Starting from the clock tower end of the road, the first imposing building you see houses the Standard Chartered Bank.
Diagonally opposite it is the Hongkong & Shanghai Bank.
And beside it is another heritage building that once housed the Algemene Bank Nederlands. After its merger with the Amro bank, the ABN-Amro Bank was located here.
Next to it is the old premises of the Mercantile Bank. My father used to work here until the bank was bought up by the Hongkong & Shanghai Bank in the mid-1960s. What you can see now is just the shell of the building. What a pity because during its hey-days, the glass panes were a marvel to behold.
Crossing the road into Union Street, you'll come across Malayan Banking with its own heritage building.
Nearby is the Hong Leong Bank which faces the Esplanade. Before Hong Leong Bank opened here, Citibank used to be the occupant. Citibank later moved away to Northam Road.
And its neighbour is the Affin Bank which is located on the ground floor of the Mariner's Club.
The road parallel to Union Street is Bishop Street and here, you'll find Public Bank.
A few doors away is the Arab-Malaysia Bank. Okay, this isn't one of those imposing buildings but the bank nevertheless occupies three lots of post-war shophouses.
Moving back to Beach Street, you'll come across the Overseas-Chinese Banking Corporation.
Next to it is the former premises of the United Malayan Banking Corporation. I don't have a photograph of the building because it was torn down in 1993 to build a new one which houses RHB Bank today. A pity...
Diagonally across the road is the equally imposing building that once belonged to Yeap Chor Ee. It was here that we find the old Ban Hin Lee Bank until it was taken over by Southern Bank. The building now belongs to CIMB.
The buildings and banks along this road will be incomplete without mention of the old premises of Southern Bank and the United Overseas Bank. I'll finish the picture guide some other time...
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