I am on a Retirement Extension and would like to change the account which has the 800k for Immigration from a Fixed Deposit account to a Savings account for direct access.

 

Any caveats doing this, except then for losing the interest?

OP, this is not uncommon. 

Is the savings account same bank as FD account..

pm sent. 

Check it will settle the same day, usually transfers do but I'd check. You could do 400k in one go when the balance can drop to 400k just in case it goes wrong but shouldn't, then transfer second 400k\balance

Ask Chat GPT, see what he/she/it/they says! 

 

What is confusing about that?

4 hours ago, KannikaP said:

Ask Chat GPT, see what he/she/it/they says! 

 

What is confusing about that?

Because it's not required.

I gave the OP a pm with details.

Actually pretty much what @scubascuba3 posted.

The OP has been given correct information. 

7 hours ago, DrJack54 said:

OP, this is not uncommon. 

Is the savings account same bank as FD account..

pm sent. 

Same bank.

 

thx for the PM.

 

6 hours ago, scubascuba3 said:

Check it will settle the same day, usually transfers do but I'd check. You could do 400k in one go when the balance can drop to 400k just in case it goes wrong but shouldn't, then transfer second 400k\balance

It will be a totally new account (savings) at the same bank but with NO ATM card attached only internet banking (via my Phone) so my wife can access it in case of any emergencies.

1 hour ago, MJCM said:

It will be a totally new account (savings) at the same bank but with NO ATM card attached only internet banking (via my Phone) so my wife can access it in case of any emergencies.

There is not much need for an ATM card these days.  Most banks have a cardless withdrawal option in their smartphone app.  Start the cardless withdrawal on your phone, and start the cardless withdrawal at the ATM.  The ATM should display a QR code which you scan with your phone.  The ATM spits out the money.

3 hours ago, DrJack54 said:

Because it's not required.

I gave the OP a pm with details.

Actually pretty much what @scubascuba3 posted.

The OP has been given correct information. 

Sorry, I forgot the SARCASM emoji.

6 minutes ago, KannikaP said:

Sorry, I forgot the SARCASM emoji.

ChatGPT is useless. It doesn't know where Ubonjoe is nor why Jack is so grumpy ????

8 hours ago, gamb00ler said:

There is not much need for an ATM card these days.  Most banks have a cardless withdrawal option in their smartphone app.  Start the cardless withdrawal on your phone, and start the cardless withdrawal at the ATM.  The ATM should display a QR code which you scan with your phone.  The ATM spits out the money.

I know how that works as I use it often but for this account I will still get the ATM because this will be a account for emergencies. A lesson I have learned from a friend who was in Hospital and later died and his gf was struggling to find the money to pay for things. He had his immigration fund in a FD account which his gf could not access. 
 

I have a will in place but how long will it take for the banks to open my account for my wife be able to access it? 
 

So ATM CARD and Internet banking will be in place and for 200 THB fee for the ATM CARD I am not bothered 

2 minutes ago, MJCM said:

I have a will in place but how long will it take for the banks to open my account for my wife be able to access it? 

Weeks or months if it's just a girlfriend and a lawyer may be required. My lawyer friend was working on an exact case. Wife would hopefully be quicker 

6 minutes ago, scubascuba3 said:

Weeks or months if it's just a girlfriend and a lawyer may be required. My lawyer friend was working on an exact case. Wife would hopefully be quicker 

Yes that is my thoughts as well, so that is why the change to a savings account. I can then transfer the money to my wife’s account or she can withdraw it. 
 

edit: with a fd account I must visit the bank to transfer money OUT, with a savings account not

10 minutes ago, MJCM said:

I know how that works as I use it often but for this account I will still get the ATM because this will be a account for emergencies. A lesson I have learned from a friend who was in Hospital and later died and his gf was struggling to find the money to pay for things. He had his immigration fund in a FD account which his gf could not access. 
 

I have a will in place but how long will it take for the banks to open my account for my wife be able to access it? 
 

So ATM CARD and Internet banking will be in place and for 200 THB fee for the ATM CARD I am not bothered 

I currently don't have an ATM card because the one I was given when I opened my account in Pattaya via agent was a Union Pay card that I never liked and came with a ฿599 renewal fee so I ditched it.

 

Cardless Cash has served me well so far however I'll be getting a cheaper ATM card was soon as I get around to it as it's always good to have a fallback option. Or two, multiple redundancy never hurt anybody.

3 minutes ago, Lemsta69 said:

I currently don't have an ATM card because the one I was given when I opened my account in Pattaya via agent was a Union Pay card that I never liked and came with a ฿599 renewal fee so I ditched it.

 

Cardless Cash has served me well so far however I'll be getting a cheaper ATM card was soon as I get around to it as it's always good to have a fallback option. Or two, multiple redundancy never hurt anybody.

Usually people have passbooks which is a good backup, but yes if you want someone else to be able to move money then an ATM card makes sense, access to app won't be easy if unconscious 

2 minutes ago, Lemsta69 said:

I currently don't have an ATM card because the one I was given when I opened my account in Pattaya via agent was a Union Pay card that I never liked and came with a ฿599 renewal fee so I ditched it.

 

Cardless Cash has served me well so far however I'll be getting a cheaper ATM card was soon as I get around to it as it's always good to have a fallback option. Or two, multiple redundancy never hurt anybody.

Same same, union pay no no but they have a master card option as well but that is AFAIK with a more limited validity.

 

We are not going to use that account because it’s for IO purposes, but just in case I get admitted to a hospital and I can’t transfer money in, my wife (next to her own accounts and my other savings account) has that 800k+ as a buffer and that is the main reason for this change. 

2 minutes ago, scubascuba3 said:

Usually people have passbooks which is a good backup, but yes if you want someone else to be able to move money then an ATM card makes sense, access to app won't be easy if unconscious 

My wife has the pincode for the app on my phone, and she uses the same app on her phone for her accounts with the same bank. 
 

edit. ATM is just a backup (backup to a backup ????

I previously wrote NO ATM card attached, but I have changed my mind in the mean time. I now think that an ATM could serve us well but I will talk to the bank next week when we are back home and will report back.

 

ps: the bank in question is BBL. 

The only payment upon death account in Thailand (except for maybe 100,000 USD minimum wealth accounts) is a life insurance policy

54 minutes ago, scubascuba3 said:

Usually people have passbooks which is a good backup

Thanks for the reminder, i'd quite forgotten about OTC withdrawals using passbook. It's been a very, very long time since I've had to do that. 

1 hour ago, jerrymahoney said:

The only payment upon death account in Thailand (except for maybe 100,000 USD minimum wealth accounts) is a life insurance policy

I have a life insurance (attached to our health insurance) but it’s not in Thailand and it pays out a lot more then the ones we looked at here. 
 

but how long before my wife gets that money on my death?? I think it will take a lot longer then the money in Thailand so the 800k IO fund will create a nice buffer till her inheritance from abroad (separate will in place) arrives. 

1 hour ago, Lemsta69 said:

Thanks for the reminder, i'd quite forgotten about OTC withdrawals using passbook. It's been a very, very long time since I've had to do that. 

That is thus not an option if you are in Hospital and your wife/gf needs to access money. So that is why my thought of getting a savings account with ATM and App access. 

1 minute ago, MJCM said:

That is thus not an option if you are in Hospital and your wife/gf needs to access money. So that is why my thought of getting a savings account with ATM and App access. 

Yes of course and sorry to stray ever-so-slightly off topic. Just wanted to thank the guy for reminding me that passbooks actually have a use here. Long-time tourist, recent retiree ????

11 hours ago, gamb00ler said:

There is not much need for an ATM card these days.  Most banks have a cardless withdrawal option in their smartphone app.  Start the cardless withdrawal on your phone, and start the cardless withdrawal at the ATM.  The ATM should display a QR code which you scan with your phone.  The ATM spits out the money.

So long as the sun is not shining on the machine .

Had problems scanning a number of times . 

Therefore i keep the atm 

18 minutes ago, MJCM said:

I have a life insurance (attached to our health insurance) but it’s not in Thailand and it pays out a lot more then the ones we looked at here. 
 

but how long before my wife gets that money on my death?? I think it will take a lot longer then the money in Thailand so the 800k IO fund will create a nice buffer till her inheritance from abroad (separate will in place) arrives. 

The idea, in my case for a modest Thai life insurance policy, is to get some day-to-day funds into my wife's possession upon my eventual demise as soon and as easy as possible.

48 minutes ago, MJCM said:

That [passbook] is thus not an option if you are in Hospital and your wife/gf needs to access money. So that is why my thought of getting a savings account with ATM and App access. 

Sure it's an option, if you set up your savings account with the wife as a co-signatory. Her name will be on the passbook, but only readable under UV light. Not sure all Thai banks do this, but BBL does. And it's NOT considered a joint account, so no problems with Immigration (not that any paperwork you would give them would have any mention of a co-signatory). She could even get her own ATM card, if she wished (but if she has access to your ATM card, why?).

 

This also makes her accessing your account online or via ATM legally correct.

 

This works like a power-of-attorney, meaning, it becomes null and void upon your death. But unless you die in the bank lobby, the bank won't know your dead, so they won't freeze your account and thus prevent your wife from harvesting it after your demise. Furthermore, if your wife is your sole heir per your Will, who's to complain and press charges?

 

First thing, even before the barbecue, that I've instructed the wife to do (before the bank maybe DOES find out I'm dead) -- is to go online and move all but 2000 baht from my savings acct, which she's co-signatory to, to her account. With probate sometimes taking 3 to 4 months, and costing, I've heard, 50,000 baht -- why wouldn't I recommend the above to my wife......?

 

 

1 hour ago, jerrymahoney said:

The idea, in my case for a modest Thai life insurance policy, is to get some day-to-day funds into my wife's possession upon my eventual demise as soon and as easy as possible.

That is why I am going to move the money for immigration (the 800k+) from a FD account which I now only can access by visiting the bank to a savings account which I or my wife can access immediately. So it’s approximately the same but it is not money from a insurance ????????
 

edit: I have seen how my friends gf was struggling to get the money for the funeral the autopsy (other thread in the health forum) etc etc because his money is stuck in that FD account. I just don’t want my wife to go through the same ordeal ????

5 minutes ago, MJCM said:

I have seen how my friends gf was struggling to get the money for the funeral the autopsy (other thread in the health forum) etc etc because his money is stuck in that FD account. I just don’t want my wife to go through the same ordeal ????

What would happen if she said she couldn't pay? 

4 minutes ago, scubascuba3 said:

What would happen if she said she couldn't pay? 

No idea, but for example then his body would still be stuck in the morgue and the amount she owed would have risen day by day. But that is just guessing 

edit: he only had included her in his will in Thailand and not in the will abroad. 

 

22 hours ago, KannikaP said:

Ask Chat GPT, see what he/she/it/they says! 

 

What is confusing about that?

Maybe do that after tomorrow.

On 4/1/2023 at 11:35 AM, JimGant said:

Sure it's an option, if you set up your savings account with the wife as a co-signatory. Her name will be on the passbook, but only readable under UV light. Not sure all Thai banks do this, but BBL does. And it's NOT considered a joint account, so no problems with Immigration (not that any paperwork you would give them would have any mention of a co-signatory).

 

 

Yeap....for our regular Bangkok Bank accts where the wife or I are single owners we have the accts setup for "co-signatory" as you described above.   Ditto at Krungsri Bank.     Now a note for anyone with a special/restricted Bangkok Bank acct to receive U.S. govt pension payments via the ACH system like social security, military retirement, etc., you can "not" setup co-signatory for that kind of acct.