I was on the lookout for a current account with any local bank and found that most current accounts need an introducer before you can open an account with the bank. Not really wanting to go through the trouble, I found the perfect solution in CIMB Prime Plan.

CIMB Prime Plan is a current bank account that comes with cheque book facility and ATM card. The best feature for me was that it needed no introducer so that I could just walk in to any CIMB Bank branch and get my account up and running right away. That’s what I did after checking out some of the basic features.

The account offers some interest on balances above RM5,000. I don’t remember at what rate the interest rate is, but it’s definitely nothing fantastic. But that doesn’t turn me away as most current accounts don’t usually offer interests anyway. However, one needs to take note that if the bank account balance is anything less than RM5,000, a monthly RM10 will be charged.

To open the current account under the CIMB Prime Plan, you only need to deposit a minimum of RM1,000 and show prove of your identification. All in all, I had everything settled in under half an hour, including applying for an online banking account through CIMB Clicks.

Speaking of online banking, I also like the fact that interbank GIRO transactions with CIMB Clicks only cost RM0.50 per transaction. I know of other banks that charge a lot more and I think RM0.50 per interbank GIRO transaction is one of the cheapest rates around.

I also ordered a cheque book which was well and ready in 2 working days. Not that I was in a hurry to use it, but it’s nice to know that everything is done quickly and efficiently.

Other benefits of the Prime Plan is that it offers you reward points by the bank balance that you keep. You will also be required to hold at least a gold credit card with the bank and you earn reward points for retail transactions with the card too. So it’s a faster way for me to earn reward points other than using my existing CIMB Bank credit card to claim against many nice items in their reward catalogue.

There are a few more benefits of the CIMB Prime Plan account but I don’t remember them much because those weren’t top priorities for me although I remember them to be good-to-have features.

If you are looking for a hassle free way to open a current account, you can consider this one from CIMB Bank. Thumbs up to the bank and I definitely have no regrets opening the account thus far. Check out CIMB Bank’s website for more information.

To read more personal finance and money related articles, visit Penny Sense.

Why I chose CIMB Prime Plan

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I have some current and savings accounts with various banks but they are all the conventional types with hardly any exciting features. The interests paid for those accounts of course are nothing to shout about, any online banking transactions don’t come cheap nor free. That’s one important aspect for me as I hate waiting in queues at banks.

Right now I want to open yet another banking account. I don’t know which one to go for. As far as I know, there are some banking accounts which are a little more exciting than the conventional types with just an ATM card or a passbook. Of course those come with fees too while the ones I have are practically free.

I would like a bank account that allows me to segmentise it into a few different “savings plan” so that I can diligently put money into different things I’m trying to save up for. I know HSBC has one Islamic account that does that. Not sure who else in the market offers it.

I would also like one that allows me to do online banking, if not free then at least very cheaply. AmBank has an account called AmStar Extreme that offers some rebates for online banking transactions. But the problem with an AmBank account is that it’s not really very easily accessible to me as there aren’t any AmBank branches near where I live.

As much as possible, I also don’t want to be charged to keep the banking account. I don’t mind having the kind of account that imposes a minimum balance that will ensure I get the account for free rather than current accounts that will charge you no matter how much balance you have in there.

So anyone has any good experience with any banks for the said requirements above? Anyone has any recommendations as to which bank account to go for to meet my needs?

To read more personal finance and money related articles, visit Penny Sense.

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Some time back I was at a Maybank branch in KLCC to open a banking account. I didn’t do enough homework to know that a simple savings account needed at least RM250 to start with. I didn’t have enough cash in hand and asked the customer service lady if there are other accounts that I can open for less than RM250. Apparently not.

Dismayed but not wanting to give up, I kept enquiring on alternatives because I didn’t want to return another day to get the account opened. All I had with me were credit and debit cards from other banks, as well as an ATM card from Citibank. She lit up at the mention of the Citibank ATM card and suggested for me to withdraw some cash with it at Maybank’s ATM. I told her it’s not possible as it doesn’t link up like the other local banks’ MEPS cards. Then she asked me this:

“Citibank is a local bank or foreign bank?”

I momentarily stared at her, shocked. Well, for her to be working in a bank, I would expect her to know her competitors, even though she may just be a customer service person helping customers open their bank accounts. Don’t you expect that of people in the industry to know such things?

Anyway, I did manage to open an account in the end, by taking up a product that came with a savings account. I’ll talk more about that in another post and you can see how smart Maybank is in locking a customer’s money over a long period!

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It is indeed good news and quite a surprise that the government has decided to liberalise the financial sector further, this time allowing up to 70% equity of foreign interest in our local financial institutions, save for commercial banks. This is a huge step and I think one that will help to boost the banking sector.

Specifically, the financial institutions which will see an increased foreign equity are investment banks, Islamic banks, insurance companies and takaful operators.

With this liberalisation in place, it is hoped that the foreign players who come in to the local banking scene can help to provide more innovative banking and investment products to the market. As it is, we are very much regulated and structured (albeit safe) in the kind of banking products available in the market.

What I foresee this liberalisation to do is to make the banks more competitive in their product offerings as foreign partners bring in better financial solutions to the market. Some of our local banks are also kind of laid back and often rest on their laurels, so it is also hoped that they will boost not only their product offerings but also their customer and other related banking service to customers.

Further to this step to increase foreign equity in financial institutions, the government will also be issuing more banking licenses, including offering more Islamic banking licenses up to year 2011. I see this as a good move. With more competition in the banking industry, the people who stand to benefit are you and me.

You can read the news about this financial sector liberalisation here at The Star.

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I recently made my first ever withdrawal from Google Adsense and I was thrilled. Earlier, I posted to ask around what the process was like to use Western Union service to withdraw my earnings from Google. Thanks to the responses I got, I felt more confident about using Western Union.

I am quite lucky to have several channels nearby my work place that offers Western Union services. Out of convenience, I chose the nearest outlet to do my withdrawal and that was at one of Bank Simpanan Nasional (BSN) branches. I asked the teller over the counter where I should queue for Western Union service and I was told that the service was offline, so they can’t do any transactions. He also said that “it’s always like that” with Western Union. I was quite surprised to hear this and I walked away thinking how could Western Union, a well known world wide financial service, suffer such frequent downtime?

I decided to walk to the next nearest outlet, this time at a RHB bank branch and enquire. As I walked in, a lady who was assisting customers asked what transaction I wanted to do and I told her. She gave me a form to fill up.

I was told to fill up some personal details and the money transfer control number as well as the sender of the funds. It was a rather simple form. Once done, I took a number and waited. When I was called up to the teller, I was asked to produce my IC for verification as well as to provide my phone number which wasn’t asked for on the form. I was also asked what was the purpose of my receipt of the funds.

Then I waited a while more while they calculated the cash. The exchange rate was very high, at 3.68 so I was beaming when they handed me the cash. There was a small fee that was charged and I asked what it was for because I thought it was all free service. The teller informed me that it wasn’t the bank that was charging the fee, but it was on the end of the sender. It amounted to about 1.2% of the amount I withdrew.

All in all, my experience of withdrawing my Adsense funds via Western Union was quick and painless (unless you count the walk under the sun as some pain!). Thankfully, there was no crowd at all at RHB Bank at the time that I went.

Other outlets that you can withdraw or send funds via Western Union other than RHB Bank are CIMB Bank, Public Bank, Pos Malaysia outlets, Agro Bank branches and BSN branches (not sure if you still want to waste your time to try after what I experienced).

To read more personal finance and money related articles, visit Penny Sense.

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