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MCB resident bank account

Busy Bee29
Good morning all,

I wonder if anybody experienced the same when trying to open up a resident bank account with the MCB.

We had been at the branch in Black River THREE WEEKS AGO and an Officer had been taking care of the application. After receiving all necessary documents we were told that the approval would take about 7-9 working days (!) and they would inform us via mail.
As there has been "silence" ever since we tried to contact our branch officer (he had not given us any number but only his email-address) for several times. After several attempts he got back to us last week telling us that the approval is in the system and that we should come along for queue up again. So we did last week and had been waiting for 90 min. until it was our turn with the officer again.
Suddenly we were told that he can not proceed with our bank account after all as there would be one last "enter button" to be pressed in the headquarter that give the FINAL approval (!) . The officer said that in principle all submitted documentation and data meet the requirements and he could not understand why there would be kind of a "hold" in the procedure. He  said he already tried to inquire in terms of the status with the head office but failed.

We feel kind of helpless now as there seem to be nobody who could support us. :(
We do need the account for the approval of  the resident permit and with that for our Container which has to be shipped from Europe to Mauritius. We had been at the branch every day lately for asking if there is any news but we were always put off with the statement there would be no news.
Today we will go again and try to speak to the supervisor of the Black River branch. But it seem to us if you don`t have any connections you could be waiting in vain........ :(

Anybody knows what we could do?
See also
Shameer_nb17
Hello. Good Morning.

Why don't you try to do the application online. It is quick and should not take so much days.

If you wish, I can do the application for you online.

Regards
Anou86
@Shameer_nb17

Doing the application online will not help, she still has to call personally with all her documents to process.

@Busy Bee29, Some people have been facing such problems lately, some have been unable to open a bank account. I hope someone can shed the light on this situation.

All the best,
Anoushka
AstroGolf
I think the issue is that you do not yet have your permit. I had already been granted my permit, went into the branch and everything was completed in less than an hour. If you have an HSBC account already, try using that route, that is what we did for getting our permit. Went very smoothly, HSBC in Port Louis were very helpful.
Ceresiet
Note the example below was for application to open a Non-resident account:

We experienced exactly the same issue - applying in Nov 2021 at ABSA Tamarin - with them apparently emailing our KYC (Know Your Clients) documents to ABSA head office in Ebène for approval - several email enquiries from our side as to the status of our application to open accounts were answered with Silence.

This year more than 6 months later after yet another email enquiry from me, ABSA replied that they are unfortunately unable to open a Transactional account for me before I have a Resident Permit either through the retired non-citizen plan, or with the purchase of property.

- the only one they could do for me is to open an Offshore Investment Account requiring me to keep a minimum balace of USD 10 000 = MUR 455 000 in the account at all timesto keep it open.

Luckily wit the latest 2022 Mauritian budget it was announced that it will shortly be made much easier for foreigners to open Mauritian bank accounts because, after all, any such foreign investment is in the interest of promoting the Mauritian economy
Shameer_nb17
@Anou86 When you do the application online, then once it is approved, you need to present to a Branch with all supporting documents.

I have been doing this for my clients and it works.
Anou86

@Shameer_nb17 ok good to know, maybe worth trying in that case.. thanks for the input

kimhut
@Busy Bee29 Try Bank One in Port Louis- extremely helpful and amazing personal service-
Kim
Pandora At Dodoland
Like what above suggest, I would suggest you to try open an account with HSBC first, then try MCB. Or any other bank first as back up. MCB is convenient when it comes to bill payment.
clintonsturm05
This is very good for information gathering. As I’m thinking of emigrating sometime shortly - I have Barclays Bank here in the UK there are Branches of Barclays in or near Port Luis ive seen ‘ Do you have to have a Mauritius address to open an account out there ‘ Or a minimum requirement of a post box  or something - I was thinking of opening an extra Barclays Mauritius account when I come over on holiday in Preparation
Pandora At Dodoland
@clintonsturm05

I hate HSBC Hong Kong but it seems much easier to set up an account with them here in Mauritius. "Foreign nationals must produce a letter of reference from their main overseas banks". That's what I read from HSBC MRU. However, ABSA bank (formerly known as Barclays) needs to be a resident here with ID/address  proof to be able to open an account.
Busy Bee29
Sometimes miracles do happen:

Our account was opened today! 1f600.svg1f44d.svg

After my husband went to MCB AGAIN this morning and spoke to the supervisor, he was told that the application was approved yesterday (which we  were unfortunately NOT informed about ). Lucky for us we asked again today IN PERSON.....

The explanation given for the delay was that Mauritian finance was on a "black list" last year and as a result the compliance department is very meticulous in checking foreign applicants.

Unfortunately, the supervisor could not tell us why this took SO LONG in our case. He pointed out that NORMALLY, especially people from western Europe, should get the approval within a week.
Never mind. All`s well that ends well. 1f609.svg
Thanks all for your reply and have a lovely evening!

@Anou86, long time no hear! :) Don't know if the black list could be used to shed light on this.

@Shameer_nb17 Unfortunately, we couldn't do an online application because we didn't sign the lease until we arrived, so we didn't have an address in Mauritius. ;)

@AstroGolf Our Resident Visa was not yet granted but approved online. That was sufficient with the MCB.
Anou86

@Busy Bee29 heyyy hope you’re doing well ☺️ Good to hear that everything’s sorted now! What a relief it must be… enjoy the island, thanks for the feedback 🙏

Sandeep Mauritius

@Busy Bee29 Open an Absa Digi Account in minutes here [link moderated]

No minimum balance or monthly fees to be paid. Account number is generated within minutes of completion of application 

jagdish nayak
@Busy Bee29
Hi, I suggest to open an account with SBM /ABSA/OR ANY OTHER INDIAN BANK LIKE SBI/BOB.
THE PROCEDURE IS SAME ,SURELY THE ACCOUNT WILL BE OPEN WITHOUT MUCH DIFFICLTIES.
MCB IS VERY BUSY BANK FOR EXPATIATES.
LOTS OF DOCS DEMAND.
PLEASE COME TO PORT LOUIS ITSELF AND YOU HAVE MULTIPLE BANK OPTION AVAILABLE.
PLEASE GO WITH STATE BANK OF MAURITIUS.
Take good care of yourself.
Best Regards.
AstroGolf
I found it very easy with MCB. I went into the Branch at La Croisette Mall, just waited for 30 minutes before my ticket came up. They were very helpful, everything was fully set-up within an hour. I left with my card etc.
Cosmos Chile Team
Frankly you are waisting your time with MCB, impossible paperwork, slow, long queues, expensive commissions, expensive exchange rates etc.even when you are dealing with large sum of money ( in my case > 1 Million usd) they were useless, and I was a customer for 2 years.
If you are looking at the only other option in BR , it will be Absa, if you don’t need cash transactions at counter they are perfect. You will be welcome in a lounge with NO queue  at all.
I found them professional, efficient and reliable.
I am not a shareholder of ABSA, i must state and I generally don’t like banks, but had so many trouble with everything with MCB that i decided to go with ABSA.
My story as a foreigner is similar to yours.
Regards,
Eric
Orchids68
@Busy Bee29

I read your message with considerable sadness.  This is the state in which we now live whereby people’s time are just simply taken for granted and wasted as officials please.  I am not with MCB for very good reasons but the alternative is not great either in the bigger scheme of things but the service is somewhat better.  I would try SBM with internet banking.  I am so sorry to hear your plea but i am not surprised at all with the level of incompetence and the fact that nobody wants to get off their backsides and do the work for which they are rewarded.  MAURITIUS is a a pleasure as they say and I say this as a mauritian citizen who has had enough of the BS served to the people in this country daily.  I wish i could change things. Nothing works because the companies look for cheap fix from India instead of solutions from Europe.  I am at war with MyT money as we speak cos the system is simply a shamble with huge promises of hot air.   
Devendran
@Busy Bee29
All banks have to do their due diligence before approving an application for a bank account. I hope that you meet all their requirements.
yeti1952

@clintonsturm05 sorry no barclays bank in Mauritius

Anou86
Yes indeed, no Barclays here anymore.

Barclays Bank (Mauritius) integrated the South African group ABSA to become a subsidiary .The subsidiaries of Barclays deployed in a dozen African countries such as Botswana, Ghana, Kenya, Mozambique, Tanzania, Zambia, Seychelles and Uganda are also concerned.


On a side note,
For the 9th consecutive year, the Mauritius Commercial Bank (MCB) has won the Awards for Excellence: Best Bank in Mauritius for 2022, awarded by the prestigious magazine Euromoney
70% of Mauritians have an account with MCB

it is common for people to have a secondary MCB account as it is convenient to use (Juice, many atms, etc)
Cosmos Chile Team

@Anou86 in the case of MCB people do not have choice at all, it doesn’t mean they are satisfied customers on the contrary.

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Anou86
To open an Absa Account (for locals) you need to deposit a minimum of 8000/10000 MUR (not sure about the exact amount). You can open an MCB account with zero MUR, have access to more ATM, have access to mobile apps...

Oh and local transactions to the MCB (money transfer) are quick - 30 minutes, whereas with ABSA i need to wait for 2 working days...I have both Absa and MCB a/c
If other banks could follow and perhaps innovate that will give us a choice, yes!

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