Paypal: Have You Been Successfully Using It ...

[rethaired]

I have been able to find a few posts on the subjects in this forum (with 2 people admitting that they have had success), but I am not too sure if it works in Chiang Mai all the time. I am pretty sure that in BKK there should not be any issues, but out here, it might be a different story. I am looking to be sending money to someone's email who then would redeem the money by depositing it in a bank account. Has someone been successful with this? Which bank? Is there any thing I should be mindful of?

PS: I don't think the exchange rate used by Paypal right now is as much of an issue as when there was a big difference between off-shore rates and inbound rates. I do not like to use SWIFT as they charge an arm and 2 legs for it!

Thank you for your help.

[elektrified]

It works just fine provided you follow the steps as outlined in that recent post in one of the other forums. You need to set-up your accounts per that post and then follow the confirmation and verification processes. You can't do it with an existing Paypal account; especially if your existing account is USA based. It doesn't matter if your Thai bank account is in CM or BKK (or anywhere else in Thailand for that matter). It works with Kasikorn Bank as the post suggests/recommends. I don't know about other banks.

The exchange rate is what it is...and it is NOT good.

[geriatrickid]

ikobo is less costly and uses a visa debit card

we use that

[mouse]

specially if your existing account is USA based

Sorry to disagree. I have had a stateside account for 3 years that I have now made into a business account, linked to my stateside bank, A European Bank, their Bank cards and also to my Bank of Bangkok account for over one year without any difficulty whatsoever. They are totally aware of my being here instead of the states and it has caused no difficulty whatsoever.

This will allow you to bring in any amount at a price of course, but, with efficiency, security and speed that cannot be said of Thai Banks when receiving a wire transfer.

[rethaired]

Thank you so much for your replies. It gives me the impetus to go ahead with this. I am investigating other options as well. Thank you for those other options. I will endeavour to provide some feedback on how this is going to help others in the same predicament.

[Ajarn]

specially if your existing account is USA based

Sorry to disagree. I have had a stateside account for 3 years that I have now made into a business account, linked to my stateside bank, A European Bank, their Bank cards and also to my Bank of Bangkok account for over one year without any difficulty whatsoever. They are totally aware of my being here instead of the states and it has caused no difficulty whatsoever.

This will allow you to bring in any amount at a price of course, but, with efficiency, security and speed that cannot be said of Thai Banks when receiving a wire transfer.

Not true in my experiences with Kasikorn Bank.

[Rice_King]

ikobo is less costly and uses a visa debit card

we use that

Less costly? Are you certain? I guess it all depends on how you use it.

Below is Ikobo's list of fees.

Visa Card Shipping Fees

• USA & Canada:
  Regular Mail: $1.99 USD
  FedEx Express: $11.95 USD
  
• Worldwide:
  FedEx (3-7 days): $24.95 USD
  FedEx (14 days or less): $11.95 - USD
  

Monthly Maintenance Fee: $0.99 USD

ATM Withdrawal Fee: $1.99 USD

Note: These do not include the $5 USD transfer / 3% credit card fees.

Using PayPal, I don't pay ANY of these fees. (My bank doesn't apply ATM fees and will actually refund my account for any ATM fees incurred.)

edited: added fee info.

Edited April 17, 2008 by Rice_King

[Donnyboy]

Im having problems with paypal trying to just verify my Thai address, theyre after any Utility bill with my name and home address on it, unfortunately, they cant accept non-english ones as they dont have interpreters, and the companies here arent going to give me a translated utility bill are they?

jeeesh

[mcgriffith]

There was a recent article on the op-ed page of the BKK Post by a newbie who was absolutely breathless with wonder at his genius in using PayPal to get funds here. I read the article....and was aghast at all the convoluted cr_p he went through. And IMHO, not cheap at all.

I'm not gonna say my method is the cheapest, but unlike a lot of other posters, many of whom are completely unaware of their real costs, because they don't request the history page of the transfer (that shows all the telex data and charges) they are not aware of what they are actually paying in fees.

I journal money from a US bank (happens to be HSBC, but it could just as well be the Third United Bank of Podunk Idaho) through an EFT. In layspeak that is an electronic fund transfer. Pretty much every bank in the developed world has this service, commonly known as a billpay service. It goes to Bangkok Bank, New York, who act as a transfer agent. They already have my account here in CM on file; when the money hits them in NY, I see it here in less than 24 hours. Costs are as follows: BKK Bank NY skims $10 USD. BKK Bank in Bangkok charges a fee (capped at 500 THB max for up to about $6000 ).

I get the onshore rate, and I want to emphasis the money is in my account here literally in less than 24 hours.

A lot of people think they can do it faster (not) and/or cheaper....reality is they never went through the bank transactional record to actually see what they were paying....they just think "OK, that's the rate I got".

Bottom line is that it costs me about $20-25 USD to get money here....so I make sure to transfer at least $6K at a time. This works out to about 4/10 of one percent, and the money is here almost instantly, and at the onshore rate. Yeah, if you have wads of cash, you can beat this rate by a minuscule amount in BKK with the moneychangers, but I don't deal in cash.

I"m sure someone out there maybe does it cheaper, but the security of dealing with the largest and most well funded/stable bank in Thailand, with excellent customer service and full internet access to my account 24/7, does it for me.....

PS I'm a PayPal Premier member, used them for years, nothing against the service....but for international transfers.....fageddaboudit.

[Dustoff]

Same here McG,

Free billpayer electronic transfer from my bank in Hawaii to BKK Bank NY, they take $5 for the electronic deposit and send to BKK Bank BKK who charge 0.25% then forward the money immediately to my account here in CM. For a $4000 transfer, I pay roughly $15 US and after these minimal deductions, I get the exact exchange rate shown on CNBC for that day.

I am open to a cheaper alternative, unless of course it involves a nightmare to set up and has hidden costs.

[Rice_King]

Free billpayer electronic transfer from my bank in Hawaii to BKK Bank NY, they take $5 for the electronic deposit and send to BKK Bank BKK who charge 0.25% then forward the money immediately to my account here in CM. For a $4000 transfer, I pay roughly $15 US and after these minimal deductions, I get the exact exchange rate shown on CNBC for that day.

And this works great for us "Yanks" with a BKK Bank account because BKK Bank has an office in the US -- we don't get stuck with an "international" transfer fee. But what about those folks here whose bank doesn't have a bank in their home country? Could PayPal (or whatever) offer a cheaper alternative?

McG's post reminded me of this How To Use Paypal To Transfer Funds From The US article that was published in the Bangkok Post recently.

Edited April 18, 2008 by Rice_King

[Maejo Man]

Im having problems with paypal trying to just verify my Thai address, theyre after any Utility bill with my name and home address on it, unfortunately, they cant accept non-english ones as they dont have interpreters, and the companies here arent going to give me a translated utility bill are they?

jeeesh

They will accept credit card statements to your home address that are in your name, and mine, at least, as in English. i.e. Amex etc

I have had a Thai Paypal account for some time and is linked to my Thai credit card, which bears my home address here, and is good enought for verification.

[Ajarn]

Im having problems with paypal trying to just verify my Thai address, theyre after any Utility bill with my name and home address on it, unfortunately, they cant accept non-english ones as they dont have interpreters, and the companies here arent going to give me a translated utility bill are they?

jeeesh

UBC is a good bet to use because your name is in English

[Priceless]

A lot of information about US banks here, how about a Swedish one? I have an account with Svenska Handelsbanken, including an Internet banking facility. Whenever I need to transfer money here, I do it through the Internet bank just like any other payment (takes me less than a minute). They allow a maximum amount/day of 100,000 SEK (~17,000 USD), the transfer usually takes about three banking days and costs 40 SEK (~7 USD). That is the total fee, what ends up in my SCB account is slightly more than what I would have got using the official Bangkok Bank exchange rate "Buying Rate TT" ( http://www.bangkokbank.com/Bangkok+Bank/We...es/FX+Rates.htm )

/ Priceless

[el jefe]

There was a recent article on the op-ed page of the BKK Post by a newbie who was absolutely breathless with wonder at his genius in using PayPal to get funds here. I read the article....and was aghast at all the convoluted cr_p he went through. And IMHO, not cheap at all.

I'm not gonna say my method is the cheapest, but unlike a lot of other posters, many of whom are completely unaware of their real costs, because they don't request the history page of the transfer (that shows all the telex data and charges) they are not aware of what they are actually paying in fees.

I journal money from a US bank (happens to be HSBC, but it could just as well be the Third United Bank of Podunk Idaho) through an EFT. In layspeak that is an electronic fund transfer. Pretty much every bank in the developed world has this service, commonly known as a billpay service. It goes to Bangkok Bank, New York, who act as a transfer agent. They already have my account here in CM on file; when the money hits them in NY, I see it here in less than 24 hours. Costs are as follows: BKK Bank NY skims $10 USD. BKK Bank in Bangkok charges a fee (capped at 500 THB max for up to about $6000 ).

I get the onshore rate, and I want to emphasis the money is in my account here literally in less than 24 hours.

A lot of people think they can do it faster (not) and/or cheaper....reality is they never went through the bank transactional record to actually see what they were paying....they just think "OK, that's the rate I got".

Bottom line is that it costs me about $20-25 USD to get money here....so I make sure to transfer at least $6K at a time. This works out to about 4/10 of one percent, and the money is here almost instantly, and at the onshore rate. Yeah, if you have wads of cash, you can beat this rate by a minuscule amount in BKK with the moneychangers, but I don't deal in cash.

I"m sure someone out there maybe does it cheaper, but the security of dealing with the largest and most well funded/stable bank in Thailand, with excellent customer service and full internet access to my account 24/7, does it for me.....

PS I'm a PayPal Premier member, used them for years, nothing against the service....but for international transfers.....fageddaboudit.

I do something very similar. It costs me about the same amount but I can deal with smaller transactions.

I have an TD Ameritrade account in the US that allows me to transfer funds via ACH electronic transfer to any domestic bank in the US. Since I have a Bangkok Bank account and they gave me their US routing number I didn't see any reason why I shouldn't try to use the system as if my account was a US based account.

I entered the account number for my Bangkok Bank account, Chiang Mai branch and it worked. The money goes straight from my TD Ameritrade account to to my CM Bangkok Bank account. Do not pass GO, do not pass New York, do not pay fees.

I've compared the rates by using my ATM cards, my credit cards, and the Ameritrade to Bangkok Bank transfer all on the same day. To be fair, I don't get as good a rate on the transfer as I do with my ATM card (no fee), but it's a better rate than I get on my credit cards after the international exchange fees. The rate I get on the transfer is about 1/2 of 1% lower than on my ATM card, but that allows me to make small transfers (10,000 - 15,000 baht) to my Bangkok Bank account at a very low transaction cost. So yes, it's costing me 50 - 75 baht to make that transfer. I could save that by withdrawing cash via my ATM card and then depositing the cash into my Bangkok Bank account, but it's a lot easier to sit in front of the computer to do it for that small cost.

I'm sure there are other banks in the US that will allow ACH transfers to Bangkok Bank, no different than TD Ameritrade does.