Any US Social security recipients out there doing direct deposits?

[Charlie D.]

OK, got it, so I will chat later as soon as I see money come across my phone alert either Friday or Monday as you said in your mail. 

 

Charlie D.

[Charlie D.]

Pib, Just received my bank phone notification of the SS direct deposit is complete. I assume you just received your deposit.

What is the factor number used by the bank for the deposit. I want to see if yours is the same as my number.

 

CD

[racyrick]

3 hours ago, Charlie D. said:

Pib, Just received my bank phone notification of the SS direct deposit is complete. I assume you just received your deposit.

What is the factor number used by the bank for the deposit. I want to see if yours is the same as my number.

 

CD

The rate looks to be about 33.2

[Charlie D.]

Racy, you look to be spot on, Thanks for the reply back to me. I was thinking about the same number.

 

CD

[Pib]

6 hours ago, Charlie D. said:

Pib, Just received my bank phone notification of the SS direct deposit is complete. I assume you just received your deposit.

What is the factor number used by the bank for the deposit. I want to see if yours is the same as my number.

 

CD

True Exchange Rate: 33.264.  This assumes only the basic Bt100 BAHTNET receiving bank fee was applied.

 

Remember to add Bt100 onto the amount that posts to your acct.  That Bt100 is the Thai bank  BAHTNET receiving fee.  Note: depending on your Thai bank if you live outside the greater Bangkok area there may also be an upcountry BAHTNET transfer fee added onto the basic Bt100 BAHTNET fee. 

 

So, say 40,100.25 posted to your acct.  Add Bt100 and you now have 40,200.25.  Now divide that number by your "net" SSA payment in dollars & cents and you have the true exchange rate like posted on websites.  If you don't take into account any fees, like that Bt100 BAHTNET  fee, then you do not have the true exchange rate....you have what some people call the "effective" exchange rate that also includes fees....but fees can vary from individual to individual depending on various factors.

 

And since the SSA pension posted today/1 Nov this is a good example of how the IDD payments sometimes post "before" the 3rd of the month.

[Charlie D.]

I have not seen the exchange rate at 33.7165 for ALL of December and the beginning of January 2025, not even close to that for the True Exchange Rate.

[Pib]

1 hour ago, Charlie D. said:

I have not seen the exchange rate at 33.7165 for ALL of December and the beginning of January 2025, not even close to that for the True Exchange Rate.

Not sure why you are mentioning 33.7165....maybe that what's your "math" shows for "your" monthly payment?

 

Anyway, I just looked at the wife's 3 Jan IDD payment in baht....added in Bt100 to adjust for the BAHTNET fee...then divided by her SSA "Net" Pay for 3 Jan (which she reconfirmed via checking her SSA online acct this morning) and the IDD True Exchange Rate (fee(s) adjusted) worked out to 33.75.

 

Just out of curiosity I took a look at what the wife would have got if you had her SSA Pension first sent to her Wise acct and then she transferred from Wise to her Thai bank acct.  I used the Wise exchange rate that was in effect on 3 Jan just before her IDD payment posted to her Thai bank acct.  If she had used Wise she would have received approx Bt380 more (this takes in acct Wise fees) than the payment via IDD....a small amount....not worth bothering in using Wise as a middleman.

 

[KhunLA]

3 minutes ago, Pib said:

Not sure why you are mentioning 33.7165....maybe that what's your "math" shows for "your" monthly payment?

 

Anyway, I just looked at the wife's 3 Jan IDD payment in baht....added in Bt100 to adjust for the BAHTNET fee...then divided by her SSA "Net" Pay for 3 Jan (which she reconfirmed via checking her SSA online acct this morning) and the IDD True Exchange Rate (fee(s) adjusted) worked out to 33.75.

 

Just out of curiosity I took a look at what the wife would have got if you had her SSA Pension first sent to her Wise acct and then she transferred from Wise to her Thai bank acct.  I used the Wise exchange rate that was in effect on 3 Jan just before her IDD payment posted to her Thai bank acct.  If she had used Wise she would have received approx Bt380 more (this takes in acct Wise fees) than the payment via IDD....a small amount....not worth bothering in using Wise as a middleman.

My DD worked out to ฿33.77 (฿ ÷ $), and at time DD was made (3 Jan @ 1130 hrs), the exchange rate was ฿34.43

[Pib]

24 minutes ago, KhunLA said:

My DD worked out to ฿33.77 (฿ ÷ $), and at time DD was made (3 Jan @ 1130 hrs), the exchange rate was ฿34.43

 

Not sure what your reference (i.e, source) is for above exchange rate, but it's very close to the Wise exchange rate 3 Jan at 8am of 34.35(see snapshot below) which was the their last exchange rate just before the wife's IDD payment posted to her Thai bank acct a little before 10am 3 Jan.   But that Wise exchange rate is before Wise's fees are added in which effectively reduces the rate....fees that amount to about 0.8 to 1%.

 

And even through we are talking exchange rates referenced to a morning of 3 Jan posting to a Thai bank acct we have to keep in mind the IDD exchange rate is based on the US Treasury/its IDD contractor bank actually doing the exchange several business days before the actual payment in order to have THB to make the THB payment.  That earlier IDD exchange rate could have been higher or lower than the current day. 

 

So we are still talking a little bit of apples and oranges since the exchange rates are actually several business days apart and we do not know exactly how many business days before and what time on on a business day the US Treasure/its contractor make the IDD exchange to top-up their IDD THB money bucket used to make THB SSA IDD payments a few days later.  

 

An IDD payment will almost always result in just a "little, repeat, little" less posting to your Thai bank acct in comparison to using the ACH payment method via Bangkok Bank NY brank or using some money transfer service like Wise when exchange rate and fees are fully considered.   However, IDD does away with the middleman (like use of Wise) and you can have your SSA payment go to "any" Thai bank without any restrictions like the restrictions placed on a Bangkok Bank account used to received US govt reoccurring payments...and Bangkok Bank is the only bank that can receive ACH payments from the U.S.

 

 

[KhunLA]

41 minutes ago, Pib said:

 

Not sure what your reference (i.e, source) is for above exchange rate, but it's very close to the Wise exchange rate 3 Jan at 8am of 34.35(see snapshot below) which was the their last exchange rate just before the wife's IDD payment posted to her Thai bank acct a little before 10am 3 Jan.   But that Wise exchange rate is before Wise's fees are added in which effectively reduces the rate....fees that amount to about 0.8 to 1%.

 

And even through we are talking exchange rates referenced to a morning of 3 Jan posting to a Thai bank acct we have to keep in mind the IDD exchange rate is based on the US Treasury/its IDD contractor bank actually doing the exchange several business days before the actual payment in order to have THB to make the THB payment.  That earlier IDD exchange rate could have been higher or lower than the current day. 

 

So we are still talking a little bit of apples and oranges since the exchange rates are actually several business days apart and we do not know exactly how many business days before and what time on on a business day the US Treasure/its contractor make the IDD exchange to top-up their IDD THB money bucket used to make THB SSA IDD payments a few days later.  

 

An IDD payment will almost always result in just a "little, repeat, little" less posting to your Thai bank acct in comparison to using the ACH payment method via Bangkok Bank NY brank or using some money transfer service like Wise when exchange rate and fees are fully considered.   However, IDD does away with the middleman (like use of Wise) and you can have your SSA payment go to "any" Thai bank without any restrictions like the restrictions placed on a Bangkok Bank account used to received US govt reoccurring payments...and Bangkok Bank is the only bank that can receive ACH payments from the U.S.

 

 

On 3 Jan @ 0800 hrs, that would be ...

 

I just peek at Google finance, for the rate, as what ever I think is fairly irrelevant ...

 

https://www.google.com/finance/quote/USD-THB?sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjs1r-lpNuKAxWXxjgGHULDK-AQmY0JegQICxAu&window=5D

 

BBL supposed rate prior to DD

[Pib]

33 minutes ago, KhunLA said:

On 3 Jan @ 0800 hrs, that would be ...

 

I just peek at Google finance, for the rate, as what ever I think is fairly irrelevant ...

 

https://www.google.com/finance/quote/USD-THB?sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjs1r-lpNuKAxWXxjgGHULDK-AQmY0JegQICxAu&window=5D

 

BBL supposed rate prior to DD

Yea....that BBK rate looks good "until" a person includes the Bangkok Bank NY branch $5 to $10 pass-thru fee ($10 for amounts over $2K transfers) and then the in-Thailand bank receiving fee of 0.25% (Bt200 min, Bt500 max) which lowers the effective rate.   

 

More pensioners are shifting to IDD payment since the payment can go to "any" Thai bank with no restrictions on the account and it cuts out doing manual transfers via middle men like Wise.

[KhunLA]

27 minutes ago, Pib said:

Yea....that BBK rate looks good "until" a person includes the Bangkok Bank NY branch $5 to $10 pass-thru fee ($10 for amounts over $2K transfers) and then the in-Thailand bank receiving fee of 0.25% (Bt200 min, Bt500 max) which lowers the effective rate.   

 

More pensioners are shifting to IDD payment since the payment can go to "any" Thai bank with no restrictions on the account and it cuts out doing manual transfers via middle men like Wise.

Yes, I never bothered with DD, till Soc Sec did the IDD thingy.  Even then, couple years now, it was BBL only.

[Charlie D.]

Pib, sorry my math was off by .0335 from your number. I will try and be more accurate with your number next time. FYI: My SS payment is NOT taxed and there is no added take aways from my monthly payment. I figured in the 100THB take away. I used your calculations you sent to me November 1. I scanned back all of December and Jan. 1-3 No where in my scans did I find the exchange rate this LOW. I referenced XE.COM for my scans.

[Pib]

3 hours ago, Charlie D. said:

I figured in the 100THB take away. 

Keep in mind that Bt100 fee is the "basic" Bahtnet fee.  If your receiving bank is not in the Bangkok or bordering provinces then your receiving bank "might" addon an "upcountry Bahtnet receiving fee" of X-amount per 10K.   This would be  hidden fee like the basic fee and also would not appear on your bank statement/passbook/online acct. 

 

You can ask your bank for a transaction report on that received payment and it would show all fee(s) the receiving bank applied.  Maybe do that one time to confirm the total amount of receiving fees for future use in calculating the IDD exchange rate.

[Charlie D.]

Pib, My bank is in Pattaya/ Chonburi.

[Pib]

12 minutes ago, Charlie D. said:

Pib, My bank is in Pattaya/ Chonburi.

Chonburi is not a Bangkok bordering province so your bank "might" apply an additional Bahtnet fee....you would need to contact your bank to fine out.   Just for example below is a snapshot from Krungsri showing their Bahtnet fees.   Some banks refer to this fee as a "upcountry" Bahtnet fee which does not mean any bank north of Bangkok but just any bank outside of Bangkok and bordering provinces be it north, south, east or west. 

 

 

[Charlie D.]

Pib, I did the following as you suggested, "You can ask your bank for a transaction report on that received payment and it would show all fee(s) the receiving bank applied.  Maybe do that one time to confirm the total amount of receiving fees for future use in calculating the IDD exchange rate." The banker looked at me like a cow looking at the space shuttle. Maybe I will try again next time when I shuffle over to the Kasikorn Bank.

[1happykamper]

If I send my SSA deposit to my Krungsri account...would IDD deposits show as international transfers for immigration /visa purposes? 

[Pib]

37 minutes ago, 1happykamper said:

If I send my SSA deposit to my Krungsri account...would IDD deposits show as international transfers for immigration /visa purposes? 

They will show as Bahtnet (BTN) since the last leg of the international transfer was a Bahtnet domestic leg vs an Intetnational (FTT) transaction the whole way.   

 

Now it will be up to your servicing immigration office if they accept the BTN coding or other docs like your SSA benefit/payment letter as proof of the payment coming from the US.  If not, you will need to get a Credit Advice from the bank that initiated the last leg of the IDD transfer which would be Citibank (the US Treasury contractor for Thailand IDD payments) "if your receiving bank can not provide the Credit Advice or similar transaction report."  A Credit Advice will show the entire trek of the transfer to include its starting point as proof it originated outside of Thailand. Generally, Thai banks don't charge a fee for a Credit Advice if requesting within 3 months of the transaction.

 

 

[Pib]

21 hours ago, Charlie D. said:

Pib, I did the following as you suggested, "You can ask your bank for a transaction report on that received payment and it would show all fee(s) the receiving bank applied.  Maybe do that one time to confirm the total amount of receiving fees for future use in calculating the IDD exchange rate." The banker looked at me like a cow looking at the space shuttle. Maybe I will try again next time when I shuffle over to the Kasikorn Bank.

Ask for a Credit Advice (a.k.a., Advice of Credit) document.