Bangkok Bank New York - How Do You Open An Account?

[lopburi3]

16 minutes ago, Mansell said:

They tell you your exchange rate in that moment. My charge for receiving 2000 dollars from the USA was 5 dollars.

And the exchange rate is?  And the Thai bank charge?  

TransferWISE normally beats others that may have lower fees due to better exchange rate and no Thai bank charge as money is in Baht.  

[Pib]

5 hours ago, zeekgarcia said:

 

Does anyone know how much Bangkok Bank NY charges to receive a domestic bank wire from a US bank to forward to a Bangkok Bank account in Thailand?

They charge the same as an ACH transfer.   I have personally done such a domestic wire transfer to confirm.

 

 

 

[Pib]

3 hours ago, ianguygil said:

Foreign Remittance Service (bangkokbank.com)

The Bangkok Bank Foreign Remittance Service is expensive, slow, and heavy on paperwork.  

 

If wanting to send USD to your in-Thailand Bangkok Bank branch there is a $55 NY branch fee (i.e., call it a penalty for not allowing the NY branch to accomplish the exchange at their lower rate/western bank rate) and then the in-Thailand 0.25% (Bt200 min, Bt500 max) receiving fee.   

 

But if allowing the NY branch to use their lower exchange rate (unpublished on the web) then their relay fee is same as the ACH transfer fee and once again the in-Thailand receiving fee 0.25% (Bt200 min, Bt500 max).   

 

In either case a person must send an application along with ID....and pay/fund for the transfer via cashiers/bank check which also includes a 3 day check clearing time.

 

I figure a person would need to be desperate (and/or clueless about bank fees) to use the Foreign Remittance Service.

 

https://www.bangkokbank.com/en/Personal/Other-Services/Transfers/Transferring-Into-Thailand/Foreign-Remittance

 

[ianguygil]

18 hours ago, lopburi3 said:

And the exchange rate is?  And the Thai bank charge?  

TransferWISE normally beats others that may have lower fees due to better exchange rate and no Thai bank charge as money is in Baht.  

As I said before commissions, fees and rates are all involved so the best thing to do to understand exactly your effective rate is to divide the number of Baht you receive with the total you paid in USD including the amount transferred, fees and commissions. Then you know your actual Effective Rate. Many of the Retail products are not a good deal when you look at it this way, which is the only objective way to look at it.

 

I am absolutely not here to push our services. Just to answer questions when I have a spare 5 minutes waiting for a meeting. 

[lopburi3]

1 hour ago, ianguygil said:

As I said before commissions, fees and rates are all involved so the best thing to do to understand exactly your effective rate is to divide the number of Baht you receive with the total you paid in USD including the amount transferred, fees and commissions. Then you know your actual Effective Rate. Many of the Retail products are not a good deal when you look at it this way, which is the only objective way to look at it.

 

I am absolutely not here to push our services. Just to answer questions when I have a spare 5 minutes waiting for a meeting. 

My comment had nothing to do with your posts AFAIK.  

[shortstop2]

On 3/23/2021 at 3:55 PM, Mansell said:

It is very simple. Go into your Bangkok Bank here and explain how you want your Social Security to come through their New York branch. The bank has the correct form for you to fill in and sign with all the correct info, then they send it to the USA, and within around a month your SS will arrive in your bank and you will receive a text message informing you your money is in your account, usually on the 3rd of the month. You do have to have two accounts, one without an ATM card which the money goes into. You then go into the bank and ask them to transfer it into the other account so you can access it that way.

 

The Bangkok Bank branch that I went to was extremely resistant to opening this type of account.  I was at the branch for 2 1/2 to do this.   The manager put me on the phone to the home office and the home office rep said this method was old fashioned and inconvenient for me. I kept insisting that I want old fashioned and inconvenient.   Eventually they opened the account but told me they would not be mailing in the form to SS, instead I would have to do that myself.   

 

On Thursday, I have a phone appointment with the Social Security office in Manila and I will find out if they actually need this form mailed in from the bank or if my account number will suffice.  I'll see how simple it turns out to be.  

 

The $5 + 200 baht fee for transfers under 200 USD isn't too bad but the Bangkok Bank TT rate isn't as good as using my Fidelity Debit card which rebates my ATM fee.   But I am willing the pay the $5 =200 baht + sub optimal rate for piece of mind of not being cut off from my money as I can't count on the Fidelity rebates forever.

 

Maybe Wise is the answer.  Does anyone have their Fidelity account linked to Wise?  I know I can't do an ACH transfer from Fidelity to Paypal so am thinking Wise could be similar.    

[lopburi3]

8 hours ago, shortstop2 said:

The manager put me on the phone to the home office and the home office rep said this method was old fashioned and inconvenient for me.

He was right - using that method you must have an account that requires you visit bank to make any transaction.  Under current rules most US government funds can be directly transferred into Thai bank accounts avoiding the special account/New York ACH process.

[shortstop2]

15 hours ago, lopburi3 said:

He was right - using that method you must have an account that requires you visit bank to make any transaction.  Under current rules most US government funds can be directly transferred into Thai bank accounts avoiding the special account/New York ACH process.

 

The rep was right especially if you don't live close to the bank.   However in my case, the lower fee associated with transfers to the special account is more important to me than having to show up at the branch every month or so.

 

Tomorrow morning I talk with the SS people and will find if the bank needs to mail in the form to complete the process.  I already have the new bankbook. 

[lopburi3]

8 hours ago, shortstop2 said:

the lower fee associated with transfers to the special account

Can you outline these and how they provide a better net deposit than direct government deposit?  I do not use so perhaps missing something.  AFAIK you pay New York for transfer and then .25% fee for currency exchange at Thailand end when using ACH.  Believe government payment in baht without any fees so unless using lower exchange rate seems a better option.  

[shortstop2]

2 hours ago, lopburi3 said:

Can you outline these and how they provide a better net deposit than direct government deposit? 

 

Somewhere on Thai Visa, Pib did an analysis which seemed to indicate that with monthly payments of around $1200 or more the Bangkok Bank method was a bit better than the newer method (forget the name) in which SS can deliver your money to any Thai bank.

 

The better net deposit depends on the size of the monthly payment; it might be about 100 baht per month for many people.  

 

I would think that delivery to a US Bank and then using Wise or some other transfer method might deliver even more baht.

[shortstop2]

3 hours ago, lopburi3 said:

Can you outline these and how they provide a better net deposit than direct government deposit?  I do not use so perhaps missing something.  AFAIK you pay New York for transfer and then .25% fee for currency exchange at Thailand end when using ACH.  Believe government payment in baht without any fees so unless using lower exchange rate seems a better option.  

 

Found his analysis:

 

https://forum.thaivisa.com/topic/1080467-us-social-security-international-direct-deposit-idd-update/?do=findComment&comment=15484082

 

[lopburi3]

15 minutes ago, shortstop2 said:

 

Found his analysis:

 

https://forum.thaivisa.com/topic/1080467-us-social-security-international-direct-deposit-idd-update/?do=findComment&comment=15484082

 

Thanks much - but my reading is all 3 of the examples provide higher posted amount (even when exchange rate marginally lower) using IDD. 

 

know there is an issue using WISE as fee increases with amount sent so small transfers are indeed better using that system.

[shortstop2]

6 minutes ago, lopburi3 said:

Thanks much - but my reading is all 3 of the examples provide higher posted amount (even when exchange rate marginally lower) using IDD. 

 

know there is an issue using WISE as fee increases with amount sent so small transfers are indeed better using that system.

I believe that is for 1 month.  The 12 month average, also in that post, shows about a 100 baht advantage using ACH at the $1600 level.  

[lopburi3]

16 minutes ago, shortstop2 said:

I believe that is for 1 month.  The 12 month average, also in that post, shows about a 100 baht advantage using ACH at the $1600 level.  

Sorry did not read far enough - but perhaps luck of the draw in exchange rate on the day of transfer.  At that level (virtual tie) would rate access to account much more important than 100 baht and use IDD myself and remove the middle man chance of error.

[shortstop2]

8 minutes ago, lopburi3 said:

Sorry did not read far enough - but perhaps luck of the draw in exchange rate on the day of transfer.  At that level (virtual tie) would rate access to account much more important than 100 baht and use IDD myself and remove the middle man chance of error.

 

Yes, understand that for many people having to show up at a specific branch could be problematic especially if overseas or in the hospital etc. so IDD would be well worth 100 baht. 

 

But isn't it IDD that uses the middleman?   With ACH I'd only be dealing with Social Security and Bangkok Bank.

[lopburi3]

3 minutes ago, shortstop2 said:

 

Yes, understand that for many people having to show up at a specific branch could be problematic especially if overseas or in the hospital etc. so IDD would be well worth 100 baht. 

 

But isn't it IDD that uses the middleman?   With ACH I'd only be dealing with Social Security and Bangkok Bank.

Fulfillment via ACH Bangkok Bank New York rather than direct to Bangkok Bank Thailand via USG.  New York is the middle man and out of USG control.  For many direct transfer is likely not the best option and keeping a US account for deposit fits better.  

[ding]

You can use this online comparison tool to compare Wise to other services;

https://www.finder.com/wise

Scroll down to; Want to compare Wise with other services side-by-side?

 

I calculated sending $2K USD to Thailand, Wise vs OFX. I went to each service's calculator tool.

Wise sent 709.59 Baht more even with the fee.

May-27-21

Edited May 28, 2021 by ding
tested net amounts

[AcuDoc]

What if I had direct deposit my social security check into BB NY and just use an atm card from that account to withdraw baht when in Thailand for my living expenses... I am not depositing or transferring money into Thailand...

Edited March 14 by AcuDoc

[Trippy]

19 minutes ago, AcuDoc said:

What if I had direct deposit my social security check into BB NY and just use an atm card from that account to withdraw baht when in Thailand for my living expenses... I am not depositing or transferring money into Thailand...

If your doing that to avoid Thai tax, US social security is Thai tax exempt per treaty.

[topt]

8 minutes ago, Trippy said:

If your doing that to avoid Thai tax, US social security is Thai tax exempt per treaty.

Correct me if I am wrong but isn't the branch only for commercial accounts and only passes through remittances to the set up Thai account? 

That's my understanding of how the London branch operates.

[Etaoin Shrdlu]

49 minutes ago, AcuDoc said:

What if I had direct deposit my social security check into BB NY and just use an atm card from that account to withdraw baht when in Thailand for my living expenses... I am not depositing or transferring money into Thailand...

 

Bangkok Bank's New York office isn't licensed for retail banking. You won't be able to set up an account with Bangkok Bank's New York office.

 

You can open an account at a Bangkok Bank branch here in Thailand and set it up so that your SS payments are routed via the NY office directly to your account here. Or, better yet, simply have the funds sent directly by the SSA to your account here in Thailand. It then would not need to be a Bangkok Bank account as this can be set up with any Thai retail bank.

Edited March 14 by Etaoin Shrdlu

[ianguygil]

I didn't read this whole thread so please excuse if already answered

 

There is no need to open an account. We do offer accounts but the are not FDIC Insured. And as I said no need if you  just want to move funds. This link will help. If you still need help the please PM me

 

Ian

Transfer money from the US to Thailand via Bangkok Bank’s New York branch

Edited March 15 by ianguygil