Can you still transfer money from USA to Bangkok Bank

[Gumballl]

37 minutes ago, Berkshire said:

When determining currency exchange rate, you need to use what BKK bank uses (https://www.bangkokbank.com/en/Personal/Other-Services/View-Rates/Foreign-Exchange-Rates).  The TT rate, so it's 31.25 today.  That may not be exact as it depends on when the funds actually arrived, but it should be close.  There should be about a 200 bt fee upon arrival.  

 

I usually refer to X-Rates, but the link you provided is obviously more relevant in my case. With today's rate of 31.25 Baht per $1, it cost me $15.20 for the transfer. Fortunately I am able to withhold my tears, and accept such. But still... that's the cost of 2 (US) beers!

Edited June 6, 2019 by Gumballl

[Pib]

1 hour ago, Gumballl said:

My transfer arrived too after a "few" days; even after almost a 2 year lull in sending money to my Bangkok Bank savings account, which has been "linked" for years, I am still able to conduct ACH transfers via the NYC branch.

 

The thing that brings me to enter this post is the cost. I transferred $1500, which yielded me 46399 Baht. That's an exchange rate of 30.93 Baht per $1. Taking into account today's rate (31.4 Baht per $1), it would seem that Bangkok Bank assessed me a fee, more or less in the ball park of $22 for the transfer. Ouch!

 

Is this normal? A better question... what are the fees that Bangkok Bank assesses for an incoming transfer? Are the TransferWise rates better?

 

P.S. I transferred the money via ACH from BofA to Bangkok Bank NYC at a snails pace for a $3 fee. On top of that, another $22+ fee!

The fees that Bangkok Bank would have applied on a $1500 ACH transfer would have been $5 by the Bangkok Bank NY branch....they sliced-off that fee as the funds flowed thru them to your in-Thailand Bangkok Bank branch.  So $1495 arrived you in-Thailand for currency exchange. 

 

Bangkok Bank would have applied their "TT Buying Rate" in effect at the time and then applied their 0.25% (Bt200 min, Bt500 max) receiving fee.  For a $1495 transfer that falls below the Bt200 min charge so they would have charged Bt200 (approx $6.35).  

 

So your total Bangkok Bank fees were $5 + $6.35 = $11.35.....not $22.  I expect your personal math in trying to figure out the exchange rate is causing the disconnect....that is, not knowing what rate they actually used and not applying the correct fees in the correct sequence.   Both of these fees are applied "before" posting to your account and will not be reflected on your passbook or ibanking.  To eaactly know what TT Buying Rate they used you need to be signed up for free SMS Remittance Alert that tells you how much foreign currency arrived your in-Thailand branch (remember it will be light what the NY branch sliced off for their fee), the exchange rate they used, the receiving fee applied, and the total amount posting to your account as of date/time XZY.

 

You stated "today's exchange rate is Bt31.4....where did you get that?  I just looked at the Bangkok Bank exchange rate page and they have only posted one TT Buying Rate for today so far....the opening 0830am exchange rate of 31.25.  I also looked at their rates for yesterday....no Bt31.4 rate as you state. 

 

 

And regarding the slow transfer, blame that purely on BoA as you selected the 3 business day transfer which means BoA does not transmit/authorize posting of the funds until at least 3 business days later.....and you pay BoA $3 for this delay.  I use to have an account with BoA....I know.   Most U.S. banks do not charge an ACH sending fee...and they transmit same day assuming you initiate the transfer before their daily cutoff time....like I use USAA Bank....no ACH sending fee....funds usually post to my Bangkok Bank account next business day....if not next business day, the 2nd business day.

 

Bangkok Bank ACH Fees

 

[jonesthepost]

On 5/28/2019 at 2:10 PM, how241 said:

Yes,  TransferWise  works Great.  Their fees are smaller if you only transfer $1200 USD  or less,  otherwise they quickly charge more than Bangkok Bank does. 

I checked the charge for 20000 uk. pounds to thailand the quoted charge was 128 pounds I can doe the same with swift code for 22 pounds plus 500 baht  so <deleted>-k transfer wise   

[Gumballl]

18 hours ago, Pib said:

The fees that Bangkok Bank would have applied on a $1500 ACH transfer would have been $5 by the Bangkok Bank NY branch....they sliced-off that fee as the funds flowed thru them to your in-Thailand Bangkok Bank branch.  So $1495 arrived you in-Thailand for currency exchange. 

 

Bangkok Bank would have applied their "TT Buying Rate" in effect at the time and then applied their 0.25% (Bt200 min, Bt500 max) receiving fee.  For a $1495 transfer that falls below the Bt200 min charge so they would have charged Bt200 (approx $6.35).  

 

So your total Bangkok Bank fees were $5 + $6.35 = $11.35.....not $22.  I expect your personal math in trying to figure out the exchange rate is causing the disconnect....that is, not knowing what rate they actually used and not applying the correct fees in the correct sequence.   Both of these fees are applied "before" posting to your account and will not be reflected on your passbook or ibanking.  To eaactly know what TT Buying Rate they used you need to be signed up for free SMS Remittance Alert that tells you how much foreign currency arrived your in-Thailand branch (remember it will be light what the NY branch sliced off for their fee), the exchange rate they used, the receiving fee applied, and the total amount posting to your account as of date/time XZY.

 

You stated "today's exchange rate is Bt31.4....where did you get that?  I just looked at the Bangkok Bank exchange rate page and they have only posted one TT Buying Rate for today so far....the opening 0830am exchange rate of 31.25.  I also looked at their rates for yesterday....no Bt31.4 rate as you state. 

 

 

And regarding the slow transfer, blame that purely on BoA as you selected the 3 business day transfer which means BoA does not transmit/authorize posting of the funds until at least 3 business days later.....and you pay BoA $3 for this delay.  I use to have an account with BoA....I know.   Most U.S. banks do not charge an ACH sending fee...and they transmit same day assuming you initiate the transfer before their daily cutoff time....like I use USAA Bank....no ACH sending fee....funds usually post to my Bangkok Bank account next business day....if not next business day, the 2nd business day.

 

Bangkok Bank ACH Fees

 

Thank you for the clarification.

 

I get my exchanges rates from X-Rates.

 

So for $1500 - $5 (or $1495) I netted 46399 Baht. If I add in the 200 Baht service charge to convert Dollars to Baht, then:

 

(46399 + 200) / 1495 = 31.17 Baht/Dollar

 

So the total transfer costs ended up being $5 (US fee) + $6.42 (Thailand fee) = $11.42.

 

All things considered, not too bad!

 

P.S. Above I purposely neglected to add the $3 fee BofA fee; if I include it, my total cost was $14.42.

[hereforgood]

I am assuming June 30th was the the proper deadline

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[chingmai331]

On 1 July i notified my USA bank to transfer funds to my Bangkok Bank USA account. Today, 3 July i received notice that these funds were successfully transferred to my CM Bangkok Bank account.

I had some thought that a 30 June deadline was in force for some actions. Apparently no change in policy.

[JimGant]

4 minutes ago, chingmai331 said:

On 1 July i notified my USA bank to transfer funds to my Bangkok Bank USA account. Today, 3 July i received notice that these funds were successfully transferred to my CM Bangkok Bank account.

I had some thought that a 30 June deadline was in force for some actions. Apparently no change in policy.

I initiated an ACH transfer yesterday morning, 2 July Thai time (9:00PM, 1 July Texas time -- my bank is USAA). Received the money in my Thai account 24 hours later -- 10:00AM, 3 July Thai time.

 

No indication that USAA has switched to the IAT format. They certainly haven't asked for my physical address in Thailand, one of the data elements required for IAT. So I can only assume Bangkok Bank New York has extended the expiration time for ACH transfers.... 

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

You mean, you can't actually believe or rely on what a Thai bank tells you??? 

 

Shocking!!!  (But glad to hear the pipeline hasn't been closed as yet...)  

[Pib]

Maybe President Obama works at Bangkok Bank New York now.

[Pib]

I wonder if Bangkok Bank is looking the other way for X-more days/weeks to let end of month/June or certain beginning of month/July transfers like some non-IAT govt payments get thru....not enforcing their 30 June line in the sand quite yet...letting the transfer line drain a little more before turning off the non-IAT faucet.   

 

Or, they are manually looking at each ACH transfer to see if there is enough info in the transfer to meet minimum ACH "IAT" requirements.   Or maybe they have a new line in the sand.  Or maybe since they are a "gateway" bank for funds outside the U.S. they are manually reviewing each non-IAT transfer and manually coding transfers as acceptable based on data they can see in their system like the person's account in Thailand which includes receiver info such as name, address, phone number, etc.  Doing something manually that allows them to comply US Treasurey/NACHA transfer requirements.

 

Will be interesting to see if non-IAT transfers initiated later in July continue to get through...if they do then something has shifted Bangkok Bank's latest 30 June line in the sand.

 

 

 

 

[how241]

59 minutes ago, Pib said:

maybe since they are a "gateway" bank for funds outside the U.S. they are manually reviewing each non-IAT transfer and manually coding transfers as acceptable based on data they can see in their system like the person's account in Thailand which includes receiver info such as name, address, phone number, etc.  Doing something manually that allows them to comply US Treasurey/NACHA transfer requirements.

I always thought they could or should do this as they already have the info they need, such as address and phone #'s.

[JimGant]

2 minutes ago, how241 said:

I always thought they could or should do this as they already have the info they need, such as address and phone #'s.

One data element is "purpose of transfer." Stupid question, easily sidestepped. But, nevertheless, part of the IAT data input. TransferWise, with its "pull" ACH system, even asks this question, thus satisfying the Fed IAT police. Maybe Bangkok Bank just skirts this with a flippant "to spend" input. As I recall -- and it's been awhile since I used TW -- their multiple option for "purpose" was about as enlightening. Anyway, maybe someone can contact BB NY and ask "what's up?"

[Pib]

I always thought they could or should do this as they already have the info they need, such as address and phone #'s.

I'm sure both you and I over our lifetimes have filled out many, many forms providing info/data that was already on file in one form or another with who ever that form was being filled out for--but we still had to complete the form for records purposes...us confirming it's still the latest and correct info versus info that might be outdated.

[how241]

4 minutes ago, Pib said:

24 minutes ago, how241 said:

I always thought they could or should do this as they already have the info they need, such as address and phone #'s.

I'm sure both you and I over our lifetimes have filled out many, many forms providing info/data that was already on file in one form or another with who ever that form was being filled out for--but we still had to complete the form for records purposes...us confirming it's still the latest and correct info versus info that might be outdated.

Yes,  you are correct but if Bangkok Bank doesn't want to lose a lot of its' transfer customers then they might want to  do some of this work.  As you know,  most all USA banks will not send the transfers using the new format. To the USA bank, this ach transfer is a internal(USA) transfer so they have no need to use this International format.  Bangkok Bank does have a reason to do it,  namely to keep making transfer money. Only they can decide if it is worth their time and trouble. 

[Pib]

1 hour ago, how241 said:

Yes,  you are correct but if Bangkok Bank doesn't want to lose a lot of its' transfer customers then they might want to  do some of this work.  As you know,  most all USA banks will not send the transfers using the new format. To the USA bank, this ach transfer is a internal(USA) transfer so they have no need to use this International format.  Bangkok Bank does have a reason to do it,  namely to keep making transfer money. Only they can decide if it is worth their time and trouble. 

No doubt Bangkok Bank wants to continue ACH transfers in domestic and IAT format.  But if the govt requires a specific format from the sending bank and will not accept any gateway/intermediary bank such as the NY branch hand massaging/manually modifying each transfer to supposedly make it comply I don't see how Bangkok Bank can continue to allow non-IAT past whatever no-kidding deadline exists. 

 

And there is no way Bangkok Bank NY could truthfully modify the entry where the sender is required to identify the reason for the transfer.  Of the multiple possible reasons Bangkok Bank would have to make one up which only by chance would turn out to be the true reason for the transfer.

 

I'm also wondering if several govt agencies still not able to do International Direct Deposit or ACH "IAT" transfers is not helping Bangkok Bank to continue to redraw its line in the sand to prevent impacting too many beneficiaries.  And this in turn allowing the bank to allow "all" non-IAT transfers to continue to flow such as an individual sending transferring from his US bank who does not use IAT format. 

 

If so, I can understand why Bangkok Bank don't want to say why it's still allowing non-IAT transfers...still shifting its line in sand.    I just can't see Bangkok Bank saying "never mind" what I told you below about rejecting non-IAT transfers...sorry I put the various notices on my website and send out letters saying such.  

 

I expect their shifting line in the sand will indeed turn into a high wall at some point sooner vs later.  Anyone who is still predominately or solely relying on using ACH transfers from their US bank to Bangkok Bank really needs to have an alternate method.

 

 

Edited July 3, 2019 by Pib

[JimGant]

12 hours ago, Pib said:

And there is no way Bangkok Bank NY could truthfully modify the entry where the sender is required to identify the reason for the transfer.  Of the multiple possible reasons Bangkok Bank would have to make one up which only by chance would turn out to be the true reason for the transfer

How about "to spend?"

[Pib]

2 hours ago, JimGant said:

How about "to spend?"

That would be a falsehood in your case as you already got so much money in Thai banks you can't spend it all...the interest keeps building up too fast.  That's why I wish you would let me come live with you....and help you "to spend."    ????

Edited July 4, 2019 by Pib

[lopburi3]

ACH from USAA to BBL New York and onward is still working as of request at 1729 yesterday and receipt into account here at 0921 today.

[JimGant]

51 minutes ago, lopburi3 said:

ACH from USAA to BBL New York and onward is still working as of request at 1729 yesterday and receipt into account here at 0921 today.

16 hour turnaround. Nice. USAA has always been efficient with its ACH transfers.

 

Bangkok Bank can't just be playing dumb. Yes, mechanically, there's nothing the Feds can impose that would prevent Bangkok Bank NY from forwarding domestic ACH transfers to Thailand. But the fines and jail time (unlikely) advertised for noncompliance certainly shouldn't allow BB NY to be so blatant...........so, something else going on here.

[Pib]

Per JimGant's query and Bangkok Bank's 12 July 2019 response shown below the new cut off dates are 1 Sep 2019 for personal transfers  and 1 Jan 2020 for govt/private pension payments.

 

 

[mania]

5 minutes ago, Pib said:

Per JimGant's query and Bangkok Bank's 12 July 2019 response shown below the new cut off dates are 1 Sep 2019 for personal transfers  and 1 Jan 2020 for govt/private pension payments.

Sorry if it has been said somewhere earlier in thread but... When you say 1 Sept 2019 for personal does that also mean we cannot transfer from our US banks thru Bangkok Banks NY after that either?

 

Thanks for any info

[Pib]

2 minutes ago, mania said:

Sorry if it has been said somewhere earlier in thread but... When you say 1 Sept 2019 for personal does that also mean we cannot transfer from our US banks thru Bangkok Banks NY after that either?

 

Thanks for any info

Correct.

[mania]

2 minutes ago, Pib said:

Correct.

Thank You

That is going to make things tough for quite a few ????

[hereforgood]

I initiated a transfer from my US Bank to Bangkok Bank New York on September 1st my ACH transfer cleared without a problem so are they going to cancel this or not it's pretty obvious it didn't stop on the 1st of September or mine wouldn't have went through

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[Pib]

I initiated a transfer from my US Bank to Bangkok Bank New York on September 1st my ACH transfer cleared without a problem so are they going to cancel this or not it's pretty obvious it didn't stop on the 1st of September or mine wouldn't have went through

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Personal ACH transfers from banks not in IAT are suppose to be rejected after 6 Sep.

Who is your US bank?

[hereforgood]

Personal ACH transfers from banks not in IAT are suppose to be rejected after 6 Sep.

Who is your US bank?

US bank

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[hereforgood]

Well did they extend the deadline yet again ? I just to check setup a transfer from US Bank in the States to BB NY on the 11th of this month and it was credited to my account just now. so I am assuming another extension?  

[Somewhere In Time]

'hereforgood', recommend you read the below taken from another thread, starting with post #757. 

 

Today (Monday, September 16, 2019) stands as Bangkok Bank New York Branch's latest "line in the sand".  Nothing new to report as of Pib's post #773 sent last night, and of this typing.

 

SIT

 

https://forum.thaivisa.com/topic/1050250-major-change-eff-1-apr-19-in-bangkok-bank-ach-transfers/?do=findComment&comment=14546428

[hereforgood]

The left hand does not know what the right one is doing I set up a transfer on the 23rd and it arrived 27th still allowed it seems no issues

[NancyL]

During the month of August and early September, as I did transfers between my U.S. credit union and various Bangkok Bank accounts using payees already set up, each one was accepted by Bangkok Bank, but the credit union received a notice from Bangkok Bank that they were in the incorrect format and would no longer be accepted in the future.  My credit union then disabled and wiped out the Bangkok Bank account from my online transfer list.  When I tried to set up a new transfer to a Bangkok Bank account, the credit union permitted it to be established, but Bangkok Bank refused the transfer.  

 

I have an acquaintance who banks with the United Nations credit union who just received a similar notice when trying to do his monthly transfer last week.  Bangkok Bank accepted it, but sent a notice to his credit union that it would no longer accept similar transfers in the future.