What's the best bank exchange rate? (US)

[leonardjones625]

Figured this was the best place to post this.

 

When I withdraw from my US bank account, which ATM should I try to use?

 

How does that rate compare to these money transferring services (TW etc)?

 

Thanks

[Pib]

All Thai ATMs will provide the card-network (i.e., Visa/Mastercard/etc) exchange rate unless the ATM offers "and you accept" a Dynamic Currency Conversion (DCC) offer.   DO NOT accept a DCC offer as that rate will be several percent lower (worst) than the card-network rate. 

 

Highly unlikely the ATM screen will say DCC anywhere, instead, it will just offer you an exchange rate---such a screen offer a specific rate means you are being offered a DCC transaction---DO NOT accept it....read the screen closely and select the option to continue on "without conversion" which means you do not accept their DCC offer/conversion and the ATM will then continue on and you'll get the card-network rate.   

 

Also, keep in mind that your "card-issuing" bank may charge a foreign transaction fee of 1 to 3% (or more)...you need to know if your card-issuing charges such....don't blame that on the Thai bank ATM.

 

Visa and Mastercard exchange rate weblinks below.....use them to compare with the Transferwise exchange rate.

 

https://usa.visa.com/support/consumer/travel-support/exchange-rate-calculator.html

https://www.mastercard.us/en-us/personal/get-support/convert-currency.html

Edited July 14, 2020 by Pib

[KhunBENQ]

11 minutes ago, leonardjones625 said:

How does that rate compare to these money transferring services (TW etc)?

If your card issuing bank does NOT charge for use in foreign country you would come close to Transferwise particularly for small sums (like 30000 Baht equiv).

Such cards exist but the rule are up to 3% fee added by your bank and that makes TW a clear winner.

I don't use cards since years and use TW regularly.

[Pib]

 

[KhunBENQ]

Table above describes no fee by home country bank and reimbursing Thai ATM fee.

Rare if exist at all.

Edited July 14, 2020 by KhunBENQ

[Pib]

24 minutes ago, KhunBENQ said:

Table above describes no fee by home country bank and reimbursing Thai ATM fee.

Rare if exist at all.

Yes....and table says such.  I have such US debit cards like the Schwab debit card that do not charge a foreign transaction fee and reimbursement the ATM fee. 

 

If person's card-issuing bank does charge some kind of foreign transaction fee/does not reimbursement ATM fees then the person just needs to add that amount to the table.   

Edited July 14, 2020 by Pib

[leonardjones625]

5 hours ago, Pib said:

 

Thanks Pib for the help! It sometimes felt like different banks gave different rates, however I never did the math and checked properly. (Definitely no DCC, and could just be normal fluctuation)

 

Definitely seems you know more about this though haha.

 

I've actually also got Schwab. I'm trying to fund my new Thai bank account. I guess withdrawing at ATM and depositing the cash is the best solution?

 

Anything weird about our taxes because there is no trace it's coming from my US account?

 

Thanks again

[Pib]

9 hours ago, leonardjones625 said:

I've actually also got Schwab. I'm trying to fund my new Thai bank account. I guess withdrawing at ATM and depositing the cash is the best solution?

 

Anything weird about our taxes because there is no trace it's coming from my US account?

 

Thanks again

Well, withdrawing from an ATM or at the counter is definitely "a" solution especially when you have a no foreign transaction fee card as you'll get the most baht for the least amount of dollars and you have the money immediately in your hands/deposit into your Thai bank acct.

 

However, if also needing confirmation this money movement was a foreign transfer say for immigration extension of stay renewal purposes, well, using a card will not do that for you.  Een if you are doing a counter withdrawal (a.k.a., cash advance) where you have the withdrawal deposited into your Thai bank acct.  That's what I do when using my card. 

 

Although the bank may appear to be doing just one transaction where the money ends up in your bank acct, the teller is actually doing two completely separate transactions...one right after the other.  One transaction is using the card to debit your home country bank acct...you sign the transaction receipt....the bank has now placed those funds in a temporary holding pattern/branch central acct until the bank rep can accomplish the 2nd transaction a minute or so later.  The 2nd transaction is moving the funds from the holding pattern into your acct and that 2nd transaction is just an everyday domestic transfer from one acct to another....it is not coded as an international transfer....it's just another domestic transaction like transfer money between Thai bank accts....or walking in off the soi with cash in hand to deposit in your acct...etc.  

 

Plus, I don't know how much you want to build your Thai acct up to. If say it's Bt800K (just for discussion purposes) and assuming your debit card is limited to $1,000 per day withdrawal (which most Schwab debit cards are limited to) that means you can withdraw around Bt31,000 per day....the most some Thai ATMs like Krungsri and TMB ATMs will allow per transaction is Bt30,000....Bt800K divided by Bt30K means 27 withdrawals to build up to Bt800K.  And this assumes you don't need to use any of that money for day-to-day living expenses.   

 

Not sure Schwab would like seeing and forking out 27 ATM reimbursements to you and 27 interchange fees to the ATM bank if done over a short period....might raise some red flags.  But you could sure do it....would just need to take a while to build up your Thai bank acct.    Heck, I used my multiple no foreign transaction fee/fee reimbursing cards to build up some healthy sized Thai bank accts but I used multiple cards (each allowing $1K per day) over a 12 month or so period.   Later on I got a Cap1 card that allowed $5K per day for a counter withdrawal so that made it a lot easier/faster.   Yeap...using no fee/reimbursing cards is definitely a solution if you have such cards, but you should have more solutions such as being able to do bank transfers/using money transfer services.

 

Don't understand your tax question.  There are no Thai or US taxes on doing an ATM withdrawal or transfer.  A Thai bank will apply a 15% withholding tax on "interest earned" during the year unless you  provide the bank your Thai tax ID number...even if providing a Thai tax ID number that just protects you from the withholding for Bt20K and less interest earned per year on a "regular savings" acct; when earning over Bt20K interest earned per year then the 15% withholding is applied regardless of being farang or Thai....and regardless of having a Thai tax ID number.  And if putting you money in a "fixed savings" acct, well, a 15% withholding on "any amount" of interest earned applied whether Thai or farang and regardless of having a Thai tax ID number.   Now for "U.S." tax purposes during filing of federal/state tax returns any interest earned in a foreign bank has to be declared just like it was a U.S. bank.

 

[puck2]

@Pib, thank you very much for your table.

 

But i would like to add one important fact. There is a 1 working-day difference between a Master-Card and a Visa-Card.

• the rate for the Mastercard is fixed/known 1 working day after your ATM-transaction. Result: you don't know the exact rate at the day of the transaction.
• the rate for the Visa-Card is fixed just after midnight - at New York time of the day of the (ATM) transaction). Result: you know already the exact Visa exchange rate in advance. You must only consider the time difference between NY and Thailand. I believe it's 11/12 hours, dpending on Summer or witer time. For my German Visa-Europe-Card the € --> THB Visa-rate of the day is available until 5 p.m. now in the "summer"time. In the winter-time until 6 p.m.

[Pib]

4 minutes ago, puck2 said:

@Pib, thank you very much for your table.

 

But i would like to add one important fact. There is a 1 working-day difference between a Master-Card and a Visa-Card.

• the rate for the Mastercard is fixed/known 1 working day after your ATM-transaction. Result: you don't know the exact rate at the day of the transaction.
• the rate for the Visa-Card is fixed just after midnight - at New York time of the day of the (ATM) transaction). Result: you know already the exact Visa exchange rate in advance. You must only consider the time difference between NY and Thailand. I believe it's 11/12 hours, dpending on Summer or witer time. For my German Visa-Europe-Card the € --> THB Visa-rate of the day is available until 5 p.m. now in the "summer"time. In the winter-time until 6 p.m.

Yeap to above.  But I made the chart a week or so after 1 July which allowed me to use historical rates from Visa, MC and Transferwise...their rates as of 1 July.  Since Visa and MC rates are fixed for the entire daily 24 hr period I used the mid day rate for Transferwise to keep the rates as close to an apples-to-apples comparison as possible.