Transferwise - only for transferring small amounts?

[WorriedNoodle]

I just tested out Transferwise, worked well, got money in Thai bank within hours but the fees don't look that good to me unless transferring under 5000USD?

 

My Citibank charges me 40USD on any USD amount transferred and the Thai bank forex rate isn't too much different to rates on a given day receiving the transfer.

 

Transferwise charges by a percentage so the fees can go into hundreds of USD or more?

 

Am I missing something?

 

For me I will continue to use Transferwise for small transfers, but otherwise not unless I hear otherwise.

[Moonlover]

It's up to each individual to assess larger transfers by making a comparison between TransferWise and alternative methods.

 

You're not missing anything. I'm a T/W fan, but I know that for larger transfers they are not always the best option.

 

Having said that, when making a comparison, do take into account the difference in exchange rates and the possibility of a receiving fee by the destination bank.

 

[Stocky]

It depends on the currency. So advisable to build a spreadsheet of quotes and see what works and if there's an upper limit to any benefit.

 

I transfer Singapore Dollars, and for me Transferwise wins every time because of the difference in exchange rates. The percentage charge from Transferwise falls from 0.85% to 0.65% between 1 to 25k SGD, after that it remains at 0.65%. HSBC charge SGD30 regardless the amount. But the disparity between exchange rates means that even though a transfer of SGD100k would attract a fee from Transferwise of SGD650 I would still save some Bht18,000 on the transfer. 

[prchunter]

Yes, Thai banks in general make their money on 3 charges.  The first two are transfer fee and foreign deposit fee which are transparent.  However where they really get you is on the exchange rate which could be 3-5% lower then TW exchange rate.  So if I wired in 10,000 HKD to my K bank account.  I would be getting roughly 37330 baht plus whatever the transfer fee is plus whatever the deposit fee is.  Using TW I get 38400 bhat which is 1000baht more without the deposit fee.  Even though I still have to pay a portion of the transfer fee which my HK bank charges.  Hopefully I made sense.