The new e-Banking service by Hang Seng Bank has the potential to be very useful to people like myself who have little time to visit branch offices in person. Of particular interest are the many investment funds available.
The bank offers funds from eight investment houses, excluding their own series of funds. Dozens of different funds are available, many of which are denominated in foreign currencies.
Hang Seng Bank offers a 1 per cent discount on the subscription fee to encourage purchase of these funds.
I recently subscribed through Hang Seng Bank e-Banking to a sterling denominated fund from HSBC, using funds from my Bank-In-One sterling savings account.
The online brochure for the fund states that monthly minimum investments of HK$1,000 equivalent are allowed. However, when I tried to make monthly payments of GBP100 (about HK$1,126) through e-Banking I was told this was not permitted as the smallest amount able to be submitted electronically was HK$20,000 equivalent.
The Hang Seng customer service representative suggested I go to a Hang Seng Bank branch and make arrangements for smaller deposits in person.
