Friendly branches for opening bank account

[Seagull Sam]

I have OA visa, TM30 issued very soon, quarantine certificate and other bits of paper. I also have a nice jacket, a shirt with a collar and shiny shoes. 

I'm reasonably sound financially back home so can put a few Baht away.

 

How much should I be looking to deposit?

How will they expect payment to be made?

          Will they take it from a card?

          Will they open the account and allow a transfer from (Transfer)Wise or from a western bank?

 

Any tips about where to go, who to ask for &c much appreciated.

[tonray]

7 minutes ago, Seagull Sam said:

How much should I be looking to deposit?

How will they expect payment to be made?

          Will they take it from a card?

          Will they open the account and allow a transfer from (Transfer)Wise or from a western bank?

Amount ? is entirely up to you....just meet minimum which is likely very low

You can use credit card or foreign debit card...but extra charges likely...better to open acct with minium amount from ATM

Once your account is open, you can initiate transfers using the acct number and Bank SWIFT code..nothing special needed

[bkk6060]

What was policy last week, may be different tomorrow.

I suggest you do some leg work and go out to various banks with your nice clothes and shiny shoes and ask.

[herfiehandbag]

I have wide experience of helping a number of West African minor royalty and multi millionaire business men with such matters, so....

 

Seriously, wear your smart clothes, bring your passport, and walk round the banks in a couple of shopping malls asking to open an account. There seems to be no rhyme or reason, some will say no, sooner or later one will say yes. Personally I use Bangkok Bank and Khrung Thai Bank, but they are all much the same.

Edited July 2, 2021 by herfiehandbag

[Mickeymaus]

You might need a residence certificate or in some case be willing to accept and pay for an accident insurance. 

[HashBrownHarry]

1 hour ago, herfiehandbag said:

I have wide experience of helping a number of West African minor royalty and multi millionaire business men with such matters, so....

 

Seriously, wear your smart clothes, bring your passport, and walk round the banks in a couple of shopping malls asking to open an account. There seems to be no rhyme or reason, some will say no, sooner or later one will say yes. Personally I use Bangkok Bank and Khrung Thai Bank, but they are all much the same.

I would suggest going to a head branch as opposed to these satellite branches in malls.

 

 

[gamb00ler]

I moved to Thailand in October (non "O" visa) and needed to open an account to hold the funds needed to satisfy Thai Immigration for my 12 month extension.  My wife and son both use Kasikorn so I tried that bank first.  I got a Residence Certificate from Immigration and went to a local Kasikorn branch to open an account and was flatly refused and was told I needed a 12-month retirement "visa".  The branch manager spoke English fairly well and understood when I said that I cannot get my "visa" (extension) without having an account with a balance of 800K ฿.  Too bad.... you need 12 month "visa".  When I called KBank's customer service number....I got the same excuse for refusal.

 

The next day I went to Bangkok bank and opened two accounts and transferred in the funds for my extension.

 

Just recently I tried Kasikorn again (different branch) after getting my extension and another Residence Certificate.  This time they came up with another "rule".  I could only open with a 10K฿ deposit.  I just smiled, laughed and said, "That's not true".  My new account with a 1K฿ deposit was done in 10 minutes.

 

I only bothered with Kasikorn because they have a better mobile app for paying bills and a friendlier interface for getting statements.

[Seagull Sam]

3 hours ago, herfiehandbag said:

 royalty and multi millionaire business men

 

 

 

I can't pretend to be in this class but turn up in a pair of flip flops & Haiwan shorts anywhere in the world & no one in business will take you seriously

[Bill97]

17 minutes ago, Seagull Sam said:

Haiwan shorts anywhere

Got to get some of those.

[kilt]

Bangkok Bank in Kad Suan Kaew shopping mall is very farang friendly and savvy 

[bojo]

5 minutes ago, kilt said:

Bangkok Bank in Kad Suan Kaew shopping mall is very farang friendly and savvy 

and BKK bank Sanpakoi branch just over the Narawat bridge heading East has been my branch for years, extremely accomodating............................

[gamb00ler]

4 hours ago, kilt said:

Bangkok Bank in Kad Suan Kaew shopping mall is very farang friendly and savvy 

....and Bangkok branch in Hang Dong Big C was very friendly.

[flare]

I've had good experience at the Thapae branch of Bangkok Bank.

[lanng khao]

18 hours ago, gamb00ler said:

I moved to Thailand in October (non "O" visa) and needed to open an account to hold the funds needed to satisfy Thai Immigration for my 12 month extension.  My wife and son both use Kasikorn so I tried that bank first.  I got a Residence Certificate from Immigration and went to a local Kasikorn branch to open an account and was flatly refused and was told I needed a 12-month retirement "visa".  The branch manager spoke English fairly well and understood when I said that I cannot get my "visa" (extension) without having an account with a balance of 800K ฿.  Too bad.... you need 12 month "visa".  When I called KBank's customer service number....I got the same excuse for refusal.

 

The next day I went to Bangkok bank and opened two accounts and transferred in the funds for my extension.

 

Just recently I tried Kasikorn again (different branch) after getting my extension and another Residence Certificate.  This time they came up with another "rule".  I could only open with a 10K฿ deposit.  I just smiled, laughed and said, "That's not true".  My new account with a 1K฿ deposit was done in 10 minutes.

 

I only bothered with Kasikorn because they have a better mobile app for paying bills and a friendlier interface for getting statements.

I'm with kasikorn they only asked for COR, your right about thier mobile banking app though, great for paying any type of bills or top up mobile.

[EricTh]

@Seagull Sam

 

Most people in the past recommend Bangkok Bank Kad Suan Kaew branch where the staff speak fairly good English compared to the rest of the banks.

 

There are many foreigners who open their bank accounts there. It's a mall so you can do banking while doing shopping.

 

 

Edited July 4, 2021 by EricTh

[EricTh]

On 7/2/2021 at 9:18 PM, gamb00ler said:

 

I only bothered with Kasikorn because they have a better mobile app for paying bills and a friendlier interface for getting statements.

 

Do you know that you can apply for a monthly automatic deduction with electric and water bills (and other bills) using Bangkok Bank?  That's not a good reason to use Kasikorn bank.

 

I don't have to worry about when is the deadline for those bills.

Edited July 4, 2021 by EricTh

[Greenwich Boy]

I opened an account with Bangkok Bank last week. I am on a tourist visa. Was going to use the often mentioned branch at KSK but I was a bit early so went to the one in Nimman.

As mentioned earlier it is either Residency Cert or insurance. I had to get a heap of insurance just to get here so got the Cert instead.

Opened account with 1,000B cash. Got on line banking and an ATM card. Was charged 500B for the card I think.

Plenty of paperwork to fill out, as always, but very helpful

[Dante99]

10 hours ago, EricTh said:

Do you know that you can apply for a monthly automatic deduction with electric and water bills (and other bills) using Bangkok Bank? 

Do you know that you can do that with almost every bank in Thailand?  Certainly all the majors.

[gamb00ler]

10 hours ago, EricTh said:

 

Do you know that you can apply for a monthly automatic deduction with electric and water bills (and other bills) using Bangkok Bank?  That's not a good reason to use Kasikorn bank.

 

I don't have to worry about when is the deadline for those bills.

 

27 minutes ago, Dante99 said:

Do you know that you can do that with almost every bank in Thailand?  Certainly all the majors.

Thanks for those tips.  15 years ago I set up the electric bill for auto-pay but I think it required a visit to their office.  Hopefully we'll only be staying in this temporary rental a few more months and I'll do the auto-pay dance when our new home is finished.  Meanwhile, I'll slog through the 30-second chore per bill every month till then.

Edited July 5, 2021 by gamb00ler

[Hayduke]

On 7/2/2021 at 7:01 PM, Seagull Sam said:

Any tips about where to go, who to ask for &c much appreciated.

 

Go to the head office of any bank and tell them you are in the process of buying a 36 million Baht condo....and need an account to receive the funds.

 

 

[Dante99]

On 7/3/2021 at 3:12 PM, flare said:

I've had good experience at the Thapae branch of Bangkok Bank.

They have been doing it very well since before KSK was built.

[gamb00ler]

I'm in LOS on retirement extension (based on 800K in bank) for 6 months now.

 

I read in the long running thread about Bank Savings Interest Rates about SCB's EZ Savings Account that currently pays 1.5%.  The SCB branch closest to me is at Big C Supercenter Donchan.

 

https://aseannow.com/topic/1152546-bank-savings-interest-rates-2021

 

I took passport, expired Residence Cert from Imm., other bank books and Thai driver license there to try to open said account.  At first they said I must have work permit.  I pointed to my RETIREMENT extension and explained I cannot work and would they please call head office to see if I could open an account.  They made a bajillion copies and got my phone # and said they would call after weekend.  They did call, but I was in a meeting with our home builder so asked for a callback in an hour.  That didn't happen.

 

The following Tuesday I went in person to try again.  They quickly got a normal Savings Account set up for me, but their banking software wouldn't allow them to open the EZ account for me just using my PP #.  I asked if a Thai Tax ID # would work and they said it would.  I didn't have Tax ID so I left with just a normal account.

 

I found the location of the nearest Revenue Dept. office was only 5 minutes from my home so I went there on Wed. afternoon.  To get a Tax ID you need Passport and a Tabien Baan, or if renting then a copy of rental lease.  They also said I needed a copy of a bank book front page but I think that was incorrect.  I didn't have a lease copy so the next day I returned with it.  The office was again very quiet and after 10 minutes I had my Tax ID # on official pre-printed (dot matrix printer!) cardstock.  The clerk was not going to use the bank book copy until I said I was told to provide it.  A Residence Cert was not on the list given to me the previous day, but the clerk stapled it into the collected paperwork as well.

 

Back at the SCB branch the teller seemed confused about opening the EZ account. I pointed out to her the clerk that had gone through the process on the previous visit.  He came over and we were soon off to the races making another stack of copies and many, many signatures.  The EZ Savings account has NO passbook but otherwise the access and functioning seems identical to any other Savings account.

 

Good luck!

[JimGant]

On 7/2/2021 at 10:44 PM, Seagull Sam said:

I can't pretend to be in this class but turn up in a pair of flip flops & Haiwan shorts anywhere in the world & no one in business will take you seriously

Had no problem opening an account at Bank of Hawaii dressed this way......

[LivinLOS]

On 7/2/2021 at 4:44 PM, Seagull Sam said:

I can't pretend to be in this class but turn up in a pair of flip flops & Haiwan shorts anywhere in the world & no one in business will take you seriously

Depends who holds the power in the room.. I routinely do business in casual clothes, hoodies etc.. But they will be doing my bidding and if they dont want my business theres a queue of others who do. If I need something or am selling to older managers, then different behaviour applies.