Transfer of Funds to Thailand

[Beechboy]

Anybody regularly, or otherwise, transferring funds to Thailand (or anywhere abroad) could do worse than Google the company TransferWise.

 

Super quick, super cheap.

 

I will add no more as it may be construed that I have connections with the company. I have, in fact, just used their system twice .... and am delighted and would like others to benefit by avoiding the usual extortion.

 

 

[ukrules]

I tend to wire cash from my bank account in the UK, it costs 10 pounds to do this from my account in the UK.

 

You must send the money as a foreign currency to be converted automatically when it arrives in Thailand or you will end up paying MUCH more for the Baht if it's purchased outside of Thailand.

 

I send it as UK Pounds and it arrives the next day, SWIFT transfers happen at market rate at the time of the transaction from memory, here's some real data from a recent transfer I did :

 

I sent 2500 Pounds a couple of weeks ago, the sending fee of 10 pounds is about 420-430 Baht and it arrives the next day.

 

The amount of money that arrived was approximately 106,500 Baht.

 

106,500 / 2500 pounds
= 42.60 Baht per pound

 

Market closing rates on xe.com were 43.2 on the day I did my transfer, what looks like ~1.4% difference but this rate would fluctuate throughout the day and you get the live rate at the time the actual transaction is done.

 

How much would this cost when using transferwise based on your experience ?

 

I guess if you're sending large amounts of money as opposed to my small amount in the above example it might be worth the effort to use something else.

[Beechboy]

I sent £6, 000 pounds yesterday evening and have just been informed that that amount has already been deposited in to the Thai bank account.

 

They sent me an email to confirm part of which is below (with costs and rate)

 

 

 

 

Transfer details Amount: 255,512.95 THB Rate: 42.83041 TransferWise fee: 34.31 GBP     The system is that you pay the money into their account in UK from your own bank. They can then inform their Thai branch to send this exact amount in baht to the intended recipient's account as they have the money in their UK account.   There is therefore no international transfer of currency as such.   Novel idea and it is getting popular.

Edited May 25, 2018 by Beechboy

[grollies]

HSBC charge £4.00 for any amount.

[Beechboy]

Perhaps you receive a poor exchange rate.

 

It's a minefield.

 

I have used PayPal in the past for smallish amounts but for my larger sum a difference of nearly 2 baht per pound would have made it a very expensive transaction. 

[jackdd]

We had many topics about this already. I once calculated the costs based on USD to THB (can be found somewhere in a topic here on Thaivisa)

1. (Best) Exchange cash at Superrich

2. Visa / Mastercard (if the bank refunds ATM surcharge and doesn't charge any extra fees)

3. (worst) Transferwise.

But the difference between Superrich and Transferwise was just something like 1.5%

Edited May 25, 2018 by jackdd

[ukrules]

If you wire the money in pounds you will get the real current market rate at the very second the transfer is made - plus charges which vary by bank.

 

US banks love to charge much more than European banks, especially if they don't do the transfer directly, this is just a fact of life....for the moment.

 

Whatever you do, don't do the transfer in Thai Baht - do it in the currency your bank uses - this is the important fact.

Edited May 25, 2018 by ukrules

[Henryford]

I started using Transferwise a few months ago and it's FAR better than my previous method of bank transfers. TW give you accurate quotes on any potential transfer on line using rates very close to prevailing market rates. They charges are clear and fixed 0.05%. The money is in my bank the next day, sometimes even the same day with NO receiving bank fees, and exactly what was indicated on the original quote. When i transferred by bank i never knew when the money would arrive, what rate would be charged or what the receiving bank would charge.  Savings are significant on large amounts.

[wwest5829]

4 hours ago, Henryford said:

I started using Transferwise a few months ago and it's FAR better than my previous method of bank transfers. TW give you accurate quotes on any potential transfer on line using rates very close to prevailing market rates. They charges are clear and fixed 0.05%. The money is in my bank the next day, sometimes even the same day with NO receiving bank fees, and exactly what was indicated on the original quote. When i transferred by bank i never knew when the money would arrive, what rate would be charged or what the receiving bank would charge.  Savings are significant on large amounts.

US and Brit citizens can transfer to a Bangkok Bank account directly (NYC or London branch respectively). Are these other transfers as cost effective? I found any wire transfer from US was more expensive.

[8OA8]

20 hours ago, Beechboy said:

I sent £6, 000 pounds yesterday evening and have just been informed that that amount has already been deposited in to the Thai bank account.

 

They sent me an email to confirm part of which is below (with costs and rate)

 

 

 

 

Transfer details Amount: 255,512.95 THB Rate: 42.83041 TransferWise fee: 34.31 GBP     The system is that you pay the money into their account in UK from your own bank. They can then inform their Thai branch to send this exact amount in baht to the intended recipient's account as they have the money in their UK account.   There is therefore no international transfer of currency as such.   Novel idea and it is getting popular.

I've been using Transferwise for over a year and am very happy with the service provided. 

[ByblosYuNaiSoi]

YES to Bangkok Bank free-of-charge ACH transfers to Thailand - but only TO Thailand, and not the other way. I had a rude awakening when I tried to get my money out of Bangkok Bank stateside. Their rule/the law will not allow it. I had to use ATM withdrawals bit by bit, and with attendant fees. 

 

(I had had a good experience with an international bank in another country and USA, where ACH transfers went both directions....)

 

 

[MyFriend You]

On 5/25/2018 at 2:57 PM, Beechboy said:

I sent £6, 000 pounds yesterday evening and have just been informed that that amount has already been deposited in to the Thai bank account.

 

They sent me an email to confirm part of which is below (with costs and rate)

 

 

 

 

Transfer details Amount: 255,512.95 THB Rate: 42.83041 TransferWise fee: 34.31 GBP     The system is that you pay the money into their account in UK from your own bank. They can then inform their Thai branch to send this exact amount in baht to the intended recipient's account as they have the money in their UK account.   There is therefore no international transfer of currency as such.   Novel idea and it is getting popular.

Why does the term 'Money Laundering' come to mind  -  because this is exactly how it is done.  Deposit money into someone elses account and for a fee its transferd into another account in a foreign bank. Sorry appears dodgy to me, I trust my home bank, have moved over $250,000 in past 10 years and never a problem.

[Jip99]

3 minutes ago, TunnelRat69 said:

Why does the term 'Money Laundering' come to mind  -  because this is exactly how it is done.  Deposit money into someone elses account and for a fee its transferd into another account in a foreign bank. Sorry appears dodgy to me, I trust my home bank, have moved over $250,000 in past 10 years and never a problem.

 

 

Luddite... nothing dodgy at all but please feel free to continue to pay too much for your transfers.

 

I spent 30+ years in banking and as a result of that my international transfers are free. I have used Transferwise for the last year and I am Quids in.....I wish TW had been around 10 years ago because I have transferred a lot more than $250,000 in that time.

[croftrobin]

I have been using them since they first offered the service to Thailand in January 2015.

 

Sent thousands with them with no problems. One transfer was delayed a day (it was a Thai Bank Holiday)  and they gave me a fee free transaction.

 

Use them monthly

 

If you use this link you will get a free transfer up to 500 pounds:

 

https://transferwise.com/u/juliani

 

 

 

[croftrobin]

I have been using them since they first offered the service to Thailand in January 2015.

 

Sent thousands with them with no problems. One transfer was delayed a day (it was a Thai Bank Holiday)  and they gave me a fee free transaction.

 

Use them monthly

 

If you use this link you will get a free transfer up to 500 pounds:

 

https://transferwise.com/u/juliani

 

 

 

[MyFriend You]

2 minutes ago, Jip99 said:

 

 

Luddite... nothing dodgy at all but please feel free to continue to pay too much for your transfers.

 

I spent 30+ years in banking and as a result of that my international transfers are free. I have used Transferwise for the last year and I am Quids in.....I wish TW had been around 10 years ago because I have transferred a lot more than $250,000 in that time.

Is $30 for transfers over $1000 too much, maybe TW  gets a better exchange rate than SCB gives me.......I cede to your experience.

[Jip99]

17 minutes ago, TunnelRat69 said:

Is $30 for transfers over $1000 too much, maybe TW  gets a better exchange rate than SCB gives me.......I cede to your experience.

 

 

Thanks?

 

Not trying to be smart but TW is genuinely better...and cheaper.

 

TW would charge $7.50 on $1,000, the rate is better at 42.47 versus Thai banks 42.10 (for Sterling).....plus you don’t get the SCB handling charge.

 

Seriously, take a look - TW is covered by normal financial regulations.

[Beechboy]

"TW is covered by normal financial regulations."

 

You also have to send them, via the internet, proof of identity and current address. I had to send them a selfie with me holding the photo page of my passport up as well. Once that's done it's easy peasy, even as easy as PayPal but quicker and cheaper.

 

They also require the recipients address.

Edited May 26, 2018 by Beechboy
add

[Bang Bang]

What about the following situation? I have a bank ac. in the US from which I want to transfer to my bank here in Thailand, but I don't have a US address anymore, having sold when moving here. Will Transferwise be willing to do the transfer?

 

Reason I ask is that I had a lousy experience a few years ago trying to set up an investment ac. with Vanguard. They refused to do business with me because of some arcane post-9/11 financial laws - no US address, no deal.

[superal]

500 pounds sent  and received the same day from UK and the charge was 5 pounds total and a better than Bangkok Bank exchange rate . Once your account is set up it takes a couple of minutes to complete a transfer of funds . 

[theoldgit]

On 5/25/2018 at 5:21 PM, ukrules said:

I send it as UK Pounds and it arrives the next day, SWIFT transfers happen at market rate at the time of the transaction from memory, here's some real data from a recent transfer I did :

 

I sent 2500 Pounds a couple of weeks ago, the sending fee of 10 pounds is about 420-430 Baht and it arrives the next day.

 

The amount of money that arrived was approximately 106,500 Baht.

 

106,500 / 2500 pounds
= 42.60 Baht per pound

 

Market closing rates on xe.com were 43.2 on the day I did my transfer, what looks like ~1.4% difference but this rate would fluctuate throughout the day and you get the live rate at the time the actual transaction is done.

I did a similar transaction using Transfer Wise on the 18 May, what I like about TW is that if you enter the amount in THB that you need in the second box, the first box will then show you how much you need to deposit.

 

In my case I needed to receive 117,000 Baht, I needed to deposit £2,713.25, including their fee of £16.33, to receive that amount, the rate was 43.3828 as against my receiving bank, Kasikorn, which was on the day of receipt 42.95625.

 

I bank with Santander in Jersey and to sent Sterling to Thailand entails a call to their call centre, for some reason you can't send Sterling if you carry out the transaction online.

 

Another thing to bear in mind that Kasikorn, and I assume other banks, charge .25% to receive and convert foreign currency, up to a maximum of 500 Baht, as TW transfers the funds in country this fee isn't applied.

 

So in my case, not taking into account a phone call to Jersey, it would have cost me £2,750 to receive 117,000 Baht into my Kasikorn account, taking into account the Santander fee, the lower exchange rate and the fee to receive and convert the funds, that's also assuming there's no intermediary bank enroute who would take their cut.

 

In my case TW was £37 cheaper than using my bank, but as TW works on a strict percentage rate, there will be a figure where the bank, with their flat rate, would work out cheaper.

 

On the same day I sent some cash to a bank in Singapore via TW, those funds were received with the hour.  

[Baerboxer]

On 5/25/2018 at 5:21 PM, ukrules said:

I tend to wire cash from my bank account in the UK, it costs 10 pounds to do this from my account in the UK.

 

You must send the money as a foreign currency to be converted automatically when it arrives in Thailand or you will end up paying MUCH more for the Baht if it's purchased outside of Thailand.

 

I send it as UK Pounds and it arrives the next day, SWIFT transfers happen at market rate at the time of the transaction from memory, here's some real data from a recent transfer I did :

 

I sent 2500 Pounds a couple of weeks ago, the sending fee of 10 pounds is about 420-430 Baht and it arrives the next day.

 

The amount of money that arrived was approximately 106,500 Baht.

 

106,500 / 2500 pounds
= 42.60 Baht per pound

 

Market closing rates on xe.com were 43.2 on the day I did my transfer, what looks like ~1.4% difference but this rate would fluctuate throughout the day and you get the live rate at the time the actual transaction is done.

 

How much would this cost when using transferwise based on your experience ?

 

I guess if you're sending large amounts of money as opposed to my small amount in the above example it might be worth the effort to use something else.

 

I send money from the UK to my Thai GBP account. It arrives the next day and is credited to the GBP account. I can then control when / how much to change when the rates are favorable.

 

You might want to do that rather than accepting the automatic transfer rate.

[Jip99]

1 hour ago, Baerboxer said:

 

I send money from the UK to my Thai GBP account. It arrives the next day and is credited to the GBP account. I can then control when / how much to change when the rates are favorable.

 

You might want to do that rather than accepting the automatic transfer rate.

 

Transferwise has largely negated the need for my Sterling Foreign Currency account.

 

The exchange rate is always better with TW and the only benefit of the FCD is if I want to store Sterling over here.

[davidst01]

if you use a retail bank in a western country make sure you put in the narrative 'do not convert'

 

you must tell them to convert the funds to thb in thailand

[AjarnMartin]

I agree, Beachboy! Certainly saves the hassle of Thai ATMs at 220 ThB a time for 25000 ThB withdrawal AND the £13 per month my bank charges for the NO FEE ATM usage which I will be cancelling very soon. TransferWise is a brilliant service! ?

[Mattijok]

I have just signed in to Transferwise after many friends recommending in from EU to Thailand.

 

However I have some cash, in USD, parked in Singapore. Anyone figure out how to get USD in to Transferwise account outside USA?

 

Once the funds are in the Transferwise system it's very cost effective to move it around but I find it difficult to get the money in from places like Singapore without sending it via Swift transfer to Europe first...

[madisongy]

If you have accesss to a US address, cannot beat the checking account/ATM card with Schwab.   Zero fees....and generally pulling a better exchange rate than Siam Currency Exchange.....which I find is always best in Bkk for USD.  I've looked at about every way to acquire cash from the US, including TW, and this is the best for my situation.

 

https://www.schwab.com/public/schwab/banking_lending/checking_account

 

[croftrobin]

23 hours ago, madisongy said:

If you have accesss to a US address, cannot beat the checking account/ATM card with Schwab.   Zero fees....and generally pulling a better exchange rate than Siam Currency Exchange.....which I find is always best in Bkk for USD.  I've looked at about every way to acquire cash from the US, including TW, and this is the best for my situation.

 

https://www.schwab.com/public/schwab/banking_lending/checking_account

 

The topic was about transferring money. So using an ATM card may not be an option if OP is out the country. Read the topic...

 

 

By far the best option is Transferwise.

 

If you use this link you will get a free transfer up to 500 pounds or about $650 :

 

https://transferwise.com/u/juliani

 

 

[CARLO BALDASSARRE]

On 5/27/2018 at 5:52 AM, TunnelRat69 said:

Why does the term 'Money Laundering' come to mind  -  because this is exactly how it is done.  Deposit money into someone elses account and for a fee its transferd into another account in a foreign bank. Sorry appears dodgy to me, I trust my home bank, have moved over $250,000 in past 10 years and never a problem.

Hi,

       Torfx ..no fees /no charges the best i've seen .....give it a go ................?... i havn't lived here that long 15 years or so .......

 

[55Jay]

On 5/26/2018 at 2:12 PM, wwest5829 said:

US and Brit citizens can transfer to a Bangkok Bank account directly (NYC or London branch respectively). Are these other transfers as cost effective? I found any wire transfer from US was more expensive.

I think Pib or one of the other guys who post in the banking thread worked out a $2,000 threshold.  Over that, a bank ACH transfer, depending on your bank of course, would be more advantageous.  Lower, Transferwise may be more attractive.

 

Just did a transfer Monday night.  Charles Schwab Bank to Bangkok Bank, via NYC, $2,000 even.  It processed out on Tuesday, reflected in my BB account this morning.   After fees and the TT exchange rate, I received 63,380.65 Baht.  

 

I put 2,000 into Transferwise's website today, I would receive 63,311.97 after fees and FOREX.  There may be some exchange rate variation if Bangkok Bank NYC processed the transfer yesterday.