Confusion Over How To Transfer Money Efficiently From The UK To Thailand

[siftasam]

I have concerns about the future of banks in the UK and Thailand, but I'm on the verge of giving up the UK altogether; that is, my Halifax Bank Current Account and my money deposited in Hargreaves Lansdown in Bristol.

 It's the transfer from Hargreaves Lansdown that I'm concerned about. (I have not much in the Halifax and I bank online with them anyway).

 

I do have about 125,000 pounds deposited with HL. My questions are:

 

1. What is the BEST way to transfer this money to my SCB account in Lamphun? For instance, Is this with BACS, CHAPS (or are these for internal UK transfers only?) or a cheque posted to me in Thailand? Or what?

 

2. Can I transfer ALL of this money in one go (or are there 'money laundering' and other regulations that prevent this)?

 

3.What do I need to obtain first? The SCB SWIFT CODE? My IBAN number at the SCB Lamphun?

 

4. Do Thai banks have an equivalent of the UK SORT CODE, ROLL NUMBER and BIC that UK banks have? (Is BIC the same as the SWIFT CODE?)

 

5. Is such a transfer secure? I have seen adverts for companies like Airwallex - are they a better international transfer alternative? (Airwallex claims to be cheaper, quicker and doesn't use SWIFT)

 

Many thanks for any help.

 

 

 

 

 

[CharlieH]

M9VED TO BANKING FORUM

[siftasam]

Sorry! I see now that Airwallex is just for business transfers, not transfers by private individuals.

[Moonlover]

Many folks are now using 'Wise' to transfer money from UK to Thailand. I've been a customer for over 2 years now and I'm very pleased with their service.

 

Visit their web site here Wise money transfers

[ItoroK]

Efficiently? Just don't do it.

If you're willing to take the risk, Contact both banks(sending and receiving) and ask them what the operation costs. There is a limit to 2 million baht transfers in Thailand but i don't know if its just out or in too.

Your banks will make you an offer(sending and receiving fee) and compare it with different online brokers like Wise, RationalFX etc.

 

Personally I would have 3-4 Thai bank accounts and send it trough Wise in 5-10k chunks to those different account and then consolidate the money over a few months into 1 bank account in Thailand or even keep it in 800k chunks on different accounts there.

 

Be sure you will never get it back out without at least paying 10-15% transfer fee on it + currency devaluation risk.

[Chris.B]

Wise is a good choice to use for money transfers..

 

However, I wouldn't transfer all in one go, I would do installments spread over a period of time. This would limit your risk. It may also limit any exchange rates losses due to fluctuations in rates.

 

Thailand doesn't use Iban codes, just Swift codes and bank account numbers.

 

Edited September 15, 2021 by Chris.B

[Upnotover]

3. SCB SWIFT code is SICOTHBKXXX.  Thai bank accounts do not have IBAN's.

4. The first 3 digits of your account number indicate the branch where the account is held (like a sort code does).

 

WISE has a THB 2M limit so would need 3 transfers.  How easy/costly it is to get the money out of HL you'll have to check with them.  Whatever you do make sure you don't send THB from the UK.

[pixelaoffy]

1 hour ago, Moonlover said:

Many folks are now using 'Wise' to transfer money from UK to Thailand. I've been a customer for over 2 years now and I'm very pleased with their service.

 

Visit their web site here Wise money transfers

I looked at the wise rates for thailand from UK sterling at about 45.5 Baht to pound which is better than some Banks but the transfer fee is over 200 pounds (.51%) . My bank is Bangkok bank to recieve  Uk sterling and nationwide Bank in Uk to send, its only 20 pounds  . I want to send the maximum 2,000,000 baht but not sure to use Wise or Swift bank transfer . Any suggestions  Thanks

[smutcakes]

I just do simple bank transfer from UK to Thailand, never had an issue and not sure what the 'risk' is... just give written instruction to your bank in the UK, with details of account number or IBAN, Bank address and short description of what the funds are for.  I dont think 120K GBP would raise any alarms there will be huge transfers moving in an out 100's of times a day.

[Chivas]

1 hour ago, ItoroK said:

 

 

Be sure you will never get it back out without at least paying 10-15% transfer fee on it + currency devaluation risk.

Absolute utter nonsense and yet again I suggest Thaivisa employs a financial professional to moderate this sub forum

I have a job to not react every single day here (and I could) on different threads. Its catastrophic the advice time after time

[Upnotover]

48 minutes ago, pixelaoffy said:

I looked at the wise rates for thailand from UK sterling at about 45.5 Baht to pound which is better than some Banks but the transfer fee is over 200 pounds (.51%) . My bank is Bangkok bank to recieve  Uk sterling and nationwide Bank in Uk to send, its only 20 pounds  . I want to send the maximum 2,000,000 baht but not sure to use Wise or Swift bank transfer . Any suggestions  Thanks

Assuming Nationwide will actually send GBP then the Bangkok Bank T/T rate today is 44.94, 1% worse than the WISE rate.  There will also be some small charges to receive the transfer.  I reckon you'll be about THB 12-15k worse off using Nationwide.

[Chris.B]

53 minutes ago, pixelaoffy said:

I looked at the wise rates for thailand from UK sterling at about 45.5 Baht to pound which is better than some Banks but the transfer fee is over 200 pounds (.51%) . My bank is Bangkok bank to recieve  Uk sterling and nationwide Bank in Uk to send, its only 20 pounds  . I want to send the maximum 2,000,000 baht but not sure to use Wise or Swift bank transfer . Any suggestions  Thanks

You need to compare the exchange rates not just the transfer fee.

 

Today's Wise rate: THB 45.45

Today's Nationwide rate: THB 44.44

 

[Moonlover]

7 minutes ago, Upnotover said:

56 minutes ago, pixelaoffy said:

I looked at the wise rates for thailand from UK sterling at about 45.5 Baht to pound which is better than some Banks but the transfer fee is over 200 pounds (.51%) . My bank is Bangkok bank to recieve  Uk sterling and nationwide Bank in Uk to send, its only 20 pounds  . I want to send the maximum 2,000,000 baht but not sure to use Wise or Swift bank transfer . Any suggestions  Thanks

Expand  

 

7 minutes ago, Upnotover said:

Assuming Nationwide will actually send GBP then the Bangkok Bank T/T rate today is 44.94, 1% worse than the WISE rate.  There will also be some small charges to receive the transfer.  I reckon you'll be about THB 12-15k worse off using Nationwide.

Yes you're quite @Upnotover. I've done this exercise many times over (pardon the pun) and Wise wins out every time. Don't be fooled by the cheap transfer fee @pixelaoffy. It's the exchange rate that gives Wise the clear advantage.

 

The buy rate for GBP today is 44.59. I've just received my monthly pension transfer from Wise at 45.45 and there's no receiving fee either.

 

Go do the math for yourself.

[topt]

5 hours ago, siftasam said:

 It's the transfer from Hargreaves Lansdown that I'm concerned about

I think you may have to transfer this back out to whatever linked account you transferred it in from - you should have an account set up with them already?

Just using a standard transfer (faster payments) to Halifax should cost nothing although you may have to do it in several chunks - details should be available on their web site.

 

Decision is obviously yours but just want to point out that if you close your UK bank account it may not be easy, if a non resident in UK, to open another one should it be needed for any reason.

 

5 hours ago, siftasam said:

2. Can I transfer ALL of this money in one go (or are there 'money laundering' and other regulations that prevent this)?

From Halifax a SWIFT transfer may be possible but you may have to set it up in advance with the bank - doubtful you could just do it in one go online but I don't know anything about Halifax limits. 

[GrandPapillon]

4 hours ago, ItoroK said:

Efficiently? Just don't do it.

If you're willing to take the risk, Contact both banks(sending and receiving) and ask them what the operation costs. There is a limit to 2 million baht transfers in Thailand but i don't know if its just out or in too.

Your banks will make you an offer(sending and receiving fee) and compare it with different online brokers like Wise, RationalFX etc.

 

Personally I would have 3-4 Thai bank accounts and send it trough Wise in 5-10k chunks to those different account and then consolidate the money over a few months into 1 bank account in Thailand or even keep it in 800k chunks on different accounts there.

 

Be sure you will never get it back out without at least paying 10-15% transfer fee on it + currency devaluation risk.

good plan,

[pixelaoffy]

2 hours ago, Moonlover said:

 

Yes you're quite @Upnotover. I've done this exercise many times over (pardon the pun) and Wise wins out every time. Don't be fooled by the cheap transfer fee @pixelaoffy. It's the exchange rate that gives Wise the clear advantage.

 

The buy rate for GBP today is 44.59. I've just received my monthly pension transfer from Wise at 45.45 and there's no receiving fee either.

 

Go do the math for yourself.

ok but the 0.5% fee. on 44200 Pounds  225 Uk pounds, ? I spoke to nationwide bank and they told me have to pay a CHAPS fee to transfer a large sum  to another bank . Assuming wise is a bank 

Edited September 15, 2021 by pixelaoffy

[ItoroK]

2 hours ago, Chivas said:

Absolute utter nonsense and yet again I suggest Thaivisa employs a financial professional to moderate this sub forum

I have a job to not react every single day here (and I could) on different threads. Its catastrophic the advice time after time

Sure everything that's not right with your opinion should be removed from the forum, why not apply yourself to be a moderator and make everything right to your taste?

Your argumentation just shows on what level you are.

[Upnotover]

51 minutes ago, pixelaoffy said:

ok but the 0.5% fee. on 44200 Pounds  225 Uk pounds, ? I spoke to nationwide bank and they told me have to pay a CHAPS fee to transfer a large sum  to another bank . Assuming wise is a bank 

The CHAPS fee Is £20. Not worth worrying about. Its the difference in rates you need to focus on.

[Chivas]

1 hour ago, ItoroK said:

Sure everything that's not right with your opinion should be removed from the forum, why not apply yourself to be a moderator and make everything right to your taste?

Your argumentation just shows on what level you are.

Fella dont let your complete lack of financial knowledge become others issue

 

In short dont let your problem become our problem....out

[treetops]

5 hours ago, Chivas said:

Its catastrophic the advice time after time

To be fair, you've provided a few clangers on forums over your time too.

[Andrew Dwyer]

Last time I sent £10k from the U.K. I did a quick calculation on direct bank transfer v Wise transfer.

£300 better off transferring with Wise compared to direct from NatWest ( at the time NatWest had dropped the £22 transfer charge also).

 

It’s a no brainer to me .

[lelapin]

Have you considered opening a Bangkok Bank Sterling account. Transferring the money in sterling costs me twenty pounds from my Nationwide account. I then convert to baht here as and when I need it or when the rate is good.

[falang1969]

I use Wise all the time, you are always better off using Wise rather than from your UK bank to your Bank here.

 

I have done the numbers many many times.

 

Wise is not a bank, you just transfer the money from your UK bank to Wise. I have done maybe 80-100 transactions with them, never had an issue.

 

The alternative, as someone else suggested, is to open a Foreign Currency account with Bangkok Bank (which I also have) and have the money sent over from your UK bank as GBP. The money then sits in that Bangkok Bank account as GBP with the added benefit it can be sent back to the UK at any time. You just convert into THB to your "normal" Thai bank as and when you need it.

 

If you send money over direct from your bank, make sure it is sent as GBP and converted here eg. you will get a 43.1 exchange rate from Lloyds if they convert in the UK. A HUGE difference, but UK banks are sometimes reluctant to mention that!

 

You are getting hung up on the fees. It's the exchange rate that matters! 

 

eg. GBP 44,200

= Bangkok Bank THB 1,986,348 (They also charge a fee when converting you GBP to THB as well!)

= Wise THB 2,008,890 Less THB 10000 fee THB 1,998,890

 

THB 12500 better off!

 

Also, just to be safe, I would do 4 instalments of 10k as if goes over 20k Wise normally asks a few money laundering questions which can delay the transfer.

Edited September 16, 2021 by falang1969

[Tracyb]

15 hours ago, pixelaoffy said:

I looked at the wise rates for thailand from UK sterling at about 45.5 Baht to pound which is better than some Banks but the transfer fee is over 200 pounds (.51%) . My bank is Bangkok bank to recieve  Uk sterling and nationwide Bank in Uk to send, its only 20 pounds  . I want to send the maximum 2,000,000 baht but not sure to use Wise or Swift bank transfer . Any suggestions  Thanks

Suggest you compute the net result of both methods by comparing the bank fees on both ends and using the BKK bank exchange rate compared to the Wise fee and the Wise exchange rate.  Don’t forget that BKK Bank also charges a fee for the incoming funds and bkk bank has a less advantageous exchange rate than wise.  BKK bank does NOT charge a fee for funds coming in via Wise.

Edited September 16, 2021 by Tracyb

[crazykopite]

I use wise i can send money from my Natwest account to my wise account and onto my SCB account and normally the whole process  is complete within 30 minutes better still I sometimes leave a £1,000 sitting in my wise account and if I need it transferred into my Thai bank the quickest was 6 minutes . The longest was 15 hours but I did the transfer late on a Friday night on top of this they offer the best rates on the market as well as realistic handling fees I think to transfer £1,000 is less than £6 yet NW used to charge me £25 and would take at least 3 days to arrive . 

 

Edited September 16, 2021 by crazykopite

[Andrew Dwyer]

30 minutes ago, crazykopite said:

I use wise i can send money from my Natwest account to my wise account and onto my SCB account and normally the whole process  is complete within 30 minutes better still I sometimes leave a £1,000 sitting in my wise account and if I need it transferred into my Thai bank the quickest was 6 minutes . The longest was 15 hours but I did the transfer late on a Friday night on top of this they offer the best rates on the market as well as realistic handling fees I think to transfer £1,000 is less than £6 yet NW used to charge me £25 and would take at least 3 days to arrive . 

 

Yes, NW used to charge me £22 for a standard transfer and £30 for an urgent transfer, both taking around 3 days ????

Last time I did a comparison they had dropped the transfer charge but Wise still wins hands down with the better exchange rate .

[yardrunner]

I use Smart  and it works well for me https://www.smartcurrencyexchange.com/

[DPKANKAN]

Transferwise.  I sent money from my Halifax account yesterday. Best exchange rate. Hit my Kasikorn account in 5 seconds.????????????????

[clivebaxter]

Last time I used swift Tanachart charged for the transfer fee even though Nationwide had already charged for it, so I paid twice. Even Nationwide could not get an answer to their emails over it. Before that transferred 40k pounds to the now defunct Siam City bank by swift- they held onto it until the rate went down before converting to baht losing me 40k baht. Since then always used Wise, gets converted when sent and you know the exact amount, no room for slight of hand by the banks here. 

[itsari]

1 hour ago, Tracyb said:

Suggest you compute the net result of both methods by comparing the bank fees on both ends and using the BKK bank exchange rate compared to the Wise fee and the Wise exchange rate.  Don’t forget that BKK Bank also charges a fee for the incoming funds and bkk bank has a less advantageous exchange rate than wise.  BKK bank does NOT charge a fee for funds coming in via Wise.

I believe that there is no charge from banks in Thailand for incoming funds from companies such as wise because the baht you are buying is already here in Thailand . That is the reason for the lower charges and better rates .

Waiting for the negative comments . But that is what i have read and believe to be correct .