Usurious bank fees on an international wire

[Mover1]

9 hours ago, The manic said:

On a related topic: Can I avoid high fees if I use my CC at the counter in a bank and not use the ATM?

 

I don't think that makes any difference, unless you're using an ATM outside a 7-11 that charges everyone a 200 baht fee for withdrawals. Best to ask at your bank though as they'll be able to confirm anything.

 

What matters most is what CC charges are applicable for each transaction, and what exchange rates they use, and all banks are different. Also some CC charge interest on cash withdrawals daily, so it's usually cheaper to pay for items with a CC and pay off by direct debit as normal (without having to pay daily interest on the same cash withdrawal). I only use a CC for emergencies or other currencies on trips away now, they always seem to have hidden charges somewhere and the rates are rubbish.

[MJCM]

^ +1

 

Only use CC Cash Withdrawals as a last resort, and if you do it, never select your Home Currency to do the conversion but use THB

 

Have a look here to why.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dynamic_currency_conversion

[Mover1]

On 9/22/2017 at 1:59 PM, MJCM said:

@Mover1

 

In whole fairness, report back on Monday what exact amount you received (but I guess we know that already ) and what the TT (Telex Transfer) rate then is, as you can't already look (and compare) at the current TT rate for Money that you will receive on Monday.

 

On 9/22/2017 at 2:13 PM, Mover1 said:

 

Yeah no problem, I see what you mean. 

 

You could look at it two ways though, if I took the cash from my UK bank today and changed it at TT I'd receive todays rate. Sending money from my UK bank today to Transferwise is in effect the same thing.

 

Pretty sure the rate was locked at 44.97 with the fee's and everything else I quoted, but happy to report back when received. 

 

I'm not an avid supporter of Transferwise above everything else by the way, if there's an easier way to get the same or better rates then I'd happily use that method. I've tried direct to Kasikorn but the rates were slightly lower, plus my UK bank charges around £15 for sending international transfers. I only go to the UK once a year, and bringing large amounts of £££'s back over isn't what I like doing, but I can understand why people do it.

 

I received the 424,625 baht to my Kasikorn account today, as quoted from Friday. Pretty quick for 2 working days really.

 

Just looking on the Transferwise website, if I were to send the same amount of £9500 again, right now I'd only receive 422,956 baht. Same £58.15 fee as before but lower rate of 44.79 to the £.

 

On a separate note a guy posted in a Facebook group about using Ethereum (the cryptocurrency) to transfer money to a Thai account from USA, and he reckons it only cost him $1.89, and thats regardless of the size of the transfer. Plus it took less than an hour. I don't fully understand the exact way this works but apparently there's a risk of a currency fluctuation while it's going through, but the chances of losing a lot in the space of under an hour are pretty slim. Here's what the guy actually posted:

 

'Now for what I did today.
#1 I used money from the US to purchase Ethereum (type of bitcoin).
#2 I moved that bitcoin from the Bittrex exchange in the USA to the Bx.In.Th exchange in Thailand which cost me $1.85. I still think $1.85 is high but Bittrex is a US site and they have to deal with regulatory bullshit. I will be checking other exchanges as well though.
#3 Then I moved the the money from the Thailand Exchange to my wife's bank account. That cost me .04 dollars. Yep 4 cents.
So what used to cost me $32 or $12 to do, now costs me $1.89 and that is based on a $600.00 amount. The Bitcoin Transfer amount doesn't go up with amount transferred so if I had done $6000.00 it still would have cost me $1.89, but the traditional transfers would have cost me $140.00 and $120 respectively.'

 

[PhuketAmerican]

I send to NY branch of Bangkok Bank, via ACH transfer from Wells Fargo, takes 2 days but costs ~$5 and rate is good, shows up in my BKK bank and can withdraw in 48- 72 hrs after sending online

[PhuketAmerican]

[idman]

I have been using TransferWise for four months and am totally satisfied with their service and fees. At first I was worried about the time it took to get the money into my account but after figuring out the time different, the days they operate it was easy. Now I initiate a transfer at 8 p.m. Thai time, 9 a.m. the same day in New York and the funds are in my account within 24 hours. Everything, i.e. their fees, the actual rate, how much to be deposited are all there before you proceed. I have also heard that Zoom is very good as well.