Banking in Kuala Lumpur

Maybank is the biggest. I worked in the banking sector 7 yaers ago and it was "hair raising" to say the least. For transactional banking all are ok - I used Maybank before. But for serious investment? Go for better capitalised western banks or offshore. Charges in Malaysia for investments like unit trusts are high btw. You can use local ETFs that are cheaper, good for KL capital market exposure, otherwise again I would rather trust the likes of HSBC. I know them via previous work contacts and risk adverse. HSBC btw run very cheap trackers in UK so I intend to keep using them via UK bank accounts and in my Pension plan (charges 0.25% per annum no front load)

The Islamic banks are a good choice for emergency savings in Malaysia btw in a low interest rate environment due to the profit sharing concept (= interest for non-Muslims). And the government won't allow them to fail. Ok true for all banks really.....

public bank is the best. even without wide exposure, it's still in the top three banks in malaysia

Maybank, while the largest, is the absolute worst at customer service, especially in the smaller communities...just atrocious.

Public Bank has decent customer service.  HSBC seems to be the best of the Western institutions in KL.

For the "real" banking questions and needs, Nemodot seemed to have his finger on the business.

How about CIMB?  Is it better than MayBank for a foreigner?

Hi Codyfam88,

Maybe saying Hi or please (I guess) would be a good way to start

Thank you

Maximilien
Expat-blog Team

I would personally recommend Public Bank for it's user friendly services. Public Bank is an award winning bank with over 250 branches nationwide. Speedy services with helpful banking officers.