“A” means 24h no-auth no-wait. These hotlines are heads and shoulders above the rest.

— A: 12306 Chn railway
— A: BOC hotline is one of the best.. zero wait, fully 24H, and requires no NRIC/authentication unless investigating my account
— B+ CIMB .. very short wait to a live agent, but my experience may decline after more calls
— A: Cigna envoy ..
— C-: citi hotline .. 24H. Always needs complicated auth before live agent
.. nowadays, long wait after 6pm
— A: cmlink .. zero wait, no auth
— B+: CPF hotline has short wait but not 24/7
— C: DBS hotline is one of the G2 most important. Not bad. short wait, but need SMS authentication _every_ time
— B: HSBC premier hotline .. (important until I finish ex-Chn).. actually better than most

1 Oct 2023 1am HSBC FAST down time .. instead of disappointment, I should feel lucky to hear the clear answer about 1-7.30am. Also, I was lucky to hear a complete answer from the SCB lady, and lucky to avoid any SCB lock-out.

— B+: IRAS hotline .. short wait. Need to enter NRIC but not OTP.
— B: MB .. short wait and familiar
— C: NTUC membership .. not 24H. Menu tree too complex. Need auth each time.
— F: OC hotline is the slowest –> best practice: During office quiet hours, use speaker phone well in advance before something becomes urgent. This way, I can tolerate the long-wait.
— B-: SCB .. a few minutes wait. Often no complicated auth needed. However, in Sep/Oct 2023, (weekends?) the wait is exceeding 10min.
Also, more difficult when calling from a landline.
— C: starhub ..
Starhub port-in issues … rather than bitterness I could and should feel grateful and lucky to get the answers from the PlazaSing staff, even though Starhub hotline was not effective.
— B-: Syfe .. can speak to a live agent quickly. no SMS opt. But not 24h