Fund transfer from TH to Interactive Brokers Account

[NomisC]

Hi all.

 

Im a foreigner (Non US) working in Thailand and I recently opened an account in Interactive Brokers to invest in US stocks. Account opening was easy, but when I tried wire transferring my money in K bank to my IB account, the transfer could not succeed. (The only stated issue was that the account information was incorrect). Is there anybody who uses interactive brokers for their investment in US? It would be great to hear some advice on transferring money between Thai bank and IB Account. (Preferred bank to do the transfer, receive withdrawal, etc.)

 

Thx in advance.

[oceanbluejewell]

You will need to verify the SWIFT CODE for interactive brokers. Once you confident that you have correct swift code, most banks can make the transfer for you. Unfortunately often this is not done correctly by Thai-Banks so I use a third party FX exchange service to make the transfer. The important part of the transaction is not just getting the money to Interactive Brokers but credited to your account with them. A quick search shows:

that IBKRUS33 - SWIFT Code (BIC) - INTERACTIVE BROKERS LLC in GREENWICH,CT - UNITED STATES

BIC / Swift Code IBKRUS33 is the unique bank identifier for INTERACTIVE BROKERS LLC's head office branch located in GREENWICH,CT - UNITED STATES and it's used to verify financial transactions such as a bank wire transfers (international wire transfers). BUT YOU SHOULD VERIFY WITH Interactive Brokers.

I use a third party foreign exchange service for the THB to USD and then transfer and deposit for me.

  TransferWise

or XE Transfer

I have more favorable choice on the exchange and when moving money USD->THB or THB->CAD and then to the investment accounts.

I also recommend a small initial amount as a test.

IB has a video to teach you how here How to by IB

Hope this helps

I am not an investment professional; consult your professional investment advisor and/or legal counsel and/or professional accountant before making any investment decision. While all reasonable effort is made to ensure the accuracy of information and data contained herein, accuracy cannot be guaranteed. Past performance is not a good predictor of future performance. Results are not guaranteed and I assume no liability whatsoever for any material losses that may occur. No compensation for suggesting particular securities or financial advisors is solicited or accepted. The information in this document is not intended to be educational, nor does it constitute financial advice nor is it a suggestion or recommendation. Investing is risky and may result in substantial losses.~ OceanBlueJewell

[NomisC]

Thank you for your great response.

 

When I made the deposit notification with IBKR, they gave me the wire transfer instruction, which contained the swift code for Citibank: CITIUS33XXX. Somehow, though, the bank account title and address was under IB, with the address you mentioned above. It confuses me more that IBKR actually has its own swift code, but that wasnt the one included in the deposit instruction...

 

When putting in the international remittance request form, would it be correct to put Interactive Brokers LLC as the bank account name, rather than my own name? 

[timendres]

15 minutes ago, NomisC said:

Thank you for your great response.

 

When I made the deposit notification with IBKR, they gave me the wire transfer instruction, which contained the swift code for Citibank: CITIUS33XXX. Somehow, though, the bank account title and address was under IB, with the address you mentioned above. It confuses me more that IBKR actually has its own swift code, but that wasnt the one included in the deposit instruction...

 

When putting in the international remittance request form, would it be correct to put Interactive Brokers LLC as the bank account name, rather than my own name? 

I would think that if you were depositing directly to IB's SWIFT account, then your name should be the account name. But if the SWIFT code is for Citibank, then they are acting as an intermediary, and then it might be different. In that case, you may need to use IB as the account name, with a secondary piece of information indicating the account at IB that the funds are intended for. You really should call IB support on this one, as it is quite confusing. 

[NomisC]

Hi all. I was able to successfully transfer my fund to IBKR, thanks to your help.

 

I used UOB, and the transfer fee was about THB600. I used the beneficiary information solely from what was given in IBKR's deposit notification/instruction. I used the UOB's internet banking, registered the overseas beneficiary (i.e. IBKR), and transfer it out of my saving account. There was no need to provide any document to register or transfer the money to IBKR (probably because my transfer amount was below the reporting requirement threshold stipulated by Bank of Thailand..?) and the money went through in 3 hours.

 

Thank you all for your kind insights!

[timendres]

4 minutes ago, NomisC said:

Hi all. I was able to successfully transfer my fund to IBKR, thanks to your help.

 

I used UOB, and the transfer fee was about THB600. I used the beneficiary information solely from what was given in IBKR's deposit notification/instruction. I used the UOB's internet banking, registered the overseas beneficiary (i.e. IBKR), and transfer it out of my saving account. There was no need to provide any document to register or transfer the money to IBKR (probably because my transfer amount was below the reporting requirement threshold stipulated by Bank of Thailand..?) and the money went through in 3 hours.

 

Thank you all for your kind insights!

Thank you for the follow up on this.

 

Do you know how IB was able to link the transfer to your account?

Did they use the "origin" information, or did you add information to the transfer instructions to make it clear to them?

[NomisC]

Basically, my deposit instruction provided the beneficiary bank of Citibank in US, and my bank account number was a Virtual Account Number (VAN), with its title and address set to IBKR. In other words, the VAN is under the name of IBKR, and the address is its head office in Greenwich, Connecticut. What I can infer is that IBKR creates VAN using Citibank for each individual using their service, and once we direct our outward remittance to the assigned VAN, Citibank will process the inward remittance and deposit into IBKR's corporate account. The reason for why it's important to make a deposit notification is for IBKR to verify who and which account the deposits are made/dedicated to, so that they can allocate the deposit to the appropriate VAN.

 

It's just top of my head guess of what's happening with IBKR deposit. Hope it makes sense.

[Terrapin]

Very simple process with Bankok bank. Go in and ask to make an international bank transfer. Fill out the appropriate paperwork and the money is usually deposited into your IB account the same day.

[Camray]

Did you need to transfer the money from THB into USD first or does interactive brokers do that for you? Thanks.

[Ryan A]

I am currently signing up for IBKR account now as well after doing research on several alternatives including Saxo Bank and Trade Station.

 

I too am interested in what kinds of Exchange fees I would be in for doing a WIRE transfer from Thai bank into IB account (THB > USD for purchase US securities). Is there any information on their spread or any other additional fees? Would like to be able to use something like TransferWise but like many brokers, they will not accept 3rd party transfers.

[Brierley]

You can't export THB overseas, you would need to convert to USD or another currency here in Thailand before the money was sent, it's BOT regs.

 

And, you will have to prove that the funds you send were either earned here in Thailand under a Thai work permit or were remitted here from overseas, only then can they be exported.

[Ryan A]

Thanks @Brierley

That is a real downer, but I should not be surprised.

 

How would someone go about converting it to USD (or another currency) here first before sending it overseas. Is there any bank accounts here that offer multi currency accounts?

 

Do I have to perform a third currency conversion to get it over to USD?
e.g. THB > AUD > USD (e.g. using Dee Money or Orbit Remit).

[Brierley]

1 minute ago, Ryan A said:

Thanks @Brierley

That is a real downer, but I should not be surprised.

 

How would someone go about converting it to USD (or another currency) here first before sending it overseas. Is there any bank accounts here that offer multi currency accounts?

Where your money now and in what currency? Is it in THB in a Thai bank?

 

All Thai banks offer multi currency accounts but they are not great value for what you have in mind. MC accounts are only good value if you bring foreign currency into Thailand and later convert it to THB. If you export the foreign currency again it gets expensive.

 

If you tell your bank to transfer X to an overseas bank, assuming they give you permission to do so they will automatically convert the THB into the currency of the receiving bank, unless you specify differently....but you can't specify THB of course.

[Ryan A]

Yes @Brierleythe money is in THB in thai bank accounts. What I think you are explaining is initiating a SWIFT transfer to overseas and paying a handsome fee for the privilege so only really is worthwhile to transfer large sums of money.

 

I'm really thinking to back track on this idea and move the money (using CT Money) into AUD bank account and then invest in ETF options offered by Australian stockbrokers. Even if the (monthly and trading) fees seem more - unless I am pushing big sums of money into IB - so much of it will be eaten up by bank wire, conversion and IB inactivity fees.

 

I am of the belief that IB really works better for US citizens or people who have really large sums of money to invest that don't mind getting tagged all the additional fees.

[Brierley]

2 minutes ago, Ryan A said:

Yes @Brierleythe money is in THB in thai bank accounts. What I think you are explaining is initiating a SWIFT transfer to overseas and paying a handsome fee for the privilege so only really is worthwhile to transfer large sums of money.

 

I'm really thinking to back track on this idea and move the money (using CT Money) into AUD bank account and then invest in ETF options offered by Australian stockbrokers. Even if the (monthly and trading) fees seem more - unless I am pushing big sums of money into IB - so much of it will be eaten up by bank wire, conversion and IB inactivity fees.

 

I am of the belief that IB really works better for US citizens or people who have really large sums of money to invest that don't mind getting tagged all the additional fees.

The SWIFT transfer is not really expensive plus the exchange rate the banks use for them is the TT rate which is the best one.

 

What I was trying to explain regarding multi-currency accounts is that if you import say USD to multi-currency account in Thailand and then send that same USD back home again, you will pay a penalty to the Thai bank for not having exchanged it to THB. The multi-currency account is only good value if you eventually convert that foreign currency onto THB and spend it here.

 

Also, be aware of the impact of FATCA regulations on US holders of bank accounts here, some Thai banks wont have anything to do with transactions involving the US, UOB being one such bank.

 

I agree regarding IB.

[fdsa]

3 hours ago, Brierley said:

I agree regarding IB.

could you elaborate please? I want to invest a somewhat modest sum on IB, and I am not an US citizen. Will I have to pay some exorbitant fees or will face problems registering on IB?

[Ryan A]

Well from what I understand @fdsa you would have the $10 USD account fee that you have to pay every month (unless you have over $100K USD or make that many trades a month that equals $10 USD commission fees).

 

Then you would need to pay the FX conversion fee and not even sure how many basic points that they charge for the conversion on top of the spot rate that they will give you. I think they use JP Morgan Chase, which I heard is not all that good.

 

Lastly, to do a SWIFT wire transfer from Thai bank can cost you anything from between 300-600 THB a transfer. I just checked with SCB and they seemed to be giving the best rate at 300 THB and using the TT rate.

[fdsa]

So it will be about 0.5% total fee which I'm totally OK with.

I was afraid I'll pay about $500 fees for $10k transfer.

[Lorin]

On 5/27/2020 at 1:15 PM, NomisC said:

Hi all. I was able to successfully transfer my fund to IBKR, thanks to your help.

 

I used UOB, and the transfer fee was about THB600. I used the beneficiary information solely from what was given in IBKR's deposit notification/instruction. I used the UOB's internet banking, registered the overseas beneficiary (i.e. IBKR), and transfer it out of my saving account. There was no need to provide any document to register or transfer the money to IBKR (probably because my transfer amount was below the reporting requirement threshold stipulated by Bank of Thailand..?) and the money went through in 3 hours.

 

Thank you all for your kind insights!

 

How did you register for international transfers on UOB? Do you have work permit and did they ask for it?

[cocoonclub]

On 5/30/2021 at 3:44 PM, Lorin said:

 

How did you register for international transfers on UOB? Do you have work permit and did they ask for it?

Cant comment on UOB but:

 

BBL always wanted to see a salary confirmation from my HR department. And every calendar year a new one. And only counter service. 
 

BAY on the other hand lets me make an international yt Agee right through the app without providing any paperwork at all. And it seemed slightly cheaper than BBL. 
 

That was for THB > EUR. But I guess it should be similar for other currencies. 

[SCOTT FITZGERSLD]

On 5/25/2020 at 11:14 AM, oceanbluejewell said:

I use a third party foreign exchange service for the THB to USD and then transfer and deposit for me.

  TransferWise

does IB accepts transferwise?

[oceanbluejewell]

On 7/11/2021 at 2:02 AM, SCOTT FITZGERSLD said:

does IB accepts transferwise?

 

On 7/11/2021 at 2:02 AM, SCOTT FITZGERSLD said:

does IB accepts transferwise?

What is IB?

 

[treetops]

15 hours ago, oceanbluejewell said:

What is IB?

 

On 5/25/2020 at 12:14 PM, oceanbluejewell said:

interactive brokers

 

4 years later?  Really?