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@JustinJamesBeckwith Hello,I think MCB is better and SBM ,service slow motion.I don't know other Bank.

In terms of account opening ABSA was fastest for me. MCB had a much longer appointment waiting time.

@zurtle do they have as many branches throughout the island as MCB?

Hello. Depends on what you require - is it only premium banking or wealth management?

I checked out most of the banks 3 years ago & went with MCB because they suited my purposes. I just walked in there & opened the account in the branch. Took about 1 hour & I had card & internet banking set up. No fee on savings account either.

As a non-resident, I found it much more difficult to open an account.

First account (with ABSA) took 9 months (sic) to open. I also contacted MCB, ABC, Investec and AfrAsia.

While the EBD currently has a USD 375k minimum on purchasing expat property through one of the approved schemes, it seems that ever since the grey listing, the central bank (Bank of Mauritius) has imposed a USD 500k minimum in order to open a bank account as a (not yet resident) expat - MCB and all the other banks will tell you this.

Trying to secure a loan for a USD 375k property, the Mauritian banks all require a USD 500k investment - this is unheard of anywhere else on the planet - it makes no sense - why take a loan at all then ?

ABSA only has about 7 branches around Mauritius with MCB having much more with at least an ATM in every town across the island.