I am new in Doha, I am looking forward to open a bank account, can anyone suggest me which bank is good and provides max of facilities, and deal nicely with customers.
We have a great service for newly-arrived expats - we can set your bank accounts up before you arrive in Doha. visit http://www.cbq.qa/EN/Personal/Tailored-Packages/Pages/New-to-Qatar.aspx. Apart from 24 hour customer service, our credit cards offer amazing rewards such as free access to worldwide airport lounges and a frequent flyer rewards scheme redeemable on any airline, compare credit cards here http://www.cbq.qa/en/personal/cards/credit-cards/pages/compare-credit-cards.aspx, and our vehicle loan rates are as low as 0% over 3 years. visit http://www.cbq.qa/EN/Personal/Loans/Pages/Vehicle-Loan.aspx
I need your opinion regarding opening a savings account for my cousin.. He already filled up the form and he want me to submit it to Doha Bank near to my office. Is it possible that the Bank will accpet his application? please need your opinion inorder not to waste my time in goin there... Please share me also what are other requirements needed. What i have here is the form of Personal Saving account, the required amount for opening and a copy of his iqama.. Please help....
Even by mistake, never choose QNB (Qatar National Bank) The worst in benifits, worst in facilities, and worst in customer service. Even the bank managers do not care. Personal experience along with many associates
I have dealt with few banks and generally the services are poor. My top for the -ve's are Standard Chartered and HSBC. I went their becuase of their name and has been disappointed with the service. I have found Commercail Bank a bit reasonable.
Gus, my limited English knowledge, and my good education didn't allow me to be harsh enough on CBQ. But to be honest their customer service beats other banks by far.
QNB used to be the preferred bank for the government and the petrol companies. Now all banks are the same. You get your paycheck earlier because your company has an account in QNB and the transfers are go through to staff accounts faster (a few hours to a few days in case of weekend).
One last observation though, those who recommended CBQ seemed more loyal and enthusiastic toward this bank comparing to those who defended QNB. Besides those who critisized QNB seemed more harsh on QNB than those who critisized CBQ.
I put you thru a lot of trouble to come up with a reply like that, thanx. I will give you an A+ for the effort. Unlike banks, you pass with flying colours!
The RP thing: when you first arrive here, you don't not have your RP yet, but you can open a bank account, with the promise that you will inform the Bank of your number when you receive it. But in fact, most people forget to do that. So the Bank freezes their account without warning...! To make a long story short, it took one bank employee 1 hour(!!!) to add my 11 digit RP number into my account, in the right spot, on right page, after asking 3 different people, leaving his desk for several long absences, etc., etc.... (Cross)
Ok, that's from my personal experience as a Commercial bank customer.
1. ATM, telephone banking and online banking work fine. Good for paying bills and transfering money between accounts. Tick.
2. N/A.
3. You can do more transaccions. Tick.
4. My husband and I have a joint account. No issues and hassle free. Tick.
5. I have no idea what you are talking about. So it will be a Tick?
6. Visit the commercial bank website for a demo of online banking and information about how to subscribe. I had no problems whatsoever. Tick...
7. Errr...I don't know. Tick?
8. Can't remember the commisions, but it will be probably similar.
9. Refer to the answer to point 6.
Now here it gets complicated cos you made to points for 9
9 (again) . Monthly statements for Visa card are provided and sent to po box without delay. Tick.
10. That would be just as bad with commercial bank. Sometimes you have to speak to ten different people, all useless. Cross.
11. Detailed account statements sent on a monthly basis. Tick.
12. Welcome to Qatar. This attitude is shared by all managers and commercial bank's managment is no different. Cross. ( I advice you to find an efficient member of staff and deal with that person only every time). Cross.
13. Again I have no idea what you are talking about. That hasn't happened to me with commercial bank. Tick?
Overall, I will tell you that Commercial bank has only screwed a couple of times in two years. That, for Qatar standards is wonderful. But beware, once they screw it takes a lot of work for you to get them to fix their mistake...Endless telephone conversations (with hours of being put on hold) and some visits to the branch.
They can all fit into the world sub-minor league. However i am hearing some relatively good vibs about the Commercial Bank.
Can anyone recemmend it in clear terms? not using wishy washy talk, referring to some of themes that i covered in my 8/11/2006 post ? ( cuz i don't wanna go through the entire process of opening a new account and finding out that it's the same ****ish ).
Anyone out there...?
Moudir
psss- Tendai : they can save their card, i don't want to block my sewage pipes.
CBQ, they have the best online banking service in Qatar. I have tried QNB and HSBC so far but I found in the end that CBQ is the best and more professional. I use the CBQ online banking to (transfer money to my country, pay utility bills so i don't have to visit kahrama and qtel offices, check account balance and credit cards, this on the top of the statements that can be exported to excel) the most important thing about the CBQ's online service is that it has the highest security standards I have ever heard of.
And also they have these cash deposit ATM that saved much of my time and they are the only bank to have 24 hours call center.
I terms of customer service they are slightly better than the others. I consider that all banks in Qatar (including the international banks) are very bad.
Have a virtual tour before you decide:
www.cbq.com.qa
www.qnb.com.qa
www.dohabank.com.qa
www.qatar.hsbc.com/hsbc/qatar_hom (what is mentioned in their web is diffrent from the reality)
Just to answer Qatari’s question about this institution. Why the staff are so smiley, but untrained and incompetent.
1. I normally do not go to the bank. I use ATM and on-line banking. But if I have to go there, each time it takes me from 1 or 2 hours of my workday before I can leave the place.
2. The bank has nothing to do with HSBC UK, it just shares the same name, every thing else is local, including all procedures, hence it is still under commissioning.
3. The institution is good for two kinds of operations only: one is depositing money, and the other is taking out money. Any other transaction, you’re in for a surprise.
4. Joint accounts: anywhere in the West, you just ask to add the name and the signature of the second person to an existing account. Normally it takes 5 minutes. Not at HSBC, they will open a new account for you. But they will not tell you that they are opening a new account, your old account will become frozen for a week, and you will not be able to use it. Nobody will advise you of this procedure ahead of time.
5. You are supposed to submit your RP number when you receive it a few months later, but nobody will inform you of this requirement. Instead they will freeze your account without calling you, and if this happens during a weekend when you need cash, well tough!
6. One-line electronic transfers. To use this function you have to fill in and sign a form first for limits. But nobody will advise of this when opening your account.
7. On-line electronic transfers; even if you give the full detail and the correct SWIFT number of your bank, your money can travel from one HSBC correspondent bank to another HSBC correspondent bank before it reaches its final destination. For example HSBC Qatar can very well send your money to HSBC London, who can send it to HSBC USA, then finally to HSBC Mexico, and they will all take their 50 QR cut along the way, and issue no receipts. Excuse given? HSBC Qatar cannot control its foreign correspondent banks. So why not send the money directly to where it is supposed to go when the complete information is given??? No answer of course.
8. Exchange rate commissions for electronic transfers: 2 to 3% more than Al-Sadd Exchange. Better to carry cash than pay a useless commission charge.
9. On-line banking: you have to press the funny “control” button on your keyboard for the log-on page to open. Never seen this for any other western bank, and I deal with 5 at the present time.
9. HSBC Visa: no detailed transaction list provided on-line. Just one number: the total amount. You have to keep you’re your own records and figure out if the total is correct. No monthly statements issued even if you call repeatedly their very polite help desk in Dubai.
10. Staff training: no single person can carry out to the end the service you’re requiring, before having to ask 2 or 3 other people.
11. No account statements issued: (1) received in six months.
12. The Manager: fully smiling, gives a lot of free of charge “yes sirrrs”, and takes you to a person who will try to understand your problem. His job is to smile, ignore your problem and say “yes sirrrr”.
13. Unwanted, unclear, confirmation of accounts and cards held are sent bi-monthly by mail. No one knows why? when asked for the purpose is this, the answer is don’t worry, it’s the computer.
I've found the Customer Service people there (particularly the branch manager) friendly, helpful and apparently apologetic for the apalling service I received from my account manager. Unfortunately, as the face of the bank, my AM didn't do them justice and I remain inclined to move - if of course I have a reasonable chance of enjoying an improvement in the QoS. Otherwise, any move is pointless and painful.
There is no use in good customer service when the product itself is weak and shaky, as in case of CBQ. I prefer bureaucratic approach of QNB. And their customer service (at least in City Center) is not bad either.
That all banks in Qatar are less than world class standards, all have screwed up something for someone, and the important thing is to get someone to help you solve the problems when they arise and they will.
I have a branch manager who has been great at fixing a couple of screw-ups at QNB. Find a branch of one of the banks that will be convenient to where you live or work (Parking and traffic can be a killer), talk to the manager or someone and explain you will need help being new, etc and how can you get in touch when you need the help. Get a live body to talk to when you need it. If they don't want your business enough to give you a contact, find another branch or bank. When you find it, do most of your banking at that branch, talk to your contact, visit and make friends. They help the people they know.
You will have problems, how they handle them is the key. Don't do problems over the phone if you can help it, see someone.
HSBC have high service charges, limited working hours, finding a parking space at any of their branches requires a miracle and about 2 weeks they had a system screw-up where any ATM deposits were not credit by the system and it took them a week to sort it out.
My experience with QNB was only positive. Of course they are not as efficient as the banks back home, but... QNB is the clearance bank for international transactions, which means they get the money first. In 90% of the cases a transfer made in UK monday morning, was hitting my QNB account Tuesday afternoon.
And also - their ATM and POS always work, unlike the crappy Commercial bank. There was a time in Doha, when Commercial Bank ATM were chewing in ALL Diners Club cards which are not issued by CB. If you'd try to pay with a non-Qatar Diners club card, you'd get a message to the POS owner to withold the card! OUTRAGEOUS!
However customer service at CB is definitely better than at QNB.
i have had acccounts in HSBC (rubbish, they always tell me to calm down when they have made a mistake) and Commercial bank of qatar. I feel commercial bank is good.
I have found their service unbelievably poor. I'm not sure which country you're coming from, but if once you get here and you need to cary out transactions between here and home, perhaps HSBC are a good bet. I've certainly found them so anyway. Good luck.
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Hello this is Commercial Bank :),
We have a great service for newly-arrived expats - we can set your bank accounts up before you arrive in Doha. visit http://www.cbq.qa/EN/Personal/Tailored-Packages/Pages/New-to-Qatar.aspx. Apart from 24 hour customer service, our credit cards offer amazing rewards such as free access to worldwide airport lounges and a frequent flyer rewards scheme redeemable on any airline, compare credit cards here http://www.cbq.qa/en/personal/cards/credit-cards/pages/compare-credit-cards.aspx, and our vehicle loan rates are as low as 0% over 3 years. visit http://www.cbq.qa/EN/Personal/Loans/Pages/Vehicle-Loan.aspx
I need your opinion regarding opening a savings account for my cousin.. He already filled up the form and he want me to submit it to Doha Bank near to my office. Is it possible that the Bank will accpet his application? please need your opinion inorder not to waste my time in goin there... Please share me also what are other requirements needed. What i have here is the form of Personal Saving account, the required amount for opening and a copy of his iqama.. Please help....
Even by mistake, never choose QNB (Qatar National Bank) The worst in benifits, worst in facilities, and worst in customer service. Even the bank managers do not care. Personal experience along with many associates
Qatar National Bank is the worst. I will never recomend it to anyone. Tried and test by many.
iwant open a company bank account
which bank is good?
how much amount for deposit?
I have dealt with few banks and generally the services are poor. My top for the -ve's are Standard Chartered and HSBC. I went their becuase of their name and has been disappointed with the service. I have found Commercail Bank a bit reasonable.
When I first arrived I did my business with HSBC. After about a year, I closed my account and went with DOHA Bank and became much happy.
I don't know about other branches but the one in West Bay (Salam Building near City Center) gave me excellent service. They won my heart!
commercial Bank Qatar wins.. it really is a no contest. CBQ has sole monopoly of Diners card in Qatar. I would definitely suggest giving CBQ a try,
rgds,
J.J
Gus, my limited English knowledge, and my good education didn't allow me to be harsh enough on CBQ. But to be honest their customer service beats other banks by far.
QNB used to be the preferred bank for the government and the petrol companies. Now all banks are the same. You get your paycheck earlier because your company has an account in QNB and the transfers are go through to staff accounts faster (a few hours to a few days in case of weekend).
I get my paycheck deposited earlier at QNB than the people that use other banks. Something to do with being the National Bank.
Votes counted and here are the results:
CBQ (5 Positive and 2 Negative)
QNB (5 positive comments and 2 Negative)
HSBC (two positive and 5 negative )
Stan chart (No positive comment and 1 negative)
Ahli ((No positive comment and 1 negative)
One last observation though, those who recommended CBQ seemed more loyal and enthusiastic toward this bank comparing to those who defended QNB. Besides those who critisized QNB seemed more harsh on QNB than those who critisized CBQ.
so the best bank in qatar is.....
I put you thru a lot of trouble to come up with a reply like that, thanx. I will give you an A+ for the effort. Unlike banks, you pass with flying colours!
The RP thing: when you first arrive here, you don't not have your RP yet, but you can open a bank account, with the promise that you will inform the Bank of your number when you receive it. But in fact, most people forget to do that. So the Bank freezes their account without warning...! To make a long story short, it took one bank employee 1 hour(!!!) to add my 11 digit RP number into my account, in the right spot, on right page, after asking 3 different people, leaving his desk for several long absences, etc., etc.... (Cross)
Peace,
Moudir
Ok, that's from my personal experience as a Commercial bank customer.
1. ATM, telephone banking and online banking work fine. Good for paying bills and transfering money between accounts. Tick.
2. N/A.
3. You can do more transaccions. Tick.
4. My husband and I have a joint account. No issues and hassle free. Tick.
5. I have no idea what you are talking about. So it will be a Tick?
6. Visit the commercial bank website for a demo of online banking and information about how to subscribe. I had no problems whatsoever. Tick...
7. Errr...I don't know. Tick?
8. Can't remember the commisions, but it will be probably similar.
9. Refer to the answer to point 6.
Now here it gets complicated cos you made to points for 9
9 (again) . Monthly statements for Visa card are provided and sent to po box without delay. Tick.
10. That would be just as bad with commercial bank. Sometimes you have to speak to ten different people, all useless. Cross.
11. Detailed account statements sent on a monthly basis. Tick.
12. Welcome to Qatar. This attitude is shared by all managers and commercial bank's managment is no different. Cross. ( I advice you to find an efficient member of staff and deal with that person only every time). Cross.
13. Again I have no idea what you are talking about. That hasn't happened to me with commercial bank. Tick?
Overall, I will tell you that Commercial bank has only screwed a couple of times in two years. That, for Qatar standards is wonderful. But beware, once they screw it takes a lot of work for you to get them to fix their mistake...Endless telephone conversations (with hours of being put on hold) and some visits to the branch.
Hope it helps.
They can all fit into the world sub-minor league. However i am hearing some relatively good vibs about the Commercial Bank.
Can anyone recemmend it in clear terms? not using wishy washy talk, referring to some of themes that i covered in my 8/11/2006 post ? ( cuz i don't wanna go through the entire process of opening a new account and finding out that it's the same ****ish ).
Anyone out there...?
Moudir
psss- Tendai : they can save their card, i don't want to block my sewage pipes.
CBQ, they have the best online banking service in Qatar. I have tried QNB and HSBC so far but I found in the end that CBQ is the best and more professional. I use the CBQ online banking to (transfer money to my country, pay utility bills so i don't have to visit kahrama and qtel offices, check account balance and credit cards, this on the top of the statements that can be exported to excel) the most important thing about the CBQ's online service is that it has the highest security standards I have ever heard of.
And also they have these cash deposit ATM that saved much of my time and they are the only bank to have 24 hours call center.
I terms of customer service they are slightly better than the others. I consider that all banks in Qatar (including the international banks) are very bad.
Have a virtual tour before you decide:
www.cbq.com.qa
www.qnb.com.qa
www.dohabank.com.qa
www.qatar.hsbc.com/hsbc/qatar_hom (what is mentioned in their web is diffrent from the reality)
http://www.ahlibank.com.qa/
Thanks Moudir - i think I'll stick with the devil I know.
By the way, you know you're not gonna get a birthday card from them now right?
Just to answer Qatari’s question about this institution. Why the staff are so smiley, but untrained and incompetent.
1. I normally do not go to the bank. I use ATM and on-line banking. But if I have to go there, each time it takes me from 1 or 2 hours of my workday before I can leave the place.
2. The bank has nothing to do with HSBC UK, it just shares the same name, every thing else is local, including all procedures, hence it is still under commissioning.
3. The institution is good for two kinds of operations only: one is depositing money, and the other is taking out money. Any other transaction, you’re in for a surprise.
4. Joint accounts: anywhere in the West, you just ask to add the name and the signature of the second person to an existing account. Normally it takes 5 minutes. Not at HSBC, they will open a new account for you. But they will not tell you that they are opening a new account, your old account will become frozen for a week, and you will not be able to use it. Nobody will advise you of this procedure ahead of time.
5. You are supposed to submit your RP number when you receive it a few months later, but nobody will inform you of this requirement. Instead they will freeze your account without calling you, and if this happens during a weekend when you need cash, well tough!
6. One-line electronic transfers. To use this function you have to fill in and sign a form first for limits. But nobody will advise of this when opening your account.
7. On-line electronic transfers; even if you give the full detail and the correct SWIFT number of your bank, your money can travel from one HSBC correspondent bank to another HSBC correspondent bank before it reaches its final destination. For example HSBC Qatar can very well send your money to HSBC London, who can send it to HSBC USA, then finally to HSBC Mexico, and they will all take their 50 QR cut along the way, and issue no receipts. Excuse given? HSBC Qatar cannot control its foreign correspondent banks. So why not send the money directly to where it is supposed to go when the complete information is given??? No answer of course.
8. Exchange rate commissions for electronic transfers: 2 to 3% more than Al-Sadd Exchange. Better to carry cash than pay a useless commission charge.
9. On-line banking: you have to press the funny “control” button on your keyboard for the log-on page to open. Never seen this for any other western bank, and I deal with 5 at the present time.
9. HSBC Visa: no detailed transaction list provided on-line. Just one number: the total amount. You have to keep you’re your own records and figure out if the total is correct. No monthly statements issued even if you call repeatedly their very polite help desk in Dubai.
10. Staff training: no single person can carry out to the end the service you’re requiring, before having to ask 2 or 3 other people.
11. No account statements issued: (1) received in six months.
12. The Manager: fully smiling, gives a lot of free of charge “yes sirrrs”, and takes you to a person who will try to understand your problem. His job is to smile, ignore your problem and say “yes sirrrr”.
13. Unwanted, unclear, confirmation of accounts and cards held are sent bi-monthly by mail. No one knows why? when asked for the purpose is this, the answer is don’t worry, it’s the computer.
Useless or not, it’s up to you to decide !
Moudir
I've found the Customer Service people there (particularly the branch manager) friendly, helpful and apparently apologetic for the apalling service I received from my account manager. Unfortunately, as the face of the bank, my AM didn't do them justice and I remain inclined to move - if of course I have a reasonable chance of enjoying an improvement in the QoS. Otherwise, any move is pointless and painful.
There is no use in good customer service when the product itself is weak and shaky, as in case of CBQ. I prefer bureaucratic approach of QNB. And their customer service (at least in City Center) is not bad either.
Customer Service.
Talk about an opportunity!!
So.. the winner is... step forward QNB?
I'd go to QNB >> Qatar National Bank
My Godness, now I am puzzled. I was willing for QNB or HSBC. I guess I will check both to find out details.
Ahlibank will win hands down !!!
That all banks in Qatar are less than world class standards, all have screwed up something for someone, and the important thing is to get someone to help you solve the problems when they arise and they will.
I have a branch manager who has been great at fixing a couple of screw-ups at QNB. Find a branch of one of the banks that will be convenient to where you live or work (Parking and traffic can be a killer), talk to the manager or someone and explain you will need help being new, etc and how can you get in touch when you need the help. Get a live body to talk to when you need it. If they don't want your business enough to give you a contact, find another branch or bank. When you find it, do most of your banking at that branch, talk to your contact, visit and make friends. They help the people they know.
You will have problems, how they handle them is the key. Don't do problems over the phone if you can help it, see someone.
HSBC have high service charges, limited working hours, finding a parking space at any of their branches requires a miracle and about 2 weeks they had a system screw-up where any ATM deposits were not credit by the system and it took them a week to sort it out.
Why not HSBC? Whenever I walk in they seem to smile...
But then their airmiles program is terrible...
Gets my vote. Good customer service and good foreign currency services. So far so good.
Disappointed twice with the customer's service @ SCBQ (Standard Chartered Bank of Qatar).
My experience with QNB was only positive. Of course they are not as efficient as the banks back home, but... QNB is the clearance bank for international transactions, which means they get the money first. In 90% of the cases a transfer made in UK monday morning, was hitting my QNB account Tuesday afternoon.
And also - their ATM and POS always work, unlike the crappy Commercial bank. There was a time in Doha, when Commercial Bank ATM were chewing in ALL Diners Club cards which are not issued by CB. If you'd try to pay with a non-Qatar Diners club card, you'd get a message to the POS owner to withold the card! OUTRAGEOUS!
However customer service at CB is definitely better than at QNB.
I've just closed my account at QNB because of incredibly poor service. I have moved to HSBC as it was strongly recommended by my co-workers.
i have had acccounts in HSBC (rubbish, they always tell me to calm down when they have made a mistake) and Commercial bank of qatar. I feel commercial bank is good.
I've had *reasonable* service through Commercial Bank of Qatar... they've only made one boo-boo so far..... ;)
There should a 'Worst Bank of the Year' award - with qatarliving forum members as voters!
HSBC haven't been brilliant - just not crap.
Has anyone here had excellent service from any bank??
..unless you're a glutton for pain.
I have found their service unbelievably poor. I'm not sure which country you're coming from, but if once you get here and you need to cary out transactions between here and home, perhaps HSBC are a good bet. I've certainly found them so anyway. Good luck.
Not HSBC!
QNB. They can even open an account for non-resident (savings of course, but with ATM VISA electron card)without any paperwork - just your passport.