Alternative to Transferwise for Monthly transfers-new visa regs

[Sheryl]

I gather all this correspondence re electing bank has been with Transferwise UK (the tine of the emails certainly does not sound like TW USA!).

 

Has anyone confirmed if this can be done for transfers from the US? I had asked about a month back and they said no at that time

[sumrit]

51 minutes ago, Sheryl said:

I gather all this correspondence re electing bank has been with Transferwise UK (the tone of the emails certainly does not sound like TW USA!).

 

Has anyone confirmed if this can be done for transfers from the US? I had asked about a month back and they said no at that time

I originally saw a post on TV that suggested the email system. Don't know where that poster was from though. I had to phone the TW UK office on another matter so asked about the email option at the same time. It was that operator who suggested the phone option would be quicker (because emails can take up to two days to respond to). I set up a transfer via the app while still on the phone, gave the operator the transfer number and asked that it be transferred using their BKKBank partner. The money was in my BKKB account by 2:30pm the next day.

 

I know of at least one other TV member who has successfully used the same method with a transfer from the UK. 

 

In the original post I saw, TW said they were working on a more permanent solution.

 

If you want to know if you have the same email/phone options from the US, why don't you just phone them up and ask?

[Sheryl]

already asked and was told no, about a month ago. And I don't have a TW account (another story in itself). Just wondering for the sake of other members.

[steve73]

38 minutes ago, Sheryl said:

I gather all this correspondence re electing bank has been with Transferwise UK (the tine of the emails certainly does not sound like TW USA!).

 

Has anyone confirmed if this can be done for transfers from the US? I had asked about a month back and they said no at that time

Yes - I'm trying to move GBP from my UK bank account... the correspondence was with TW's support team.  [email protected].

They replied initially (yesterday) in about 3 hours and today's e-m's were bouncing back and forth very quickly.

 

I did make it clear to them that ANYONE using the TW system for transferring funds into their Thai accounts MAY in future be making a similar request if they a hold accounts with one of the 3 partner bank that TW use, i.e. BBK, KBank, & TMB, to ensure the funds are received coded as International. I told them that in many cases it was critical to arrive coded as international to be suitable for Immigration to issue a "visa", and also to allow funds to be repatriated if necessary.  I didn't specifically say that these requests could be from any currency source though.

 

One of their replies thanked me for explaining WHY it was necessary/important, and that they were looking at alternative automatic solutions.  No comment about those who hold accounts not with the 3 bank that thy partner though..   I would suggest anyone holding accounts elsewhere ask the question either before you make a transfer, or after so you can quote the Transfer number.

[steve73]

Just out of interest, I did note that my reference number is almost 2.6 million higher than the last transfer I made 20 days ago.

 

Assuming each transfer generates a sequential reference number, this means they are handling over 130,000 transfers per day.  
 

This is much more than I'd expected, and I'm really quite impressed with their customer support.

 

If each transfer is just 1000 GBP or equivalent, this means they're moving over 130 Million GBP ($170 million) per day.

[scubascuba3]

So, instead of sending an email phone them on their dedicated number for your country. Verbally give your transfer number for your transaction to the operator and tell them which partner bank you would like them to use. The operator will inform the transfer department for you. 
 
At least that's what they told me to do when transferring from the UK, and it works. Don't know if it'll work from other countries though, or whether you'll have to still use email.

i called them, girl was following up and would email back to confirm. Seems a slow process whether you email or call in which time the exchange rate will move

[steve73]

5 minutes ago, scubascuba3 said:

1 hour ago, sumrit said:

So, instead of sending an email phone them on their dedicated number for your country. Verbally give your transfer number for your transaction to the operator and tell them which partner bank you would like them to use. The operator will inform the transfer department for you. 
 
At least that's what they told me to do when transferring from the UK, and it works. Don't know if it'll work from other countries though, or whether you'll have to still use email.

i called them, girl was following up and would email back to confirm. Seems a slow process whether you email or call in which time the exchange rate will move

Transferring from the UK they will hold the rate for 24 hours waiting for your funds, so providing you get the confirmation that they will manually route via your own bank, you should be OK. (Other countries have different time periods).

My problem today was I never received that confirmation until after 24 hours by which time the rate had dropped more than 1% - beyond what I was prepared to accept.

Looks to heading back up again now, so I will probably set-up a new transfer pretty soon.

[JAS21]

11 hours ago, steve73 said:

Transferring from the UK they will hold the rate for 24 hours waiting for your funds, so providing you get the confirmation that they will manually route via your own bank, you should be OK. (Other countries have different time periods).

My problem today was I never received that confirmation until after 24 hours by which time the rate had dropped more than 1% - beyond what I was prepared to accept.

Looks to heading back up again now, so I will probably set-up a new transfer pretty soon.

Do it now it's back up there... did mine about 6:30am...then phone them after 8am UK time.

Edited March 14, 2019 by JAS21

[steve73]

2 hours ago, JAS21 said:

Do it now it's back up there... did mine about 6:30am...then phone them after 8am UK time.

Unfortunately I'd missed the high when I logged on, but I was happy with what I managed to get (@ 9:30 Thai time), only to watch it turn back up again...

[Tanoshi]

12 minutes ago, steve73 said:

Unfortunately I'd missed the high when I logged on, but I was happy with what I managed to get (@ 9:30 Thai time), only to watch it turn back up again...

Still rising, currently 41.99 @ 11.40am.

The vote last evening was after the UK markets closed.

I think we'll see a further upward trend when the UK markets open today, reflecting tomorrow on the Thai market.

I'll wait until later tonight or tomorrow morning, hoping to clear over 42 after fees.

[sfokevin]

I just completed my first transfer with OFX.com (From US bank to BK Bank account)...

 

The setup was similar to my TW account - I have a long standing US address & current US DL so no issues or glitches setting it up... I added my US bank via a standard .01 confirming deposit check and gave them my Thai bank account and swiftcode... They did ask me to call in and confirm setup which was just a couple security questions and what my transfer usage would be for in general (Make sure you do not say you live abroad full time - I started with that and saw it was not going well and backtracked and stated I just lived here in the winter and would be retuning to the US)... Setup complete I booked a $2200 transfer and was give a transfer amount confirmation and was sent a detailed confirmation email - This included the amount to be deposited in my account and a 4 day estimate of arrival - It also stated my Thai bank and the swiftcode to be used and stated that the receiving bank (BK Bank) may deduct an additional receiving fee (This was not included in the website initial quote)... 4 days later they sent me an email stating the funds had been deposited in my account... The next day in the afternoon my BK Bank had the funds booked in as foreign transfers (less a 200 baht fee)... The fee is BK Banks standard .25% fee (200 baht min/500max) they charge on all incoming foreign transfers... So the silver lining of the 200 baht fee is that it means it must be a standard foreign transfer and is coded as such (Same fee as BK Bank NY ACH)... Overall it works fine with the exception of the total transfer time was 5 business days... I did email them and asked if this long time lag was due to this being my 1st transfer and was told no - they 4 days to transfer my funds from the US to the UK and then via Barclays in London to Thailand and BK Bank needs another day it to hit my account... A UK citizen may experience much shorter times as OFX.com is a UK firm... The rep also told me that it would always be a foreign transaction to BK Bank (Not sure about other Thai banks) as all transfers were out of their Barclays in London account.. The cost is not much different than the TW fees so until TW can guarantee a foreign coding I will use OFX.com

 

 

 

Edited March 14, 2019 by sfokevin

[Yewbzee]

On 3/9/2019 at 4:36 PM, nickmondo said:

just put 800k in the bank mate.

who needs all that hassle.

jeez

 

You still need to show that the 800k is from overseas if you are changing to the Non Imm "O" visa for the first time in country. If you do it at an embassy or consulate outside of Thailand it doesn't matter, no idea what the logic is behind that one.

[ubonjoe]

25 minutes ago, Yewbzee said:

You still need to show that the 800k is from overseas if you are changing to the Non Imm "O" visa for the first time in country.

That is required for the visa application at immigration since there no requirement for it to be in the bank for 2 months to apply for it. That is to prevent somebody from borrowing the money to do the application.

[teetersb]

On 3/13/2019 at 7:56 PM, Sheryl said:

Has anyone confirmed if this can be done for transfers from the US? I had asked about a month back and they said no at that time

Hi Sheryl, I just finished my first TW transaction from my bank in the US last Friday. It went well, but took 4 days. I'm quite happy with how hassle free it was. I will be using TW from now on, because it is the only way I can transfer money from my small bank. Transfers show FTT & International Transfer and 40 k Baht was $13 to transfer. Much cheaper than the $40 my bank charges and my bank only allows transfers to Thailand if you physically go into the bank, which isn't possible for me.

[Sheryl]

4 hours ago, teetersb said:

Hi Sheryl, I just finished my first TW transaction from my bank in the US last Friday. It went well, but took 4 days. I'm quite happy with how hassle free it was. I will be using TW from now on, because it is the only way I can transfer money from my small bank. Transfers show FTT & International Transfer and 40 k Baht was $13 to transfer. Much cheaper than the $40 my bank charges and my bank only allows transfers to Thailand if you physically go into the bank, which isn't possible for me.

 

Were you able to select the Thai bank that would be used for the transfer?

[scubascuba3]

Unfortunately I'd missed the high when I logged on, but I was happy with what I managed to get (@ 9:30 Thai time), only to watch it turn back up again...

Did it turnup correctly using Kasikorn as local partner?

[steve73]

1 hour ago, scubascuba3 said:

On ‎3‎/‎14‎/‎2019 at 11:28 AM, steve73 said:

Unfortunately I'd missed the high when I logged on, but I was happy with what I managed to get (@ 9:30 Thai time), only to watch it turn back up again...

Did it turnup correctly using Kasikorn as local partner?

Yes.. I was just about to create a new thread... but you've prompted me to reply here.

 

I set up the Transfer on Thursday, then once I'd got the reference#, I emailed TW (I could equally have telephoned).  By the time they replied, the 24 hour "fixed rate" period had expired, and the rate was fluctuating, so when the rate was virtually the same as when I'd set it up, I sent the funds... On receipt of the funds (almost instantaneous) the rate was immediately fixed. Since this was Friday, they advised that the funds would be sent on Monday.

 

So yesterday morning Thai time, they sent me an e-mail advising that the funds had been sent to T/L, but since they were not at that time using their Kasikorn partner, it may take a day or 2 extra to reach my account.  

 

Funds normally arrive around 1pm, and nothing showing at that time, but when I checked later, the funds has arrived at 16:28, correctly coded as:

INTERNATIONAL TRADE AND FACTORING CENTER TFN05027

 

So, a complete success, and is similar to that reported by Bangkok bank users.

 

Just need someone with a TMB account to try now.... any takers?

 

But unfortunately, there seems no way around this for people holding accounts in the other Thai banks.

 

[scubascuba3]

Yes.. I was just about to create a new thread... but you've prompted me to reply here.
 
I set up the Transfer on Thursday, then once I'd got the reference#, I emailed TW (I could equally have telephoned).  By the time they replied, the 24 hour "fixed rate" period had expired, and the rate was fluctuating, so when the rate was virtually the same as when I'd set it up, I sent the funds... On receipt of the funds (almost instantaneous) the rate was immediately fixed. Since this was Friday, they advised that the funds would be sent on Monday.
 
So yesterday morning Thai time, they sent me an e-mail advising that the funds had been sent to T/L, but since they were not at that time using their Kasikorn partner, it may take a day or 2 extra to reach my account.  
 
Funds normally arrive around 1pm, and nothing showing at that time, but when I checked later, the funds has arrived at 16:28, correctly coded as:

INTERNATIONAL TRADE AND FACTORING CENTER TFN05027

 
So, a complete success, and is similar to that reported by Bangkok bank users.
 
Just need someone with a TMB account to try now.... any takers?
 
But unfortunately, there seems no way around this for people holding accounts in the other Thai banks.
 

Good it worked out as Intl. When i attempted a transfer I called them and spoke to a Thai person who i think needed to wait until another office/team (maybe UK) was open so phoning may not always speed things up unless perhaps late afternoon when UK is open

[crazykopite]

SCB do not show International Transfer it comes up as X1 Transfer of Funds and this has been the code since I opened my account in 2005. Looks like I will have to open a Bangkok Bank Account for future transfers ☹️

[Genericnic]

On 3/13/2019 at 7:56 PM, Sheryl said:

I gather all this correspondence re electing bank has been with Transferwise UK (the tine of the emails certainly does not sound like TW USA!).

 

Has anyone confirmed if this can be done for transfers from the US? I had asked about a month back and they said no at that time

@Sheryl

 

I managed to do a transfer from a US bank with TW. If you want to see the full process I went through, here is a link to my reports that I posted in a different topic. Posts no. 11, 12, 13, and 23 are the relevant ones.

 

David

 

 

[mfd101]

Yesterday I did my 3rd monthly transfer of AUD3000 using TW [for income method retirement extension].

 

The first 2 times, in December & February, the job-finished email from TW was called a 'Deposit Note' and noted inter alia the intermediary bank between my Aussie bank and Bangkok Bank as the (Aussie) Macquarie Bank. And registered in my BKK Bank book as FTT. All fine.

 

The job-finished email this time round this morning was labelled 'Transfer Confirmation' & 'Delivered by Local bank transfer'. Needless to say, this had me a bit worried & I thought I might need to go to my fallback option this month [do a second AUD3000 transfer for the month using SWIFT between banks]. But a few minutes ago I updated my bank book here at my BKK Bank branch in Prasat and, Lo & Behold!, the transfer still registered as FTT. So still fine despite the TW record changing.

 

Not sure what that all means. Has TW changed its modus operandi? or has Bkk Bank? or perhaps both?

 

Anyway, so far so good. Seems to be working OK, at least from Oz.

 

 

[Kalasin Jo]

On 3/9/2019 at 12:25 PM, OJAS said:

You might like to consider making monthly transfers from your FD to Bangkok Bank accounts via the latter's London branch? Unlike its New York counterpart this facility doesn't appear to be going away any time soon.

 

Doesn't come cheap, though, at £20 a pop at the London end + 0.25% at the Bangkok end if the GBP-to-THB conversion is done in Bangkok rather than London. Alternatively it is possible to have the conversion done pre-transfer in London, but don't be fooled by the sole £15 charge: the exchange rate used by the London branch is much worse than the corresponding TT rate used at the Bangkok end, and the difference would more than offset the £5 + 0.25% saving, I understand.

 

In any case, according to a report which I distinctly recall on here from @Kalasin Jo the coveted FTT coding is only guaranteed for GBP-to-THB conversions performed in Bangkok: those performed in London, I gather, risk being assigned a non-international coding.

 

I myself have now reverted to the London branch/Bangkok GBP-to-THB conversion method for my monthly 65k+ transfers after 18 months of using TransferWise in view of the coding issue uncertainties which the recent monthly income changes have thrown up. Unfortunately, you will, however, need to jump through some hoops before you can start using the London branch service.

 

Further info, in case you are interested, is contained in this link:-

 

https://www.bangkokbank.com/en/Personal/Other-Services/Transfers/Transferring-Into-Thailand/Transfer-money-from-UK-to-Thailand-via-London-Branch

 

 

Correct OJAS. BB offer two ways to transfer money to Thailand via their London branch as indicated on the link you give. Until now I have always used the London Branch exchange conversion because the fee is cheaper ( although has gone up since I last checked and may well be a worse exchange rate ) but only shows on your Thai bank statement and passbook entry as " AUTO", so no good for showing the transfer came from outside Thailand.  I have not as yet tried the other way they propose converting to baht in Thailand so cannot say whether this produces the coveted FTT code for visa extension paperwork. I will try it next time. I do not recall having to do the paperwork now called for by BB to set up my transfers which continue to work on the cheaper method.

[OJAS]

7 hours ago, Kalasin Jo said:

Correct OJAS. BB offer two ways to transfer money to Thailand via their London branch as indicated on the link you give. Until now I have always used the London Branch exchange conversion because the fee is cheaper ( although has gone up since I last checked and may well be a worse exchange rate ) but only shows on your Thai bank statement and passbook entry as " AUTO", so no good for showing the transfer came from outside Thailand.  I have not as yet tried the other way they propose converting to baht in Thailand so cannot say whether this produces the coveted FTT code for visa extension paperwork. I will try it next time. I do not recall having to do the paperwork now called for by BB to set up my transfers which continue to work on the cheaper method.

And I distinctly recall you reporting in another thread that the preferable method so as to guarantee the coveted FTT coding was for the London branch to make the transfer in GBP with the THB conversion being performed at the Bangkok end!

[OffshoreMig]

Can you set up two Visa Cards one Based in Thailand and bounce money between them paying off the  card as soon as transfer is made and registered,

[scubascuba3]

Can you set up two Visa Cards one Based in Thailand and bounce money between them paying off the  card as soon as transfer is made and registered,

I'm not sure you can use a credit card to pay the other credit card monthly

[OffshoreMig]

You can.  You pay directly into your account(Different Bank) .  You will be charged fees 

 

[soalbundy]

On 3/9/2019 at 11:53 AM, Tanoshi said:

It's not TW, you can print of the 'transfer confirmation' receipt from TW showing the transfer, it's the Thai banks that don't all record the source of the transfer.

If your TW transfer is paid from their BKK account, it's recorded as FTT by BKK, but if it's paid from their KK account to BKK it's recorded as 'local transfer' because KK don't inform BKK of the source.

You then have to request a 'credit receipt' from KK that details the foreign transfer.

How do you do that if you don't know which KK branch it was sent to as an intermediary bank ? I have the same problem with BKK

[cheshiremusicman]

On 3/9/2019 at 11:06 AM, wgdanson said:

I have recently made my 65k transfers to my Bkk Bank from First Direct, and was very pleased when the last one on 1st March arrived within 24 hours, in GBP, and was FREE OF CHARGE.

Just spoken with them and was assured that there are no fees when sending GBP to Thailand.

I'm seriously looking at using the 65k transfer per month instead of the 800k in the bank routine. Do you have to prove that the 65k per month is coming from pension schemes and the second question is that my visa renewal on the retirement basis is not due until the end of January 2020, so if I could show the 65k per month from now until the renewal date would that be acceptable to the Immigration here in Hua-Hin? I presume that those of you already doing the 65k route can spend the money that you receive unlike the 800k route where you are constrained for 5 months in total before you can drawdown to 400k max. I really don't want to have all this money tied up in my bank account so hence looking at the 65k per month route. Any help on this matter would be most appreciated.

Incidentally, I tried a 'trial transfer' with TransferWise and found it to be excellent in all areas.

Edited July 6, 2019 by cheshiremusicman
missing word

[Tanoshi]

3 hours ago, soalbundy said:

How do you do that if you don't know which KK branch it was sent to as an intermediary bank ? I have the same problem with BKK

They all come from HQ branch.

You need a credit receipt from KK that details the foreign transfer, then to you BKK account.

 

Contact TW and ask them to 'tag' all your transfers to be paid from their BKK account.

[pontious]

1 hour ago, Tanoshi said:

Contact TW and ask them to 'tag' all your transfers to be paid from their BKK account.

They will try but cannot guarantee it will always work. Email received yesterday.