Greetings guys!! Would it be possible to give me a heads up!
I need to open a bank account in SA.
1) Im South African, wifes a foreign national (EU). Is it possible to open up an account together?
2) Which bank has the lowest fees.(maintenance, withdraws, transfers...etc.).
3) Is it possible to have an account in foreign currency (Euro, Dollar, Pounds).
4) Do they have e-Banking and if so, is it possible to negotiate stocks and bonds from the JSE and other markets?
Thanks in advance!!

did this recently, answer is you can wife cant be joint. I use Nedbank as I bank with Nedbank private bank and BoE Private bank, u cant hold foreign currenty accounts in SA but can off shore through SA bank subsiuduary , u can get a trading account with bank

did this recently, answer is you can wife cant be joint. I use Nedbank as I bank with Nedbank private bank and BoE Private bank, u cant hold foreign currenty accounts in SA but can off shore through SA bank subsiuduary , u can get a trading account with bank

Thanks SA Boy

I use Standard Bank. Not sure about foreign currency.
Yes Standard Bank use internet banking

1) Yes you can still open a joint account
2) There isn't really a bank that has the lowest fees. You must rather look at each bank and see the way you bank, what services you want and the correlating fees ie if you do e-banking more often than cashier/cheque banking. If I must pick a bank however that has really low fees and amazing interest rates I would definitely pick Capitec.
3) Due to exchange controls, you can't hold an account in foreign currency. There might be plans to change this in the future though.
4) All banks have e-banking, however not all of them allow you to trade stocks through it. I know Absa, Standard Bank, FNB and Nedbank do allow you though. If I must pick an e-banking that is user-friendly, secure and great for a trading portfolio, I would say Absa. But again, this comes down to personal preference.

1) Yes you can still open a joint account
2) There isn't really a bank that has the lowest fees. You must rather look at each bank and see the way you bank, what services you want and the correlating fees ie if you do e-banking more often than cashier/cheque banking. If I must pick a bank however that has really low fees and amazing interest rates I would definitely pick Capitec.
3) Due to exchange controls, you can't hold an account in foreign currency. There might be plans to change this in the future though.
4) All banks have e-banking, however not all of them allow you to trade stocks through it. I know Absa, Standard Bank, FNB and Nedbank do allow you though. If I must pick an e-banking that is user-friendly, secure and great for a trading portfolio, I would say Absa. But again, this comes down to personal preference.

You cant open a joint bank account with a foreign national, just tried and its not possible even if its your wife

I use Nedbank as I bank with Nedbank private bank and BoE Private bank, u cant hold foreign currenty accounts in SA but can off shore through SA bank subsiuduary ,
:naughty:Wont you need a little nomination there $$$ GO saboy

Standard has offshore banking product, dunno about others ;)

You cant open a joint bank account with a foreign national, just tried and its not possible even if its your wife

What bank was this? And what were their reasons?

Maybe by analyzing some websites you can make an idea of which bank suites you better.

http://www.absa.co.za/absacoza/
http://www.nedbank.co.za/website/content/home/index.asp
http://www.standardbank.co.za/portal/site/standardbank
https://www.fnb.co.za/
http://www.mercantile.co.za/ ( of the Caixa Geral de Depositos group )
http://www.capitecbank.co.za/
http://www.bidvestbank.co.za/

What bank was this? And what were their reasons?

Nedbank and its the law ie Sa government thing

you can have a joint account between south african husband and wife but not foreign national

when I come back and my wife gets permanant residency it can be done

Oh wait, sorry Goliath, I think I misunderstood. Do you and your wife reside in South Africa? Because if not, SA BOY is right.