Sending money from U.K account to Thai account

[Silentwalker]

What is the best/cheapest way to send money from a U.K bank account to a Thai bank account? I have been looking into using Payoneer and Transferwise. Any suggestions? 

[Pilotman]

'Transferwise', excellent service and good rates that match that day's off shore rate.  

[Peter Denis]

I did PM you a document in case you need to prove to IO that the transfers you made from your UK to your thai bank-account originated from abroad.

[SteveK]

Going against the grain here, I just log in to Barclays UK, do an online international transfer which takes 2 minutes, and get the money within 48hrs. The rate looked good to me but you might be able get a bit more from one of these intermediaries, but it's more signing up and hassle and the transfer may show as domestic. 

[Matzzon]

7 minutes ago, SteveK said:

Going against the grain here, I just log in to Barclays UK, do an online international transfer which takes 2 minutes, and get the money within 48hrs. The rate looked good to me but you might be able get a bit more from one of these intermediaries, but it's more signing up and hassle and the transfer may show as domestic. 

You are not going against the grain. What you are recommending is a proven and safe way of transfering money that have the right transfer code for a visa extension. Can´t be better. If losing a couple of pound? So what?

If people consider that they can afford living in a foreign country, they should not need to look at every cent to be able to reach up to the requirements and their own needs to live a comfortable life.

It´s just lunatics and amateurs that do such foolish things.

Your recommendation is clearly the best one.

[Pilotman]

13 minutes ago, Matzzon said:

You are not going against the grain. What you are recommending is a proven and safe way of transfering money that have the right transfer code for a visa extension. Can´t be better. If losing a couple of pound? So what?

If people consider that they can afford living in a foreign country, they should not need to look at every cent to be able to reach up to the requirements and their own needs to live a comfortable life.

It´s just lunatics and amateurs that do such foolish things.

Your recommendation is clearly the best one.

why do you always have to add a dig or insult to others in your posts? It's tiresome and unnecessary.   The OP never said that his transfers were for immigration purposes and if not Transferwise may be a much better bet than a bank. If for immigration then a bank transfer makes sense. 

Edited August 17, 2020 by Pilotman

[Andrew Dwyer]

I used direct bank transfer from NatWest for some years then changed to TransferWise.

 The exchange rate from NatWest was pretty p1ss poor and they also charged £22 for a standard  international transfer irrespective of amount being transferred  ( £30 for urgent ).

Due to this transfer rate I would transfer a larger amount less often .

 

Just done a direct comparison:

Using TransferWise gave me 12,500 baht ( £300 ) more on a £10,000 transfer, and NatWest have dropped the transfer fee !!

 

Transferwise is extremely simple to use , use the app to arrange the transfer amount and then use the NatWest app to transfer the money to TransferWise .

 

2 days later it’s here, similar time scale to international bank transfer.

[lopburi3]

5 minutes ago, Pilotman said:

why do you always have to add a dig or insult to others in your posts? It's tiresome and unnecessary.   The OP never said that his transfers were for immigration purposes and if not Transferwise may be a much better bet than a bank. If for immigration than a bank makes sense. 

Actually Transferwise has been totally reliable for immigration use since they added the option to select stay in Thailand as a reason for transfer.  And even those who failed to code right have found it entirely possible to satisfy immigration.

 

As for direct SWIFT transfer not all banks make that easy - some require phone calls and/or codes to verify so it does not fit everyone by any means.

[2long]

https://transferwise.com/ ????????????????????????????????

[Mike Teavee]

47 minutes ago, Matzzon said:

You are not going against the grain. What you are recommending is a proven and safe way of transfering money that have the right transfer code for a visa extension. Can´t be better. If losing a couple of pound? So what?

If people consider that they can afford living in a foreign country, they should not need to look at every cent to be able to reach up to the requirements and their own needs to live a comfortable life.

It´s just lunatics and amateurs that do such foolish things.

Your recommendation is clearly the best one.

I hold multiple accounts (in multiple currencies) in UK & Singapore and find it easier to use Transferwise when choosing which is the best account / currency to transfer from. 

 

I also hold balances in GBP & SGD in my TW borderless account which I can use to withdraw cash from at any Mastercard ATM, they automatically withdraw from the "Home" currency pot and I believe will withdraw from the currency pot that's offering the best exchange rate but have only used it in SG & UK so always been SGD & GBP.

 

I can't remember the Barclays fees as I haven't transferred anything from my Barclays accounts in > 10 years but do know I was not impressed at how much it costs me to take out USD$ in Cambodia.   I do know that the Citibank FX rates aren't great (though you do get free withdrawals from their ATMs) & they charge a flat fee of s$25 SGD  (approx £14.30) when transferring overseas (even GBP from an SG GBP Account to a UK GBP one).  

 

Blindly using your current account bank to transfer money abroad is both foolish & amateurish

 

Edit to add that for the s$25 SGD my SWIFT Transfer from SG was initiated at approx 2PM (Thai time) on a Friday, & didn't hit my UK account until 3PM (Thai Time) on the Monday (Citi didn't even confirm it until Saturday afternoon).... so hardly "Instant"... Sending via Transferwise is usually more or less instantaneous though it does seems to take longer if sending over 10,000, not sure if there's extra AML checks being done.

Edited August 17, 2020 by Mike Teavee

[scubascuba3]

29 minutes ago, lopburi3 said:

 

As for direct SWIFT transfer not all banks make that easy - some require phone calls and/or codes to verify so it does not fit everyone by any means.

You are right there, i just did a condo purchase and immediately the transfer gets blocked due to size, i went through security 4 times and had to call UK each time.

 

For other Thai baht requirements i either use Transferwise or use my Halifax Clarity card for cash withdrawal at the counter which i then deposit in my thai bank account, this method gave the best rate when I've done comparisons

[gt162]

10 hours ago, Mike Teavee said:

I also hold balances in GBP & SGD in my TW borderless account which I can use to withdraw cash from at any Mastercard ATM, they automatically withdraw from the "Home" currency pot and I believe will withdraw from the currency pot that's offering the best exchange rate but have only used it in SG & UK so always been SGD & GBP.

I keep getting notice from Transferwise to sign up for borderless account. Is it worth it?

[Moonlover]

39 minutes ago, gt162 said:

I keep getting notice from Transferwise to sign up for borderless account. Is it worth it?

The borderless account is useful if you want 3rd parties such as pension providers, to pay directly into your TransferWise account, rather than into a bank.

 

Very handy for those who are not resident in their home country and do not have a bank account in that country. In UK, for instance, it is very difficult to open a bank account unless one is resident there.

 

[Mike Teavee]

1 hour ago, gt162 said:

I keep getting notice from Transferwise to sign up for borderless account. Is it worth it?

I like it, it's free to have & you can hold zero balances in there when you're not using it.

 

Can be used to store up cash ready for your holiday like you might use a charge card or use it to dabble in many different currencies if you think the exchange rates are good without having to open different currency accounts.

 

You do need to be mindful that there is a withdrawal fee of 2% on anything over £200 per month as well as the usual currency conversions fees (either when adding the money into the pots or withdrawing it from a none native currency pot) but even this is less than bank's like Barclays charge (2.75% on every £) for using a debit card overseas plus you'll get a better FX rate. 

The one thing I do hate is it's a lime green colour, so it gets hidden behind my other cards ( ???? I am joking about hiding the card but it is a pretty awful colour) 

 

 

Edit There are better accounts that will refund your ATM withdrawal fees (including the ones from the Thai bank) if that's your main priority but these appeared after I left the UK so I'm not sure which ones are best or what strings are attached to the accounts, but I do like the overall convenience of Transferwise when moving money between countries & currencies. 

 

Edited August 18, 2020 by Mike Teavee

[Maestro]

Removed some troll posts (off-topic) and the replies to them.