Nationwide [UK] Screws its Customers Overseas Even Harder

[digger70]

17 hours ago, Samuel Smith said:

Use Transferwise...

Tried that and a few Others they Don't work for me .

Edited July 26, 2018 by digger70
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[Expatthailover]

Cant believe that a company from good old back home would rip people off. 

[cookieqw]

20 hours ago, sanemax said:

Get money over the counter at a bank, no ATM fee

Exactly and safer. I have Halifax clarity c/c 10000 baht good day £228+. Bad day £230+ that’s the last couple of months. Clear card in couple of days. 0.77p interest on 40000Bt

suits me

[steve73]

I've not found many places in Thailand that actually accept UK Credit cards (except large hotels, or restaurants, etc, that I have rarely have need or use of), and those that do accept it add a 5% "service charge".

Perhaps if you're travelling a lot to other countries it may be preferable than using cash/ATMs, but for anyone actually based here then TW and a local account is the way to go.

[mekko]

26 minutes ago, steve73 said:

I've not found many places in Thailand that actually accept UK Credit cards (except large hotels, or restaurants, etc, that I have rarely have need or use of), and those that do accept it add a 5% "service charge".

Perhaps if you're travelling a lot to other countries it may be preferable than using cash/ATMs, but for anyone actually based here then TW and a local account is the way to go.

Small retailers get absolutely raped on merchant rates here, the rates are unbelievable - sometimes as high as 5%, although closer to 4% I hear often, where as in other countries with healthy competition in banking sector would keep merchant rates within 1.25-2.25% (or lower) for the bundle 'non-domestic non-corporate visa/mc credit card' for 'customer present' transactions*,  there is simply very little competition in merchant servicing here in Thailand for the same reason you won't see a bank break from the 200-220 foreigner fee. However there's no end in sight, we're in a closed banking system, so you're not going to see companies like Ayden or Stripe or any real fintech here anytime soon here.   

 

That said you should have no problem, with a Visa/Mastercard credit card at Tops, BigC, Tesco, Powerbuy etc.. but given their size their rates will be a lot lower,  however given their bundles will likely be very fine grain  i wouldn't surprise me if they deliberately decline 'Corporate Amex' or 'Visa Signature Preferred credit' because their rates will be mucher high for these bundles. Here's a good article of breakdown https://www.cardfellow.com/blog/tiered-pricing-merchant-account-services/ note the processing markup is what the banks keep but it's also covered risk of chargeback (in many cases). 

 

In a nutshell, small merchants are passing on their ridiculously high merchant costs,  large merchants should accept it unless your card is in a bundle that is charged much higher, this is why sometimes for the falang with foreign cards the normal standard credit cards often work better rather than the flashy gold signature platinum 

Edited July 26, 2018 by mekko

[jerrybeirne]

On ‎7‎/‎25‎/‎2018 at 6:29 PM, Samuel Smith said:

Use Transferwise...

just used transferwise for the first time and will continue to.

[britishjohn]

Halifax clarity card is very good, no charges to withdraw cash from ATM, apart from interest and even that can avoided by paying the credit card bill early. Obviously still have to pay Thai bank 220 baht

 

I managed to open a Thai bank account which wasn't as easy as it should have been. Most banks refused, different reason each time. Then one day walked into Krungsri and they opened one there and then. there's no logic to it.

 

So I also use Transferwise, it's a good service and so easy. Exchange rate is virtually interbank rate. Other banks might seem cheap but check their exchange rates. Often they are nowhere near as good as TransferWise. Google is now telling me pound/Baht is 43.82, Transferwise offering 43.806. That's 12 baht difference ! on £1k. The only cost is their Transfer fee of £7 or 0.7%. Larger amounts come down to 0.5%

 

 

 

[sandyf]

On 7/26/2018 at 9:27 AM, fxe1200 said:

....the perfect solution for every farang living in Thailand.

Bit of an assuming statement,I use HSBC, transfer fee is £4 and the rate very competitive. Straight from my UK account to Thai account in less than 24 hours, works for me.

I have looked into Transferwise and nothing to be gained.

[britishjohn]

That's interesting because I have an account with First Direct which is part of HSBC and I just checked their rate online. For £1,000 it is 42.44 against 43.80 for Transferwise. A cost of 1360 baht, which equates to approx 3% 

[Jaggg88]

On ‎7‎/‎26‎/‎2018 at 8:19 AM, mekko said:

Loads of ways around this - Transferwise,  Starling, N26, Monzo, Revolut, etc.. then just link your Nationwide debit card and top-up as you go. You can't escape the insane rip off local ATM fees though charge by the Thai banks. 

I use a CaxtonFX (currency UK debit card and its free) and transfer money online from Nationwide. You get a good rate of exchange and no fees except the Thai atm charges. I use Aeon machines as they are slightly cheaper for cash withdrawals. I also bank with First Direct (part of the HSBC group) and I can now transfer money to my BKK Bank account absolutely free, although I haven't tested this service yet.

[KittenKong]

On 7/27/2018 at 10:08 PM, britishjohn said:

That's interesting because I have an account with First Direct which is part of HSBC and I just checked their rate online. For £1,000 it is 42.44 against 43.80 for Transferwise. A cost of 1360 baht, which equates to approx 3% 

Your comparison is flawed.

 

The last thing you should ever do is let an overseas bank convert your money to THB and then send it here. Why? Because the THB simply is not worth much outside of Thailand, is not widely traded and usually comes with a huge spread.

 

You will get a much better rate by sending GBP or USD and letting the Thai receiving bank do the exchange. Though even then you will probably have to pay the standard .25% incoming bank fee (normally capped at 500B).

 

Transferwise can be more competitive because they dont actually send the currency: they just match demand from buyers and sellers locally in the currencies they deal in. So to compare their prices you should check the exchange rates shown on your Thai bank's website.

[steve73]

13 hours ago, KittenKong said:

...

 

Transferwise can be more competitive because they dont actually send the currency: they just match demand from buyers and sellers locally in the currencies they deal in. So to compare their prices you should check the exchange rates shown on your Thai bank's website.

TW don't allow you to send THB to anywhere.... or at least not for regular customers.  (Perhaps they have an "arrangement" for some special customers to extract large quantities of Baht from Thailand...?)

 

...but I do agree it's about the most competitive way to convert GBP into THB (a little less so for USD/AUD, etc with slightly higher fees.)

Edited July 30, 2018 by steve73

[NanLaew]

On 7/26/2018 at 8:53 AM, Kwasaki said:

Ditched Nationwide years ago use visa card in Thailand and pay monthly with money from England bank a/c.

If I want cash I go to Thai bank counter with passport & UK debit card. 

Main pension paid direct to Thailand bank. 

What VISA card?

[Kwasaki]

2 hours ago, NanLaew said:

What VISA card?

First Direct visa.

[rickudon]

I use my fee free Clarity Mastercard. Better rates than Visa, and get about 40 satang more per pound than my Thai bank give me on a transfer - and then there is the UK transfer fee and the Thai  0.25% fee on a transfer as well. This means that even with ATM fees i will practically ALWAYS get more baht via my Mastercard than an interbank transfer. And money on demand, when i want it.

 

I did use Transferwise once but got a lower rate, and didn't get the money straight away. Also the account i used to fund Transferwise got blocked. Not something you want to sort out while in Thailand. If i take Transferwise fee into account, about the same as my credit card.