money transfer

So I found out the hard way. There was no other way of knowing but now I know. Back home I had some money exchanged. Basically I transferred too much, I should of just exchanged what I needed for small things and brought the rest in US Dollars. When we opened an account here in HK they gave a rate true to the real and current rate. My bank back home gave me some lame rate and a service fee.

Getting $1000 USD from my bank in the US one gets $6751.7 HKD. That's a rate of 6.7517 HKD to 1 USD. ($19 service fee was built in to the ratio)

Getting $1000 USD transferred into my account here in HK I get $7706.8 HKD. That's a rate of 7.7068 HKD to 1 USD. (no service fee)

So essentially I was loosing $123.93 USD ($955 HKD) per $1000 USD converted back home.

Not cool.

On a side note, HSBC was set up very nicely to accommodate newcomers. In quick and painless process we acquired two debit cards and a joint bank account in under 1 hour. That's service.