USA to Thailand Money Wires $3?

[utalkin2me]

I have a US based C Schwab account and have always transferred chucks of money over here to BKK Bank with their international wire option. This has always cost me about 30 dollars per transfer, which I was ok with. 

 

However, I just saw someone say you can instead just put the BKK New York branch routing number, and put your BKK Thailand based account as the account number, and that will make it essentially a domestic transfer and carry a fee of $3 (as opposed to the $30 or so I have historically paid). 

 

Is this true, or have I overlooked something?

 

Thanks for any info on this. Truth is I do not even wire much anymore, I just make ATM withdrawals occasionally, but I still really want to know if this is true. 

[asiaexpat]

Bangkok Bank web site has full details about transfers from USA to BBL account in Thailand. However, the cost is not $3 and depends on the amount transferred. 

[neeray]

My Royal Bank of Canada charges me $45 (service fee) whether the amount wired is $10 or $10,000. If any members know of a better alternative, I sure would appreciate knowing. Thank you.

[Pib]

Yeap, you can do ACH transfers from Schwab with no sending fee...I have a Schwab account....done it several times.

 

However, at the Bangkok Bank website you'll see effective 1 Apr 19 unless ACH transfers are received in the International ACH Tansaction (IAT) format the transfer will be rejected.  Folks with established ACH transfer links are good to go until 1 Apr 19, but if they try to setup an ibanking transfer link today (actually since around Apr 18 (eighteen) the transfer link setup "if using trial deposits to setup the link" will be rejected back to Schwab or any U.S. financial company, bank, credit union. 

 

If another method "other than trial deposits" is used the transfer link will still setup but come 1 Apr 19 transfers would be rejected by Bangkok Bank NY if the transfer is not in the International ACH Transaction (IAT) format.  Schwab does not use IAT nor does other U.S. financial companies for retail accounts.  Instead the only use Domestic ACH Transaction, Domestic Wire, and International Wire.

 

Been several recent threads on this Bangkok Bank policy change driven by U.S. Treasury rules.  The one below is probably the most active/extensive....also talks Schwab transfers within the thread.

 

Edit: to add regarding fees. As with the Bangkok Bank in-Thailand receiving fee of 0.25% (Bt200 min, Bt500 max) for an incoming international transfer (any kind of electronic arriving international transfer)....like a wire transfer from Schwab that same fee applies for an arriving ACH transfers.  Plus there is a Bangkok Bank NY branch ACH transfer flow-thru fee...see fee schedule below and webpage to read more about using the Bangkok Bank ACH routing number for transfers.

 

 

https://www.bangkokbank.com/en/Personal/Other-Services/Transfers/Transferring-Into-Thailand/Transfer-money-from-US-to-Thailand-via-Bangkok-Bank-NewYork-branch

 

[chingmai331]

Thnx for that news Pib.  The new Immig regime in CM will be causing me some headaches and necessary money movement from USA to T'land.

 

I currently use the Bangkok Bank NYC scheme to transfer funds from my USA bank to here.  Usually only 1 or 2000 US per month.  But if i need to transfer say, US 30K to my Bangkok Bank account, would i save money or avoid problems by transferring US9K three times rather than one lump sum?  And is the best, easiest cheapest way to move this sum of money?  I could also use a wire transfer from USA bank or broker to here.  

[Pib]

On 9/7/2018 at 5:35 PM, chingmai331 said:

Thnx for that news Pib.  The new Immig regime in CM will be causing me some headaches and necessary money movement from USA to T'land.

 

I currently use the Bangkok Bank NYC scheme to transfer funds from my USA bank to here.  Usually only 1 or 2000 US per month.  But if i need to transfer say, US 30K to my Bangkok Bank account, would i save money or avoid problems by transferring US9K three times rather than one lump sum?  And is the best, easiest cheapest way to move this sum of money?  I could also use a wire transfer from USA bank or broker to here.  

If your US bank does not charge an ACH sending fee and your are Bangkok Bank "ACH" transfer mentioned each $9K transfer would cost you approx $25 each per their fee schedule above which means approx $75 for three transfers.   If doing only one ACH transfer for $27K or $30K then the total fee would be approx $25K per the fee schedule above. You will notice their fee schedule is not a "linear" one for the NY branch fee (i.e., $10 fee for amounts be $2000.01 and $50K)....and their in-Thailand fee "maxes out" at Bt500 (approx $15) which you reach when sending approx $6K or more.   So, sending several smaller transfers is going to cost you more in fees.

 

And doing an ACH transfer from your US ibanking may or may not be possible as different banks allow different max amounts usually starting at $5K.   A lot of banks/credit unions use this "default" max daily amount for ACH transfer because it a recommendation of National ACH Association that set basic rules/policies for the ACH system.   However, it's only a recommendation....many banks allow a higher default amount (sometimes much, much higher) or you can request a higher amount (not to imply they will approve your request).  

 

But you can always go into a branch to send a higher amount or use an Int'l Wire (SWIFT) transfer to send a higher amount...or maybe even a Domestic Wire.  Of course wire transfers usually have higher "sending" fees in the $20 to $50 ballpark and you will still have the in-Thailand bank receiving fee of 0.25% (Bt200 min, Bt500 max) that most Thai bank use....some have a slight differently receiving fee but approx Bt500.   And you "may" also have an intermediary bank fee up $20...your sending bank might not be able to tell you if there will be such an intermediary bank fee or not.

 

Regarding the cheapest way to send money?  Or my gosh, been hundreds of threads and thousands of posts on that over the years.  Maybe use of a money transfer service like Transferwise...maybe doing a no foreign transaction fee debit card counter withdrawal....maybe doing ATM withdrawals using a no foreign transaction fee debit card that also reimburses ATM fees, maybe using the Bangkok Bank ACH transfer method, etc.   It can vary from individual to individual as to which method(s) they can use based on the banks/money transfer services/card accounts they have. Use the search function to view those many threads and posts on the subject.

 

 

[utalkin2me]

On 9/7/2018 at 5:35 PM, chingmai331 said:

Thnx for that news Pib.  The new Immig regime in CM will be causing me some headaches and necessary money movement from USA to T'land.

 

I currently use the Bangkok Bank NYC scheme to transfer funds from my USA bank to here.  Usually only 1 or 2000 US per month.  But if i need to transfer say, US 30K to my Bangkok Bank account, would i save money or avoid problems by transferring US9K three times rather than one lump sum?  And is the best, easiest cheapest way to move this sum of money?  I could also use a wire transfer from USA bank or broker to here.  

Are you talking about the irs notifications for 10k or more? I am paranoid about those too. 30k would be a stretch, but you could withdrawal 1,000 everyday at the yellow atms. That is how I get my baht. With charles schwab fees are reimbersed. 

[chingmai331]

Yeah, this 30K baht must support my retirement extension, therefore must be shown to originate overseas into the Bangkok bank.  If i get cash from my debit card and put that into my bank account here, Thai Immig may not accept it, thinking it 'laundered' cash. Actually i have no idea what Thai Immig thinks as the entire process in rather opaque and changeable day-to-day.

I could transfer the US $ 30K in one shot, but as you say, that may trigger some IRS response.  I'll need to look into that more carefully before any action.

[Pib]

Well, I can't speak for Chiang Mai Immigration as I do my annual retirement extension of stay at Chaeng Wattana (Bangkok) Immigration.    I use the Bt800K method in the bank...used it for around 8 years now.   That 800K (actually it's over a million) pretty much just sets in my bank account each year just earning interest....I rarely withdraw or add to it....the money serves as my BIG money available right now in case of emergency and for my annual extension of stay. 

 

Not one baht in the account was from an incoming foreign transfer.  When I originally opened the account years ago just transferred a chunk of money over from another Thai bank account and then slowly started building the funds up by adding money....money from ATM withdrawals using foreign debit card.  That is, withdraw Bt30K from some Thai ATM and the go deposit it in my bank account via a Cash Deposit Machine or counter.   After I got it built up over Bt800K it just sets earning interest like I mentioned earlier.

 

So far Bangkok immigration has never asked me for any addition proof of income....how I get my day-to-day living money since there are practically no withdrawals or deposits  each year to my account with the over Bt800K in it....just interest payments.    If they would ever ask where I get my day-to-day living money I would say via ATM withdrawals using my foreign debit card and I could prove that by showing bank account statements from my home country banks.  But I never take such bank statements along....that would have to be done in a follow-on visit if every asked to produce such docs.  

 

But I realize each immigration office is different in their policies....TIT.

 

 

 

 

[wgdanson]

On 9/6/2018 at 9:01 AM, neeray said:

^{My Royal Bank of Canada charges me $45 (service fee) whether the amount wired is $10 or $10,000. If any members know of a better alternative, I sure would appreciate knowing. Thank you.}

Transferwise.

[chingmai331]

I checked up on big cash movements and the infernal IRS probings.  Seems if own money, from one personal account to another, the IRS is not interested, regardless of size. I'll go with that info and move the US$30K into my Bangkok Bank account, soon.

I guess then i'll dump all into highest paying  interest account, probably some kind of CD, which might gain 1.5% interest, at same bank.  

Might be i was confused about buying a condo with overseas money only (think i read that) and Immig monies. 

Now that i consider Pib's comments, could be cheaper to go the USA Schwab bank ATM plan and carry cash to local bank, thus avoiding transfer fees of Bangkok Bank. Right now seems i can only take 10K Thai baht per ATM withdrawl, which gets the 220 baht bank fee. So to get 800,000 baht at 10,000 baht per crack i'd need 80 ATM trips or 10 per day for 8 days.

[utalkin2me]

The yellow atms, for whatever reason, allow 30k baht per transaction, but i believe you can only do that once a day. You could get 800k out in about a month. Idk if that is the best way, but definitely possible, and interestingly, would definitely avoid any irs 10k usd flags. I think it would anyway. 

[mtls2005]

There's really no reason to worry about some $10,000 cap on a bank reporting the transfer - unless you're involved in some illegal activities and/or not properly doing an annual FBAR.

 

I'm pretty sure that transfers like $9,900 get flagged as SOP. This stuff is all automated these days via the Department of the Treasury, BSA and FinCEN.

 

Just transfer $30,000 if you need to.

 

And just do a straight-up wire transfer, I mean $30 + 500 baht, on $30,000 is what? 0.1%? You may be able to set up an on-line transfer capability, for which the fee may be less than $30?

 

I don't think you can even set up that BBL/NYC ACH procedure anymore (even though it works until April 2019)? And even if you could, it'd be $3+$10+500 baht, so what, ~ $28 bucks (assumes over $2,000)

 

 

[zlodnick]

I just did a SWIFT transfer for $11,000. After reading some of the posts here, I'd like to know, what could the IRS do that could cause me problems?  

[Pib]

26 minutes ago, zlodnick said:

I just did a SWIFT transfer for $11,000. After reading some of the posts here, I'd like to know, what could the IRS do that could cause me problems?  

They don't want to cause you any problems and will not even know about the transfer unless the financial company (i.e.., bank, credit union, broker, etc) filed a Suspicious Activity Report (SAR) to the U.S. Treasury Financial Crimes Network (FinCEN) as required by the Bank Secrecy  Act (BSA) or you are already under surveillance by Uncle Sam or other law enforcement agencies.   And a SAR can be submitted on any amount.

 

For more information on SAR see below.

 

https://www.ffiec.gov/bsa_aml_infobase/pages_manual/OLM_015.htm

 

Heck, around ten years ago when moving/retiring to Thailand I transferred $215K in one SWIFT transfer...was buying a house....and a few month before that I did a $30K transfer.  Both arrived my Thai bank account a few hours later....Uncle Sam didn't care and I fully expect my credit union that did the two transfers didn't care either and didn't fill a SAR because they had no reason to suspect me of being a bad guy,  had been a customer for decades, said I was transferring the money to buy a home, etc. 

 

[utalkin2me]

2 hours ago, zlodnick said:

I just did a SWIFT transfer for $11,000. After reading some of the posts here, I'd like to know, what could the IRS do that could cause me problems?  

I just look at it like another option for something to potentially happen to you. It is like they say if a cop is driving behind you. Drive long enough and he is going to find something to stop you for. So, why not just pull over immediately and get gas or something?

 

Ironically, taking out an amount smaller than 10k on purpose can be illegal. I think they call it structuring. So you may be taking an even greater risk debiting 9k lol. The govt basically just does whatever they want, clearly. 

[mogandave]

If you earned your money legally, and are not attempting to launder it, you have nothing to worry about from the bank reporting the transaction.

[mogandave]

Transferwise.

TransferWise would cost about $270 to transfer $30,000 from US to Thailand, yes?

[wgdanson]

20 minutes ago, mogandave said:

 

TransferWise would cost about $270 to transfer $30,000 from US to Thailand, yes?

 

Actually USD 254 at this very moment, which is 0.85%.

[chingmai331]

Through the NYC Bangkok Bank i believe i can transfer the US$ 30K from US bank for total fees under 1000 baht.  It's all set up with the banks so as soon as the stock sales clear, the money will be on the way. 

[Pib]

5 hours ago, mogandave said:

 

TransferWise would cost about $270 to transfer $30,000 from US to Thailand, yes?

 

 

4 hours ago, wgdanson said:

Actually USD 254 at this very moment, which is 0.85%.

 

Around $270 would be closer as you have $254.83 TW fee plus you must then "wire" the money to TW and I expect you bank is going to charge around $20 for a domestic wire.