Use Of Atm Cards

[khunphilip]

Now that there are two rates of baht exchange onshore off shore interesting to know what rate uk banks usa banks charge accounts at the thai bank for transfer today was at 68.34 checked the uk r.b.s. 63.49 20000 baht at thai rate=292.65 at uk rate=315.01 with out charges so 3 visit to atm a month a loss of 40 pounds at uk rate and three lots of charges toadd like to know which rate the jolly old honest banks charge

F.T.P.

[Crow Boy]

Now that there are two rates of baht exchange onshore off shore interesting to know what rate uk banks usa banks charge accounts at the thai bank for transfer today was at 68.34 checked the uk r.b.s. 63.49 20000 baht at thai rate=292.65 at uk rate=315.01 with out charges so 3 visit to atm a month a loss of 40 pounds at uk rate and three lots of charges toadd like to know which rate the jolly old honest banks charge

jolly old honest banks? I am not sure it there is such an institution any more. My bank in Australia charged me $5 per ATM access - including Account Balance then the transfer rate was significantly lower than the posted rate at the same bank at the same time as they did the calculation. I then opened a bank account in Thailand and used to do a single electronic transfer by my Internet access and the transfer fee was zero and the rate was the same as the current posted rate. Depending on the amount transferred this could make a sizeable difference in the money that hit here.

CB

[chanchao]

Some banks seem to do the calculation using the rate in the bank's country (typically less favorable) others use the Thailand based rate which is usually much better. It's an issue of your own bank, not the bank who's name you see on the ATM from which you withdraw.

Something similar applies when wiring money to a Thai bank account: Always specify the amount in your own currency to ensure that the conversion takes place in Thailand.

I just had a bunch of Euros sent.. rate of 47.01 so really very good.

Cheers,

Chanchao

[mcgriffith]

I was using my ATM card to access funds in my (US) HSBC account up until Nov last year, when the offshore and onshore rate spread widened to almost 2 B (for USD). It depends on your home country bank- what ATM system they are on. Cirrus (MasterCard) uses the offshore rate, so you get a very poor exchange. Better method is to do an international wire transfer (telex) from your home country bank to your Thai bank account (assuming you have one) as mentioned above. You will get the onshore rate in this scenario, but there are fees involved.

Or as Crow Boy said, if you can do an electronic transfer via internet, but this depends on what bank you use....

[Dustoff]

~

For several years I brought money over here monthly by withdrawing with my ATM card but grew tired of the fees charged both by my American bank and the credit card company, even when it is actually a debit card withdrawal.

With a little research I found a way to electronically transfer money from my American bank to Bangkok Bank in NY for free, am charged only .25% when it arrives in Bangkok and am given the exact exchange rate posted on CNBC when it arrives in my CM account. The only other fee is the $5 charged by BKK Bank NY to accept an electronic deposit.

ATM and wire transfers are the most expensive routes and they significantly impact our spending power here in Thailand.

[el jefe]

~

For several years I brought money over here monthly by withdrawing with my ATM card but grew tired of the fees charged both by my American bank and the credit card company, even when it is actually a debit card withdrawal.

With a little research I found a way to electronically transfer money from my American bank to Bangkok Bank in NY for free, am charged only .25% when it arrives in Bangkok and am given the exact exchange rate posted on CNBC when it arrives in my CM account. The only other fee is the $5 charged by BKK Bank NY to accept an electronic deposit.

ATM and wire transfers are the most expensive routes and they significantly impact our spending power here in Thailand.

As others have said, it all depends on your bank. I have an account at Commerce Bank in the US. The last time I used my ATM card in CM, a couple of weeks ago, I got about 34.80 Baht to the Dollar. Commerce does not charge me any fees to use my ATM card. I beleive I can also make an ACH transfer from my Commerce account to my account at Bangkok Bank with no fee from Commerce Bank but haven't seen any reason to do that. If there's a fee from the receiving bank (Bangkok Bank), it certainly wouldn't make sense. In my case, ATM withdrawals are the cheapest way to get cash here.