Offshore banking? What's in it for me?

Before becoming an expat you probably banked with the same bank since you left college. They organised your bank accounts and credit cards, maybe even a mortgage or other loan. Now that you are an expatriate however your needs are different. Very different.

Now you're an expat…

Can your needs still be met by your bank back home? Perhaps you are living in a country which has complicated banking laws or an unstable banking system.

How will your bank back home be able to help you? How will it be able to understand the dynamics of living in a different country? What will be the repercussions of your package in terms of taxation?

How can you protect the assets that you are building? And ensure a continuity of your banking history to take with you back home or to the next posting?

Old Hand?

Maybe you are an old hand at the expat lifestyle. Is your banking keeping up with your increased knowledge and wealth? Are you able to do what you want when you want?

Can you access your money easily in different countries and talk to staff that can help you with global enquiries? Do you want to be tied to local time zones and stand in queues at a bank? Or do you want to do your banking when you want - at 3am in a hotel in Dubai?

At 10pm on the beach in Sydney? What do you do if you want to withdraw money in Delhi to buy a house in France? Do you understand the implications of being taxed in different countries? How will you manage it all?

Commuter?

Maybe your needs are simpler and you just juggle your days between two different countries. Perhaps your family lives in one place and you commute.

Or does your work require you to be established in two different countries? Can your bank back home help you manage different currencies? Can they do it easily? Can they easily arrange overseas transfer of funds?

Your needs should be met, not the banks!
Rather than looking at your needs from the bank's perspective, you need to find a bank that will look at things from your point of view.

HSBC International is one such bank. They have the experience and the structure to help you. They pride themselves on having staff with local knowledge.

They can tailor a range of suggestions just right for your needs using international knowledge to make sure that you stay in control of your finances wherever they, or you, are located.

Try it for yourself. Talk to HSBC International. See the difference the world's local bank can make to your banking needs.

HSBC Bank International has a range of tools on their web-site that are worth checking out. These range from country guides which can help with background information on a variety of destinations to an expenses calculator for you to calculate your monthly living expenses.

They also have a currency calculator to make cross-currency counting a little easier, a weights & measures tables so you can tell your kilometres from your miles, and an international dialling code directory for every country in the world.