U.S. topic -- Is there any reason to keep Bangok Bank account open now that ACH transfers are gone?

[Langsuan Man]

22 hours ago, cmarshall said:

Has that changed?  I applied for and received emeritus status in Aug. although I have never been an employee of the federal government.  My SDFCU account had been open for two years by that time.

I based my information on when I applied for my SDFCU account 14 years ago since at the time they offered the lowest cost for International SWIFT wires (now they are one of the highest)

 

But if memory serves me correctly at that time you also had to be a present or former employee to join,  none of this joining a association to enable membership using a foreign address  

[cmarshall]

57 minutes ago, Langsuan Man said:

I based my information on when I applied for my SDFCU account 14 years ago since at the time they offered the lowest cost for International SWIFT wires (now they are one of the highest)

 

But if memory serves me correctly at that time you also had to be a present or former employee to join,  none of this joining a association to enable membership using a foreign address  

So they changed.  The fact that they dropped the State Dept. employment requirement and explicitly opened up membership to expats seems to indicate that they need more customers.

[gamb00ler]

SDFCU replied pretty quickly to my e-mail inquiry.

 

Dear gamb00ler,

 

Thank you for your email. We truly appreciate this opportunity to assist you.

 Retired members that have their retirement benefits direct deposited into their SDFCU account or those who are able to keep $2500 on hold in the regular Savings account, qualify for our Member Emeritus service which provides domestic wire transfers at $6.00 and free SDFCU logo checks.  Once your retirement takes place and your benefits have direct deposited, please let us know and the account can be designated  Member Emeritus.

[AAArdvark]

7 hours ago, gamb00ler said:

SDFCU replied pretty quickly to my e-mail inquiry.

 

Dear gamb00ler,

 

Thank you for your email. We truly appreciate this opportunity to assist you.

 Retired members that have their retirement benefits direct deposited into their SDFCU account or those who are able to keep $2500 on hold in the regular Savings account, qualify for our Member Emeritus service which provides domestic wire transfers at $6.00 and free SDFCU logo checks.  Once your retirement takes place and your benefits have direct deposited, please let us know and the account can be designated  Member Emeritus.

So is there a reason that Emeritus status is better than a simple Advantage account?

[Pib]

3 hours ago, AAArdvark said:

So is there a reason that Emeritus status is better than a simple Advantage account?

The Advantage acct does not get the reduced domestic wire fee.    But the Advantage checking acct pays higher interest than the regular Savings acct.  But the Money Market accts pay higher interest than the Advantage checking if you are looking for higher interest.  What account(s) you sign up for depends on what you need/desire....that is, do you want the highest interest possible (maybe that's you highest concern), do you need a checking acct vs a savings acct, do you do frequent wire transfers, etc. 

 

If you are someone who would like to use a domestic wire to route funds to/thru Bangkok Bank NY then having Emeritus membership to get domestic wires at $6 a pop versus the regular domestic wire fee of $20 a pop then giving up some interest by keeping at least $2,500 in a regular savings acct might be a better deal.  12 transfers per year at $6 equals $72/yr in wire fees...whereas, at $20 per transfer that's equals $240/yr...$168 more than what a Emeritus member would pay....that $168 savings per year would more than offset lower interest of maintaining at least $2,500 in a Savings acct.  

 

Yeap, all depends on what you need out of bank acct....very common that a person may need different accts/status at a bank to get the "most benefits"....that is, may need a savings acct, may need an XYZ acct with a certain minimum balance, and/or may need a direct deposit, etc.  

 

 

[AAArdvark]

2 hours ago, Pib said:

Yeap, all depends on what you need out of bank acct....very common that a person may need different accts/status at a bank to get the "most benefits"....that is, may need a savings acct, may need an XYZ acct with a certain minimum balance, and/or may need a direct deposit, etc.  

Thanks, I will not need domestic wire transfers for the next month or so. I will not be using any Thai banks after February.  However, I will be transferring via Transferwise via ACH.  As soon as I get some more money into my account, I will call them and discuss the pros and cons.

[Pib]

On 12/24/2019 at 1:06 AM, gamb00ler said:

SDFCU replied pretty quickly to my e-mail inquiry.

 

Dear gamb00ler,

 

Thank you for your email. We truly appreciate this opportunity to assist you.

 Retired members that have their retirement benefits direct deposited into their SDFCU account or those who are able to keep $2500 on hold in the regular Savings account, qualify for our Member Emeritus service which provides domestic wire transfers at $6.00 and free SDFCU logo checks.  Once your retirement takes place and your benefits have direct deposited, please let us know and the account can be designated  Member Emeritus.

After reading your response I decided to contact SDFCU again to ask which type savings acct(s) qualify for Emeritus status if you are not using a retirement direct deposit which also qualifies you.   I wanted to ask "again"...I asked once via telephone call several months ago...and the SDFCU rep said during the call "any" savings-type acct like even having at least $2,500 in a Money Management acct which is a money market type of acct that pays twice the interest of the Regular Share Savings acct.   I told the rep your website sayings "savings" acct...and the rep said that really meant any type of savings type acct to include the Money Management acct I also have.  But for some reason I never felt comfortable with that answer (it was just his tone of voice like maybe he wasn't 100%-sure but was trying to act like he was absolutely sure).  So I kept a little over $2,500 in the Regular Share Savings acct anyway versus moving most of it to my Money Management acct....turns out glad I did based on my most recent email with SDFCU. 

 

Anyway, yesterday I sent them a secure email asking the question again since I could no longer find any info on their webpage...specifically asking if not doing direct deposit of your retirement pay which types of accts qualify along with specific examples like does the Money Management or Checking acct qualify....or was it only the Regular Share Savings acct.  They responded today...below is a partial quote of their reply.  Summary: the $2,500 needs to be in a Regular Share Savings in order to maintain the Emeritus status. 

 

And as I mentioned earlier that assumes you are not doing a retirement pay direct deposit which also qualifies a person for Emeritus membership.  So, if wanting to get Emeritus membership $6 domestic wire transfers you will need to keep at least $2,500 in your Regular Share Savings or direct deposit of your retirement/pension pay.  

 

SDFCU Response partial quote.

 

Quote

 

Thank you for your email.  We appreciate this opportunity to assist you.

 You will need to maintain a balance of $2,500 in your Regular Share Savings account.