Are you paying a "Foreign Exchange Rate" from your bank from overseas?.

[doggie1955]

Is your bank in your home country charging you a Foreign Exchange Rate Adjustment Fee?

If so, then there may be a way to go around all that...If I go to any ATM here in Thailand, the ATM here will charge me 200 baht and my bank with also charge me a fee and a Foreign Exchange Rate Adjustment Fee. So if I take out $500.00 USD, the bank will charge me $14.56 Foreign Exchange Rate Adjustment Fee, so in one month's time, you are looking at just over

$40.00 for the month.

 

So this is what I did...Before I came to Thailand I had a Paypal account with a debit card, and your account must be opened from your home country. (do not open Paypal in Thailand, they will not give you a card)

Now I just move money from my bank to Paypal with no fee from my bank, and I just use my Paypal card at the ATM with only a $1.25 charge from Paypal. With no Foreign Exchange Rate Adjustment Fee from Paypal, and now saving more than $40.00 + a month.

 

I know someone will say why don't you just open a Thai bank account...Well, I need my bank to be in the USA for other reasons.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited March 9, 2018 by doggie1955
spelling

[lopburi3]

And what is the exchange rate you received when converting your USD to Baht?  If not know the amount in USD and amount in Baht and the date would help people determine how good this is.

[trd]

PayPal FX exchange rates are extremely poor.

[KhunBENQ]

Mine reimburses foreign CC exchange fees on a monthly basis.

Otherwise it would be 1.75%.

That's a German bank.

Most banks won't reimburse.

[metisdead]

Moving to the banking forum. 

[Langsuan Man]

2 hours ago, doggie1955 said:

I know someone will say why don't you just open a Thai bank account...Well, I need my bank to be in the USA for other reasons.

No, I will say why don't you change to a US bank that does not charge any Foreign Exchange Rate Adjustment Fee ?

I have four US bank or brokerage accounts that don't charge a fee.....you need to investigate a new bank if you are going to make a habit of transferring money to Thailand.  And,  as others have stated,  PayPal is probably the worst for exchange rates 

[jackdd]

Are you talking about this?

https://www.paypal.com/us/webapps/mpp/cash-card

$2.50
ATM Domestic & International Withdrawal Fee
$3.00
Over the Counter Withdrawal Fee
2.5%
Foreign Transaction Fee
$1 monthly
Acorns Fee
Up to $3.95
PayPal Cash Load Service Fee4

 

Looks like what i would expect from Paypal, ripping people off with fees, and in germany not available, probably only in US.

[Pib]

Looks like the OP is being hit with a 2.5% foreign transaction fee that probably just appears as the lower PayPal exchange rate "plus" a $2.50 withdrawal fee.   And then the Thai ATM user fee of Bt220 for a foreign card (i.e., the PayPal card) is also applied.  Doesn't sound like a great deal to me.

Edited March 9, 2018 by Pib

[hansnl]

Face the music, bad as it may be.

Banks are in the business to get as much profit from you as they can.

In general, one might even get the idea banks are legalised criminal organisations.

Moneygrabbing is a high art in banks

 

[Pib]

54 minutes ago, hansnl said:

Face the music, bad as it may be.

Banks are in the business to get as much profit from you as they can.

In general, one might even get the idea banks are legalised criminal organisations.

Moneygrabbing is a high art in banks

 

Banksters they are.

[4MyEgo]

I use BahtSmart

 

I transfer funds from my Aussie account to their Aussie account and then they transfer it to my Thai account, no fees in Aussie land and no fees in Thailand.

 

The rate is the same as the rate you are quoted when doing the transaction, which is good IMO and its in the account within 24-48 hours.

 

Would recommend although not sure if they do USA, although worth investigating.

[johnny49r]

6 minutes ago, 4MyEgo said:

I use BahtSmart

 

I transfer funds from my Aussie account to their Aussie account and then they transfer it to my Thai account, no fees in Aussie land and no fees in Thailand.

 

The rate is the same as the rate you are quoted when doing the transaction, which is good IMO and its in the account within 24-48 hours.

 

Would recommend although not sure if they do USA, although worth investigating.

It appears bahtsmart is only available down under. Too bad - might be a good way to go for those up above!

[lopburi3]

6 minutes ago, 4MyEgo said:

I use BahtSmart

 

I transfer funds from my Aussie account to their Aussie account and then they transfer it to my Thai account, no fees in Aussie land and no fees in Thailand.

 

The rate is the same as the rate you are quoted when doing the transaction, which is good IMO and its in the account within 24-48 hours.

 

Would recommend although not sure if they do USA, although worth investigating.

They appear to only serve AUS and not be a very good deal from current web check.

Transferwise 1,000 Aus $ would equal 24,331.84 in baht account

BahtSmart would only be 23,950.75 baht

[jackdd]

3 minutes ago, 4MyEgo said:

I use BahtSmart

 

I transfer funds from my Aussie account to their Aussie account and then they transfer it to my Thai account, no fees in Aussie land and no fees in Thailand.

 

The rate is the same as the rate you are quoted when doing the transaction, which is good IMO and its in the account within 24-48 hours.

 

Would recommend although not sure if they do USA, although worth investigating.

Bahtsmart looks like Transferwise

But Bahtsmart seems to be exclusively AUD to THB

That it's only one way makes it look very strange and i wonder if the purpose behind this service is just money laundering or tax evasion

[4MyEgo]

6 minutes ago, lopburi3 said:

They appear to only serve AUS and not be a very good deal from current web check.

Transferwise 1,000 Aus $ would equal 24,331.84 in baht account

BahtSmart would only be 23,950.75 baht

Thx for that, will have to have a look into Transferwise to see if they have any fees, or if fees are charged when the money lands here.

 

[lopburi3]

2 minutes ago, jackdd said:

Bahtsmart looks like Transferwise

But Bahtsmart seems to be exclusively AUD to THB

That it's only one way makes it look very strange and i wonder if the purpose behind this service is just money laundering or tax evasion

It has nothing to do with money laundering - all money is directly exchanged into bank account and subject to overview AFAIK.  What is avoids is international banking - by using credit in one country to pay with money in other without money actually travelling.  

[4MyEgo]

3 minutes ago, jackdd said:

Bahtsmart looks like Transferwise

But Bahtsmart seems to be exclusively AUD to THB

That it's only one way makes it look very strange and i wonder if the purpose behind this service is just money laundering or tax evasion

I am pretty sure they comply with AUS regulations

[lopburi3]

1 minute ago, 4MyEgo said:

Thx for that, will have to have a look into Transferwise to see if they have any fees, or if fees are charged when the money lands here.

 

All transfer fees are upfront and included in their quote - it is removed from transfer amount before the transferred amount is calculated.  Fees vary by country but it is all stated and easy to check.  

[lincolnshire poacher]

If you have a Thai bank account you should use Transferwise. The baht rate is the same as you see in the newspaper if not slighly better. It costs me 6.95 quid to transfer1000GBP to my Thai bank in total

[accord25]

If you are from the US, just open a Charles Schwab checking account. They refund all atm fee's regardless of the country. They do not charge for using an atm. And they give you market rate when with drawing money. Last month they paid me back over $50 in atm fee's. Best way to get cash out of the US

[Surasak]

23 minutes ago, lincolnshire poacher said:

If you have a Thai bank account you should use Transferwise. The baht rate is the same as you see in the newspaper if not slighly better. It costs me 6.95 quid to transfer1000GBP to my Thai bank in total

£6.95 to transfer £1000 via Trasferwise?    I transfer the same amount and sometime more for £2.95 per transfer, using my Debit Card with Western Union, to my Thai bank.

[Suradit69]

21 hours ago, doggie1955 said:

I know someone will say why don't you just open a Thai bank account...Well, I need my bank to be in the USA for other reasons.

Not sure why you can't have both a bank account in the US and in Thailand. I have both as well as a US based brokerage account and transfer money to my Bangkok Bank account in Thailand via their New York branch. My US bank and broker charge nothing since the transfers are domestic dollar transfers.  

[Seeall]

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•  #14

Posted 49 minutes ago

  1 hour ago, 4MyEgo said:

I use BahtSmart

 

I transfer funds from my Aussie account to their Aussie account and then they transfer it to my Thai account, no fees in Aussie land and no fees in Thailand.

 

The rate is the same as the rate you are quoted when doing the transaction, which is good IMO and its in the account within 24-48 hours.

 

Would recommend although not sure if they do USA, although worth investigating.

Bahtsmart looks like Transferwise

But Bahtsmart seems to be exclusively AUD to THB

That it's only one way makes it look very strange and i wonder if the purpose behind this service is just money laundering or tax evasion

 

Probably because as we all know, taking money out from TH is a pain

•  

[jackdd]

1 hour ago, lopburi3 said:

It has nothing to do with money laundering - all money is directly exchanged into bank account and subject to overview AFAIK.  What is avoids is international banking - by using credit in one country to pay with money in other without money actually travelling.  

Yes, i understood this.

But where are all the THB coming from? And what are they doing with all the AUD? Why not make it both ways, which would double your income?

 

This here is completely fictional, i have no idea what they do, might as well be something legal behind this, but that it's one way looks strange:

Let's say i have a big drug business running in Thailand, making millions a day. I have this money in cash, and because it are such large sums i can't just stuff it in my bag. How do you wash this money? There are obviously many ways to do it, but one way do to it would be to use fake bank accounts to deposit the cash, and then sell this money to people in another country. The money that you now have in another country is now totally clean, just income of a company there, received by citizens of this country.

Edited March 10, 2018 by jackdd

[lopburi3]

6 minutes ago, Surasak said:

£6.95 to transfer £1000 via Trasferwise?    I transfer the same amount and sometime more for £2.95 per transfer, using my Debit Card with Western Union, to my Thai bank.

Have you checked the exchange rate used for conversion to Baht?  Have you accounted for the .25% fee at the Thai end?  You might want to take a closer look.  Do you get the same amount into your Thai account that you would with transferwise?

[lopburi3]

1 minute ago, jackdd said:

Yes, i understood this.

But where are all the THB coming from? And what are they doing with all the AUD? Why not make it both ways, which would double your income?

 

This here is completely fictional, i have no idea what they do, might as well be something legal behind this, but that it's one way looks strange:

Let's say i have a big drug business running in Thailand, making millions a day. I have this money in cash, and because it are such large sums i can't just stuff it in my bag. How do you wash this money? There are obviously many ways to do it, but one way do to it would be to use fake bank accounts to deposit the cash, and then sell this cash to people in another country. The money that you now have in another country is now totally clean, just income of a company there, received by citizens of this country.

They are not selling or trading cash - it is from established bank accounts that are subject to normal regulatory oversight in both countries.

[Roelf]

2 hours ago, johnny49r said:

It appears bahtsmart is only available down under. Too bad - might be a good way to go for those up above!

From the US the easy, fast and cheap way involves an account in Thailand with Bank of Bangkok. You than connect your US account with  the NewYork branch of BoBabgkok. (swift code is on the web). Now you transfer from your US bank, via ACH,  to bangkok Bank, New York Branch, indicating your Thai account number as destination. The deposit will be made in THB in your Thai account. It takes about three days. The exchange rate is the official bank rate.

my bank, Bank of Boston charges $3.-  for an ACH transfer under $2000.- Above that it is $10.-

i don!t remember if there is a fee ar Bangkok Bank..... it has never bothered me.  And you can make the transfer on your computer in a matter of seconds.  I do it all the time. 

Good luck!

 

 

 

[lopburi3]

1 minute ago, Roelf said:

From the US the easy, fast and cheap way involves an account in Thailand with Bank of Bangkok. You than connect your US account with  the NewYork branch of BoBabgkok. (swift code is on the web). Now you transfer from your US bank, via ACH,  to bangkok Bank, New York Branch, indicating your Thai account number as destination. The deposit will be made in THB in your Thai account. It takes about three days. The exchange rate is the official bank rate.

my bank, Bank of Boston charges $3.-  for an ACH transfer under $2000.- Above that it is $10.-

i don!t remember if there is a fee ar Bangkok Bank..... it has never bothered me.  And you can make the transfer on your computer in a matter of seconds.  I do it all the time. 

Good luck!

 

 

 

There is always a fee in Thailand of 1/4% in the range 200-500 baht.  There is also a fee from Bangkok Bank New York (over 2k would be $10) taken from the amount transferred to Thailand.

[sledpull]

American Express charges foreign exchange fees so card sits dormant! Visa waived fees about 18 months ago!

[jimn]

I cant speak for other countries, but the UK has a few credit cards that have zero transaction fees to withdraw cash. You always get the current FX rate as well as long as you opt for the exchange rate to be completed in the foreign currency not £££. All you have to do is immediatly go into online banking and pay off the amount in ££ in your own currency. The card I use is the Halifax Clarity card. The Thai bank change for withdrawals of 220 baht is unavoidable but other than that zero fees and perfect exchange rste