Is NY Bangkok Bank still processing ACH transfers?

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

7 minutes ago, Shaunduhpostman said:

Thanks for input T.G. John, helps a bit. I did call one of the brokerage houses a few hours ago and ask. They were as clueless as I was. They were like, "There's no reason what we've been doing before wouldn't work. No idea why they would send you a letter. Don't worry about it. But you will have to try it as the ultimate test, no guarentee what worked before will work anymore, but it should."

 

I don't know if they are ACH transfers or not from my broker to BKKB New York. Though seems I recall being uncomfortable that an operator I was talking to about doing  a transfer was calling what i wanted to do a wire transfer. The reason being that half the time the brokerage won't send me money I've requested because they say they won't do an international wire transfer. Seems i recall they said, "No, even just sending the money from the brokerage house to BKKB New York is a wire transfer, it doesn't have to be international to be called that." They have been happy with the loophole of sending money to BKKB New York, mostly, but seems like it is a grey zone to them whether that constitutes an international wire or not and some staff refuse to do it.

 

I can't speak for what's up with your broker, without knowing which one is involved.

 

But, in general, if your broker is sending funds directly to BKKB NY, they're probably doing a domestic wire transfer...  If you have to call to request the transfer, it's probably a wire transfer.  If you can do it yourself through online banking after having linked the two accounts via trial deposits, then it's probably an ACH.

 

On the other hand, if they're sending funds directly to BKKB TH, then it's automatically going to be an international wire transfer.

[Searat7]

1 hour ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

 

What bank would that be?  And are there any special balance or other requirements to obtain that perk?

 

Most U.S. banks and CUs do not offer even domestic wire transfers for free, and free international wires are even more rare.

 

Interesting, Transferwise did a web article about a year ago that involved a pretty good survey of U.S. bank international wire transfer fees. Not a free option among them, with the one exception being certain types of high-value Citibank accounts.

 

https://transferwise.com/us/blog/best-bank-international-wire-transfer

 

 

1 hour ago, Searat7 said:

Last week I sent money from USA bank to my FX account at BB via SWIFT and it arrived within hours. My bank mailed me a proof of payment showing me as sender and receiver with both USA and Thailand addresses. Best of all my bank does not charge me a wire transfer fee.

Northern Trust Company....I think it’s a perk for keeping investments there

[wpcoe]

In this thread, when people mention "wire transfer" are they referring to "SWIFT transfer"?

[Pib]

1 hour ago, wpcoe said:

In this thread, when people mention "wire transfer" are they referring to "SWIFT transfer"?

They could mean a "domestic" wire which uses a routing number just like used in an ACH transfer....or they could mean an "international" wire (i.e., SWIFT) which uses a SWIFT code.   

 

A domestic wire is basically an ACH transfer but with more detailed info identifying the sender, the recipient, and reason for sending....and transferred much faster...usually same day.

 

[Pib]

Details of Bangkok Bank Thai Baht Remittance Service at below post.  I don't think many people will use it since it's slow and expensive.....see post below for details.

 

 

[JimGant]

14 hours ago, Pib said:

I thought I remember someone recently talking some scheme where you could mail the NY branch a check with certain additional info included, once it cleared then the NY branch would do a baht transfer to your in-Thailand account.  Maybe it was in a post or in a PM.  Maybe that was the Thai baht remittance scheme Bangkok Bank is now mentioning.  But I can't remember where I read that....and too burnt-out over this whole non-IAT goatrope to try to find it again.  I'll just wait and see if the NY branch responds to my request for info.

I queried about the Thai Baht Remittance Service, and here are the references they sent me. Not exactly what anybody would want to do -- have to send a cashier's check, plus if you want to send dollars, that'll cost you an extra $55

 

 

 

DOC104.PDF Remittance Application(fillable)_Apr2019.pdf

[cmarshall]

Has anyone been able to do a domestic wire transfer (SWIFT) successfully from a US bank to a BKK Bank account and have it show up as an international transfer?  I think it should be possible and a few dollars cheaper.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

21 minutes ago, cmarshall said:

Has anyone been able to do a domestic wire transfer (SWIFT) successfully from a US bank to a BKK Bank account and have it show up as an international transfer?  I think it should be possible and a few dollars cheaper.

 

You can do a domestic wire transfer from a U.S. bank sent to BKKB NY using their routing/ABA number and your BKKB TH account number. The NY branch will automatically forward that to your BKKB TH account, and it will show up there as a foreign transfer.

 

The fees charged by the NY branch and your receiving TH branch will be the same as the current ACH transfer fees that BKKB charges. The only difference might be the sending fee for a domestic wire transfer charged by your U.S. bank.

 

The sending fee for a domestic wire is likely to be more expensive than the usually free ACH transfer (which will die soon for BKKB NY), but less expensive than a straight international wire transfer.

 

[TGIR]

I received the same letter from Bangkok Bank day before yesterday.  I have been transferring money from my Wells Fargo internet banking account to my Bangkok Bank New York account for several years now.  There is, at present, nothing to it.  I go to a menu item called Transfers, enter the from and to Bank names and accounts (previously set up giving names, routing numbers etc.) and the amount and date I want to transfer........it is painless and could not be easier.  After a few days the transfer shows up in my local BBK account less fees and adjusted from dollars to baht.  I could care less what the rates are as they are nominal and more importantly hassle free.  I have no idea whether they are wire transfers, SWIFT transfers or signals bounced off of Mars.....they get here every time, no problems.   Until now.

 

I have looked at the letter and gone over the current process multiple times.  I have no idea what the IAT format is they reference, and why they insist on me providing ?someone? with account names, numbers, my address, and 9 digit routing numbers WHICH THEY ALREADY HAVE!!!.   I'm going to wait until someone smarter than me gets this sorted out and follow their lead.   I hope it will keep my blood pressure at reasonable levels as I'm having enough trouble with my computers and printers and having to listen to CNN's incredible bullshit because FOX has cut me off from anything but their main page.  

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

30 minutes ago, JimGant said:

I queried about the Thai Baht Remittance Service, and here are the references they sent me. Not exactly what anybody would want to do -- have to send a cashier's check, plus if you want to send dollars, that'll cost you an extra $55

 

 

 

DOC104.PDF 67.82 kB · 0 downloads Remittance Application(fillable)_Apr2019.pdf 994.82 kB · 1 download

 

What a load of c**p.... Requiring a cashier's check (ya, that's really going to work well for someone living in Thailand) and this too...

 

 

Another non-starter option from BKKB, just like their original suggestion that people should get their banks to send IAT transfers .... except, NONE of them actually can/will do that!

 

[Pib]

I received the same letter from Bangkok Bank day before yesterday.  I have been transferring money from my Wells Fargo internet banking account to my Bangkok Bank New York account for several years now.  There is, at present, nothing to it.  I go to a menu item called Transfers, enter the from and to Bank names and accounts (previously set up giving names, routing numbers etc.) and the amount and date I want to transfer........it is painless and could not be easier.  After a few days the transfer shows up in my local BBK account less fees and adjusted from dollars to baht.  I could care less what the rates are as they are nominal and more importantly hassle free.  I have no idea whether they are wire transfers, SWIFT transfers or signals bounced off of Mars.....they get here every time, no problems.   Until now.
 
I have looked at the letter and gone over the current process multiple times.  I have no idea what the IAT format is they reference, and why they insist on me providing ?someone? with account names, numbers, my address, and 9 digit routing numbers WHICH THEY ALREADY HAVE!!!.   I'm going to wait until someone smarter than me gets this sorted out and follow their lead.   I hope it will keep my blood pressure at reasonable levels as I'm having enough trouble with my computers and printers and having to listen to CNN's incredible bullshit because FOX has cut me off from anything but their main page.  

From your description you are doing a typical ACH transfer (a.k.a., domestic transfer) and highly doubtful that your bank utilizes IAT format for sending which means after 30 Jun Bangkok Bank will begin rejecting your transfers.

[just bob]

What I don't understand is why is this happening.  Anyone?

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

4 hours ago, just bob said:

What I don't understand is why is this happening.  Anyone?

 

The U.S. govt wants to keep better track, and have more information reported, when its citizens are sending money outside the country via what normally are domestic ACH transfers... specifically, the name and location address of the recipient. The regular ACH domestic transfers don't give them any recipient location address information.

[Pib]

9 hours ago, just bob said:

What I don't understand is why is this happening.  Anyone?

 

5 hours ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

 

The U.S. govt wants to keep better track, and have more information reported, when its citizens are sending money outside the country via what normally are domestic ACH transfers... specifically, the name and location address of the recipient. The regular ACH domestic transfers don't give them any recipient location address information.

 

@ Bob,

 

^^^^ What TallGuy said.  And just to add, the ACH "IAT" format/requirement has been around since 2009...nothing new about IAT. All U.S. banks can "receive" IAT format since around 2009-13 no problem; but none have been identified to date that will "send" in IAT for a retail/common man bank account....but some of the large banks do offer IAT sending capability for a corporate/business bank account at a price. Guess US banks prefer to use SWIFT for international transfers especially since a nice, hefty fee is usually earned for a SWIFT transfer.   But over the years some US banks loosely followed IAT requirements.  Some "gateway" banks like Bangkok Bank were using workarounds such as saying the transfers were manually reviewed although not in the required format....or other weak justification.  A gateway bank is not your sending banking but is the bank your transfer goes through as it leaves/enters the U.S....Bangkok Bank is both acting as the receiving and gateway bank for ACH transfers.    Over the years the US Treasury and National ACH Assn (NACHA) have continued to tighten IAT rules/requirements...tighten rules/requirements US banks were getting around....and it apparently got to the point that Bangkok Bank could no longer play dodge ball with the US Treasury/NACHA and must comply fully comply with IAT requirements.  I was great while it lasted.  Now time to move on.

[snooky]

Still awfully confusing to many of us.  My bank in the US has allowed me to transfer my funds from their bank to BKK Bank and my account here with no fees.  I set this transferability up several years ago but I have no idea what kind of transfer it is, my bankbook here shows the FTT code for incoming.  My Pensions come to my US bank and I transfer them monthly to BKK Bank just clicking on the proper account number of BKK Bank here.  I assume it must go through BKK Bank NY to get here but it only shows the local account number here.

 

Am I going to have to go to BKK Bank main office to find out what type of transfer I am receiving?  Do I have to call my US bank also?  Not worried about the cost of calling but really have no idea of what to ask them except using the IAT and ACH terms.

 

Can someone possibly explain in simple (my mind) laymen's terms what we must do at this point in time?  That letter was totally confusing to me, and possibly to a lot of other folks. 

 

Thanks

[Pib]

6 hours ago, snooky said:

Still awfully confusing to many of us.  My bank in the US has allowed me to transfer my funds from their bank to BKK Bank and my account here with no fees.  I set this transferability up several years ago but I have no idea what kind of transfer it is, my bankbook here shows the FTT code for incoming.  My Pensions come to my US bank and I transfer them monthly to BKK Bank just clicking on the proper account number of BKK Bank here.  I assume it must go through BKK Bank NY to get here but it only shows the local account number here.

 

Am I going to have to go to BKK Bank main office to find out what type of transfer I am receiving?  Do I have to call my US bank also?  Not worried about the cost of calling but really have no idea of what to ask them except using the IAT and ACH terms.

 

Can someone possibly explain in simple (my mind) laymen's terms what we must do at this point in time?  That letter was totally confusing to me, and possibly to a lot of other folks. 

 

Thanks

 

Contact HQ Bangkok Bank at below 02 phone numbers (English speaking reps available at these numbers) or Bangkok Bank New York at the below email address.  In either case give them your name as it appears on your bank account, bank account number, approx date and amount of last transfer.  Ask them if the transfer arrived in ACH "IAT" format or not?

 

The answer is most likely going to be that the transfer did "not" arrive in IAT format. 

 

No known US bank/credit union for retail accounts uses ACH "IAT" format for international transfers; instead they use Wire transfers (a.k.a., SWIFT for international transfers).   

 

This means you will need to start using Int'l Wire/SWIFT from your US bank...you may also be able to do a domestic wire to the Bangkok Bank NY branch.....or use a money transfer service like Transferwise, OFX, etc.

 

 

[snooky]

4 hours ago, Pib said:

 

Contact HQ Bangkok Bank at below 02 phone numbers (English speaking reps available at these numbers) or Bangkok Bank New York at the below email address.  In either case give them your name as it appears on your bank account, bank account number, approx date and amount of last transfer.  Ask them if the transfer arrived in ACH "IAT" format or not?

 

The answer is most likely going to be that the transfer did "not" arrive in IAT format. 

 

No known US bank/credit union for retail accounts uses ACH "IAT" format for international transfers; instead they use Wire transfers (a.k.a., SWIFT for international transfers).   

 

This means you will need to start using Int'l Wire/SWIFT from your US bank...you may also be able to do a domestic wire to the Bangkok Bank NY branch.....or use a money transfer service like Transferwise, OFX, etc.

 

 

Thanks for this - it should help many of us.

[DepDavid]

Guess I need to query Bangkok Bank NY about their "baht remittance system"....just exactly what is it. But my gut is telling me it would be a lower exchange rate and/or require an account with their NY branch.

It is lower. I tried it.


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[streetlite]

Has anyone actually received a response to an e-mail sent to helpdesk, Bkk Bank NY? I've sent 2 and no response.

[DepDavid]

Has anyone actually received a response to an e-mail sent to helpdesk, Bkk Bank NY? I've sent 2 and no response.

Yes I have seen a reply. It was a cut and paste from their website.


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[ColeBOzbourne]

Did they finally start enforcing the changes required to transfer money by ACH through BKK Bank New York? Last week I made a transfer and New York rejected it and refunded it back to my local account in the USA. Until now I've never had a problem with a transfer, even after their deadline came and went to change the transfer coding. I just went and visited my local branch here in BKK and they said the policy is finally being enforced and many foreigners have been in recently with the same questions. Anyone here recently have problems with the ACH transfer?

[mackayae]

My last ACH transfer, earlier this month, was rejected.

[streetlite]

Yes, my Nov. transfer was rejected and returned....all good things must come to an end.

[skatewash]

My last ACH transfer in November, 2019, from Vanguard through Bangkok Bank NY Branch to my regular savings account in Thailand went through without a hitch.

[ColeBOzbourne]

1 hour ago, skatewash said:

My last ACH transfer in November, 2019, from Vanguard through Bangkok Bank NY Branch to my regular savings account in Thailand went through without a hitch.

Interesting. Maybe your bank uses the required coding. Mine does not. Future developments and input from others might solve the mystery.

[skatewash]

8 minutes ago, ColeBOzbourne said:

Interesting. Maybe your bank uses the required coding. Mine does not. Future developments and input from others might solve the mystery.

I would be shocked if Vanguard uses the required IAT coding for an ACH transfer.  I think my transfer just slipped through a hole in the net.  It may be a manual process and I just got lucky.  I fully expect there to be a time when it won't work for me either.

[Roy Baht]

On 11/19/2019 at 12:16 PM, skatewash said:

My last ACH transfer in November, 2019, from Vanguard through Bangkok Bank NY Branch to my regular savings account in Thailand went through without a hitch.

Exact same circumstances for me: ACH transfer in Nov from Vanguard through BBK NYC to local BBK went through no problem. From what I've been reading, this will be the case until the end of this year. Then all transfers must be SWIFT.

 

P.S.--I agree with you: highly unlikely Vanguard uses IAT format for ACH transfers

 

Edited November 24, 2019 by Roy Baht

[Langsuan Man]

On 11/19/2019 at 11:29 AM, ColeBOzbourne said:

Did they finally start enforcing the changes required to transfer money by ACH through BKK Bank New York? Last week I made a transfer and New York rejected it and refunded it back to my local account in the USA. Until now I've never had a problem with a transfer, even after their deadline came and went to change the transfer coding. I just went and visited my local branch here in BKK and they said the policy is finally being enforced and many foreigners have been in recently with the same questions. Anyone here recently have problems with the ACH transfer?

Bank name please, since some have and others have not, but appears to be US bank related 

[Berkshire]

Some of you ex-military guys may have the answer: I have a vet friend who intends to start an allotment to BKK Bank NY to his account in Thailand.  The funds will be coming from DFAS.  Do you guys think this will work?

[ColeBOzbourne]

5 hours ago, Langsuan Man said:

Bank name please, since some have and others have not, but appears to be US bank related

Well, mine is actually a very small, local Credit Union rather than a bank. It only has three branches limited to one county in Arizona. Pinal County Federal Credit Union.