Cheapest Thai bank to receive US dollar transfers.

[stubuzz]

It looks like nobody could answer my Saudi Arabia based question so i will ask a broader question. My employer will transfer my salary in US Dollars out of Saudi and into one of my Thai bank accounts. I would like to know which bank will give the best deal? ie: the lowest fees and best TT rates

 

[ExpatOilWorker]

Why not open an US-$ account in Thailand, then you can convert as needed?

 

No fees, but relative low interest rate.

[stubuzz]

4 minutes ago, ExpatOilWorker said:

Why not open an US-$ account in Thailand, then you can convert as needed?

 

No fees, but relative low interest rate. 

Can the accounts be accessed online and which bank would you recommend?

[Pib]

All Thai banks charge an international receiving fee of "approx" 0.25% (Bt200 min, Bt500 max).   And all Thai bank TT Buying Rates used for incoming transfers is basically the same....one bank might be a hair better in exchange rate one day and the next day another....etc. 

 

You can use below website which shows/compares exchange rates of various Thai banks....as you will see the TT rate for a USD-THB excahnge is very similar among Thai banks.  Although Bangkok Bank is the best today....tomorrow it might be way down the list. 

 

https://daytodaydata.net/default.aspx

 

[stubuzz]

Thanks.

[JimmyJ]

Funds in THB are bank insured, not USD accounts.

[stubuzz]

19 hours ago, Pib said:

All Thai banks charge an international receiving fee of "approx" 0.25% (Bt200 min, Bt500 max).   And all Thai bank TT Buying Rates used for incoming transfers is basically the same.

Will there be an intermediary bank fee, too?

[Pib]

Will there be an intermediary bank fee, too?

Maybe....on depends on if the "Sending" bank must use an intermediary bank to reach your Thai bank.

[Scottjouro]

2 hours ago, stubuzz said:

Will there be an intermediary bank fee, too?

If there is no direct link between banks via SWIFT and corrosponding bank nostro/vostro accounts you will pay an internediary bank fee 

 

[stubuzz]

15 minutes ago, Scottjouro said:

If there is no direct link between banks via SWIFT and corrosponding bank nostro/vostro accounts you will pay an internediary bank fee

Is there any way of checking before initiating a transfer?

[Pib]

1 hour ago, stubuzz said:

Is there any way of checking before initiating a transfer?

Not really.  You would either need to find a Sending bank employee that really knew what they were talking about (hard to do) and would research the issue.  Or try to find someone else who has made similar transfers before...from the same sending bank to the same receiving bank.   

 

No shortage over the years of people on ThaiVisa complaining about their transfers "arriving" a little short....some fee apparently being sliced off somewhere.  Not an unknown sending fee, not a unknown receiving fee, but some unknown fee in-between. 

 

When asking the Receiving bank they can tell you exactly how much they received, their receiving fee, but can't tell you if the bank upstream applied a fee/took a slice of the original amount you sent.  The Receiving bank will refer you to your Sending bank for more info.   

 

When talking to the Receiving bank they tend to blame the Receiving bank....and refer you back to them. But the Sending bank can indeed determine if an intermediary took a slice with some research on their end.

 

 

 

 

[stubuzz]

Thanks.

[Thailand J]

I used to transfer into my Pattaya Kbank account. After the money had arrived in KBank Bangkok head office, KBank charged  up to 750B to move the money to Pattaya branch. "Domestic Fee Transfer".

Now I use Bangkok Bank I don't see the same fee.

Also from the link in post#4 above, Bangkok Bank often gave me better rate, slightly.

[JimmyJ]

13 hours ago, Pib said:

Not really.  You would either need to find a Sending bank employee that really knew what they were talking about (hard to do) and would research the issue.  Or try to find someone else who has made similar transfers before...from the same sending bank to the same receiving bank.   

 

No shortage over the years of people on ThaiVisa complaining about their transfers "arriving" a little short....some fee apparently being sliced off somewhere.  Not an unknown sending fee, not a unknown receiving fee, but some unknown fee in-between. 

 

When asking the Receiving bank they can tell you exactly how much they received, their receiving fee, but can't tell you if the bank upstream applied a fee/took a slice of the original amount you sent.  The Receiving bank will refer you to your Sending bank for more info.   

 

When talking to the Receiving bank they tend to blame the Receiving bank....and refer you back to them. But the Sending bank can indeed determine if an intermediary took a slice with some research on their end.

 

 

 

 

 

Agree.

 

Amazing with 2018 technology that NOBODY has a clue as to:

Whether an intermediary bank will be used;

What the charge for the intermediary bank will be;

and after the fact NOBODY still knows anything.

 

 

Long standing ripoff system that the powers that be don't want to change.

`

Edited November 22, 2018 by JimmyJ

[Pib]

 
When talking to the Receiving bank they tend to blame the Receiving bank....and refer you back to them. But the Sending bank can indeed determine if an intermediary took a slice with some research on their end.

Whoops...just noticed a significant typo. Meant to say, "When talking to the Sending bank..."

[Scottjouro]

8 hours ago, JimmyJ said:

 

Agree.

 

Amazing with 2018 technology that NOBODY has a clue as to:

Whether an intermediary bank will be used;

What the charge for the intermediary bank will be;

and after the fact NOBODY still knows anything.

 

 

Long standing ripoff system that the powers that be don't want to change.

`

The Ripple/XRP crypto project is going head to head with SWIFT to change exactly this, the current SWIFT system is not intended as a  "rip off" per se but its  a 40 odd year old out dated messaging system which is slow, expensive, prone to error and non transparent

 

The SWIFT system is like the old morse code telegraph system 

 

If Ripple get their way international money transfers will take between 3 to 5 seconds to settle and costs will be fractions of a cent 

 

 

Edited November 23, 2018 by Scottjouro