TransferWise - Coding Issues for Immigration

[Pib]

1 hour ago, Seeall said:

Just to add my non helpful bit, TW dont really care, I guess the staff like most on salary just want to move onto the next support ticket and get their quota, for which you cant blame them.  Whats sad is, if they had the higher level of staff check into all this and correctly sort it out  instead of unknowing desk help staff throwing around a few possible idea at you... Most of these type of companies/staff have never heard of the ridicoulous situation here in Thailand and find it hard to understand or want to understand what your issue is (Record in so you can take out/use for Visas)

The very sad part is, if TW heads really knew the millions they are losing due to their insufficient setup protocols they would jusmp at the chance to rectify this small thing.. for huge gains..  I have had many emails with them to no avail... their thoughts are"you have the cash whats the problem" NEXT ...... Well, another company will most likely have a better system that will solve this... in the meantime I use the Farang bank to SCB holding account until I am ready to convert (wait for best FX rates) cost me a bit more, especially when its millions, however..  at least its recorded and documented better......  good topic, thanks all...

I've never had a problem with Transferwise staff regarding the Thailand coding issue.  They clearly understood the issue. Before they come up the the "Funds for Long Term Stay in Thailand" reason for transfer which solved int'l coding problem when sending to a Bangkok Bank acct, they gladly "tagged" my Transferwise acct to always use Bangkok Bank as their partner bank when doing my transfers which solved the coding problem.   Later on they added the "Funds for Long Term Stay in Thailand" reason for transfer as they understood the problem and developed this solution for everyone...a solution that didn't require acct tagging which most people knew nothing about.

 

And please note Transferwise's objective is to get money transferred to your bank acct...just like your home country bank. How your receiving bank may code that transfer is really out of Transferwise's/your home country bank's hands and has no effect on them getting the money delivered. 

 

However, based on customer feedback, Transferwise went out of their way to work with Bangkok Bank and develop a unique reason for transfer to resolve the coding issue.   Do you think your home country bank would have done such a thing...work directly with Bangkok Bank to ensure certain coding like if your home country bank used Bahtnet for the final leg of the SWIFT transfer which result in a domestic transfer ccoe vs int'l transfer code? 

 

Regarding another transfer company having a better system to resolve the coding problem, well, it not OFX a well known money transfer service.  The use SWIFT into Thailand but the final leg is via a Bahtnet SWIFT code which results in domestic transfer coding regarding of Thai bank your money is sent to.

 

P.S. Do you even have a Transferwise acct?

 

 

 

[Hamus Yaigh]

22 hours ago, KhunBENQ said:

A bit hidden in Transferwise but you can find it.

Looks like this:

(second page cut short)

 

 

Sorry for not understanding this, but how does this PDF help with the op? The PDF shows nothing about an international transfer to show an IO? It says 'Local bank transfer'

 

[Thomas J]

On 8/21/2020 at 12:00 PM, Shannoblic said:

On Wednesday I transferred £200 to my Kasikorn Bank savings account to try this out.  The money was transferred from the UK within minutes but the transaction code when I updated my book in the afternoon was TRN which - according to my bank book - the 'TR' is 'Cheque or Transfer' with the 'N' meaning 'No Book Transfer'.

 

I rang Transferwise on Wednesday afternoon and spoke to a very polite young lady but she could not help me with advice on how to get a code which showed the transfer was international.

 

Can anyone please advise me how to ensure that my monthly transfers appear in a code which shows they are international

You have to select the reason for the transfer being LONG TERM STAY Then it gets coded as a foreign transfer.  I learned the same thing last year.  Any other reason does not code it properly 

[Hamus Yaigh]

2 hours ago, norbra said:

Attached is a copy of credit advice from KBank available from call centre and emailed the following day

 

I am not having a good day it seems as I don't understand this either? How does this help with the op as the document says nothing about international transfer does it unless I missed it, the text is a little fuzzy on my screen?

 

[Hamus Yaigh]

1 minute ago, Thomas J said:

You have to select the reason for the transfer being LONG TERM STAY Then it gets coded as a foreign transfer.  I learned the same thing last year.  Any other reason does not code it properly 

You have done this with KBank? When I ever choose LONG TERM STAY IN THAILAND for reason it always shows as a local transfer to my KBank branch in Bangkok.

[Pib]

1 hour ago, wwest5829 said:

Always interested in reading about the Transferwise transfers. I use Transferwise each moth to bring in $2200.00 USD. Transferwise takes the money from my US bank account by Direct Debit, then informs me when they receive the funds, then I order the transfer to my Bangkok Bank account, which shows as FTT. It always takes days for the transfer and Transferwise states my costs at around $21.00 USD.

You may be interested in this info.  Easy way to reduce your TW costs and speed-up the transfer to as fast as 5.5 hrs...worst case next business day at 2pm Thailand time. 

 

How?  Activate/use the multi-currency acct (a.k.a., borderless acct) on your TW acct and put funds into it to fund your transfers....as it basically eliminates the Bank Debit (ACH) transfer fee which also allows you to immediately fund the transfer which allows TW to immediately send the funds vs going thru the process of pulling the funds from your US bank acct (i.e., Bank Debt-ACH)...waiting for those funds to arrive before TW can send the funds to your Thai bank.

 

Fund your borderless acct by doing an ACH transfer from your US bank to your Transferwise borderless acct....when activating a borderless acct you will get the routing number/acct number to use to setup an ACH Transfer link with your US bank.  Once you have an ACH transfer link setup with your US bank, then just "push" funds from your US bank for free assuming you are not with some fee-evil US bank that charges a few dollars for an ACH transfer.   Push by manual transfer when desired or by automatic, reoccurring transfer like maybe a automatic monthly transfer of $2,200.  Once the funds are in your TW borderless acct (you now have a balance in that acct), then just log onto your TW acct, initiate a transfer but now your fund the transfer from the "balance in your borderless acct."  Using that method to funds results in "immediate funding" as TW already has the funds which means your funds get sent faster "and cheaper"...."more baht end up posting to your Thai bank acct"...."and that baht posts faster"....will post around 2pm if you send before 9:30am same day....a mere 5.5 hours later. 

 

And you are paying more like a little over $24 vs the $21 you mention when using the Bank Debt (ACH) funding method.  See below snapshot from TW.   You can lower that fee to a little over $16 if using your borderless acct balance to fund the transfer....see 2nd snapshot below.

 

 

However if using the your borderless acct (a.k.a., multi-currency acct) funding method the fee is only $16.29.  See below snapshot from TW.  And  you get the transfer completed much faster...maybe as faster as 5.5 hours later.

 

https://transferwise.com/us/pricing/borderless-convert?source=USD&target=EUR&payInMethod=BALANCE&sourceAmount=1000

 

 

 

[sead]

Just checked my kbank and it says international transfer and also purpose education

it was good to know for future use

[Scott Tracy]

Perhaps helpful or not, but I bank with Kasikorn and use Transferwise. 

 

All my transactions are shown on my statements with the code MCL0001 or MCL0002. The statements, along with the letter from the bank were accepted without question or further evidence by the Si Saket Immigration office.

 

Here is another, older post from TV....

Posted July 7, 2019

'Just another bit of info, my transferwise from Australia is shown in my passbook as X1 on the official statement I have just obtained for Immigration it is shown as X1 ATS with a further code MCL0001.

This code according to another poster on T/W heads up forum was an official reply from Kasikornbank , it says ;

The teller ID MCL00001 means international fund transfer from other bank with API system ( application Programming Interface )

My IO has seen my financials and after discussion with head office has said " all OK ".'

 

 

[Dario]

It's very simple, Transferwise and Xendpay, there might be others,  always use a local transfer from their Thai associates Thai bank account to your bank in Thailand. Hence it never shows up as an international transfer. It's as simple as that. 

[Max69xl]

On 8/21/2020 at 12:20 PM, Shannoblic said:

Thank you Sheryl,

 

One question - how do I 'specifically' request TransferWise to use one bank?  The young lady I spoke to never mentioned this and I really don't know how to do it.

 

Thank you for trying to help me.

You tell TW to tag your account to Kasikorn Bank. It means they will use Kasikorn Bank from start to finish instead of using the other 2 partner banks which is Bangkok Bank and Thai Military Bank. It's also better to use the 'Low cost transfer' option. You will get your money the next day if you initiate the transfer Mon-Thu. If using the 'Fast transfer' option, TW might use any partner bank to transfer your money as fast as possible. Who needs the money the same day? I have used TW since 2017, and my transfers always shows up as International = FTT in my bank book, but I'm banking with Bangkok Bank, which is TW's primary banking partner. My account is tagged to Bangkok Bank. That in combination with the reason for the transfer "Funds for long term stay in Thailand", is what makes my transfers to show up International every time. Even when using the 'Balance transfer' option, they shows up as International even though the money is a domestic transfer. But as Sheryl said, you can if needed go to your bank and get Credit Advises for each transfer to show immigration, but the bank will charge you for it. You can also download and print out a 'Transfer receipt' for every transfer. Chose the tab Details and scroll all the way down. 

[khunPer]

On 8/21/2020 at 7:00 AM, Shannoblic said:

Can anyone please advise me how to ensure that my monthly transfers appear in a code which shows they are international. 

I use transfer wise from Denmark, and there is a roll down menu where you can select the purpose of the transfer. I select foreign transfer for expats/long-stayers (worded something like that) and the transfer shows up as FTT (foreign transfer) in my Bangkok Bank's bank book.

 

You can get/download PDF-receipts from inside your Transferwise account with all details about the transfer, showing it originates from a foreign country, your confirmation E-mail should have a link saying: "You can download a receipt for your transfer here."

[Moonlover]

1 hour ago, Hamus Yaigh said:

 

Sorry for not understanding this, but how does this PDF help with the op? The PDF shows nothing about an international transfer to show an IO? It says 'Local bank transfer'

 

Ignore the second page of the transaction slip, (I don't even bother to print it) The first page shows, clearly that 2,000 EURs was paid in to T/W and subsequently 74,023.34 THB was paid out into an account with Bangkok Bank. The address at the bottom shows that the transaction was carried out by a British based company. What more does immigration need to know?

 

Most of my monthly credits were via T/W last year and the IO accepted these documents without question. And, from what I read on TVF, many others have also had them accepted.

 

In fact, I have not heard of a single reported case, of immigration NOT accepting them. although some will ask for supporting documents such as proof of income.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[norbra]

2 hours ago, Hamus Yaigh said:

 

I am not having a good day it seems as I don't understand this either? How does this help with the op as the document says nothing about international transfer does it unless I missed it, the text is a little fuzzy on my screen?

 

The transaction is coded PAID: TT

(Telegraphic Transfer)

[Tuvoc]

What I don't get is how expats have managed to keep their TransferWise accounts in their home country. In the UK anyway, you have to be resident to have a standard bank account. Unless people just use an address of a family member or something. If you live overseas, you are supposed to have a special expat account.

[Pib]

3 hours ago, Dario said:

It's very simple, Transferwise and Xendpay, there might be others,  always use a local transfer from their Thai associates Thai bank account to your bank in Thailand. Hence it never shows up as an international transfer. It's as simple as that. 

Partially wrong for Transferwise.  Yes, Transferwise uses Thai baht funds they have on deposit with their Thai bank partners for the final leg of the transfer, but at least for Bangkok Bank when Transferwise uses Bangkok Bank as their partner bank for a transfer to a Bangkok Bank acct you will get International Transfer/FTT coding for the transfer on your Bangkok Bank acct.  

 

But if you were saying sending funds to your SCB, K-bank, Krungsri, etc., acct and Transferwise chooses to use Bangkok Bank as their partner bank for that transfer when the transfer posts to your SCB, K-bank, Krungsri, whatever other Thai bank the coding will appear just as a domestic transfer....no international coding.

 

 

[Peter Denis]

1 hour ago, Tuvoc said:

What I don't get is how expats have managed to keep their TransferWise accounts in their home country. In the UK anyway, you have to be resident to have a standard bank account. Unless people just use an address of a family member or something. If you live overseas, you are supposed to have a special expat account.

Not sure what you are on about, or maybe I totally misunderstand your post.

But what I do know is that a regular TransferWise account is NOT a bank-account.  You just need to create an account on-line with TransferWise, which will allow you to make use of their service which consists of transferring the money at your regular bank-account quickly and at very competitive rates to your foreign (e.g. Thai) bank-account.

 

[Pib]

1 hour ago, Tuvoc said:

What I don't get is how expats have managed to keep their TransferWise accounts in their home country. In the UK anyway, you have to be resident to have a standard bank account. Unless people just use an address of a family member or something. If you live overseas, you are supposed to have a special expat account.

Know Your Customer (KYC) laws/rules/regulations/policies vary from bank to bank, country to country, etc., in regards to opening a bank acct.  While a country may have certain KYC laws/regulations these laws/regulations usually leave a lot of latitude for the banks, financial companies, money transfer services, etc., to implement them....to satisfy them.  

 

Some financial entities may decide their KYC requirements will be you must have a physical address only within your home countries simply because they don't want to deal with expats and the headaches that can come with some expat customers; other financial entities may not have that rule as they have implemented more liberal KYC polices that still comply with govt laws/regulations....KYC policies that still accommodate expats. 

 

Also, keep in mind that Transferwise is not a bank; they are a money transfer services. KYC regulations/rules vary somewhat as to what kind of financial entity they are....what financial services they are providing.

[Hamus Yaigh]

2 hours ago, norbra said:

The transaction is coded PAID: TT

(Telegraphic Transfer)

Thanks. So hopefully this is good enough for an IO to accept? I thought the IO's just looked in bank books and statements for the FTT code for foreign telegraphic transfers, but I suppose all TT involve foreign banks.

 

This seems to be more use than the PDF from Transferwise that just says Local bank transfer, but requires an added step of getting the Credit Advice report from the Thai bank each time.

[Peter Denis]

8 minutes ago, Hamus Yaigh said:

Thanks. So hopefully this is good enough for an IO to accept? I thought the IO's just looked in bank books and statements for the FTT code for foreign telegraphic transfers, but I suppose all TT involve foreign banks.

 

This seems to be more use than the PDF from Transferwise that just says Local bank transfer, but requires an added step of getting the Credit Advice report from the Thai bank each time.

I think you misunderstood > the TransferWise transfer receipt will be available for download after each transfer your did with TransferWise and it provides irrefutable evidence that the transfer originated from abroad, and is accepted by most IOs as it clearly shows the routing the funds have followed from abroad to your personal thai bank-account.  With that TransferWise transfer receipt it does not matter what code is rendered on your thai bank-book as the receipt is the evidence that the amount originated from abroad. 

[Hamus Yaigh]

26 minutes ago, Peter Denis said:

the TransferWise transfer receipt will be available for download after each transfer your did with TransferWise and it provides irrefutable evidence that the transfer originated from abroad,

Ok thanks. You are correct I am confused sorry!

 

The PDF transfer receipt I get looks just like the one shown in post#21. Which exact words on it should I show an IO as irrefutable evidence that the transfer originated from abroad do you suggest? I cannot see it sorry, but I never was very good at this sort of thing. Appreciate your help.

[Peter Denis]

9 minutes ago, Hamus Yaigh said:

Ok thanks. You are correct I am confused sorry!

 

The PDF transfer receipt I get looks just like the one shown in post#21. Which exact words on it should I show an IO as irrefutable evidence that the transfer originated from abroad do you suggest? I cannot see it sorry, but I never was very good at this sort of thing. Appreciate your help.

The Transfer Confirmation with the 'date paid out' and the amount transferred in THB will match EXACTLY with the date and amount you received on your personal thai bank-account.  The Transfer Confirmation also provides the original currency amount as well as your Thai Bank-Account to which the amount has been transferred, so there can be no doubt that that amount was indeed transferred from abroad.

[Moonlover]

2 hours ago, Tuvoc said:

What I don't get is how expats have managed to keep their TransferWise accounts in their home country. In the UK anyway, you have to be resident to have a standard bank account. Unless people just use an address of a family member or something. If you live overseas, you are supposed to have a special expat account.

Firstly, TransferWise is not a bank, it's company that facilitates the transfer of money from one country to another.

 

Secondly you do not have to be a resident of the UK to have a bank account there. I've held an account with Nationwide for over 30 years, yet for most of that time I have been living abroad. And no, I do not hide myself at a family member's address, NBS have always known exactly where I am living.

[billd766]

On 8/21/2020 at 12:24 PM, lopburi3 said:

Most of us use Bangkok Bank and if deposited directly to them it will be coded as a foreign transfer.  You can download the Transferwise statement which will show foreign origin and may be accepted by immigration or as above obtain credit advise for any such transactions.  From most reports coding has not been a major issue with immigration as long as deposit is made and shown on yearly statement and some form of pension information can be provided if asked.

10 days ago I did my marriage extension in Khampaeng Phet. The IO wasn't interested in anything from TW as the transfer went to Bangkok Bank and was registered as FTT. I opened the account in 2019 specifically for this reason and when I transfer money I tick the "transfer for long term residency in Thailand". I had one transfer go to K Bank and I contacted TW by phone and they tagged my account to BBK bank and I have had no problems since then.

 

I also produce my original pension statements and copies and the IO is happy with that.

[billd766]

On 8/21/2020 at 4:37 PM, scubascuba3 said:

Doing the "transfer for long term residency" to Bangkok Bank, does slow the transfer down though, maybe goes through a manual review, i did a transfer earlier today (Friday) and it's due to settle Monday. Last time i used Kasikorn with a different description it settled 15 minutes later

I have noticed that for quite a while. The pension payment is notified around 2:30 and even if I do the transfer immediately it still does not reach my BKK account until about 2:30 the next day, unless of course i is a Friday or a bank holiday the next working day.

[billd766]

6 hours ago, Dario said:

It's very simple, Transferwise and Xendpay, there might be others,  always use a local transfer from their Thai associates Thai bank account to your bank in Thailand. Hence it never shows up as an international transfer. It's as simple as that. 

That is strange. When I use TW to transfer from the UK to my BKK account it always shows up as an FTT transfer. It's as simple as that. 

[WorriedNoodle]

10 hours ago, Peter Denis said:

But as mentioned already by some other posters, there is an easy way to circumvent this problem by downloading the TransferWise PDF transfer receipt and most IOs will accept it, as it provides irrefutable evidence that the transfer originated from abroad.

That surprises me though I haven't tried it. Some expats I know don't know about Transferwise so I find it hard to believe my IO who likes to see all my documents coming from Thai banks with Thai bank stamps and signatures, accepting any support info from some foreign Transferwise PDF receipt as proof of anything? I live and learn I guess.

[Peter Denis]

12 hours ago, billd766 said:

That is strange. When I use TW to transfer from the UK to my BKK account it always shows up as an FTT transfer. It's as simple as that. 

BangkokBank is one of the few (the only?) Thai banks of which the Headquarter - where the transfer normally will go to first - also transmits the transfer-code to your local BKK branch account.  Hence a foreign transfer to BKK Bank will always feature that international transfer when following the normal route via their Headquarters (when using TransferWise and opting for the 'fast' transfer, your transfer will sometimes be routed via one of their other partner-banks - Kasikorn or TMB - and then the transfer will be displayed as a 'domestic' transfer on your bank-book).

[Seeall]

On 8/22/2020 at 11:49 AM, Peter Denis said:

The problem is not due to unwillingness of TransferWise staff, but due to the specific way in how Thai banks operate (with funds first arriving at Bank HQs and then being transferred to your local branche account).

But as mentioned already by some other posters, there is an easy way to circumvent this problem by downloading the TransferWise PDF transfer receipt and most IOs will accept it, as it provides irrefutable evidence that the transfer originated from abroad.

 

Thanks, well said...TW should know and use this... again.. they are not interested..

[john terry1001]

12 minutes ago, Seeall said:

Thanks, well said...TW should know and use this... again.. they are not interested..

TW have set up a system that works and simply supply the transfer information in PDF format. They don't use it at all.

 

TW can only complete a transfer in the format instructed by the transfer application. If people took the time to understand and use the process correctly there wouldn't be a problem and everybody's transfers would be completed correctly and with the correct international coding in the Thai bank account.

[Huckenfell]

i have tried several transfer companies into a Bangkok Bank account and find Transferwise the easiest, cheapest and fastest to date, they are very good.