Interactive Wire Transfer In Baht to Bangkok Bank - BBK Transfer fees?

[atpeace]

There is a Bangkok bank wire fee but can't figure out if that fee applies if baht are wired to Bangkok Bank.  My wire are free from Interactive brokers and with a good exchange rate.  Why not save 200-330 baht on my monthly ~ 65k baht transfers.  Am i missing something?

[gamb00ler]

5 minutes ago, atpeace said:

There is a Bangkok bank wire fee but can't figure out if that fee applies if baht are wired to Bangkok Bank.  My wire are free from Interactive brokers and with a good exchange rate.  Why not save 200-330 baht on my monthly ~ 65k baht transfers.  Am i missing something?

It is very likely that you will receive a worse exchange rate if you send your funds in Thai baht.  I've only ever sent US$ but it seems very likely that the .25% fee with a minimum of 200฿ and a maximum of 500฿ is applicable to any inbound SWIFT transfer. 

[atpeace]

29 minutes ago, gamb00ler said:

It is very likely that you will receive a worse exchange rate if you send your funds in Thai baht.  I've only ever sent US$ but it seems very likely that the .25% fee with a minimum of 200฿ and a maximum of 500฿ is applicable to any inbound SWIFT transfer. 

That is what we both don't know.  I think also the fee might be applicable but have read it isn't when the transfer is in Thai baht.  Interactive Brokers transfer exchange rate has a tiny spread is my understanding and assume it would be comparable if not better than BBK.

Edited yesterday at 04:57 AM by atpeace

[brianthainess]

Yes BKB charges normally around 300b for TT . Always send in your own currency and to be sure it doesn't go through a holding bank as it did with me twice from OZ where I got a lower exchange rate, from the Thai holding bank, make sure to put message to bank. 'DO Not Exchange Funds' that way only your bank will exchange it, when it arrives.

[atpeace]

Thanks - so Bangkok does charge the .025 fee regardless if the money is sent in baht. Then I'll simply setup a monthly wire of $2,100.  Plan is to do this for 12 months and then I will have one more option for my Non-O retirement 🙂

[topt]

7 minutes ago, atpeace said:

Thanks - so Bangkok does charge the .025 fee regardless if the money is sent in baht. Then I'll simply setup a monthly wire of $2,100.  Plan is to do this for 12 months and then I will have one more option for my Non-O retirement 🙂

If you can it may be worth checking that the transfer would not have to go through a "correspondent" bank after leaving IB.

I had this some years ago with a bank where they offered free transfers but I ended up paying $50 for a correspondent bank fee (it would not have mattered how much as was a standard amount........).

 

More recently I offer to pay all charges and with SCB have not paid the min 200/max 500 charge either. However YMMV

[brianthainess]

Can anyone please tell me the BKB TT rate for the GBP today, as you have to sign in to find it, if they show it even then, unlike the Krungsri bank that shows it on their site.

 The Baht is slowly going down over the last few days. Thanks in advance.

[atpeace]

1 hour ago, topt said:

If you can it may be worth checking that the transfer would not have to go through a "correspondent" bank after leaving IB.

I had this some years ago with a bank where they offered free transfers but I ended up paying $50 for a correspondent bank fee (it would not have mattered how much as was a standard amount........).

 

More recently I offer to pay all charges and with SCB have not paid the min 200/max 500 charge either. However YMMV

Thanks - SCB doesn't charge a fee?  I need to switch banks anyhow since Bangkok Bank has closed all banks within 90 minutes from where I live.

[atpeace]

Looks like using Interactive Brokers is not an options now. They now require you to use a corresponding bank which is Bangkok Bank New York.  I'm sure the $10 will be tacked on.  Oh well, back to using Wise.

[Dan O]

2 hours ago, brianthainess said:

Yes BKB charges normally around 300b for TT . Always send in your own currency and to be sure it doesn't go through a holding bank as it did with me twice from OZ where I got a lower exchange rate, from the Thai holding bank, make sure to put message to bank. 'DO Not Exchange Funds' that way only your bank will exchange it, when it arrives.

Swift wire transfers go directly to bank to bank. They don't do inter-banking transfers or use holding banks

[gamb00ler]

3 hours ago, brianthainess said:

Can anyone please tell me the BKB TT rate for the GBP today, as you have to sign in to find it

On my desktop, I have accessed Bangkok banks exchange rates many times while not logged in.

https://www.bangkokbank.com/en/Personal/Other-Services/View-Rates/Foreign-Exchange-Rates

 

 

[gamb00ler]

3 hours ago, topt said:

More recently I offer to pay all charges and with SCB have not paid the min 200/max 500 charge either. However YMMV

There is no obvious way to see if the receiving Thai bank (Bangkok bank in my case) charged that .25% fee.  The bank statement just shows the resulting amount of ฿ with no explanation of exchange rate or fees.

 

How did you "offer to pay all charges"?  I assume that choice was at your originating bank.   I don't think that would cover any fees by the receiving bank, only for intermediary banks if any.

[topt]

51 minutes ago, gamb00ler said:

There is no obvious way to see if the receiving Thai bank (Bangkok bank in my case) charged that .25% fee.  The bank statement just shows the resulting amount of ฿ with no explanation of exchange rate or fees.

 

How did you "offer to pay all charges"?  I assume that choice was at your originating bank.   I don't think that would cover any fees by the receiving bank, only for intermediary banks if any.

The credit advice I request from SCB shows a commission charge - which used to be 520 baht. The 20 baht was apparently due to the account being outside Bangkok. 500 as per their Ts and Cs.

 

When I changed to sending with all charges paid for the advice note still shows the word Commission but the amount as zero. From memory when you SWIFT money you should have 3 options with your sending bank - Pay all, share all and receiver pays.

 

For me this way worked out cheaper in fees but will depend on your individual bank.(s). 

[topt]

2 hours ago, Dan O said:

Swift wire transfers go directly to bank to bank. They don't do inter-banking transfers or use holding banks

I am guessing he means a "correspondent" bank and it is very normal/common.

[Dan O]

39 minutes ago, topt said:

I am guessing he means a "correspondent" bank and it is very normal/common.

Swift wire transfers go direct from origin bank to recipient bank with no transfers in between. Many other types of transfers can use inter-banking transfers.

[atpeace]

1 hour ago, Dan O said:

Swift wire transfers go direct from origin bank to recipient bank with no transfers in between. Many other types of transfers can use inter-banking transfers.

He is stating it directly goes to the corresponding bank without transfers.  E.g., Interactive forces you to go through Bangkok Banks New York branch if using swift.  Put in Bangkok Bank's  Thailand swift code and are directed to the corresponding bank in New York.  No choice and they could care less about the additional fees and it is only a wire transfer to the corresponding bank and not to Thailand.    Sometime it takes days for the New York branch to send to Thailand.

[topt]

3 hours ago, Dan O said:

Swift wire transfers go direct from origin bank to recipient bank with no transfers in between. Many other types of transfers can use inter-banking transfers.

My prior SWIFT transfers even show the initials of the correspondent bank used.....

It was even discussed at length years ago on ThaiVisa before the advent of Wise due to the unexpected costs that hit some people.

 

Perhaps you should have a read of this -

https://wise.com/us/blog/what-is-a-correspondent-bank

[Dan O]

2 hours ago, atpeace said:

He is stating it directly goes to the corresponding bank without transfers.  E.g., Interactive forces you to go through Bangkok Banks New York branch if using swift.  Put in Bangkok Bank's  Thailand swift code and are directed to the corresponding bank in New York.  No choice and they could care less about the additional fees and it is only a wire transfer to the corresponding bank and not to Thailand.    Sometime it takes days for the New York branch to send to Thailand.

That's not accurate to my knowledge for a true swift wire transfer which is what I wrote and offered as an alternative type of transfer

[gamb00ler]

12 minutes ago, Dan O said:

That's not accurate to my knowledge for a true swift wire transfer which is what I wrote and offered as an alternative type of transfer

A "true swift wire transfer" can involve intermediary banks.

[Dan O]

11 hours ago, gamb00ler said:

A "true swift wire transfer" can involve intermediary banks.

True Swift WIre Transfers are direct bank to bank. Not all banks are part of the Swift Network.  If you see an intermediary bank then the recipient bank is not part of the Swift network and the transaction is processed thru intermediary banks using the swift communication network for correspondence using a bank that is part of the swift network but is actually just an international wire transfer and that is why you see additonal charges. 

[wwest5829]

On 9/19/2024 at 12:20 PM, atpeace said:

Thanks - so Bangkok does charge the .025 fee regardless if the money is sent in baht. Then I'll simply setup a monthly wire of $2,100.  Plan is to do this for 12 months and then I will have one more option for my Non-O retirement 🙂

I have used the 65K minimum transfers for 13 years now. Currently $2200.00 from my U.S. bank directly into my Bangkok Bank account. Lower exchange rate than I got with Wise which I can no longer use but it actually came out to be the same approximate $15 usd.

[gamb00ler]

3 hours ago, Dan O said:

True Swift WIre Transfers are direct bank to bank. Not all banks are part of the Swift Network.  If you see an intermediary bank then the recipient bank is not part of the Swift network and the transaction is processed thru intermediary banks using the swift communication network for correspondence using a bank that is part of the swift network but is actually just an international wire transfer and that is why you see additonal charges. 

 

https://www.swift.com/join-swift/swift-membership/requirements

 

Schwab is a member of the SWIFT organization with it's own code.  However when sending funds to some other countries they use a correspondent bank.

 

https://www.schwab.com/public/file/P-10740369

 

 

[edwardflory]

On 9/19/2024 at 12:34 PM, topt said:

free transfers but I ended up paying $50 for a correspondent bank

$50 is the usual "SWIFT" transfer flat fee MOST banks charge ( from USA at least ), AND, you normally get a lousy exchange rate. Did you transfer via SWIFT

[Dan O]

24 minutes ago, gamb00ler said:

 

https://www.swift.com/join-swift/swift-membership/requirements

 

Schwab is a member of the SWIFT organization with it's own code.  However when sending funds to some other countries they use a correspondent bank.

 

https://www.schwab.com/public/file/P-10740369

 

 

They do use other codes if the recipient bank is not a member bank on the swift code system as the recipient bank does not have a swift code or bic code for routing. Then thats not a true swift transfer but an international wire transfer and coded as based on that routing. 

[crazykopite]

Open a wise account that’s the best way to transfer money and it’s not expensive if I was to send £1,000 it cost about £ 7 and is there in minutes if I used my UK bank it would cost at least 3 times as much plus the exchange rate would be <deleted> 

[gamb00ler]

51 minutes ago, Dan O said:

They do use other codes if the recipient bank is not a member bank on the swift code system as the recipient bank does not have a swift code or bic code for routing. Then thats not a true swift transfer but an international wire transfer and coded as based on that routing. 

There are just too many websites that disagree with your explanation... you'll find them if you're interested in reality,.

[Dan O]

34 minutes ago, gamb00ler said:

There are just too many websites that disagree with your explanation... you'll find them if you're interested in reality,.

Sorry if you dont agree but thats the process. If a bank is a swift member the transfer is direct. If the recipient bank is not then its routed through an affiliate bank that is. Pretty simple really 

[topt]

1 hour ago, Dan O said:

Sorry if you dont agree but thats the process. If a bank is a swift member the transfer is direct. If the recipient bank is not then its routed through an affiliate bank that is. Pretty simple really 

Do you agree that if the bank has a BIC no. then they are a member? Because that is how Swift define it - 

https://www.investopedia.com/articles/personal-finance/050515/how-swift-system-works.asp

 

So both the banks I am referring to have BIC codes but because they don't have a direct relationship the transaction goes via either a corespondent bank or intermediary. 

 

I don't think you bothered to read all the Wise link I provided earlier. 

As @gamb00ler states many more explanations online so sorry I think most people if they read up would see that you are wrong in your assertion. 

But hey, you can believe what you want and we can agree to disagree 

[gamb00ler]

2 hours ago, Dan O said:

Sorry if you dont agree but thats the process. If a bank is a swift member the transfer is direct. If the recipient bank is not then its routed through an affiliate bank that is. Pretty simple really 

The architecture of SWIFT is very similar to the internet.  If you want to go from A to B and there is no direct connection then the internet messages are routed using the IP routing protocol.

 

If bankA needs to send to bankB and there is no direct connection (through Nostro/Vostro accounts) then bankA will search amongst the SWIFT members to find a third bank (bankC) which does have a direct connection with both bankA and bankB.  bankC then becomes the corresponding bank that bankA sends the money to.  bankC will then send to bankB.  All transfers are direct bank to bank between SWIFT members.   On that point @Dan O is correct.

[Dan O]

56 minutes ago, gamb00ler said:

The architecture of SWIFT is very similar to the internet.  If you want to go from A to B and there is no direct connection then the internet messages are routed using the IP routing protocol.

 

If bankA needs to send to bankB and there is no direct connection (through Nostro/Vostro accounts) then bankA will search amongst the SWIFT members to find a third bank (bankC) which does have a direct connection with both bankA and bankB.  bankC then becomes the corresponding bank that bankA sends the money to.  bankC will then send to bankB.  All transfers are direct bank to bank between SWIFT members.   On that point @Dan O is correct.

Thats what I said, nothing more or less. 

Edited 13 minutes ago by Dan O