Bank Savings Interest Rates 2021

[orientalist]

LH Bank currently has a special interest rate of 12 months at 1.20% until the quota is filled.

 

[EricTh]

On 2/13/2022 at 3:45 PM, skatewash said:

I don't believe that is the case because an SCB EZ account is classed as a savings account and should therefore be eligible for the mandatory tax withholding on interest earned exception for account holders who register their Thai Tax ID with the account.

Also, reading the description of the SCB EZ Savings Account available at the SCB site in English, it seems they are aware of the exception to mandatory tax withholding on interest earned because they state it.

When I opened my EZ Savings account the clerk took notice of my Thai Tax ID Card, possibly associating it with my account.  Other people have said SCB told them they cannot associate Thai Tax ID numbers with a n EZ Savings account.  It will be June 25, 2022, or thereabouts until I will have first hand evidence of whether they withhold tax on interest earned or not as that is the first time interest will be paid into my account.

interest earned on any bank account in Thailand is taxable, whether mandatory tax withholding occurs depends on the type of account (no way to avoid on fixed deposits, avoidable on savings accounts if Thai Tax ID is associated with account and interest earned less than 20k).

It would be odd that EZ Savings accounts cannot have Thai Tax IDs associated with them because the SCB explains the exception to tax withholding.  It is possible, however.  This would NOT affect Thai account holders as their Thai National ID number is their Thai Tax ID number, therefore one field serves both purposes.  It's possible that the design of the software leaves foreigners out in the cold, that is, unable to associate their Thai Tax ID with the SCB EZ Savings account.  It would certainly be a less desirable account to foreigners if that's the case.

June 25 is already over. Did you check whether they deducted your interest?

 

 

[EricTh]

9 minutes ago, orientalist said:

LH Bank currently has a special interest rate of 12 months at 1.20% until the quota is filled.

 

Do you have to put in 12 months or can we withdraw anytime without penalty?

 

 

[skatewash]

13 minutes ago, orientalist said:

LH Bank currently has a special interest rate of 12 months at 1.20% until the quota is filled.

 

SCB's EZ Savings account (not a fixed rate account) is paying 1.5%.

[gamb00ler]

12 minutes ago, EricTh said:

Do you have to put in 12 months or can we withdraw anytime without penalty?

 

 

The LH Bank website shows a "special" fixed deposit account with the 1.2% on a 1 year term and 1.25% on a 15 month term.  That's probably what the poster was referring to.

Conditions:

Conditions for 12 and 15 months special time deposit products 1.For
individual customers only
2.Minimum deposit conditions
  2.1 Special 12
  -month time deposits.
  And each additional deposit is a minimum of 100,000 baht or more, and the total amount of deposits including single and/or joint accounts must not exceed 5,000,000 baht per customer (all branches/all channels combined) . Special 15 months
  for opening an account for the first time And each additional deposit is a minimum of 100,000 baht or more, and the total amount of deposits including single and/or joint accounts must not exceed 5,000,000 baht per customer (all branches/all channels combined)
. Interest on the maturity of the deposit
4. In the event that the depositor does not meet the conditions The bank reserves the right to reduce the interest rate of the said deposit account. equal to the general fixed deposit interest rate according to the original deposit period According to the deposit interest rate announcement on the deposit date
5. Principal withdrawal, withdraw the full amount of the deposit deposited. Partial withdrawals cannot be made.
6. Conditions for withdrawing money before maturity
      6.1 Deposit less than 3 months, the bank does not pay interest
      6.2 Deposit more than 3 months, but the deposit period is not due The Bank will pay interest based on the actual deposit period, at the rate
      of savings account deposit interest rate announced on the date of deposit for the same type of customers and withholding tax.
7. In the case of a fixed deposit due If the depositor does not come to withdraw or no other command or unable to contact the depositor, the bank will renew The deposit is a general time deposit, with a deposit period of 12 months, with interest rates according to the bank's announcement on the date of renewal of the deposit. and pay interest at the end of the deposit period
8.Deposit from 12 July – 30 September 2022 or the total deposit including campaign reaches 5,000 million baht.

 

[skatewash]

8 minutes ago, EricTh said:

June 25 is already over. Did you check whether they deducted your interest?

 

Mine got deducted.

As did mine.  I went to SCB requesting that they stop the withholding.  No can do, they said.  They noticed my Krungsri Bank passbook so I showed them that in that account (Mee Tae Dai Savings) that interest is paid monthly and there is no withholding.  I'm pretty sure they understood what I was trying to do and that Krungsri Bank was already doing it.  However, it seems that my SCB branch thinks they cannot stop the withholding or don't know how to do it.  Interestingly, another friend uses a different SCB branch near where I live and he does not have tax withheld on his EZ Savings account.  This leads me to to believe that SCB can stop withholding, but that my branch has reached the conclusion that they can't or won't.  I'm at the point where I think I will stop pushing my branch and just do a Thai Income Tax Return (PND-90) as I've done in the past and get my withheld tax returned.

[skatewash]

12 minutes ago, EricTh said:

Do you have to put in 12 months or can we withdraw anytime without penalty?

 

 

Sounds like a fixed (term) deposit to me.  Tax is always withheld on interest earned on fixed deposit accounts.  Generally, one can withdraw money at any time but suffers a loss of interest (that is, interest earned but not yet credited to the account for the amount withdrawn).  I don't know the specifics of the LH account mentioned.

[EricTh]

2 minutes ago, skatewash said:

As did mine.  I went to SCB requesting that they stop the withholding.  No can do, they said.  They noticed my Krungsri Bank passbook so I showed them that in that account (Mee Tae Dai Savings) that interest is paid monthly and there is no withholding.  I'm pretty sure they understood what I was trying to do and that Krungsri Bank was already doing it.  However, it seems that my SCB branch thinks they cannot stop the withholding or don't know how to do it.  Interestingly, another friend uses a different SCB branch near where I live and he does not have tax withheld on his EZ Savings account.  This leads me to to believe that SCB can stop withholding, but that my branch has reached the conclusion that they can't or won't.  I'm at the point where I think I will stop pushing my branch and just do a Thai Income Tax Return (PND-90) as I've done in the past and get my withheld tax returned.

I am in the same situation as you because my Krungsri account did not get tax deducted either.

 

I told people in this forum in the past that SCB told me that they will NOT deduct any tax (when I first opened the account) and there's no way to link my tax ID to my SCB online account.

 

Imagine the shock that I got when my account was tax deducted. It seems that SCB staff don't even know what is going on.

 

[EricTh]

7 minutes ago, gamb00ler said:

The LH Bank website shows a "special" fixed deposit account with the 1.2% on a 1 year term and 1.25% on a 15 month term.  That's probably what the poster was referring to.

 

 

To put this rate for 1 year is not advisable because interest rates are going up worldwide.

 

I do not believe in putting money for so long in case of emergencies for retirees with no income.

 

[gamb00ler]

@EricTh @skatewash have you tried politely requesting them to call Head Office to fix your tax withholding issues.  Perhaps mention that you "know" some SCB customers do NOT have tax withheld because their Tax ID is registered on their SCB account.

 

Expats not working in Thailand and whose only income will be from interest, will owe NO tax unless they earn over 200K in interest.  The first 20K ฿ in interest is tax exempt, plus there is a 30K ฿ personal exemption.  After you reduce your income by those two exemptions, if your taxable income is now less than 150K ฿, you pay no income tax.

 

[skatewash]

Just now, EricTh said:

I am in the same situation as you because my Krungsri account did not get tax deducted either.

 

I told people in this forum in the past that SCB told me that they will NOT deduct any tax (when I first opened the account) and there's no way to link my tax ID to my SCB online account.

 

Imagine the shock that I got when my account was tax deducted. It seems that SCB staff don't even know what is going on.

 

I've speculated in the past that there is in fact a trick that has to be done for SCB not to withhold tax on interest earned for foreigners (i.e., those who don't have a Thai National ID number).  Thais are unaffected as they register their account with their Thai National ID number.  Foreigners can try to have their Thai Tax ID associated with their accounts but apparently this process is non-obvious.  Some SCB branches have apparently figured out where to put the Thai Tax ID for foreigners such that the waiver of tax withholding works, whereas other branches have not figured out this trick.  Just speculation but it would make sense to me that this might be the problem.

[EricTh]

7 minutes ago, gamb00ler said:

@EricTh @skatewash have you tried politely requesting them to call Head Office to fix your tax withholding issues.  Perhaps mention that you "know" some SCB customers do NOT have tax withheld because their Tax ID is registered on their SCB account.

 

 

Yes, I have but they did not believe me; they even thought that I did not understand what they are saying.lol

 

In fact, two staff members chipped in to 'confirm' that my account will not be tax deducted unlike a fixed deposit account.

 

This is a branch at Central Festival in Chiang Mai which is a large branch.

[skatewash]

1 minute ago, gamb00ler said:

@EricTh @skatewash have you tried politely requesting them to call Head Office to fix your tax withholding issues.  Perhaps mention that you "know" some SCB customers do NOT have tax withheld because their Tax ID is registered on their SCB account.

 

This is the right way to go about fixing the problem.  But I'm lazy and not willing to do this when I have an alternative that works for me now.  I made an attempt at getting the tax withholding waived when I first opened the account.  I returned after I saw they actually did withhold the tax on interest earned and attempted to get the tax withholding waived again.  They told me that was not possible (which I don't believe) but I'm not motivated to pursue the matter further myself.  I pick my battles, and this doesn't make the list (for me). ????

[gamb00ler]

Just now, EricTh said:

This is a branch at Central Festival in Chiang Mai which is a large branch.

Try driving down the street to the Big C that is further South than the Big C Extra.  That's where my SCB account was opened.  I have no tax withheld so at least someone at that branch knows what to do.

[EricTh]

3 minutes ago, gamb00ler said:

Try driving down the street to the Big C that is further South than the Big C Extra.  That's where my SCB account was opened.  I have no tax withheld so at least someone at that branch knows what to do.

I remembered many months ago that I did that because you informed us in this forum.

 

When I reached there many months ago, there were many blank faces when I asked them to link my tax id to my bank account.

 

They said there's no such thing so I gave up....

 

 

[orientalist]

1 hour ago, skatewash said:

SCB's EZ Savings account (not a fixed rate account) is paying 1.5%.

I tried to sign up a few months ago but they refused me because a foreigner with blue tabien baan and PR is not on their list of allowable applicants. <deleted>. Also they couldn't find my previous SCB account in their system. However, I just found my 1990s SCB pass book so I might go back and spit in their eye. Or maybe try a different branch.

 

My former Thai colleagues told me they don't feel comfortable having an account with no passbook but there is usually a way to print your own records. Does an EZ account allow you to request a statement via email?

[skatewash]

10 minutes ago, orientalist said:

I tried to sign up a few months ago but they refused me because a foreigner with blue tabien baan and PR is not on their list of allowable applicants. <deleted>. Also they couldn't find my previous SCB account in their system. However, I just found my 1990s SCB pass book so I might go back and spit in their eye. Or maybe try a different branch.

 

My former Thai colleagues told me they don't feel comfortable having an account with no passbook but there is usually a way to print your own records. Does an EZ account allow you to request a statement via email?

SCB sends me an e-statement every month in the form of a pdf file attached to an email.  You can see all activity in your account online from their website or from the SCB app on your phone.

[walailak]

11 minutes ago, orientalist said:

I tried to sign up a few months ago but they refused me because a foreigner with blue tabien baan and PR is not on their list of allowable applicants. <deleted>. Also they couldn't find my previous SCB account in their system. However, I just found my 1990s SCB pass book so I might go back and spit in their eye. Or maybe try a different branch.

 

My former Thai colleagues told me they don't feel comfortable having an account with no passbook but there is usually a way to print your own records. Does an EZ account allow you to request a statement via email?

I opened EZ account with my yellow book and pink id recently so I m very suprised hearing you were not successful. 

Yes you can request a statement via email pllus the email you one evert month if you have successfully verified your email through the app. Hope this helps 

[orientalist]

21 minutes ago, walailak said:

I opened EZ account with my yellow book and pink id recently so I m very suprised hearing you were not successful. 

Yes you can request a statement via email pllus the email you one evert month if you have successfully verified your email through the app. Hope this helps 

Yes, I was surprised too. The yellow tabien baan was on their list, but not the blue one. So few of us have PR that at times it seems like a curse. Anyway, I now have my old SCB passbooks so I'll go back and try again.

[gamb00ler]

1 hour ago, orientalist said:

Does an EZ account allow you to request a statement via email?

Yes... I can request statements for multiple months using the smartphone app and it is sent via e-mail.

If you don't have any transactions in a month, the statement is rather useless because it doesn't show the balance at all.  Just in case I need statements showing the balance printed for Immigration I do a small transfer in or out if no other activity.

51 minutes ago, skatewash said:

SCB sends me an e-statement every month in the form of a pdf file attached to an email.  

I have to request a statement.  Are yours sent automatically?  Sometimes I get an emailed statement that I didn't request... but those are all in Thai.

[skatewash]

22 minutes ago, gamb00ler said:

Yes... I can request statements for multiple months using the smartphone app and it is sent via e-mail.

If you don't have any transactions in a month, the statement is rather useless because it doesn't show the balance at all.  Just in case I need statements showing the balance printed for Immigration I do a small transfer in or out if no other activity.

I have to request a statement.  Are yours sent automatically?  Sometimes I get an emailed statement that I didn't request... but those are all in Thai.

Mine are sent automatically.  The first half of the email is in Thai, the second half in English.  The e-statement shows the balance like a normal balance statement (as the passbook would as well if there were a passbook).  I don't remember having to request the e-statement but that's possible I did when I first logged onto the account.  I usually request all the email notifications I can get on an account.  For example, I get an email notification whenever I log onto my account or use the QR scan code to purchase something in a store.

[dinga]

12 hours ago, orientalist said:

I tried to sign up a few months ago but they refused me because a foreigner with blue tabien baan and PR is not on their list of allowable applicants. <deleted>. Also they couldn't find my previous SCB account in their system. However, I just found my 1990s SCB pass book so I might go back and spit in their eye. Or maybe try a different branch.

 

My former Thai colleagues told me they don't feel comfortable having an account with no passbook but there is usually a way to print your own records. Does an EZ account allow you to request a statement via email?

I'm the same as you with PR and Blue TB.  It took me 5 visits to the Klaeng Branch of SCB to open an EZ Account (bl**dy frustrating, but keep at it and you'll be successful)

 

[orientalist]

2 hours ago, dinga said:

I'm the same as you with PR and Blue TB.  It took me 5 visits to the Klaeng Branch of SCB to open an EZ Account (bl**dy frustrating, but keep at it and you'll be successful)

 

How did you manage to do it in the end? My local branch was adamant that if blue tabien baan wasn't on their list and I hadn't previously had an account with them, I couldn't apply.

[orientalist]

Regarding the waiving of withholding tax for these "tax-free" accounts, it seems foreigners must prove they pay or are liable for tax in Thailand. For us that means showing them a Thai tax card.

 

My particular problem is that I got my first tax ID 40 years ago when they were only 10 digits. I still have that Tax card. When they changed the IDs to be the same as the Thai ID card 13-digit number, they allocated me a new 13-digit ID but didn't send me a new card. Meanwhile, I got PR and a new Thai ID which is different from the tax ID. Nothing matches. Krungsri accepted my annual tax receipt as proof of Tax ID with 13-digit number, but I really need to get the tax ID changed to my tabien baan ID.

[JimmyJ]

Who is eligible for a Thai Tax ID card and how does one obtain it?

[JimmyJ]

17 hours ago, EricTh said:

 

To put this rate for 1 year is not advisable because interest rates are going up worldwide.

 

I do not believe in putting money for so long in case of emergencies for retirees with no income.

 

One USA bank is currently at 2.30% for a standard Savings Account, 4 - 5 more at 2.25 to 2.28%.

 

(2 were offering 2.55% and 2.53% but stopped accepting new applicants).

[dinga]

1 hour ago, orientalist said:

How did you manage to do it in the end? My local branch was adamant that if blue tabien baan wasn't on their list and I hadn't previously had an account with them, I couldn't apply.

Persistence....  started off with the same "reason" you were rejected [yes, our circumstances have clearly been omitted in error and it really is astounding that the Branch staff are seemingly unable to recognise that, and act logically ....  I had the same problem when I wanted to open a joint K-Bank Account with my wife - despite being a long term customer with a couple of current accounts, my request was initially declined by Ban Phe Branch even though both of us had accounts there.  It's absolute madness that was only corrected after I directly emailed KBank HQ].

 

As for the SCB EZ Account, after they checked a couple of times with their HQ, they finally agreed to let me open two Accounts (Savings Account and the EZ  -my 1st ones with SCB)  -  after approval, I had a few more wasted visits due to administrative deficiencies at the Branch (a suspicious person might think these impediments were deliberate...).  For this pig-head,  it was a matter of principle to eventually succeed.

 

Chok Dee 

 

 

[keithsimmonds]

18 hours ago, skatewash said:

SCB's EZ Savings account (not a fixed rate account) is paying 1.5%.

This rate is only up to 1mil baht isn,t it?

[skatewash]

4 minutes ago, keithsimmonds said:

This rate is only up to 1mil baht isn,t it?

Yes, drops to 0.5% above 1 million baht.  Page 1 of

https://www.scb.co.th/content/dam/scb/personal-banking/rates-fees/deposits/deposit-en.pdf

Also, Thai deposit insurance also only covers up to 1 million baht.

[orientalist]

3 hours ago, dinga said:

Persistence....  started off with the same "reason" you were rejected [yes, our circumstances have clearly been omitted in error and it really is astounding that the Branch staff are seemingly unable to recognise that, and act logically ....  I had the same problem when I wanted to open a joint K-Bank Account with my wife - despite being a long term customer with a couple of current accounts, my request was initially declined by Ban Phe Branch even though both of us had accounts there.  It's absolute madness that was only corrected after I directly emailed KBank HQ].

 

As for the SCB EZ Account, after they checked a couple of times with their HQ, they finally agreed to let me open two Accounts (Savings Account and the EZ  -my 1st ones with SCB)  -  after approval, I had a few more wasted visits due to administrative deficiencies at the Branch (a suspicious person might think these impediments were deliberate...).  For this pig-head,  it was a matter of principle to eventually succeed.

 

Chok Dee 

 

 

Well, I went to the Terminal 21 branch and after a bit of confusion ("Do you have an address in Thailand? Do you have a Thai phone number?") they just photocopied everything I had and sent it to HQ for approval. They will call me in 3 business days. All fairly painless and I am in no particular hurry. This time I spoke only English and was dressed pretty much like a tourist, so I guess that's why they were confused initially.