Transferwise New Fee Structure Effective 1 Mar 19

[mtls2005]

I was able to come close to an apples-apples (albeit Granny Smith vs. Gala) comparison of a traditional SWIFT transfer from the U.S. to Bangkok Bank vs. Transferwise.

 

I ordered $2,200 on Thursday, ~ 08:30 Bangkok time, my net deposit was 69,892 in Bangkok Bank arrived ~ 12:30 Bangkok time, so ~ 28 hours. This is close to my best time of 26 hours.

 

I obtained a quote from Transferwise at ~ 12:30, which was 69,831.15 (guaranteed result for 95 hours). This was the same net-quote amount I received from TW yesterday when I initiated my traditional SWIFT order.

 

So quite close for me (no origination fee, no intermediary bank fee; 200 baht fee at BBL, and a slightly less advantageous exchange rate). I was expecting the TW route to be ~ 600 baht more, rather than 60 baht less, based on reports here, and who knows, it might be next month.

 

I understand that this may not be a purely accurate comparison, but it was the closest comparison I could make.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited May 3, 2019 by mtls2005

[steve73]

2 hours ago, mtls2005 said:

I was able to come close to an apples-apples (albeit Granny Smith vs. Gala) comparison of a traditional SWIFT transfer from the U.S. to Bangkok Bank vs. Transferwise.

 

I ordered $2,200 on Thursday, ~ 08:30 Bangkok time, my net deposit was 69,892 in Bangkok Bank arrived ~ 12:30 Bangkok time, so ~ 28 hours. This is close to my best time of 26 hours.

 

I obtained a quote from Transferwise at ~ 12:30, which was 69,831.15 (guaranteed result for 95 hours). This was the same net-quote amount I received from TW yesterday when I initiated my traditional SWIFT order.

 

So quite close for me (no origination fee, no intermediary bank fee; 200 baht fee at BBL, and a slightly less advantageous exchange rate). I was expecting the TW route to be ~ 600 baht more, rather than 60 baht less, based on reports here, and who knows, it might be next month.

 

I understand that this may not be a purely accurate comparison, but it was the closest comparison I could make.

 

 

 

 

 

A useful comparison... thanks for reporting it.

 

The problem with the SWIFT method is that you have no control over what rate you'll get when it arrives (and the Thai bank decides to convert it).  You may be lucky and get more than when you sent it, or the rate may have moved against you and you'd get less.  (FYI, GBP tends to fluctuate much more than USD, so it's much more risky depending on which politician has last mentioned Brexit).

 

At least with TW you know EXACTLY what rate you'll get, and you can chose to accept it or perhaps wait a day or 2 to see if it improves (of course if it does go down, you may need to wait even longer, which may or may not be a problem). 

 

Also Thai bank rates for GBP are usually much worse than TW offers, whereas bank rates for USD are much more competitive. 

[mtls2005]

10 minutes ago, steve73 said:

At least with TW you know EXACTLY what rate you'll get

 

Agreed. Definitely a HUGE plus for TW.

 

Been considering TW, just have some concerns about security, i.e. what happens when they have the inevitable data breach, and how much exposure there is. I haven't done a ton of research on this. 

 

But as you say, my exposure is limited to one single day, and I need to make monthly qualifying transfers to support my ext stay/ret.

 

I realize that next month the figures could swing TW's way - I'll do the same comparison when I initiate the transfer and the next day when I get the confirming SMS.

[DogNo1]

Noticing that the dollar - baht rate was up slightly, I did my monthly $2,200 transfer from Fidelity yesterday.  Was charged the $30 transfer fee as usual.  I can’t seem to get fee waived until I submit the wire transfer form with the “medallion” signature that can only be done in CONUS.  Nuts!

[wgdanson]

3 hours ago, mtls2005 said:

This is close to my best time of 26 hours

Just did £1600 UK to Bkk Bank via TWise......22 hours done and dusted. And FTT in my bankbook. Great.

[mtls2005]

18 minutes ago, wgdanson said:

Just did £1600 UK to Bkk Bank via TWise......22 hours done and dusted.

 

Suspect there may be some benefits re: elapsed time with the UK vs. U.S.?

 

 

[wgdanson]

1 minute ago, mtls2005 said:

 

Suspect there may be some benefits re: elapsed time with the UK vs. U.S.?

 

 

Dunno. Do Transferwise's computers go off in USA overnight.   LOL

Edited May 3, 2019 by wgdanson

[steve73]

20 minutes ago, wgdanson said:

Just did £1600 UK to Bkk Bank via TWise......22 hours done and dusted. And FTT in my bankbook. Great.

Did you ask them to "tag" your transfer via their Bkk bank, or were you just lucky?

I ask because I saw a recent report on TV recently that they were no longer able to manually route the transfers...

[wgdanson]

6 minutes ago, steve73 said:

Did you ask them to "tag" your transfer via their Bkk bank, or were you just lucky?

I ask because I saw a recent report on TV recently that they were no longer able to manually route the transfers...

Done 5 transfers this year and several last year and all said FTT, not asked for tagging. Lucky, maybe.

But I thought if it is going to Bkk Bank it will always be FTT.

[steve73]

2 minutes ago, wgdanson said:

Done 5 transfers this year and several last year and all said FTT, not asked for tagging. Lucky, maybe.

But I thought if it is going to Bkk Bank it will always be FTT.

OK, thanks.

Perhaps lucky, although Bkk bank does seem to be the bank they default to unless you ask otherwise.

[rwilem]

On 4/23/2019 at 5:34 AM, Pib said:

 

 

 

Quote

 

Trying to find a transfer method that makes proving a transfer was an international transfer for purposes of using the "monthly transfer method for visa/extension of stays purposes" is just going to be a challenge/problematic since there are so many ways (and increasing) to transfer money,  a sending bank/company can change routing method/intermediary/partner bank which may cause a change in transfer coding, etc.   

 

It's getting easier and cheaper to do international transfers, but "getting certain coding/description to appear on your Thai bank statement/passbook" may not be getting any easier or assured.   Before just getting the money was all most cared about; but now it also specific transfer coding/description can be very important.

 

 

 

 

Agreed on that. Lower costs are what we want. Too bad that the immigration requirements to show incoming funds from o'seas on the monthly method doesn't quite mesh in all cases with what TW provides.

Edited May 3, 2019 by rwilem

[rwilem]

On 4/23/2019 at 6:01 AM, Pib said:

It's definitely simpler that way if a person can manage the Bt800K deposit method.  Fortunately I can and it's the method I've been using for many years....and usually I don't even touch any of the Bt800K...it just grows interest. 

 

I use other money for my day-to-day "cash" living needs like using my no foreign transaction fee/free reimbursing debit cards to do counter/ATM withdrawals and an occasional international transfer.  But the majority of my day-to-day living costs are covered by use of my no foreign transaction fee credit cards that I pay in full monthly.  These credit cards greatly reduce the need to bring money into Thailand. I simply do not need anything close to Bt65K "in cash" spending per month due to credit card usage and my life style like I do not pay any rent as I already own my home.

 

But I sure wish they had not changed the rule to require the Bt800K for 5 months and Bt400K for the remaining 7 months of the extension year.   Basically the deposit requirement has turned into annual bond which oscillates from Bt400K to Bt800K throughout the year. 

 

 

I'm appreciative, like many others I assume, of all your valuable contributions to the topics in this forum. Things change, so much, so fast, in finances, banking, transferring funds, etc.., along with the immigration requirements. Yes, the 800K method (extension, based on retirement) is going to be the way to go for me, too. The monthly stuff is just too onerous.

 

Are there any cards, U.S.-based (have an address there) or online among the ones you use that you would recommend? Especially in the 'no annual fee' 'no foreign transaction' category, or one(s) with other advantageous features? 

 

 

[mtls2005]

8 hours ago, rwilem said:

Are there any cards, U.S.-based (have an address there) or online among the ones you use that you would recommend? Especially in the 'no annual fee' 'no foreign transaction' category, or one(s) with other advantageous features? 

 

Quite a few CC review sites, and some credit agency (Experian, TransUnion) have referrals. Example:

 

https://www.creditcards.com/no-foreign-transaction-fee/

 

Not a lot of no annual fee/no FX charge cards. I use BofA Travel Rewards in this category. Some annual fee cards (w/ or w/o FX) can pay for themselves, say in the $95/yr category, assuming the benefits align with your usage. Obviously, these cards, esp. with a Visa affiliation, can be hard to get even with an 849 FICO.

 

ATM Debit cards which refund the local fee (150 - 220 THB) are harder to find. I use Fidelity, believe Schwab has a simial feature and maybe some credit unions do as well.

 

 

[hello55060]

They have Increases fees again since June 2019 a massive 2 odd months of decreased fees 

 

 

[Tanoshi]

1 hour ago, hello55060 said:

They have Increases fees again since June 2019 a massive 2 odd months of decreased fees 

Increased on 15th June.

 

Western Union is now better, but I have no idea if you transfer bank to bank they are coded as International transfers.

[hello55060]

I will let you know because I need to transfer some SGD to THB next week as GBP is doing bad recently , how they show up when they come in my Thai bank. Whether it's a local bank transfer or international. From my experience with WU sending to SG bank and China bank they send from a local bank in those countries and didn't show as international, but not tried with a Thai bank using WU yet .  

Edited June 20, 2019 by hello55060
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