ready to remit, use UK remit which is free.


For those with child studying in UK, note that buying return air ticket from uk side is cheaper. Eg Flying by SQ Sg-London-Sg may cost about S$1500, the other way London-Sg-London may cost as cheap as £500. Most new uni students buy one way ticket to London, subsequently buy return tickets starting from London.

Jennifer:

For the child to set up a uk acct when he is in UK, how did your boy settle the daily expenses n hostel charges while waiting for the bank account to be operative?

The uni will understand that international students need time to set up uk bank accounts, hence hostel charges and school fees are probably due in 3 weeks or a mth later. Daily expenses shouldn’t be too much, so giving him initial cash of £500 or £1k should be sufficient to tide him over until money is remitted.

slmkhoo:

Thanks! But sending £ from a Singapore a/c to a UK a/c would likely incur fees? And if the bank (say, HSBC) has a presence in the UK, then the ATM fees will not apply? I was under the impression that avoiding these fees was the reason for the \"joint account\" strategy.

Check this:
https://www.dbs.com.sg/personal/support/bank-overseas-funds-transfer-fees-and-charges.html
Should be free.

Most Singapore students studying in uk set up bank accounts there, it took just a week or so. The HSBC sg-uk account would take months to set up and I heard one needs to deposit $250k. My friend tried to set up HSBC account months before his son went over to uk but eventually still open uk account as the HSBC process took very long. My son is studying in uk and I remitted £ to him using DBS uk remit about 1+ years ago, there was no charge from DBS and from receiving bank.

slmkhoo:

Anyone with experience of multicurrency accounts? Specifically, I've heard this is used by parents with a child studying overseas; parent and child sharing a joint account. Presumably, the parent can choose when to covert S$ to foreign currency (depending on exchange rates), and the child can draw on the money from overseas, either online or through ATMs. Have I got this right?


If that's the case, what's the most cost-effective bank to use, with the lowest conversion charges, withdrawal charges, ATM charges etc? GBP is the currency we are interested in.

Thanks for any tips!

It’s not necessary to have a joint account. You can convert $ to £ anytime when exchange rate is good and save £ in multi currency account (mca), and remit to child’s uk account anytime. You may also exchange $ to £ at money changer and deposit £ in mca. Currently, uk remit for DBS should be free, do check it out DBS website.

Withdrawing fr local bank acct at uk cirrus atm would incur some charge. It is better for child to set up uk bank acct, where withdrawal is free from any atm machine (in uk, any bank card can withdraw from any bank’s atm). Btw, which uk uni is your child going?

mummyxoxo:

Just curious, does anyone have any idea of the pay range for fresh graduate in big 4 and in stat board (accounting related)? From what I heard, big 4 starting pay is $2.9k. Isn't this much lower than the median pay for fresh graduate nowadays?

It is true that the big 4 starting pay is rather low, $2800 to $3000.
https://www.glassdoor.com/Salaries/singapore-audit-associate-salary-SRCH_IL.0,9_IM1123_KO10,25.htm

Some of my daughter’s friends from Accountancy who got 1st class honours and have had several internships under their belts went for consulting jobs in firms such as JP Morgan, Bane, were given starting salary of $5k to $8k.

lee_yl:

Comp Sci/Info Comms is in fashion with the Smart Nation initiative and the hype about Big Data and Deep Learning. Hearsay DSO / GovTech offers up to $5K for candidates with good Hons in the relevant field.

Yes, you are right. Not hearsay.

slmkhoo:

starlight1968sg:

My starting salary (gross) was $1600 in 1986, after the pay reduction because of the recession. I was at NTU for a talk yesterday, and they flashed a table showing that starting salaries were around $3K to $3.3K for graduates from most courses.

You will be surprised, those you mentioned above are just the mean or median salaries, the top 10 or 20% of fresh graduates are earning a lot more. It was mentioned in a few messages above (I think, by lee_yl) that one with first class honours engineering degree is offered $4800 for fresh grad, it should be true. The fresh grad (Comp Sci/Info Systems) I mentioned who got 2nd Class upper honours and is joining the civil service is offered $4900. Those in investment companies are offered even more, $5k to $6k per month, for fresh graduates (most have first class or 2nd class upper honours). Hence it is very important to get a good class degree, besides doing internships. Nowadays, some companies that want to attract top fresh graduates, they are willing to pay interns $3k to $4k per month, and then offer them permanent jobs if they perform well during the internships (which uni you come from is actually not important, whether nus, ntu, smu, Ivy League or Oxbridge etc).