I am wondering if anyone has recent experience with US dollar foreign currency deposit accounts at SCB.

I had one several years ago, but I closed it because it was quite inconvenient. Whenever I wanted to transfer US dollars into one of my Thai baht accounts at SCB, I had to go to the branch in person, withdraw the funds, exchange them to baht, and then deposit the baht into my SCB savings account. Three steps.

Recently, I noticed that SCB offers electronic FCD accounts called eFCD. These seem much more convenient since they are linked to the SCB Easy app, allowing exchange and transfers between accounts directly through online banking. However, it appears that these are only available to Thai citizens.

So my question is: are the standard passbook USD FCD accounts now linked to SCB online banking also, or do they still require visiting a branch with the passbook to withdraw and convert funds into Thai baht?

I understand that SCB FCD accounts have no minimum balance requirement, which is appealing. I am hoping that the process may have improved and that it is now possible to manage the account more easily through online banking. If so, I would reopen a USD FCD account at SCB.

Any recent insights would be appreciated.

2 hours ago, Kyoto Kyle said:

I am wondering if anyone has recent experience with US dollar foreign currency deposit accounts at SCB.

I had one several years ago, but I closed it because it was quite inconvenient. Whenever I wanted to transfer US dollars into one of my Thai baht accounts at SCB, I had to go to the branch in person, withdraw the funds, exchange them to baht, and then deposit the baht into my SCB savings account. Three steps.

Recently, I noticed that SCB offers electronic FCD accounts called eFCD. These seem much more convenient since they are linked to the SCB Easy app, allowing exchange and transfers between accounts directly through online banking. However, it appears that these are only available to Thai citizens.

So my question is: are the standard passbook USD FCD accounts now linked to SCB online banking also, or do they still require visiting a branch with the passbook to withdraw and convert funds into Thai baht?

I understand that SCB FCD accounts have no minimum balance requirement, which is appealing. I am hoping that the process may have improved and that it is now possible to manage the account more easily through online banking. If so, I would reopen a USD FCD account at SCB.

Any recent insights would be appreciated.

I just recently closed my SCB USD acct. I could not do conversions with the app. I still had to go into the bank and get them to convert from my USD acct to my THB acct. I asked many times if they could set my USD acct up on the app, but they said it was not possible.There was a minimum balance requirement of $250 to avoid the monthly fee. I opened USD acct at Bangkok Bank. I can use the phone app to convert USD acct to my THB acct without going into the bank. They have a $250 minimum balance requirement also.

2 hours ago, JohnnyBD said:

I just recently closed my SCB USD acct. I could not do conversions with the app. I still had to go into the bank and get them to convert from my USD acct to my THB acct. I asked many times if they could set my USD acct up on the app, but they said it was not possible.There was a minimum balance requirement of $250 to avoid the monthly fee. I opened USD acct at Bangkok Bank. I can use the phone app to convert USD acct to my THB acct without going into the bank. They have a $250 minimum balance requirement also.

Thanks for the helpful information. I had forgotten about the $250 minimum required to avoid the monthly fee, but that would be fine.

That said, based on what you explained, I do not think I will reopen an FCD account with SCB. Also, Bangkok Bank has been getting quite a bit of negative press recently, so I would rather not take the risk of doing any banking with them right now.

I believe KBank offers a similar USD FCD account that can be linked to their banking app, much like Bangkok Bank. Did you happen to look into KBank at all? I would not mind opening an account with them if they offer a similar setup.

Also, I think all these banks charge a variable fee of between $10-$25 on incoming USD bank wires, depending on the amount of the transfer.

6 hours ago, Kyoto Kyle said:

Thanks for the helpful information. I had forgotten about the $250 minimum required to avoid the monthly fee, but that would be fine.

That said, based on what you explained, I do not think I will reopen an FCD account with SCB. Also, Bangkok Bank has been getting quite a bit of negative press recently, so I would rather not take the risk of doing any banking with them right now.

I believe KBank offers a similar USD FCD account that can be linked to their banking app, much like Bangkok Bank. Did you happen to look into KBank at all? I would not mind opening an account with them if they offer a similar setup.

Also, I think all these banks charge a variable fee of between $10-$25 on incoming USD bank wires, depending on the amount of the transfer.

I had a Kasikorn THB acct before which I used for my yearly extensions. They had web-based & app-based banking. When I asked about a USD acct, the staff told me I had to come into the bank to convert from a USD acct to THB acct. Also, the minimum balance was $5,000 to avoid the monthly fees. Bangkok Bank was the only bank I found that had web-based & app-based banking which allows me to convert USD to THB online. I had Citibank TH from 2016 to 2024, and they were the best for converting USD to THB online 24/7, but they were bouight by UOB, and UOB doesn't allow online conversions. I never had a problem with Bangkok Bank so far, but I don't use them for yearly extensions. Incoming fees vary, but Bangkok Bank is the cheapest; min 200 baht to max 500 baht (USD x .0025)

Just a tip: not all bank branches will open USD accts, they will have a list of the ones that do.

See snippet below of Kasikorn USD FCD acct details.

3 hours ago, JohnnyBD said:

I had a Kasikorn THB acct before which I used for my yearly extensions. They had web-based & app-based banking. When I asked about a USD acct, the staff told me I had to come into the bank to convert from a USD acct to THB acct. Also, the minimum balance was $5,000 to avoid the monthly fees. Bangkok Bank was the only bank I found that had web-based & app-based banking which allows me to convert USD to THB online. I had Citibank TH from 2016 to 2024, and they were the best for converting USD to THB online 24/7, but they were bouight by UOB, and UOB doesn't allow online conversions. I never had a problem with Bangkok Bank so far, but I don't use them for yearly extensions. Incoming fees vary, but Bangkok Bank is the cheapest; min 200 baht to max 500 baht (USD x .0025)

Just a tip: not all bank branches will open USD accts, they will have a list of the ones that do.

See snippet below of Kasikorn USD FCD acct details.

Thank you again. Years ago, I also had a USD account at UOB in the past, but I closed it too because I could only make withdrawals and convert to Thai baht at the head office branch. At the time, there were only two UOB branches that could even open an FCD account. I would not mind having an FCD account at UOB, but I don't think anything has changed on how their FCD accounts operate and it was so restrictive that I would not do it again. It was just too much work.

Yes, I read about the $5,000 minimum balance at K Bank, but that appears to apply to non residents. I am wondering whether people with a long term visa, a pink Thai ID card, and a house registration book might instead fall into the category with the lower minimum balance requirement for residents. But if K Bank does not allow online transfers and currency conversions, then it becomes just as useless as an FCD account at SCB. So I won't consider K Bank for a USD account at this point if you can't do transactions with the account through the mobile app.

In the end, it does sound like BBL makes the most sense, despite the risks of banking with BBL. I would not be using it for anything related to a visa. Really, the only purpose is that I can transfer up to 210,000 baht per year into Thailand tax free under the current tax laws. At the moment, though, I do not want to exchange more dollars into baht because the current exchange rate is pretty unfavorable, with the baht being so strong against the dollar. So I was thinking of a way to transfer dollars into Thailand in order to take advantage of my annual tax free allowance, but without exposing myself to current unfavorable exchange rates. So it seems like a good idea to open a USD account, transfer in that tax free equivalent amount each year, and choose to do exchanges later when the rate is more favorable.

I still have a savings account at Bangkok Bank that I have not really used in some time, but I have kept it open because it has become so difficult to open new accounts in Thailand. So if I can open a US dollar account easily at Bangkok Bank, link it to my THB savings account via online banking, and do the exchanges online as you mentioned, I might just go ahead and do that sometime later this year. So, just to confirm, Bangkok Bank only requires a minimum monthly balance of US $250 to avoid service charges, and that is about it?

One last question. When you said that not all bank branches will open USD accounts, but that they will have a list of the branches that do, were you referring to K Bank, Bangkok Bank, or both?

I have a pound and euro account at Kbank and can confirm it's still stone age banking' you can see the balance in pounds and equivalent converted into Baht but no transactions and certainly no transfers or currency exchanges.

The app changes nothing other than the recent ability to see your balance 🤔

46 minutes ago, Kyoto Kyle said:

So, just to confirm, Bangkok Bank only requires a minimum monthly balance of US $250 to avoid service charges, and that is about it?

One last question. When you said that not all bank branches will open USD accounts, but that they will have a list of the branches that do, were you referring to K Bank, Bangkok Bank, or both?

Yes, BBL only requires a minimum balance of $250 to avoid the monthly fees. I keep $300 in my acct just to be safe. They send me a monthly notice in the mail showing my avg. monthly balance, with a warning not to go below $250.

Same for both banks. Some smaller branches cannot open USD accts. Kasikorn has a list of branches on their website that can open USD accts. For example, I opened my BBL THB acct at the Sukhumvit 45 branch in Bangkok, but they couldn't open a USD acct. They gave me a list of branches that could open USD accts. I opened mine at the Phrom Phong Emporium mall branch.

Something else to ask about. I was able to set up my accts using their web-based banking in 2024 when I opened my BBL accts, but when my wife opened her USD acct a few months ago, the staff told her they didn't allow new accts to be set up with web-based banking. So, she can only use her phone app to view & make USD conversions. That's ok for her, but I prefer to download my transaction history on my laptop to use for my FBAR reporting.

1 hour ago, Kyoto Kyle said:

Yes, I read about the $5,000 minimum balance at K Bank, but that appears to apply to non residents.

Kasikorn told me I was a Non-Resident, but that was when I was doing yearly extensions. I'm on a LTR visa now, but I'm good with my BBL accts. Kasikorn told me they only do in-bank conversions. sammieuk1, also confirmed above that Kasikorn doesn't allow online conversions.

See Kasikorn Resident & Non-Resident qualifications below:

Residents

Non-Residents

Thank you both for all your feedback.

I think that confirms that KBank is not going to work for me, since there are clearly limitations with their online banking and currency exchange options connected to their foreign currency accounts. So I am not going to consider them any further.

It sounds like BBL is really the only decent option. I will check whether the branch near me, where I have my Thai baht savings account, can also open a USD account. If not, I will look for another branch nearby. I normally do not use online banking through a computer or web browser, so as long as I can use the BBL mobile banking app which I already have installed on my phone, to handle exchanges and transfers between FCD and THB accounts, that is all I need. That would work fine for me.

This is something I will probably do later in the year, because I only need to bring the money in before the end of the year to benefit from the annual tax free allowance in Thailand. Right now, the money is still earning interest overseas, but it will stop earning interest as soon as it comes into Thailand. So it makes more sense to leave it overseas as long as possible and bring it in closer to the end of the year, around October or November. Hopefully nothing else changes before then on the account opening requirements, but we will see how it all goes.

As you all probably know, there had been discussions middle of last year about the government possibly changing the tax laws again and doing away with the recent laws enacted in 2024 on taxation of money remitted into Thailand from overseas by residents living in Thailand. However, it does not look like there is any serious discussion of removing the law again at this point, so I expect things will still be the same on that by the end of this year. If they do end up doing away with the tax law sometime this year, then I may not need this FCD account after all. But the way things are going now, it seems more likely than not that I will need the account, so I will plan on that with BBL.

For once the dinosaur bank with the land's possibly lousiest customer service, Bangkok Bank, managed that particular issue beautifully.

I have a foreign currency deposit account with them, linked to the THB account with the same bank. I can transfer by desktop (browser) money from foreign deposit account to THB in real time; same applies to their App on the phone. It is, however restricted to the opening hours of the bank so after 6pm or weekends it does not work.

As said, I never switched from Bangkok Bank despite their off-the-ground understanding of customer service, banking products and modern way of banking but this, strange enough, works beautifully.