retirement extension, 800K, changing bank account, documentation

[gamb00ler]

I successfully opened SCB EZ account that earns 1.5% on the first 1M฿.  I intend to use it to hold the 800K/400K balance as required for my retirement extension(s).

 

To date, I have held the funds in a BKK bank fixed account for 6 months term.  A term just ended and I now need only 400K for next 7 months.  It seems like a good time to switch to the better interest account.

 

I plan on asking BKK bank for a signed/stamped statement covering the 3 months since my extension and then closing the fixed deposit account.

I already have the 400K required in the SCB account.  At next renewal I'll get the required account affirmation letter and a signed/stamped statement covering the 9 months from now until renewal from SCB.

 

Any suggestions to improve on my plan?

[Adumbration]

I have the same problem.  But my 800K is held in a Krungsri AUD FCD.  I want to take this out and convert it to THB and then deposit it in my SCB account.  How can I do this without falling foul of immigration rules and provide a document breadcrumb trail for immigration.

[worgeordie]

I wanted to change my account to another bank, but what

I had to do (to make sure i did not run into problems ) was

open an account in the bank I wanted to move to with deposit

of 800,000 + Thb , and is is the account I presented to immigration,

but they still asked to see bank book and copies of the original

account I had gotten the previous extension with.

regards Worgeordie

[rumak]

Trying to do something using the "common sense'  method  ( meaning, what seems obvious to us) is a foolproof method of how to run into potential problems .    The other party.... especially when they have control over who decides if it makes sense...... often staggers us with the answer " no, can not do.  OR...... this is the rule.   "      Certainly when doing something which could lead to "misunderstandings or interpretations" ,  especially with Immigration which is well known for being one of the main subjects of horrible consequences ,  i for one would not try to slice and dice and move money in parts ,   etc etc.      

As Worgeorgie sensibly did..... I would open a separate account with the full amount 800k  well in advance of my renewal.    AND,  keep any book and records of the account you used previously.  DO not leave any gaps  (even a day !)     

Do i sound crazy or overly paranoid ?     Up to you

[scubascuba3]

i switched accounts mid year, as long as the balance is still correct min 400k\800k then immigration should accept, Jomtien did, no reason to refuse, you need to provide passbook or statements from the last extension to when you're applying, which could be 13 months

[Ricky HKT]

17 hours ago, gamb00ler said:

that earns 1.5% on the first 1M฿.  I intend to use it to hold the 800K/400K balance as required for my retirement extension(s).

Please help us with this... How much more interest (baht) will you realize by moving the money around? 10000 bht? 

I remember doing the same thing as you years ago... Moving funds to different banks with higher yields. After awhile I became bored with keeping track for a few thousand baht more (and I am not saying you are wrong to do this). 

[brianthainess]

18 hours ago, gamb00ler said:

I successfully opened SCB EZ account that earns 1.5% on the first 1M฿.  I intend to use it to hold the 800K/400K balance as required for my retirement extension(s).

I will be opening the same vey soon (have to take the wife) , by the way you will be taxed 15% on the interest but that's still around 1.275 as opposed to the yellow bank 1.1% . some people belittle these interest rates but i equate it to a free box of beer every month ????   . As the banks only guarantee up to 1m we are 'forced' to open accounts with more banks. I have asked SCB several questions by e-mail about the EZ account, and answers came back very quickly. But now there are 2 more questions i forgot to ask, how long to get the bank letter and statement, and withdrawal fees. Yellow bank 45 min for letter ect, more than 2 withdraws a month 50b charge. 

[skatewash]

25 minutes ago, brianthainess said:

I will be opening the same vey soon (have to take the wife) , by the way you will be taxed 15% on the interest but that's still around 1.275 as opposed to the yellow bank 1.1% . some people belittle these interest rates but i equate it to a free box of beer every month ????   . 

You can avoid the 15% tax withholding on your interest earned by registering your Thai Tax ID with that account.  In that case, interest will not be taxed from the first baht earned but only if you earn more than 20,000 baht in interest.  If you don't have it withheld in the first place then you would not have to file a Thai Income Tax Return to reclaim the withheld interest.

Also, perhaps some bad news if you were referring to the Mee Tae Dai savings account at Krungsri Bank which is now only earning 0.9% APR interest.

[brianthainess]

4 minutes ago, skatewash said:

Also, perhaps some bad news if you were referring to the Mee Tae Dai savings account at Krungsri Bank which is now only earning 0.9% APR interest

Dam less beer. 

[brianthainess]

10 minutes ago, brianthainess said:

15 minutes ago, skatewash said:

Also, perhaps some bad news if you were referring to the Mee Tae Dai savings account at Krungsri Bank which is now only earning 0.9% APR interest

Dam less beer. 

I just checked and you are WRONG 0.9% over 1 m still 1.1% up to 1m.  Effective 21st April 2022

Edited May 7, 2022 by brianthainess
add info.

[skatewash]

3 minutes ago, brianthainess said:

I just checked and you are WRONG 0.9% over 1 m still 1.1% up to 1m. 

Effective 22 April 2022:
 

Quote

5. Savings Mee Tae Dai Deposit
Up to Baht 100,000:  1.10%
More than Baht 100,000 and up to Baht 2 million:  0.90%

From the second page of https://www.krungsri.com/Krungsri2020/media/Banking-Rate/deposit-rates/en/deposit-rates-21042565-en.pdf

[skatewash]

First, it's best to keep it as simple as possible and that means not changing accounts.

However, if you have changed accounts as I did last year these are my recommendations.  Open the new account if it not already opened first.  Transfer the money in one day either electronically or a withdrawal from the old and deposit to the new.

Write an explanation of what you did in terms of the requirements for maintaining a minimum balance:

For example, assuming you applied for your last extension of stay on 15 January 2021, you did the transfer from one account to another on 15 June 2021, and then you will apply on 15 January 2022, then something like

15 January 2021 to 15 April 2021: more than 800,000 in bank account 1

15 April 2021 to 15 June 2021: more than 400,000 in bank account 1

On 15 June 2021, transferred 800,000 baht from bank account 1 to bank account 2

 

15 June 2021 to 15 November 2021: more than 400,000 in bank account 2

15 November 2021 to 15 January 2022, more than 800,000 in bank account 2

 

In other words, a clear explanation of how you met all the minimum balance requirements (800k three months after old application, 800k two months before new application, and 400k at all other times) since your last application for extension of stay to your new application for extension of stay.  Including when the money was moved from one account to the other.

This makes the IO's job of checking that you met the requirements easy.  Making the IO's job easy increases the likelihood of you having a good experience getting your new extension of stay.

[skatewash]

I too have an SCB EZ-Savings account paying 1.5% APR interest, but it is an account that doesn't have a passbook and Phuket Immigration requires you to show your passbook and copies of the relevant pages (in addition to the bank letter and bank statement).  So I am reluctant to be a pioneer and see if the EZ-Savings account would be accepted in Phuket.  

I have given up chasing the higher interest rates on my 800,000 baht deposited for retirement extension purposes.  The amount of money at stake doesn't outweigh the complications of moving the money for me.  I'm content with the 0.9% I get from my Krungsri Bank's Mee Tae Dai savings account.  If you change accoutns during the year you will need bank letters and statements from each of the banks, so for me that's twice the work.

[gamb00ler]

4 hours ago, Ricky HKT said:

Please help us with this... How much more interest (baht) will you realize by moving the money around? 10000 bht? 

I remember doing the same thing as you years ago... Moving funds to different banks with higher yields. After awhile I became bored with keeping track for a few thousand baht more (and I am not saying you are wrong to do this). 

Yes, you're correct.  It won't be a great deal of ฿ to get an extra 1% on 800K/400K.  But once it is done it hopefully will function well for a few years with very little effort.  The balances are easily monitored these days via the smartphone apps and calendar apps are easily set up to give notifications of upcoming financial events.

 

There are other benefits as well.  With the SCB account, I will now have an extra 400K to cover short term needs for up to 7 months of the year.  To accomplish that using fixed deposit accounts is much more complicated.  No matter how disciplined someone is, it's hard to have absolutely no need  for some cash on a short term basis.  Most assets cannot compare with the liquidity of a bank cash balance.

[Brick Top]

I have just read this post and i am quite angry , the SCB informed me about the EZ account about 18 months ago. They told me that you earn 1.5% on balances up to 2 Million. I then transferred 2 Million from my Mai Tha Dee account that at the time was paying 1.2%. I just left the 2 Million in there thinking it was earning 1.5% as no one has informed me of anything different. Today after reading this post , I rang the SCB call center to confirm I was still earning 1.5% on the 2 Million. They informed me it changed in January 2021 to 1.5% only on the first 1 Million then just 0.5% on the remaining balance. I therefore just calculated they have cost me 10,499 in lost interest as if I had left the 2 Million in the Krungsri Mai Tha Dee account it would have generated that much more in interest. 

The banks here never inform you if any changes .

[skatewash]

5 hours ago, Brick Top said:

I have just read this post and i am quite angry , the SCB informed me about the EZ account about 18 months ago. They told me that you earn 1.5% on balances up to 2 Million. I then transferred 2 Million from my Mai Tha Dee account that at the time was paying 1.2%. I just left the 2 Million in there thinking it was earning 1.5% as no one has informed me of anything different. Today after reading this post , I rang the SCB call center to confirm I was still earning 1.5% on the 2 Million. They informed me it changed in January 2021 to 1.5% only on the first 1 Million then just 0.5% on the remaining balance. I therefore just calculated they have cost me 10,499 in lost interest as if I had left the 2 Million in the Krungsri Mai Tha Dee account it would have generated that much more in interest. 

The banks here never inform you if any changes .

True, banks don't contact you when interest rates change.  Of course, interest rates don't change during a term of a fixed deposit account.  All other savings accounts can and do change.  Banks do publish their interest rates on a monthly basis.  One nice thing about Krungsri Bank's Mee Tae Dai account is that interest is paid monthly, so you can determine whether the rate has changed on a monthly basis just from your interest earned entry in your account, as compared to some other accounts which only pay the interest every six months.

[samtam]

On 5/7/2022 at 10:08 AM, skatewash said:

I too have an SCB EZ-Savings account paying 1.5% APR interest, but it is an account that doesn't have a passbook and Phuket Immigration requires you to show your passbook and copies of the relevant pages (in addition to the bank letter and bank statement).  So I am reluctant to be a pioneer and see if the EZ-Savings account would be accepted in Phuket.  

I have given up chasing the higher interest rates on my 800,000 baht deposited for retirement extension purposes.  The amount of money at stake doesn't outweigh the complications of moving the money for me.  I'm content with the 0.9% I get from my Krungsri Bank's Mee Tae Dai savings account.  If you change accoutns during the year you will need bank letters and statements from each of the banks, so for me that's twice the work.

...and paying twice for the bank fees for bank letter and bank statements.

 

 

On 5/7/2022 at 3:33 PM, Brick Top said:

I have just read this post and i am quite angry , the SCB informed me about the EZ account about 18 months ago. They told me that you earn 1.5% on balances up to 2 Million. I then transferred 2 Million from my Mai Tha Dee account that at the time was paying 1.2%. I just left the 2 Million in there thinking it was earning 1.5% as no one has informed me of anything different. Today after reading this post , I rang the SCB call center to confirm I was still earning 1.5% on the 2 Million. They informed me it changed in January 2021 to 1.5% only on the first 1 Million then just 0.5% on the remaining balance. I therefore just calculated they have cost me 10,499 in lost interest as if I had left the 2 Million in the Krungsri Mai Tha Dee account it would have generated that much more in interest. 

The banks here never inform you if any changes .

Nor do the banks (Krungsri) tell you when your VISA debit card/ATM card expires; with all my other accounts in UK and HK, the bank sends me the new card before the old one expires. Not here, I discovered.

[DrJack54]

13 minutes ago, samtam said:

Nor do the banks (Krungsri) tell you when your VISA debit card/ATM card expires; with all my other accounts in UK and HK, the bank sends me the new card before the old one expires. Not here, I discovered

Was not aware of that.

Must check my cards.

Indeed in Oz they just post out the new card and you can activate with online banking. 

 

Edited May 8, 2022 by DrJack54

[Ricky HKT]

On 5/7/2022 at 11:48 AM, gamb00ler said:

It won't be a great deal of ฿ to get an extra 1% on 800K/400K.  But once it is done it hopefully will function well for a few years with very little effort

In my experience, these higher rates were "teasers" to get your business, and expired. Thus, you have to keep moving the money around to chase this (extra 1%) yield.

Is your interest rate fixed? 

Bank of Thailand posts bank interest rates here: 

https://www.bot.or.th/english/statistics/_layouts/application/interest_rate/in_rate.aspx

[Brick Top]

20 hours ago, samtam said:

...and paying twice for the bank fees for bank letter and bank statements.

 

 

Nor do the banks (Krungsri) tell you when your VISA debit card/ATM card expires; with all my other accounts in UK and HK, the bank sends me the new card before the old one expires. Not here, I discovered.

I think I may have been misunderstood , I dont use or intend to use the 2 Million I deposited in a EZ account.

I use my Krungsri Mai Tha Dee account for that purpose , and have the 800,000 in there for the past 7 years untouched .

[gamb00ler]

6 hours ago, Ricky HKT said:

Is your interest rate fixed? 

Bank of Thailand posts bank interest rates here: 

https://www.bot.or.th/english/statistics/_layouts/application/interest_rate/in_rate.aspx

The SCB EZ savings account does not offer a fixed rate.  The terms and conditions can be changed anytime without notice.  However, I still sleep the night through.

 

The last time I checked that BOT webpage it was woefully incomplete.  The best paying savings account were NOT listed.

Edited May 9, 2022 by gamb00ler
fat/slow/wobbly/inaccurate fingers

[JimmyJ]

@gamb00ler

 

"I successfully opened SCB EZ account that earns 1.5% on the first 1M฿."

 

Were you told as I was that there is no ATM card for this account for foreigners - only for Thai citizens?

 

(NOTE - I have not enabled the Bold type.

The quote I opened this post with was not in Bold in the quoted post.

The "B" button has  not been clicked on.

 

This is happening frequently).

Edited July 2, 2022 by JimmyJ

[skatewash]

3 minutes ago, JimmyJ said:

@gamb00ler

 

"I successfully opened SCB EZ account that earns 1.5% on the first 1M฿."

 

Were you told as I was that there is no ATM card for this account for foreigners - only for Thai citizens?

I got an ATM Debit card for my SCB EZ Savings Account and I'm not a Thai citizen (just a retirement extension holder).  

As an aside: I think it's possible to use an SCB ATM without an ATM card:

https://www.scb.co.th/en/personal-banking/digital-banking/scb-easy/cardless-atm-info.html

[skatewash]

Cardless ATM Withdrawal at SCB Instructions:

https://www.scb.co.th/en/personal-banking/digital-banking/scb-easy/how-to/cardless.html

 

I believe the ATM Debit card you can get from SCB is a Mastercard and costs annually something like 200-300 baht.

Edited July 2, 2022 by skatewash
Added info about the ATM Debit Card