Nationwide Building Society UK - Sending money to Thailand

[kamma]

Could anyone please share any experience sending money to a Thai Bank (Krung Thai) from a Nationwide Building Society UK using SWIFT.

 

How long did the transfer take?

 

I know that Nationwide uses HSBC as an 'agent' so it would generally take longer than a normal transfer right?

 

It's been 5 working days for me.

 

Thanks all.

[i claudius]

One to 2 days

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[trd]

One to 2 days

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2 days at the most for me.

[sanemax]

If you have a Nationwide ATM card, you can make withdrawals over the counter at a Thai bank

[i claudius]

If you have a Nationwide ATM card, you can make withdrawals over the counter at a Thai bank

Rubbish rate, high fees dont bother

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[sanemax]

Just now, i claudius said:

Rubbish rate, high fees dont bother
 

They give you the days going rate , I think that they charge 2 % plus a Pound foreign withdrawal charge (or something)

[kamma]

Thanks for all the replies.

 

I'm so surprised many of you received the funds in such a short period of time despite the money having to go through an intermediary bank.

 

I wonder what is the hold up with my funds? I read somewhere that for some people it took 3 weeks plus...but that was a couple of years ago. Maybe Nationwide has gotten better?

[kamma]

@sanemax Thanks. I was aware of that but I'm trying to make a large payment into someone's account.

[KhunBENQ]

Moved to ... banking forum.

[trd]

Thanks for all the replies.
 
I'm so surprised many of you received the funds in such a short period of time despite the money having to go through an intermediary bank.
 
I wonder what is the hold up with my funds? I read somewhere that for some people it took 3 weeks plus...but that was a couple of years ago. Maybe Nationwide has gotten better?

I've never heard of Nationwide using an intermediary bank. Why would they. Did you see that information on the website?

[Oxx]

I doubt they use an intermediary bank because there are never any additional charges.  (Intermediary banks don't work for free.)

 

1-2 days is usual for me, provided you make the instruction early in the day.

 

Nationwide does rekey the SWIFT transfer information manually.  This can lead to errors. 

 

Another possibility is that Krung Thai has a problem with the transfer, e.g. incorrect account number, missing "purpose" field, amount of the normal limit (requiring additional paperwork from you).

 

After 5 working days I'd definitely send Nationwide a message asking what's going on to work out if the problem is at their end, or at the Krung Thai end.

[kamma]

9 hours ago, trd said:

11 hours ago, kamma said:

Thanks for all the replies.
 
I'm so surprised many of you received the funds in such a short period of time despite the money having to go through an intermediary bank.
 
I wonder what is the hold up with my funds? I read somewhere that for some people it took 3 weeks plus...but that was a couple of years ago. Maybe Nationwide has gotten better?

I've never heard of Nationwide using an intermediary bank. Why would they. Did you see that information on the website?

@trd @Oxx

 

Nationwide is not really a bank. It is a building society. Therefore it needs a proper clearing bank in order to make international transfers.

 

They don't make this very clear until you actually read the small print.

 

https://www.nationwide.co.uk/~/media/MainSite/documents/support/payments-transfers/P1078_OverseasPayments.pdf

 

In the case of Nationwide their 'agent bank' or 'intermediary bank' is HSBC.

 

https://www.theguardian.com/money/2016/mar/08/nationwide-money-transfer-russia-missing

Edited November 2, 2017 by kamma

[Dmaxdan]

I always used to send money from my Nationwide account using Swift up until (about two years ago) I was charged additional fees from a intermediary bank, which I learnt from TV to be HSBC. Nationwide charged me their normal £20 fee, but about six weeks later another two additional fees amounting to about £15 were taken from my account. Nationwide confirmed that this was related to the Swift transfer, but seemed reluctant to give me any detailed information. This happened on two consecutive transfers, so it was a case of finding an alternative.

 

I now use Transferwise.

 

As I said this was about two years ago, and at the time there were threads discussing this on TV so I wasn't alone.

 

 

[KittenKong]

15 hours ago, kamma said:

It's been 5 working days for me.

 

14 hours ago, kamma said:

I was aware of that but I'm trying to make a large payment into someone's account.

 

How have you/they been checking?

 

Are you aware that Thai banks often dont apply transfers directly to an account, particularly larger transfers: the money stops at their head office and they wait for the recipient to agree the exchange rate (which is negotiable). Maybe they haven't been able to contact the recipient for some reason?

 

If the transfer is to someone else then there may be money-laundering or fraud questions that have been raised by one of the banks concerned, though admittedly Thai banks dont seem to care very much about this possibility.

 

I must say that the idea of making any sort of large transfer to an account in Thailand that is not my own fills me with total horror. Downsides everywhere and no obvious upside. Good luck.

 

[kamma]

@KittenKong

1 hour ago, KittenKong said:

 

 

How have you/they been checking?

 

Are you aware that Thai banks often dont apply transfers directly to an account, particularly larger transfers: the money stops at their head office and they wait for the recipient to agree the exchange rate (which is negotiable). Maybe they haven't been able to contact the recipient for some reason?

 

If the transfer is to someone else then there may be money-laundering or fraud questions that have been raised by one of the banks concerned, though admittedly Thai banks dont seem to care very much about this possibility.

 

I must say that the idea of making any sort of large transfer to an account in Thailand that is not my own fills me with total horror. Downsides everywhere and no obvious upside. Good luck.

 

Well the transfer was initiated on the 25th but it didn't go out until the 26th from the UK.

 

26th was a holiday in Thailand though.

 

No worries about exchange rates because I transferred in Baht.

 

I think you maybe right about the money-laundering checks?

 

It fills me with horror too. That's why I'm on here trying to see what other's experiences with Nationwide were.

 

Fingers crossed.

[trd]

If it's more than £20,000 the bank will phone you to ask what the funds are for. Do they have a phone number they can contact you on because they won't put the funds into your account until they've spoken to you.

 

 

[The Fat Controller]

I use NW and KTB.

Used online form, sent to NW before the cut off for processing, 1pm

Funds were available at KTB the following morning at opening of business.

Never been charged anything apart from the standard SWIFT fee at NW, and the usual receiving fee at KTB.

[anon537687643]

Better to transfer to bangkok bank London branch then to Thai bank


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[kamma]

@trd

2 hours ago, trd said:

If it's more than £20,000 the bank will phone you to ask what the funds are for. Do they have a phone number they can contact you on because they won't put the funds into your account until they've spoken to you.

 

 

The amount was 12K GBP and it is a payment to someone, not a transfer to myself. But yes they do have a phone number where they can contact me.

 

@markaoffy

57 minutes ago, markaoffy said:

Better to transfer to bangkok bank London branch then to Thai bank


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Yes. But the transfer has already been initiated. But I'll consider this for next time. Thanks.

Edited November 2, 2017 by kamma

[kamma]

@The Fat Controller

 

It seems so many of you have had transfers completed so quickly.

 

As somebody else mentioned earlier maybe my funds are stuck in a money laundering check?

 

Makes me so worried wondering where my cash is?!

[scubascuba3]

[mention=3109]The Fat Controller[/mention]
 
It seems so many of you have had transfers completed so quickly.
 
As somebody else mentioned earlier maybe my funds are stuck in a money laundering check?
 
Makes me so worried wondering where my cash is?!

Ask Nationwide when it settled etc then go from there

[scubascuba3]

They give you the days going rate , I think that they charge 2 % plus a Pound foreign withdrawal charge (or something)

That sounds turd. I did an over the counter withdrawal today using my Clarity card, that rate has always been better than the TT booths often by circ 0.5% 

 

 

[sanemax]

4 minutes ago, scubascuba3 said:

That sounds turd. I did an over the counter withdrawal today using my Clarity card, that rate has always been better than the TT booths often by circ 0.5% 

 

 

Not sure what you mean by "sounds turd", an expression that I havent heard before .

Not sure what a "TT booth" is either

[scubascuba3]

Not sure what you mean by "sounds turd", an expression that I havent heard before .
Not sure what a "TT booth" is either

Paying 2% commission is usually what the really bad cards charge. The Halifax Clarity charges 0%. The TT currency booths in Pattaya usually have the best rates. You sound like a newbie

[sanemax]

12 minutes ago, scubascuba3 said:

41 minutes ago, sanemax said:

Not sure what you mean by "sounds turd", an expression that I havent heard before .
Not sure what a "TT booth" is either

Paying 2% commission is usually what the really bad cards charge. The Halifax Clarity charges 0%. The TT currency booths in Pattaya usually have the best rates. You sound like a newbie

Must be quite a new card, Halifax used to charge 3-4 % for foreign withdrawals

Halifax also close accounts down, if you are living abroad (and they find out)

[scubascuba3]

Must be quite a new card, Halifax used to charge 3-4 % for foreign withdrawals
Halifax also close accounts down, if you are living abroad (and they find out)

It's a credit card and has been out for many years, I have two. It's about the best card out there

[The Fat Controller]

If you use online banking with Nationwide, once the transfer has been actioned there will be a message in your online inbox.

[trd]

If you use online banking with Nationwide, once the transfer has been actioned there will be a message in your online inbox.

I happen to know that's not necessarily true. A few months ago I sent money from my NW account to Thailand by SWIFT transfer and I received the email that same day saying it has been actioned . A week later it still hadn't arrived. I called the Swindon head office and they admitted they had made a mistake. The transfer had never been keyed. They did it again and waived the transfer fee and it was there the next day. In all the years I've been transferring money that was the one and only time they screwed up.   

 

 

 

 

[Dah fahrang]

I now use my Nationwide ATM card to transfer £ into my THB Kasikorn Bank using Transferwise.

Extremely good exchange rate, low commission, and a turnaround of two days. 

Very happy to have read about Transferwise on this forum. 

 

[The Fat Controller]

20 hours ago, Dah fahrang said:

I now use my Nationwide ATM card to transfer £ into my THB Kasikorn Bank using Transferwise.

Extremely good exchange rate, low commission, and a turnaround of two days. 

Very happy to have read about Transferwise on this forum. 

 

Wouldn't have worked for my last 3 transfers, the limit seems to be 2 million Baht at a time !

 

Rate does look good, even with fees of £255.07 on a transfer that receives 2 million Baht.

 

Edited November 4, 2017 by The Fat Controller