Transfer large sums from EU to Thailand

[Susco]

This question probably has been asked before, but what other options than Wise are there to transfer large sums of money to Thailand.

 

We are talking about a few hundred thousand Euro.

 

I can't use Wise as the blocked my account, and don't communicate for which reason.

 

I checked out WesternUnion and Azimo, but both would give me less baht than if I sent it with Swift.

 

So which other options there are that would give me a better rate than Swift transfer?

[CharlieH]

MOVED to Banking forum.

[Yellowtail]

I only ever transfer from the US, but it has been my experience that doing a bank/swift transfer is the cheapest for larger transfers. In the US the bank charges a flat-rate for the transfer, but the rate is good as long as you transfer dollars. If they do the conversion the transfer is "free". 

 

As I remember, TW was only competitive under about $10K but I do not remember. 

 

You can try to negotiate the rate offered with the receiving bank once it lands. The bank should call you, I know Krungsri and Kasikorn call me. 

[Susco]

Does anyone have experience with Currencyfair?

 

I looked on their website, but some things seem a bit vague to me, and if you google for reviews, it is obvious that all reviews you find are written by themselves.

[Susco]

Well, that escalated quickly.

 

I already had an account with currencyfair for about a year, but never used it as some details about the exchange rates were confusing to me.

 

Today I sent them an email asking which were the procedures for sending more than 100K Euro from my personal account in Europe to my personal account in Thailand, because on their website is stated that you can send maximum 1.450.000 Thai baht in a single transaction.

 

30 minutes later I received an email with the flawed excuse that they are not allowed to register people residing in Thailand, and my account was deactivated.

 

That was by the way also how my Transferwise account got deactivated, only a few days after I had sent them an email asking the same question, but they didn't even bother to respond.

 

Am I doing something illegal here, or can anyone explain why that question triggers alarm bells?

 

The money is all legal and in the accounts for decades already, but the bank has stopped doing international transfers since november last year.

[Leaver]

9 hours ago, Susco said:

Well, that escalated quickly.

 

I already had an account with currencyfair for about a year, but never used it as some details about the exchange rates were confusing to me.

 

Today I sent them an email asking which were the procedures for sending more than 100K Euro from my personal account in Europe to my personal account in Thailand, because on their website is stated that you can send maximum 1.450.000 Thai baht in a single transaction.

 

30 minutes later I received an email with the flawed excuse that they are not allowed to register people residing in Thailand, and my account was deactivated.

 

That was by the way also how my Transferwise account got deactivated, only a few days after I had sent them an email asking the same question, but they didn't even bother to respond.

 

Am I doing something illegal here, or can anyone explain why that question triggers alarm bells?

 

The money is all legal and in the accounts for decades already, but the bank has stopped doing international transfers since november last year.

 

Where are you?

 

How do they know you are in Thailand?

 

Did you use a VPN?

[Susco]

1 minute ago, Leaver said:

 

Where are you?

 

How do they know you are in Thailand?

 

Did you use a VPN?

 

I am in Thailand, but obviously I'm still not Thai, and hold a legal EU passport with bank accounts in my name in the EU.

 

Never used a VPN to register, the only reason they know is that I emailed them explaining the reason why I wanted to transfer the funds from EU to Thailand.

 

 

[Leaver]

3 minutes ago, Susco said:

 

I am in Thailand, but obviously I'm still not Thai, and hold a legal EU passport with bank accounts in my name in the EU.

 

Never used a VPN to register, the only reason they know is that I emailed them explaining the reason why I wanted to transfer the funds from EU to Thailand.

 

 

 

Why volunteer any information to them?

 

It's not illegal to use a VPN?  

 

Next time, use a VPN, so at least your IP Address does not trigger a red flag.  

[Susco]

30 minutes ago, Leaver said:

 

Why volunteer any information to them?

 

It's not illegal to use a VPN?  

 

Next time, use a VPN, so at least your IP Address does not trigger a red flag.  

 

Not sure if you are stubborn or not, but my registration about a year ago, and several logins over that period, never triggered a red flag, however I never used a VPN.

 

I TOLD them that I am in Thailand, because from a Gmail email nobody can see from where it was sent. And I told them because I'm an honest person and wanted to avoid possible issues, since the transfer of my funds would involve several transactions, due to the limit that each transfer has.

 

Their refusal is simply unwarranted for, and used as a poor excuse because they suspect money laundering, which can easily be proved not to be the case.

 

This is their excuse

 

Please note that it does not matter what nationality you are. We can send the funds from ********  to Thailand but we do not have appropriate license to operate in Thailand. As we have licenses restrictions, we had to close your account until you will return to ********* or reside in any other country we can accept the registrations from.

 

I'm a EU citizen with a legal EU passport and legal EU accounts, so where I'm using the internet has nothing to do with it.

 

 

[Yellowtail]

What does your bank charge? 

 

Again, at least in the US, for big transfers they are cheaper.

[Susco]

11 minutes ago, Yellowtail said:

What does your bank charge? 

 

Again, at least in the US, for big transfers they are cheaper.

 

My bank doesn't do transfers outside the SEPA zone any more since November last year, so I would have to move the funds to another bank first, but try to open a bank account in Europe while you are in Thailand.

 

What's more is, is that my bank has informed me that they will close the accounts in less than 2 months from now, because I reside in Thailand and they have to comply with EU law about money laundering.

[sanuk711]

29 minutes ago, Yellowtail said:

Again, at least in the US, for big transfers they are cheaper.

I agree-- I transferred $100K from Oz, The ANZ in Oz phone me and offered a cheaper rate and a next day transfer--I spoke to the BKK bank here and they bettered that rate with next day transfer. Wise has a restriction on the amounts (into Thailand)

[Susco]

5 minutes ago, sanuk711 said:

 Wise has a restriction on the amounts (into Thailand)

 

Yes Wise has a restriction of about 2 million baht per transaction, and Currencyfair 1.450.000 Baht

[Yellowtail]

18 minutes ago, Susco said:

 

Yes Wise has a restriction of about 2 million baht per transaction, and Currencyfair 1.450.000 Baht

 

That blows. So you will be stuck with no banking in your home county? 

 

You may just have to bite the bullet and do multiple transfers with TW or some-such. 

 

If it's a checking account you could write and deposit a check. 

 

When they close the account they will send you a check yes? You could deposit that.

[Susco]

3 minutes ago, Yellowtail said:

 

That blows. So you will be stuck with no banking in your home county? 

 

You may just have to bite the bullet and do multiple transfers with TW or some-such. 

 

If it's a checking account you could write and deposit a check. 

 

When they close the account they will send you a check yes? You could deposit that.

 

You have missed that Wise has blocked my account right after I asked for the procedure how to transfer a large amount, and so did Currencyfair.

 

If I don't have a new account, my current bank just blocks the accounts on August 5. I have found another online bank which I can open an account from Thailand, but I actually are not much interested in having my money still stuck in banks at 0.1% interest.

 

I have such a feeling that if I move my funds to that new bank, and then want to transfer to Thailand, that all alarm bells will start ringing, since the money is in the account only for a short while.

[fdsa]

     

https://forum.thaivisa.com/forum/228-the-cryptocurrency-forum/       ????

[Yellowtail]

40 minutes ago, Susco said:

 

You have missed that Wise has blocked my account right after I asked for the procedure how to transfer a large amount, and so did Currencyfair.

 

If I don't have a new account, my current bank just blocks the accounts on August 5. I have found another online bank which I can open an account from Thailand, but I actually are not much interested in having my money still stuck in banks at 0.1% interest.

 

I have such a feeling that if I move my funds to that new bank, and then want to transfer to Thailand, that all alarm bells will start ringing, since the money is in the account only for a short while.

 

Can you not have your bank close your account and send you a check?

[Susco]

2 minutes ago, Yellowtail said:

 

Can you not have your bank close your account and send you a check?

 

Can a bank that does not process international transfers, write a check that can be cashed in Thailand?

 

How much would I lose in exchange rate and processing cots, compared to a swift transfer?

[Yellowtail]

45 minutes ago, Susco said:

 

Can a bank that does not process international transfers, write a check that can be cashed in Thailand?

 

I cannot speak to your specific bank or circumstance, but I have deposited a  number of checks from different banks in the US. 

 

 

45 minutes ago, Susco said:

How much would I lose in exchange rate and processing cots, compared to a swift transfer?

 

If your bank is refusing to transfer your funds, what difference does it make?

 

You will get the same rate the Thai bank is offering on the date the check clears. Given the size, they may negotiate the rate a little.  The Thai bank will charge a flat rate and the check will take about 30 days to clear. 

 

You may want to consider opening a (I assume) Euro account with a Thai bank. You could avoid losing anything to the exchange, and you can con maintain Euro in a Thai account as a hedge against the Baht.

 

 

[Susco]

35 minutes ago, Yellowtail said:

You may want to consider opening a (I assume) Euro account with a Thai bank. You could avoid losing anything to the exchange, and you can con maintain Euro in a Thai account as a hedge against the Baht.

 

That is the funny thing about the whole situation.

 

In 2015 I opened a Euro account with Kasikorn, and sent the lot over. 1 Euro was 39.xx Baht and rising at that time, and my intention was that when it went over 40, I would exchange it.

 

It never went to 40, it only went downwards, and in 2019 the exchange rate was 33.60. Since a Euro account doesn't pay interest, I decided to send the lot back.

 

Worst decision I could have made.

[Yellowtail]

15 minutes ago, Susco said:

 

That is the funny thing about the whole situation.

 

In 2015 I opened a Euro account with Kasikorn, and sent the lot over. 1 Euro was 39.xx Baht and rising at that time, and my intention was that when it went over 40, I would exchange it.

 

It never went to 40, it only went downwards, and in 2019 the exchange rate was 33.60. Since a Euro account doesn't pay interest, I decided to send the lot back.

 

Worst decision I could have made.

 

Yeah, well it's only money. 

 

I would not look for the Baht to get significantly weaker against Euro (or dollar), but it is a <deleted>-shoot. 

 

[Leaver]

13 hours ago, Susco said:

 

Not sure if you are stubborn or not, but my registration about a year ago, and several logins over that period, never triggered a red flag, however I never used a VPN.

 

I TOLD them that I am in Thailand, because from a Gmail email nobody can see from where it was sent. And I told them because I'm an honest person and wanted to avoid possible issues, since the transfer of my funds would involve several transactions, due to the limit that each transfer has.

 

Their refusal is simply unwarranted for, and used as a poor excuse because they suspect money laundering, which can easily be proved not to be the case.

 

This is their excuse

 

Please note that it does not matter what nationality you are. We can send the funds from ********  to Thailand but we do not have appropriate license to operate in Thailand. As we have licenses restrictions, we had to close your account until you will return to ********* or reside in any other country we can accept the registrations from.

 

I'm a EU citizen with a legal EU passport and legal EU accounts, so where I'm using the internet has nothing to do with it.

 

 

 

Not stubborn, just trying to work out why multiple international transfer companies are closing your accounts with them.

 

Why would they close them anyway?  Maybe you want to do a transfer to a country other than Thailand, and for a lower amount.  

 

I'm familiar with Wise, not familiar with CurrencyFair.  I looked at their website and it appears to operate the same way.

 

Maybe you are on a terrorist watch list.  ????

[phetphet]

4 hours ago, Leaver said:

 

Not stubborn, just trying to work out why multiple international transfer companies are closing your accounts with them.

 

Why would they close them anyway?  Maybe you want to do a transfer to a country other than Thailand, and for a lower amount.  

 

I'm familiar with Wise, not familiar with CurrencyFair.  I looked at their website and it appears to operate the same way.

 

Maybe you are on a terrorist watch list.  ????

The banks and fin tech companies are very scared of upsetting the authorities and being accused of money laundering. They will close accounts over the slightest thing and not give any reason.

[Susco]

5 minutes ago, phetphet said:

The banks and fin tech companies are very scared of upsetting the authorities and being accused of money laundering. They will close accounts over the slightest thing and not give any reason.

 

Exactly. This is the lame excuse CurrencyAffair gave me for closing my account instantly, after I had inquired how to handle a large transfer.

 

Please note that it does not matter what nationality you are. We can send the funds from Belgium to Thailand but we do not have appropriate license to operate in Thailand. As we have licenses restrictions, we had to close your account until you will return to Belgium or reside in any other country we can accept the registrations from.

 

I can't make any sense of it, but I asked them that if I traveled to Belgium and started my registration form there, if that would be OK for them then. They didn'tr answer any more.

[phetphet]

1 minute ago, Susco said:

 

Exactly. This is the lame excuse CurrencyAffair gave me for closing my account instantly, after I had inquired how to handle a large transfer.

 

Please note that it does not matter what nationality you are. We can send the funds from Belgium to Thailand but we do not have appropriate license to operate in Thailand. As we have licenses restrictions, we had to close your account until you will return to Belgium or reside in any other country we can accept the registrations from.

 

I can't make any sense of it, but I asked them that if I traveled to Belgium and started my registration form there, if that would be OK for them then. They didn'tr answer any more.

Just a thought. Have to tried opening a new Wise account? Might be worth a try. Also sending funds it in smaller amounts might raise less hackles.

 

HTH

[Leaver]

19 minutes ago, phetphet said:

The banks and fin tech companies are very scared of upsetting the authorities and being accused of money laundering. They will close accounts over the slightest thing and not give any reason.

 

Hence why I said, "why volunteer information?"  

[Yellowtail]

19 hours ago, Leaver said:

 

Where are you?

 

How do they know you are in Thailand?

 

Did you use a VPN?

 

Do expect him to just volunteer this information? 

[Susco]

14 minutes ago, phetphet said:

Just a thought. Have to tried opening a new Wise account? Might be worth a try. Also sending funds it in smaller amounts might raise less hackles.

 

HTH

 

I did, actually a few times,  because the inquiry and closure of my Transferwise account happened more than a year ago.

 

The new accounts, which I made with different email and pseudonym, last 1 transaction.

 

Then about 2 months ago, I opened a new account with my real name but different email account, send them all the verification needs like copy of passport etc, made 1 small transfer within Europe. Next time I tried to login the account was deactivated.

 

I emailed them the other day, with the question why they closed my account ( the last one), and they only answered, we decided not to reactivate it.

 

The next day they send me a customer satisfactory survey to fill in. haha

[SCOTT FITZGERSLD]

21 hours ago, Susco said:

 

I did, actually a few times,  because the inquiry and closure of my Transferwise account happened more than a year ago.

 

The new accounts, which I made with different email and pseudonym, last 1 transaction.

 

Then about 2 months ago, I opened a new account with my real name but different email account, send them all the verification needs like copy of passport etc, made 1 small transfer within Europe. Next time I tried to login the account was deactivated.

 

I emailed them the other day, with the question why they closed my account ( the last one), and they only answered, we decided not to reactivate it.

 

The next day they send me a customer satisfactory survey to fill in. haha

similar thing happaned to me with PAYPAL.

one day they sent me a message that after reveiwing my account, they decided that i pose a risk for their community

and will not longer be able to do business with them.

like that, in those words.

funny thing is that i never used that acount for anything, 11 years with no activity whatsoever.

so what happaned? i had a loud argument with a bank officer. also a bank account with allmost zero activity.

the reason for the argument - the bank did not close my account even after i asked them few times.

so this is how it goes.

[CharlieH]

Petty nonsense removed.