FCD Bangkok Bank Ubon

[jayceenik]

I went to the BKK Bank main branch in Ubon to get info for my opening a EUR FCD account with them.

I have a EUR savings account with Citi in SIN that I want to transfer here.

The bank said they need to see my Belgian passport and my NonImmO stay permit.

Fair enough, but then they want to see my Thai marriage certificate, my wife's house registration, and additional documents from my bank, immigration and amphoe.

They then told me the way to transfer my EUR Citi funds to that account is to have Citi SIN SWIFT transfer my funds in EUR to my FCD account, have these funds exchanged in THB and then re-exchanged into EUR to then be entered in my FCD account.

This is absolutely ridiculous. I don't want to convert my EUR into THB at this time.

Is that the way FCD in Thailand work?

I thought FCD were for keeping your foreign currency in your foreign currency until you decided to convert part or all into THB.

 

 

 

 

[fittobethaied]

This is incorrect! You have been given erroneous information which it typical for bank employees. Yes, you can SWIFT transfer your EUR funds directly into your FCD EUR account without having to do the exchange. They will charge you a maximum fee of 500 Baht to deposit it for you, which will show as a EUR debit on your account. To avoid having to pay that deposit fee as well as perhaps a hefty SWIFT fee from your SIN bank, you can do a SWIFT transfer of your EUR on Wise.com and only pay them a small fee. Again, no deposit fee at Bangkok Bank when using Wise.com.

By suggesting that you convert your EUR to Thai Baht and then back to EUR, they are trying to hook you for a fee to repurchase your EUR. Read the terms of your FCD account and you will see the fee which is charged. I think it's .25 of 1%.

Bangkok Bank has so few FCD customers that the clerks are vastly undereducated on the workings of those types of accounts. Maybe you can talk to a manager, but there's a good chance they won't be up to speed either. Get their brochure on the FCD's, and the terms will all be spelled out for you there. 

[Sydebolle]

That's all <deleted>; I've had a FCD account with Bangkok Bank for 20+ years - albeit with their head office on Silom Road in Bangkok. 

You transfer foreign exchange onto your FCD account. Latter can, if you wish, be added to your Bualuang iBanking (internet banking, but works only on the desktop version, not on their smartphone app!). 

Withdrawing money works as follows. If you withdraw
THB = you need to convert (sell) foreign currency (it happens real time during banking hours only) and subsequently you can withdraw THB from your THB-acount with the same bank (not essentially the same branch/city though)
Foreign Currency = they will take the required foreign currency from your FCD account, convert it into THB and subsequently buy foreign currency again prior to give you foreign currency. This gives them the exchange profit twice, once when selling Forex into THB and then again from THB back into Forex. For obvious reasons I never did that. 

 

More on the official website; alternatively call Bangkok Bank's head office, phone 1333, and get connected to the foreign exchange division; they are fluent in English and know their onions 😉 

https://www.bangkokbank.com/en/Business-Banking/Manage-My-Business/Operating-Accounts/Foreign-Currency-Deposit-Account

 

Should all this fail, vote with your feet and go elsewhere, Siam Commercial Bank as well as Kasikorn Bank offer such banking for sure; it boils down to the clerk behind the counter. On that note; heard scary stories of foreigners who wanted to open a bank account with Bangkok Bank and were literally forced to buy an insurance coverage - which the customers actually never wanted. Some remained stubborn and did not fall for the trick; most of them though bought an insurance. 

Reason behind is, that Bangkok Bank expanded into the insurance business ....... welcome to Thailand! 

[jayceenik]

Thanks for the info.

I was sure the employee was feeding me BS but it's good to be reassured by others.

They indeed said that I had better open this FCD account in the BKK Bank Silom HQ where there would not be this doublr currency exchange.

These FCD accounts are held and managed in the bank HQ  and are thus of no benefit to the oulying branches.

Just extra work that doesn't concern these subsidiaries branches unless one opens a concurrent THB with them.

[Owiee]

22 hours ago, jayceenik said:

I went to the BKK Bank main branch in Ubon to get info for my opening a EUR FCD account with them.

I have a EUR savings account with Citi in SIN that I want to transfer here.

The bank said they need to see my Belgian passport and my NonImmO stay permit.

Fair enough, but then they want to see my Thai marriage certificate, my wife's house registration, and additional documents from my bank, immigration and amphoe.

They then told me the way to transfer my EUR Citi funds to that account is to have Citi SIN SWIFT transfer my funds in EUR to my FCD account, have these funds exchanged in THB and then re-exchanged into EUR to then be entered in my FCD account.

This is absolutely ridiculous. I don't want to convert my EUR into THB at this time.

Is that the way FCD in Thailand work?

I thought FCD were for keeping your foreign currency in your foreign currency until you decided to convert part or all into THB.

 

Try WISE it’s the best way l have found to transfer funds.