Sterling & Exchange Rates

[Tafia]

I'm sure these questions have been asked many times but....

1. Can you deposit a UK (N.Wide) cheque into your deposit account in LOS?

2.Is there a charge?

3.When transferring by Swift...I am assuming it is better to transfer in sterling and have the Thai Bank convert?

4. Is there a charge? if so.. is there a limit without charge?

5. What is the difference between offshore on onshore?

6. Why does the Thaivisa exchange show a rate of 68B > £ when XE.com shows it at 64? How do you get a true reading?

[Steve2UK]

I'm sure these questions have been asked many times but....

1. Can you deposit a UK (N.Wide) cheque into your deposit account in LOS?

2.Is there a charge?

3.When transferring by Swift...I am assuming it is better to transfer in sterling and have the Thai Bank convert?

4. Is there a charge? if so.. is there a limit without charge?

5. What is the difference between offshore on onshore?

6. Why does the Thaivisa exchange show a rate of 68B > £ when XE.com shows it at 64? How do you get a true reading?

3. Yes - the rate within Thailand is almost invariably better.

6. For some two months now there has been a divergence between rates quoted outside and inside Thailand - I see the same when I check exchangerate.com. I believe the Thaivisa rate is taken from the mid-point of Bangkok Bank rates and therefore reflects what you'll actually get in Thailand. As it happens, it also matches what Nationwide use as an exchange rate for ATM withdrawals I make in Thailand.

Sorry, can't help you with the other points.

[Maestro]

1. Yes.

2. Yes. Your Thai bank charges a fee, check with them how much; it probably is on their website.

3. Remitting GBP gives you a better rate.

4. Yes. Your UK bank charges a fee, check with them how much. Your Thai bank charges a fee, check with them how much; it probably is on their website.

5. If you ask your UK bank to remit Baht, the offshore rate is the rate your bank uses to convert the Baht amount to debit your account in GBP. Ask your bank what rate it uses.

6. Forget about the xe.com rate. Whichever way you handle your transfer to Thailand, it will not apply to your situation. I have not seen an explanation of how ThaiVisa calculates its rate but it looks very much like the average of the buying and selling rates for SWIFT (in the currency exchange lists of Thai banks usually referred to as TT)

--

Maestro

[Martin_F]

Just on exchange rates and ATMs if you use an overseas ATM card in Thailand what rate is used the local onshare rate or the offshore rate?

[billd766]

Just on exchange rates and ATMs if you use an overseas ATM card in Thailand what rate is used the local onshare rate or the offshore rate?

I drew 10,000 baht from the ATM on Thursday and when I looked at my statement on Friday the exchange rate was 65.74 something baht to the pound sterling.

Also for some reason the bank blocked my card for a security check because it was used in Thailand.

I called the bank and explained that it would have been used here because I LIVE HERE you numbnut.

duh

[Maestro]

I drew 10,000 baht from the ATM on Thursday and when I looked at my statement on Friday the exchange rate was 65.74 something baht to the pound sterling.

Are you quite sure that 65.74 was the exchange rate? Does your bank statement say so? Or is it that your bank account was debited with something like GBP 152.11, you divided 10,000 by 152.11, arrived at 65.74 and you assumed that this was the exchange rate?

You see, there can be a difference, depending on your UK bank. For example, if your bank charges you GBP 4.00 for an ATM withdrawal outside the UK, then the exchange rate was 10,000/148.11 = 67.52

--

Maestro

[Tafia]

I drew 10,000 baht from the ATM on Thursday and when I looked at my statement on Friday the exchange rate was 65.74 something baht to the pound sterling.

Are you quite sure that 65.74 was the exchange rate? Does your bank statement say so? Or is it that your bank account was debited with something like GBP 152.11, you divided 10,000 by 152.11, arrived at 65.74 and you assumed that this was the exchange rate?

You see, there can be a difference, depending on your UK bank. For example, if your bank charges you GBP 4.00 for an ATM withdrawal outside the UK, then the exchange rate was 10,000/148.11 = 67.52

--

Maestro

Thanks for the info...to my knowledge Nationwide is the only UK bank that does NOT charge to use your ATM card abroad.

[Tafia]

1. Yes.

2. Yes. Your Thai bank charges a fee, check with them how much; it probably is on their website.

3. Remitting GBP gives you a better rate.

4. Yes. Your UK bank charges a fee, check with them how much. Your Thai bank charges a fee, check with them how much; it probably is on their website.

5. If you ask your UK bank to remit Baht, the offshore rate is the rate your bank uses to convert the Baht amount to debit your account in GBP. Ask your bank what rate it uses.

6. Forget about the xe.com rate. Whichever way you handle your transfer to Thailand, it will not apply to your situation. I have not seen an explanation of how ThaiVisa calculates its rate but it looks very much like the average of the buying and selling rates for SWIFT (in the currency exchange lists of Thai banks usually referred to as TT)

--

Maestro

Thanks Maestro, I take it depositing a cheque for a large sum in £ and allowing the bank to convert would be cheaper than SWIFT?

[Martin_F]

I drew 10,000 baht from the ATM on Thursday and when I looked at my statement on Friday the exchange rate was 65.74 something baht to the pound sterling.

Are you quite sure that 65.74 was the exchange rate? Does your bank statement say so? Or is it that your bank account was debited with something like GBP 152.11, you divided 10,000 by 152.11, arrived at 65.74 and you assumed that this was the exchange rate?

You see, there can be a difference, depending on your UK bank. For example, if your bank charges you GBP 4.00 for an ATM withdrawal outside the UK, then the exchange rate was 10,000/148.11 = 67.52

--

Maestro

Thanks for the info...to my knowledge Nationwide is the only UK bank that does NOT charge to use your ATM card abroad.

What I suspected the offshore rate.

I believe that the Nationwide is the only or one of the few to give free o/seas transactions. A great service.

[topfield]

I'm sure these questions have been asked many times but....

1. Can you deposit a UK (N.Wide) cheque into your deposit account in LOS?

2.Is there a charge?

3.When transferring by Swift...I am assuming it is better to transfer in sterling and have the Thai Bank convert?

4. Is there a charge? if so.. is there a limit without charge?

5. What is the difference between offshore on onshore?

6. Why does the Thaivisa exchange show a rate of 68B > £ when XE.com shows it at 64? How do you get a true reading?

Question No 4 Is there a charge? if so.. is there a limit without charge

Now you really have opened a can of worms and inadvertently touched on the biggest racket/ scandal in international banking today . Rip off is an understatement !

Am refering to so called "correspondence fees ' If you dont know what these are they are fees which the sender HAS to pay to a third and often unknown bank for passing on the funds to another bank..

Why a rip off ? Firstly the remitting bank (RB) will tell you what their own fees are...but not what the fees of the correspondent bank (CB) are...they will say they dont know. Even worse if you know who the CB is and call them to ask they will refuse to tell you giving the reason that they have private confidential arrangements with the RB.

What are the fees in practice they charge...might be $20 ...if you're lucky...or may be $40..you dont know.

Furthermore the remitting bank will often send the funds through a 'favourite' CB and you can be pretty sure the fee is split between the RB and the CB .

I have seen many cases of the RB sending funds through the CB unnecessarily ie when the could send via a branch of their own . Also a RB will pass on charges from the CB when its the same bank in order to get two fees for the group As a CB is in fact acting as agent of the RB they cannot do this legally as a principal cannot be agent of the same principal...they are one.

Ie Standard Chartered has an office in London AND in Singapore . For historical reasons Singapore Stanchart is not a subsidiary but the same bank . Therefore Stanchart Singapore cannot be the AGENT of Stanchart London. therefore no AGENCY fees may be charged for passing on the funds . Ive agued this one before and got the fees refunded but other might not know and be charged.

I reckon banks make hundreds of millions each year through these totally opaque fees but was unable to do anything about it. Like the unlawful penalties UK banks are now charging their customers this is an absolute scandal as you can do little about it.

The only possible way out is to find the name of the receiving bank and then search for an RB which has a no fee arrangement with the receiving bank and tt the funds that way if you can. . Not an east task.

[Maestro]

Thanks Maestro, I take it depositing a cheque for a large sum in £ and allowing the bank to convert would be cheaper than SWIFT?

It depends. You get a lower exchange rate for a cheque. Look, for example, at the buying rates of Bangkok Bank (BBL) for cheques (I believe the rate quoted for Sight Bills applies) and SWIFT (TT).

Your Thai bank’s charges are probably the same for a cheque deposit and an inward SWIFT remittance; with BBL it is 0.25%, minimum THB 200, maximum THB 500. As to your UK bank’s charges, for a SWIFT remittance your bank probably charges between GBP 18 and GBP 22, depending on the bank. If with cheque you mean a Demand Draft, you have to find out from your UK bank what fee applies. If you mean a personal cheque drawn on your UK account, you have to find out if your UK bank charges a fee.

A personal cheque will take several weeks to clear, ie for the money to get credited to your Thai account; don’t know about a Demand Draft.

--

Maestro

[topfield]

I'm sure these questions have been asked many times but....

1. Can you deposit a UK (N.Wide) cheque into your deposit account in LOS?

2.Is there a charge?

3.When transferring by Swift...I am assuming it is better to transfer in sterling and have the Thai Bank convert?

4. Is there a charge? if so.. is there a limit without charge?

5. What is the difference between offshore on onshore?

6. Why does the Thaivisa exchange show a rate of 68B > £ when XE.com shows it at 64? How do you get a true reading?

Question No 4 Is there a charge? if so.. is there a limit without charge

Now you really have opened a can of worms and inadvertently touched on the biggest racket/ scandal in international banking today . Rip off is an understatement !

Am refering to so called "correspondence fees ' If you dont know what these are they are fees which the sender HAS to pay to a third and often unknown bank for passing on the funds to another bank..

Why a rip off ? Firstly the remitting bank (RB) will tell you what their own fees are...but not what the fees of the correspondent bank (CB) are...they will say they dont know. Even worse if you know who the CB is and call them to ask they will refuse to tell you giving the reason that they have private confidential arrangements with the RB.

What are the fees in practice they charge...might be $20 ...if you're lucky...or may be $40..you dont know.

Furthermore the remitting bank will often send the funds through a 'favourite' CB and you can be pretty sure the fee is split between the RB and the CB .

I have seen many cases of the RB sending funds through the CB unnecessarily ie when the could send via a branch of their own . Also a RB will pass on charges from the CB when its the same bank in order to get two fees for the group As a CB is in fact acting as agent of the RB they cannot do this legally as a principal cannot be agent of the same principal...they are one.

Ie Standard Chartered has an office in London AND in Singapore . For historical reasons Singapore Stanchart is not a subsidiary but the same bank . Therefore Stanchart Singapore cannot be the AGENT of Stanchart London. therefore no AGENCY fees may be charged for passing on the funds . Ive agued this one before and got the fees refunded but other might not know and be charged.

I reckon banks make hundreds of millions each year through these totally opaque fees but was unable to do anything about it. Like the unlawful penalties UK banks are now charging their customers this is an absolute scandal as you can do little about it.

The only possible way out is to find the name of the receiving bank and then search for an RB which has a no fee arrangement with the receiving bank and tt the funds that way if you can. . Not an east task.

Sorry.a small spelling error......I meant correspondents’ fees not correspondence fees !