First and foremost, congratulations for a relatively impressive 14% pay jump!

is this your first job fresh out of graduation? total working experience (whether relevant to your current role or not) is 4 years?

yup, total working experience of 4 years post grad from a local biz uni. currently in aml advisory after succeeding in transfer internally from aml onboarding at my current place at the year 2 mark.

also thanks to the poster above for the well wishes.

6.5k at your 5th year of working in AML/KYC is pretty solid and you're on track to going places! As per the above posters, suggest you take the offer for now and continue working your craft. I assume it's a foreign bank that you're in, given the rather above-average pay? I believe local banks pay alot lower, i.e. probably still < 5k at 4 years. Also, which business line of AML advisory are you in? Private banking, or corporate, or investment, or consumer, or all?

Currently drawing $4.1K doing sales support in a bank. I manage a team of 5 and work relatively long hours (12 hours a day). Have a local u degree and I’ve been here for close to 5 years (1st job). Exposure is good and I’m recognised by my bosses (...just not reflected in the pay lol) but next year’s increment (if any) will be limited because I was just promoted this year.

Received an offer @ $5000 doing the same thing except I won’t be managing anyone and my days of leave have been reduced (from 23 to 17). OT most likely not required. Progression more limited as people here are in “retirement” mode.

Is it rly a no brainer to leave? FWIW, I do enjoy my work and the environment at my current workplace, though I don’t think it’s too bad at the new place too.

4.1k after 5 years is really low. Which bank is this? Any good foreign bank or BB would pay upwards of 7k for 5 YOE in sales support

It’s not a local bank, but also neither a swanky BB or foreign (“first-world”) bank. I started out as a contract staff at the bank drawing $2K+, so that could be a reason why the pay has been so low all these while, despite the promotions.

My advice to all aspiring finance professionals is to not stay in a local bank for more than 3 years. 5 years max. Local banks like to use their strong branding to lowball job applicants. For the same skillset you could be getting 20-50% more in an international bank or BB. But what you have to give up is job stability. If you have kids or parents to support or a mortgage to pay off or simply looking to retire without further career growth, you can consider joining a local bank. That's why if you're a fresh grad or below 35 without financial obligations, staying in a local bank is career suicide.

Could you elaborate abit more on the job stability in foreign banks vs local banks? Perhaps also differentiate between the different "classes" of foreign banks if possible. Not everyone will be able to get into a prestigious BB, and personally not too sure of the future exit prospects of going into a smaller regional or foreign bank branch.

Depends on the bank. DBS definitely pays better than HSBC/Citi with bonuses included lol

Of course tier 1 BB is the best but working at somewhere like SC/HSBC is the worst of both worlds. Low job stability and pay also not high

Yes u r right that DBS pays the best of the 3 local banks. But I am not sure if can match HSBC/SC/Citi... depends on the role I guess? OCBC and UOB are the 2 laggards to DBS, not just in terms of size and reputation but also pay.

sales support is do what? 4.1k 5 years is really pathetic honestly

To above poster, see this

Rofl low pathetic pay but he seems quite shiok to be "recognized" for his efforts. Joke's on him Lol.

grad in 2016 from local uni still need take contract job with 2k+, only can blame ownself for being beh kan

LOL ya la avg salary in this thread is $30k a month not incl bonuses, only folks from BB FO need reply. anything below that is beh kan

Plot twist: No one in BB FO earning 30k base has interest in online forums.

Truthhh preach it

You’re underpaid, but the offer is still an approx. 20% increment which is OK. I would take it if I were you, if you don’t have any other offers. Much of salary/job progression depends on circumstances and luck. There are only so many positions in BB/foreign banks anw so don’t be too disheartened by the comments here. Continue to keep a look out for opportunities even when you’re in your new role, and don’t make the same mistake of spending too much time in the same organisation.

i know la i was being sarcastic. those who BB here BB there, are you even from a bulge bracket? other threads also singing the same BB tune, can overtake the govt as singapore’s largest employer liao lmao.

Hi im in BB technology

Anyone knows the AVP salary range in Citi ? Thx

Spending much time in an organisation is not necessarily a bad thing. It's more of pay and progression stagnating that's bad. In a competitive environment where talent is paid what it's worth, it could be good to stay. Going by OP's 4.1k salary after 5 years and 23 days of annual leave, I'm guessing he's in OCBC, which is a local bank and generally speaking not a place you want to stay at for more than a few years. Pay and progression cannot match foreign banks.

fo/bo/mo??

8-10k/month for MO. Don't expect bonuses to exceed 2 months. Citi is a BB in name but compensation is significantly lower than the others. More on par with SC/HSBC/DBS

Should be bo/mo.

Got aws/13th month ?

8-10k is considered pretty good. I would maybe say Citi AVP could range from 7k and up.

How many years of exp is needed at the AVP level?

At least 5 years I think

At least, I would think. Depends on opportunities, performance, people, like-ability, luck.

What about those from the graduate programmes?

Depends whether FO or BO/MO and in which division. FO generally expedited and straight-forward promotion but for BO/MO I believe based on opportunities and openings.

what is the rank that a fresh grad degree entering local bank?
senior analyst?? how many years before next promotion?

analyst; promotion based on performance

contract job at Ocbc doing MO or permanent job doing BO at Citibank, which one is better? any idea what's the average bonus for BO in Citi? Basic pay will be similar for both roles.

Is my progression slow? Been working for about 5.5 years

2015 end: 2,800 (Just joined)
2016 mid: 3,200
2017 mid: 3,200 - 1.5 years mark
2018 mid: 4,100 (Promotion)- 2.5 years mark
2019 mid: 4,700 - 3.5 years mark
2020 mid: 4,700 - 4.5 years mark
2021 now: 5,400 (Promotion)- 5.5 years mark

Should i start job hopping.

Depends what is the MO role and the BO role respectively. Think it's too premature to judge just based on whether it's middle or bank - and frankly, it doesn't matter too much if you're MO/BO, you are still a cost centre. But hearsay citi has better processes and technology

Considering the low base you started with, I would say this is the norm (about 400-500 increase per year on average). Half the people here don't work in the industry. Others are just quoting hearsay numbers.

Not everyone is a top performer. Not everyone works in FO. Not everyone gets 3-4 months bonuses. You do you.

Thank you for your kind review. :)