Ktb, Travelex Launch Money Transfer Service

KTB, Travelex launch money transfer service

BANGKOK: -- Krung Thai Bank (KTB) and Travelex, an international foreign exchange specialist, yesterday launched the Travelex Money Transfer (TMT) service at the bank's Khao San Road branch.

The service allows customers to transfer up to Bt200,000 anywhere in the world within five minutes via the Internet.

The bank will add the service, the first of its kind in Thailand, to all its 450 branches nationwide by October, said Suwit Udomsab, KTB senior executive vice president.

Money can also be transferred from overseas to local branches using the TMT service.

The minimum charge is Bt500 or 4 per cent of the transferred amount.

Customers will be assigned a TMT code once the money is transferred. A passbook or bank account is not needed.

To get the money, the receiver only needs to show his or her identity card or passport and the TMT code, which is provided by the sender.

Travelex has 650 branches in more than 40 countries.

Prior to TMT, there were two overseas money transfer services available in the Kingdom - Western Union and MoneyGram - which are based on the cable or host-to-host system and take around 30 minutes per transaction.

The minimum fee for these services is around Bt500 per transaction, while the maximum fee depends on the amount transferred.

Suwit said TMT would be aimed at retail clients, especially travellers, students and Thais working overseas, who wanted to transfer small amounts of money.

"The bank has targeted a 10-per-cent money-transfer market share by next year and expects to generate around Bt50 million per year in fee income," Suwit said.

--The Nation 2004-06-17