question about transferwise

[zeekgarcia]

Do you sign up while you are back in your home country or can you sign up from Thailand?

[billd766]

I signed up from Thailand.

[theoldgit]

11 minutes ago, billd766 said:

I signed up from Thailand.

Likewise

[Moonlover]

It can be done, on-line from anywhere in the world in just a few minutes.

[Pib]

I signed up in Thailand but I used my U.S. address....but I could have used my Thailand address.

[KhunBENQ]

Signed up from Thailand and used my Thai address. Have no more home address.

Proof for Thai address can be some kind of hurdle as they accept a limited set of documents.

My proof was a letter from a German bank showing my Thai address.

[4MyEgo]

Singed up from here too.

[mark5335]

I signed up in Thailand, but subsequently amended my residence in their records from Thailand to Australia so I could get the TransferWise Mastercard Debit Card which I found a useful. Currently they don't offer their debit card to Thailand residents.

[Dante99]

How much money do you think you save using Transferwise compared to a Swift transfer for a transfer amount of USD 3,000?

[KannikaP]

2 minutes ago, Dante99 said:

How much money do you think you save using Transferwise compared to a Swift transfer for a transfer amount of USD 3,000?

That depends on the Exchange Rate the bank doing the Swift transfer use. Transferwise gives a comparision of other bank's charges.

[Nout]

On 1/26/2021 at 11:42 AM, zeekgarcia said:

Do you sign up while you are back in your home country or can you sign up from Thailand?

I signed up from Thailand.  I have two banks in Europe

[Dante99]

2 minutes ago, KannikaP said:

That depends on the Exchange Rate the bank doing the Swift transfer use. Transferwise gives a comparision of other bank's charges.

I think that comparison by Transferwise overstates the cost of Swift, there are more variables besides the exchange rate.  Swift wire fee, intermediary bank fee if any and receiving bank fee are also variables.

 

I checked the Transferwise delivered Baht amount for a USD 2,000 transfer last week then immediately requested a Swift transfer for that amount from a US financial institution.  The Swift money was received today and was 320 Baht or 0.5% less than the amount Transferwise quoted.

 

That was with a sending institution Swift fee of $10 but there are institutions that charge zero or $5 and others in the 30-45 range.

[Isaan Alan]

18 hours ago, Dante99 said:

I think that comparison by Transferwise overstates the cost of Swift, there are more variables besides the exchange rate.  Swift wire fee, intermediary bank fee if any and receiving bank fee are also variables.

 

I checked the Transferwise delivered Baht amount for a USD 2,000 transfer last week then immediately requested a Swift transfer for that amount from a US financial institution.  The Swift money was received today and was 320 Baht or 0.5% less than the amount Transferwise quoted.

 

That was with a sending institution Swift fee of $10 but there are institutions that charge zero or $5 and others in the 30-45 range.

 

Yes it's not just the exchange rate, it's the fees on both ends also. Of course, the bank fees are proportionally generally less if you send a large amount. I send from Australia to Thailand. I started out by using my Commonwealth Bank - bad exchange rate, low fees on Australia end but 650-700 baht fee on the Thai end. Now I am using OFX with a reasonable exchange rate but only about 120 baht Thai bank fee. I am signed up for Transferwise but I haven't used it yet. They have the best exchange rate I have seen but the fees for sending scale up to the size of the transfer and I wonder about the fees on the Thai side, Anybody know about that?

[Dante99]

1 hour ago, Isaan Alan said:

I am signed up for Transferwise but I haven't used it yet. They have the best exchange rate I have seen but the fees for sending scale up to the size of the transfer and I wonder about the fees on the Thai side, Anybody know about that?

Transferwise website tells you how many Baht you will receive at your Thai bank and that is what you get, no deduction for Thai Bank fees at least with Bangkok Bank.

[KannikaP]

5 minutes ago, Dante99 said:

Transferwise website tells you how many Baht you will receive at your Thai bank and that is what you get, no deduction for Thai Bank fees at least with Bangkok Bank.

That is because Transferwise have (thankfully) wangled it so the final transfer is a local one disguised as a foreign one. Thanks TWise!

[LomSak27]

Easy to sign up from anywhere. My only problem came from my home country bank where the ACH transfer originates. They sent a text for me to ok it. As it went to another phone, I did not get it. I did find out about it though and was ready when we tried a second time. That was a one time deal my home bank did when a new ACH transfer request came in they did not know about.  Used them for a couple years since, without hitches or any more "text confirmation requests".

However it does pay to keep ones eyes open. Transferwise limits the amount (from US) to 15K per transaction via the ACH method. Over this amount and they will try and kick you over to a wire transfer. At that point my home banks wire transfers become competitive. Note - this effects me as I am not doing monthly living amounts via a pension. I make a transaction once a year for funds. Besides this a number of companies  have started offering similar services. I'm happy with Transferwise, but as always keep my eyes open. 

[LoVeFuN]

On 1/28/2021 at 2:16 AM, LomSak27 said:

Easy to sign up from anywhere. My only problem came from my home country bank where the ACH transfer originates. They sent a text for me to ok it. As it went to another phone, I did not get it. I did find out about it though and was ready when we tried a second time. That was a one time deal my home bank did when a new ACH transfer request came in they did not know about.  Used them for a couple years since, without hitches or any more "text confirmation requests".

However it does pay to keep ones eyes open. Transferwise limits the amount (from US) to 15K per transaction via the ACH method. Over this amount and they will try and kick you over to a wire transfer. At that point my home banks wire transfers become competitive. Note - this effects me as I am not doing monthly living amounts via a pension. I make a transaction once a year for funds. Besides this a number of companies  have started offering similar services. I'm happy with Transferwise, but as always keep my eyes open. 

How did you get around the security text message from your bank as that's what I'm anticipating with a wire or transferWise transfer. You can change your TW phone number but the home bank is more difficult when in Thailand.

[LomSak27]

On 1/29/2021 at 9:13 PM, LoVeFuN said:

How did you get around the security text message from your bank as that's what I'm anticipating with a wire or transferWise transfer. You can change your TW phone number but the home bank is more difficult when in Thailand.

 

message sent.

[Jeffr2]

I signed up for it here in Thailand.  I've used it several times, and compared the rates to a wire transfer.  For smaller amounts, it's a bit better with Transferwise.  For bigger amounts, I didn't see a huge difference.

 

And!  One transfer took almost 10 days.  Most are around 5 days or so.  A wire transfer can be here in a day.

[KhunBENQ]

4 hours ago, Jeffr2 said:

And!  One transfer took almost 10 days.  Most are around 5 days or so.  A wire transfer can be here in a day.

What transfer method and from where?

Some have it in minutes.

I sent from my Transferwise account (Belgium) and it is there next working day or same day.

Both 14:00 at Bangkok Bank.

I keep my Belgian account filled up to a certain amount.

Other method: directly sending it from my German account to intermediate German Transferwise account takes long because German banks work at snails pace.

Another more expensive method (credit card) available. Never tried.

Edited February 1, 2021 by KhunBENQ

[Jeffr2]

9 minutes ago, KhunBENQ said:

What transfer method and from where?

Some have it in minutes.

I sent from my Transferwise account (Belgium) and it is there next working day or same day.

Both 14:00 at Bangkok Bank.

I keep my Belgian account filled up to a certain amount.

Other method: directly sending it from my German account to intermediate German Transferwise account takes long because German banks work at snails pace.

Another more expensive method (credit card) available. Never tried.

From the US to here.  I've done it about 4 times now.  One time OK, 4-5 days.  Another a bit faster.  Another really slow, but not sure why?  The last transfer was 500k Baht.  So, did it with Schwab.  No fees, here in 2 days.  Not bad!

[Kaoboi Bebobp]

I use my Canadian credit union (like a bank but member owned) and use Bill Pay to send CA$ to TW. The CU's Swift fee and the TW fee are just a few dollars difference. Where the money saving occurs is on this end with Kbank. KBank takes, if I remember correctly, $15 off the top and is very stingy with the exchange rate, about half a baht/$ less than TW's. 

 

I order a payment to TW in the early evening in Thailand (12 hours difference) and receive the money in Thai baht the next afternoon, roughly 22 hours later. Like clock work.

[KhunBENQ]

1 hour ago, Kaoboi Bebobp said:

I order a payment to TW in the early evening in Thailand (12 hours difference) and receive the money in Thai baht the next afternoon, roughly 22 hours later. Like clock work.

Similar to my experience.

It requires some bad circumstances to have 5 or even more days for a transfer.

Clock work: it's credited at Bangkok at 14:00h (2 PM) to the minute.

[EricTh]

Transferring into Thailand is easy with Transferwise but transferring outside of Thailand is a nightmare.

 

Does anyone know whether there is another service with as good an exchange rate as Transferwise in transferring OUT of Thailand?

 

I thought Thai government is trying to losing up the control of money transfer out of Thailand recently to limit the Thai baht strength?

Edited February 1, 2021 by EricTh

[Thomas J]

1 hour ago, EricTh said:

Does anyone know whether there is another service with as good an exchange rate as Transferwise in transferring OUT of Thailand?

The only method that I am aware of is Dee Money but I have no idea about the exchange rate.  You can arrange a wire transfer from your bank however they will charge you a wire transfer fee plus they will convert your baht to the currency of the country that you are sending it to.  Their buy/sell rate for that currency can be significant. 

[Thomas J]

On 1/28/2021 at 7:07 AM, Isaan Alan said:

d. Now I am using OFX with a reasonable exchange rate but only about 120 baht Thai bank fee. I am signed up for Transferwise but I haven't used it yet. They have the best exchange rate I have seen but the fees for sending scale up to the size of the transfer and I wonder about the fees on the Thai side, Anybody know about that?

I have used Transferwise.  No fee for incoming to Bangkok Bank.  I just checked OFX compared to Transferwise.  Transferwise exchange rate was 29.97 USD to baht.  OFX was 29.3658.  You do get charged to ACH from your bank to Transferwise.  I don't know about OFX having a similar charge.  So depending on the amount you are transferring the difference in exchange rates could be significant. 

[Pib]

11 minutes ago, Thomas J said:

The only method that I am aware of is Dee Money but I have no idea about the exchange rate.  

Deemoney exchange rates to send money out of Thailand is listed at their website under "Rates, Money Transfer."

[Pib]

7 minutes ago, Thomas J said:

I have used Transferwise.  No fee for incoming to Bangkok Bank.  I just checked OFX compared to Transferwise.  Transferwise exchange rate was 29.97 USD to baht.  OFX was 29.3658.  You do get charged to ACH from your bank to Transferwise.  I don't know about OFX having a similar charge.  So depending on the amount you are transferring the difference in exchange rates could be significant. 

My check of Transferwise and OFX exchange rates as of 1 Feb 2021, 3:50pm Thailand time shows Transfwise with a 29.97 rate and OFX with 29.78.   But that's comparing exchange rates only.  When looking at exchange rate and fees OFX would put more money into your Thai bank acct.  See below comparison....and please note with the OFX acct you will need to deduct another Bt100 from the total amount rec'd which is a BAHTNET fee as OFX typically uses BAHTNET for the final leg of the transfer within Thailand.    Also,  the OFX exchange rate shown is an actual customer rate "in my case as I have an account with them" vs the indicative only rate shown at the OFX public website...."indicative rate is fancy talk for the interbank rate like Transferwise uses but OFX does not actually give the interbank rate....they give a little less since their sending fees are much lower or zero compared to Transferwise.  OFX exchange rates will vary from customer to customer but Transferwise rate will be the same for all customers.

 

 

Transferwise...includes sending fees. 

 

 

OFX...no sending fees show below because there are none.

[Thomas J]

3 minutes ago, Pib said:

My check of Transferwise and OFX exchange rates as of 1 Feb 2021, 3:50pm Thailand time shows Transfwise with a 29.97 rate and OFX with 29.78.   But that's comparing exchange rates only.  When looking at exchange rate and fees OFX would put more money into your Thai bank acct.  See below comparison....and please note with the OFX acct you will need to deduct another Bt100 from the total amount rec'd which is a BAHTNET fee as OFX typically uses BAHTNET for the final leg of the transfer within Thailand.    Also,  the OFX exchange rate shown is an actual customer rate "in my case as I have an account with them" vs the indicative only rate shown at the OFX public website...."indicative rate is fancy talk for the interbank rate like Transferwise uses but OFX does not actually give the interbank rate....they give a little less since their sending fees are much lower or zero compared to Transferwise.  OFX exchange rates will vary from customer to customer but Transferwise rate will be the same for all customers.

 

 

Transferwise...includes sending fees. 

 

 

OFX...no sending fees show below because there are none.

Pib

I just checked OFX and this is the rate that it showed.  I did see that the rate went up with higher dollar amounts.  Does the OFX transfer get coded as an international transfer for immigration purposes?  I know transferwise does so long as you indicate that it is for a long term expense for living in Thailand. 

 

[Pib]

Thomas J.,

Above goes to show how OFX has different "customer rates"....and your rate is a low one.  Same thing happened to me when I first joined OFX a couple years ago....my customer rate was low like yours so I didn't do any transfers.  Then about six months later my customer rate jumped-up....guess they figured out I wouldn't be doing any transfers with such a low rate....I did a couple of transfers...and usually do one every year or so to do an ops check.

 

But if you look at the OFX public website you will see an "indicative" rate....which is the higher interbank exchange rate like Transferwise uses.   New customers think they will get that rate (tasty worn on the hook), but once they register with OFX they find out their "customer" rate is lower...and it will vary among customers.  but OFX has low to no sending fees...guess you could say their fees are built into their exchange rate.

 

As mentioned earlier OFX typically use BAHTNET for the final leg of their SWIFT-based transfers which means a person receives domestic transfer vs international coding on their Thai bank acct.  But you could get a Credit Advice from the bank which did the final leg of the transfer which will be a different bank than your receiving bank.

 

BAHTNET is a Thailand specific domestic transfer system although it does interface with the SWIFT system.