cheapest way to send money to thailand

[pumpjack]

is paypal good and cheap to send money from uk to thailand.....western union charge too much 

 

what is the best way to send say 200 gbp  at a time,  not such big amounts. 

cheers  jack 

[Phuket Man]

Transferwise is quick and cheap.

Get a good rate as well.

https://transferwise.com

 

 

Edited November 26, 2017 by Phuket Man

[maximillian]

Same bet. TransferWise

[KittenKong]

20 hours ago, pumpjack said:

is paypal good and cheap to send money from uk to thailand

 

As far as I know PayPal is the most expensive way of sending money across borders.

[steve73]

Xendpay..  no fees upto 2000GBP per year (then just 1%) & usually good rates.

[SunsetT]

21 hours ago, Phuket Man said:

Transferwise is quick and cheap.

Get a good rate as well.

https://transferwise.com

 

 

Yes, they are the cheapest I have found and recently they reduced their charge even more if u pay them by Faster Payment direct from your UK bank account. Paying them by debit card or credit card costs slightly more. Another advantage they have over other companies/banks transfering money to Thailand is that there is no charge made by the receiving Thai bank, at least not by Kasikorn bank which I use, and there are no rip-off charges made by any intermediary bank. All u pay is the Transferwise fee which they clearly declare upfront.

 

Use this link and you will get a free transfer up to £500:  https://transferwise.com/u/terencep15

 

PM me if they require any further info. to get the free transfer.

 

https://transferwise.com/u/terencep15

........"Get £50 for every 3 friends who sign up and transfer at least £200.

Your friend will receive a £500 transfer, completely free of charge!"

Edited November 27, 2017 by SunsetT

[superal]

1 hour ago, maximillian said:

Same bet. TransferWise

Do they have a limit on the amount to be transferred ?  I had an issue one time with W.U. concerning money laundering when trying to do an online transfer . 

 If the recipient does not have a bank account is W.U. the only option ?

[Surasak]

How can you say Western Union are expensive. I send £4000 three time per year at a cost of £2.90 per transfer, TO A BANK. If you send to be collected over the counter, yes, I agree, it is expansive.

[Pib]

4 minutes ago, Surasak said:

How can you say Western Union are expensive. I send £4000 three time per year at a cost of £2.90 per transfer, TO A BANK. If you send to be collected over the counter, yes, I agree, it is expansive.

To a "foreign bank such as in Thailand I assume?"  If so, what was the Western Union exchange rate given on that day in comparison to the FX market rate or Thai bank TT Buying Rate on that day? 

 

Western Union and PayPal "direct/upfront fees" for sending money to another country is cheap but it's their low exchange rate (an indirect fee) where they make their killing/rob you.

[Shiver]

I'm going to sound like a troll saying "Bitcoin" twice in the same day, but a friend wanted me to handle a transfer for him as he has UK banking and I'm Thai only banking.  He sent £4000 which arrived on Wednesday, and today (the following Monday) it's the pound equivalent is £4700 if he converts to baht now.  Fees? lol, wasn't a consideration.  It could have worked against him also of course.

If you want to stay strictly banking where margins matter more (assuming stable exchange rate), then my leaning would be to move as much as you can as soon as you can, and distribute the £200 from bank to bank within Thailand, as the rates of other currencies don't seem to be doing well against the THB.  Maybe they'll re-peg it periodically I don't know.  That part is not my forte, and others will have better input than I.

Edited November 27, 2017 by Shiver
Typo

[maximillian]

4 hours ago, superal said:

Do they have a limit on the amount to be transferred ?  I had an issue one time with W.U. concerning money laundering when trying to do an online transfer . 

 If the recipient does not have a bank account is W.U. the only option ?

The receipient should open a bank account to save a lot of money. Or use a bank account of  somebody else he can trust. W.U. is very expensive.

[maximillian]

4 hours ago, superal said:

Do they have a limit on the amount to be transferred ?  I had an issue one time with W.U. concerning money laundering when trying to do an online transfer . 

 If the recipient does not have a bank account is W.U. the only option ?

There is no limit as far as I know. Just try to send a million...

[dabhand]

4 hours ago, superal said:

Do they have a limit on the amount to be transferred ?  I had an issue one time with W.U. concerning money laundering when trying to do an online transfer . 

 If the recipient does not have a bank account is W.U. the only option ?

I believe the transaction limit is Bt2million. Don't know if there is a daily/periodic limit per customer or if unlimited number of transactions are allowed.

[VBF]

I normally pay my UK bank £25 to transfer a lump sum to my SCB account in Pattaya.

 

Just took a look at the Transfer Wise website, in particular the review section https://www.trustpilot.com/review/transferwise.com 

 

I was / am thinking of using TW for a trip in January but there do seem to be some dissatisfied people, on there so i'd be a little cautious. Other than @Phuket Man and @maximillian

has anyone else any recent personal experience of them?

 

[JohnC]

I use Transferwise regularly and never had a problem in two years, their charges as stated are quoted upfront, currently .55% plus £1.50 handling charge, my Thai bank (BBK) do not charge any fees plus Transferwise show the exchange rate before you transfer with the option to cancel the transaction. Given the time difference (7 hours for UK) if sent early morning here I usually receive the funds sometime after 2.30 pm the same day . Occasionally it will arrive the following day. 

[Surasak]

6 hours ago, Pib said:

To a "foreign bank such as in Thailand I assume?"  If so, what was the Western Union exchange rate given on that day in comparison to the FX market rate or Thai bank TT Buying Rate on that day? 

 

Western Union and PayPal "direct/upfront fees" for sending money to another country is cheap but it's their low exchange rate (an indirect fee) where they make their killing/rob you.

Sorry for the late reply. The exchange rate was the same as the Thai KTB bank were offering on the day the request for transfer was made. Cant remember the rate at the time now, but the amount stated was in my bank two days later.

[Pib]

10 minutes ago, Surasak said:

Sorry for the late reply. The exchange rate was the same as the Thai KTB bank were offering on the day the request for transfer was made. Cant remember the rate at the time now, but the amount stated was in my bank two days later.

Don't sound right.  Western Union exchange rates are approx 4% lower than the FX rate which would put them around 3% lower than Thai bank TT Buying Rate using for incoming international transfers. 

 

Hope you were not looking at the Western Union exchange rate on their main public webpage because that displays a FX rate, interbank rate.  The customer's rate can apparently only be seen within their online account.

 

http://onlinefx.westernunion.com/FAQ

 

 

 

[sandyf]

I have today transferred from my HSBC account to my TMB account in Thailand, the transfer Fee was £4 and the rate into my account after charges was 42.82, about 1.3% below the FX.

[Anon999]

The cost of transfer is only half the story. What you need to find out is the exchange rate. Try XE, Transferwise, they are both around 43.45 at this time.

Edited November 28, 2017 by Anon999
Missing info

[steve73]

I've been using Xendpay for the past 18 months, but I've noticed their Fx rate has been dropping a little short of the mid-price recently (sometimes as much as 0.3bt).. and it often took about 4-5 days to get to my Kasikorn account.

 

So, based on some of the earlier posts here, I looked at TransferWise, and agree it does look to be a little cheaper.  Fixed cost of 1.50 + 0.55% make it a cheaper fee than XP for transfers of over 330GBP. Account set-up & ID verification quick and easy (for upto about 12,000GBP without address verification as well).. 

I sent some yesterday,  with the Fx about 0.1bt less than the mid quote at the time.  ... let's see how long it takes..  not showing as yet.  

 

So big thanks to those recommending it.. 

[bouph12]

I made my first transfer with Transferwise yesterday. They charged £12.43 to transfer £2,000. The rate after deductions was 43.277 baht.

 

There were no charges made at this end when the money arrived today (Bangkok Bank).

 

I will use them again.Thanks from me also. 

[steve73]

4 hours ago, steve73 said:

I've been using Xendpay for the past 18 months, but I've noticed their Fx rate has been dropping a little short of the mid-price recently (sometimes as much as 0.3bt).. and it often took about 4-5 days to get to my Kasikorn account.

 

So, based on some of the earlier posts here, I looked at TransferWise, and agree it does look to be a little cheaper.  Fixed cost of 1.50 + 0.55% make it a cheaper fee than XP for transfers of over 330GBP. Account set-up & ID verification quick and easy (for upto about 12,000GBP without address verification as well).. 

I sent some yesterday,  with the Fx about 0.1bt less than the mid quote at the time.  ... let's see how long it takes..  not showing as yet.  

 

So big thanks to those recommending it.. 

Just arrived.... about 24 hours total ... excellent system.

[JAS21]

I bought thb via TransferWise yesterday afternoon ... SMS at 13:17Hrs today from my bank (CIMB) to say that it has been deposited. A little less than 24 Hours.

 

I have now exhausted my free credit with TW and need one more referral to get some back...SO if anyone wants £4:50 off their first transfer please PM me and I'll give you a link to register and then you will save £4:50 on your first transfer ...