Experience On Transferring Money And Hsbc

[cmsally]

Anyone had experience transferring HSBC abroad to BKK branch. Do they give good exchange rates?

Premier lets you transfer to any HSBC free of charge (do they catch you out on the exchange rate?).

But then to have an acct in BKK you have to keep a minimum balance of it seems 500,000Bt to avoid monthly fees. If their interest rates were good not a problem but interest is terrible.

It seems to me just transfer to normal bank and pay the one time transfer fee would be better.

Any thoughts on this??

[dsfbrit]

I have been transferring funds from HSBC UK to HSBC Bangkok for several years now.

I used to do the exchange into Baht in the UK. That was fine until the last transfer when I only got 63 Baht as per the Offshore rate.

I am just about to make another transfer, but am doing it straight to my Thai farmer account and telling HSBC to send Sterling, as I will then get the Onshore rate, which on the day I got an Offshore rate of 63, was about 67 - so the difference is quite considerable.

If you search for my name, you will see there are a couple of threads here where I discussed all the issues you are about to encounter.

The cost from HSBC to HSBC is 10 pounds per transfer, from HSBC to Thai Farmer is 20 pounds per transfer.

Once I prove this route works I will shut down the HSBC account in Bangkok, which costs me 300 baht a month as I dont have the 500,000 baht balance there.

One thing to be wary of though is the Correspondent Bank. Again if you look at a thread from a couple of weeks ago this is explained in some detail.

I will let you know how my transfer goes - it will have to be better than the last transfer on the rate anyway - I hope!

edit: If you transfer in pounds sterling then you get the Onshore rate, which is shown as the published TT rate. There is a link to a website with the latest rate shown above in TV - or just log onto Bangkok Bank or Thai Farmer website. I am not an expert by the way - so treat any advice I give with caution!

Edited June 25, 2007 by dsfbrit

[dsfbrit]

I have just called HSBC and the whole process was painless. I have set up the followingto test the two different routes, if the Thai Farmer route works OK - I will shut down the HSBC account:

1. Transfer in Sterling to my HSBC account in Bangkok cost 10 pounds.

2. Transfer in Sterling to my Thai Farmer account cost 21 pounds.

They needed the SWIFT Code and my bank details in Thailand. They are:

-HSBCTHBK

-KASITHBK

I will now have to wait up to 6 working days to see what rate I get!

I was given a template for each of the transfers, so next time I don’t need to give them all the details, just the amount I want to transfer. They also deleted the old transfer requesting tranfer in Baht!

For transfer 2, I discussed the Correspondent bank issue with them and they said it was not necessary for Thailand. Anyway we shall see!

I'll post the rate I get next week!

Edited June 25, 2007 by dsfbrit

[dsfbrit]

That was really easy.

The money to HSBC arrived the following morning and the money to Kasikorn arrived later in the day.

I was really dreading doing this - expecting all kinds of things to go wrong!

I dont have the exact figures, but the exchange rate was just over 68 on both exchanges.

Thanks to the people on this forum for their help.

I hope by documenting this transfer it helps cmsally and anyone else in a similar situation.

Now to shut down that HSBC account and save the montly payment.

Edited June 27, 2007 by dsfbrit

[cmsally]

Thank you dsfbrit - good to know things went well. Good to know I don't need to open an HSBC acct in BKK.

I am goin to try either SCB or BKK Bank as I do most of my business there.

[chickencurry]

2. Transfer in Sterling to my Thai Farmer account cost 21 pounds.

For transfer 2, I discussed the Correspondent bank issue with them and they said it was not necessary for Thailand. Anyway we shall see!

I'll post the rate I get next week!

Does that mean that transfers do not go through correspondent banks do you think? We are about to do transfers from HSBC Singapore to Kasikornbank for a property purchase. Does the actual transfer land at HSBC Bangkok first then onto Kasikorn?

[samran]

transferring to your HSBC account in Thailand will cost 15 squid. Free if you are a premier customer.

[sonicdragon]

2. Transfer in Sterling to my Thai Farmer account cost 21 pounds.

For transfer 2, I discussed the Correspondent bank issue with them and they said it was not necessary for Thailand. Anyway we shall see!

I'll post the rate I get next week!

Does that mean that transfers do not go through correspondent banks do you think? We are about to do transfers from HSBC Singapore to Kasikornbank for a property purchase. Does the actual transfer land at HSBC Bangkok first then onto Kasikorn?

It depends on which bank is HSBC's correspondent bank in Thailand. It may or may not be HSBC Bangkok, but since they told you that it's not necessary to specify correspondent bank details then probably it is.

[Rainmaker]

I was wondering Is it possible to tranfer from a HSBC account in Thailand to HSBC account in the UK?

[cmsally]

I have never done that route , but if you are Premier it should be free.

If not I think transfer to another HSBC bank are 10-15 pounds (not totally sure on that, it says below 15).

Best to check with the Thai HSBC branch, but I have never had any problems with transferring within HSBC.

[markiv]

I have never done that route , but if you are Premier it should be free.

If not I think transfer to another HSBC bank are 10-15 pounds (not totally sure on that, it says below 15).

Best to check with the Thai HSBC branch, but I have never had any problems with transferring within HSBC.

Do HSBC have any other branches except the Bangkok one, I'm mainly after one in Chiang Mai, cannot find anything though on the HSBC.co.th site.

[chickencurry]

I have never done that route , but if you are Premier it should be free.

If not I think transfer to another HSBC bank are 10-15 pounds (not totally sure on that, it says below 15).

Best to check with the Thai HSBC branch, but I have never had any problems with transferring within HSBC.

Do HSBC have any other branches except the Bangkok one, I'm mainly after one in Chiang Mai, cannot find anything though on the HSBC.co.th site.

Only Bangkok - as I understand it, foreign banks can only have one branch in Thailand - same with Standard Chartered, UOB.

[cmsally]

I have never done that route , but if you are Premier it should be free.

If not I think transfer to another HSBC bank are 10-15 pounds (not totally sure on that, it says below 15).

Best to check with the Thai HSBC branch, but I have never had any problems with transferring within HSBC.

Do HSBC have any other branches except the Bangkok one, I'm mainly after one in Chiang Mai, cannot find anything though on the HSBC.co.th site.

Only the one in Bangkok.

[cmsally]

HSBC to SCB was very easy, took 1 day only.

The SCB even called me to let me know the transfer was complete.

[AmericanGuy1066]

Chicken Curry

HSBC and Standard Chartered are very different. HSBC has one branch in Thailand. Standard Chartered has 35 in Bangkok alone. i.e Stan Chart is much more convenient if you want branches. The two most well known for foriegners are perhaps in Sathorn near Chong Nonsri BTS and Sukhumvit Soi3. After that there are 33+ elsewhere. HSBC has only 1 somehwhere near Lumpinin Park

http://service.standardchartered.com/locat...-+Please+select+------