Cheapest Way To Transfer From Us Citibank To Thailand?

[surface]

Want to transfer money from my US Citibank to (eventually) my Kasikorn account. ATM fees for Citibank amount to 2% of the withdrawl, so pulling money out that way and depositing it is not an option. Wire transfers from Citibank are better at a flat $30 fee.

Would opening an account at Citibank Thailand give me a better rate when I transfer from Citi US? Any ways to ensure this is done to so that I receive the onshore rate?

If it ends up not being worthwhile opening a Citibank TH account, does anyone have any experience in transfering from Citi US to Kasikorn and making sure the funds are transfered in USD and the currency exchange is done at the onshore rate when received by Kasikorn (using citibank online to perform the transfer).

I received a reply from Citi regarding the instructions and fees, but am awaiting answers to the above questions from them. Just looking for some answers from people who have done this and have any ways of ensuring the onshore rate is used during the transfer.

Edited June 2, 2008 by surface

[lopburi3]

I seriously doubt you would gain anything by using Citibank in Thailand - and you would have lost free local ATM access at K bank. Suspect just opening an account at Citi would be costly for non business people.

As long as you specify the transfer in dollars the transfer will be done in Thailand at the local rate, as they will wire dollars. Just don't let them quote you a baht amount as that would mean they were making the transfer. If you have to fill out a form look for anything on that which could be used to allow them to send foreign currency and be sure you do not check it. If you do by recorded phone, as I do, be sure to specify the amount in dollars. My bank has never attempted change my choice but have seen a few reports that some do.

[surface]

And the answer is...

Thailand is not included in whatever special rate Citibank has w/ regards to international wire transfers amongst Citi owned banks. So I guess I'll do large transfers and pay the $30.

Which brings up another question. Is there a limit for incoming transfers to Thailand before it has to be reported or need documentation?

[Gary A]

I think you'll find that it's 3 percent for the currency exchange fee. I do a wire transfer a couple times a year and pay the $30 fee. And yes, wire US Dollars.

Citibank Thailand was absolutely NO help to me. It might as well be Bank of Nowhere.

[surface]

If that's the case it's cheaper to take it out via the ATM and deposit it into my Thai account. 3% sounds a bit far fetched though. I'll call my bank tomorrow to double check about this, but I find it hard to believe they could charge that much.

Thanks.

[Gary A]

If that's the case it's cheaper to take it out via the ATM and deposit it into my Thai account. 3% sounds a bit far fetched though. I'll call my bank tomorrow to double check about this, but I find it hard to believe they could charge that much.

Thanks.

What irritates me is that ATM transactions used to be free if you had a minimum $6,000 balance. I no longer use my Citibank ATM card, so I'm not sure of the fee. I normally don't wire less than 500,000 baht so that makes the $30 fee pretty reasonable and much cheaper than even 2 percent.

[ProThaiExpat]

Are you wedded to Citibank? Would it be possible for you to open an account in one of the many financial institutions in the U.S. that wire transfer money to Thailand without charging a wire transfer fee.

Some financial institutions have money link services that allow interbank online transfers. If you need to leave your money in Citibank, perhaps a link to another bank that does free wire transfers. The route would be Citibank to other bank to Thailand bank by wire transfer.

That is what I do as my primary bank charges outlandish wire transfer fees.

[Gary A]

Are you wedded to Citibank? Would it be possible for you to open an account in one of the many financial institutions in the U.S. that wire transfer money to Thailand without charging a wire transfer fee.

Some financial institutions have money link services that allow interbank online transfers. If you need to leave your money in Citibank, perhaps a link to another bank that does free wire transfers. The route would be Citibank to other bank to Thailand bank by wire transfer.

That is what I do as my primary bank charges outlandish wire transfer fees.

No, I'm not married to Citibank. HOWEVER, I have spent MANY hours looking for a better deal and the few that have a better deal won't allow me to open an account while I am living in Thailand. I have decided that it is simpler to just pay my $60 a year for two transfers and be done with it. At least I can do a wire transfer entirely online. Most banks want you to jump through hoops or even return to the US. Brokerage accounts end up being much more expensive than $60 per year.

[surface]

Are you wedded to Citibank? Would it be possible for you to open an account in one of the many financial institutions in the U.S. that wire transfer money to Thailand without charging a wire transfer fee.

Some financial institutions have money link services that allow interbank online transfers. If you need to leave your money in Citibank, perhaps a link to another bank that does free wire transfers. The route would be Citibank to other bank to Thailand bank by wire transfer.

That is what I do as my primary bank charges outlandish wire transfer fees.

No, I'm not married to Citibank. HOWEVER, I have spent MANY hours looking for a better deal and the few that have a better deal won't allow me to open an account while I am living in Thailand. I have decided that it is simpler to just pay my $60 a year for two transfers and be done with it. At least I can do a wire transfer entirely online. Most banks want you to jump through hoops or even return to the US. Brokerage accounts end up being much more expensive than $60 per year.

I'm confused. You said you only pay $30 per transfer, which is fine with me and what I intend to do, but what about the 2% currency exchange fee you mentioned? Is that only with Kasikorn? Do you use another bank which doesn't charge the currency exchange fee?

Thanks.

[Gary A]

Are you wedded to Citibank? Would it be possible for you to open an account in one of the many financial institutions in the U.S. that wire transfer money to Thailand without charging a wire transfer fee.

Some financial institutions have money link services that allow interbank online transfers. If you need to leave your money in Citibank, perhaps a link to another bank that does free wire transfers. The route would be Citibank to other bank to Thailand bank by wire transfer.

That is what I do as my primary bank charges outlandish wire transfer fees.

No, I'm not married to Citibank. HOWEVER, I have spent MANY hours looking for a better deal and the few that have a better deal won't allow me to open an account while I am living in Thailand. I have decided that it is simpler to just pay my $60 a year for two transfers and be done with it. At least I can do a wire transfer entirely online. Most banks want you to jump through hoops or even return to the US. Brokerage accounts end up being much more expensive than $60 per year.

I'm confused. You said you only pay $30 per transfer, which is fine with me and what I intend to do, but what about the 2% currency exchange fee you mentioned? Is that only with Kasikorn? Do you use another bank which doesn't charge the currency exchange fee?

Thanks.

The $30 fee is for a Citibank wire transfer. The currency exchange fee is for Citibank ATM transactions because you get baht for dollars. Citibank is wiring US dollars so there is no currency exchange fee on their end. I'm not sure about other Thai banks but Siam Commercial has a VERY small fee for incoming dollar transfers. In fact it's so small that I don't notice it on the deposit. I don't even know how much it is. There are no other banks involved and if I make the transfer on a business day the money is in my Siam bank the very next day. I think the Thai government dropped their hold back rule. Even when the hold back was in force I had no problems because I always told my Thai bank what the transfer was for.

[lopburi3]

I believe all Thai banks charge the same 0.25% fee in a range of 200-500 baht - so if you send a large amount the max fee will still be 500 baht.

[ProThaiExpat]

Gary A: If the $60 a year fees you spoke of is manageable for you, you may not want to go to the trouble of creating two PayPal accounts, one linked to your U.S. Bank and one linked to your Thai Bank.

You can then send money from your U.S. bank linked PayPal account to your Thai bank linkied PayPal account.

The fees charged are a far cry from what is charged for wire transfers, if any, depending on the amounts transfered.

It might take you a couple of hours to establish both accounts, but they can be established while still in Thailand as a friend of mine just finished doing it.

He says the conversion rates are quite good.

I just established a PayPal account with two credit cards and a U.S. Bank and a Thai bank in the same account, about two hours of online work, and I am no speed whiz.

[Gary A]

Gary A: If the $60 a year fees you spoke of is manageable for you, you may not want to go to the trouble of creating two PayPal accounts, one linked to your U.S. Bank and one linked to your Thai Bank.

You can then send money from your U.S. bank linked PayPal account to your Thai bank linkied PayPal account.

The fees charged are a far cry from what is charged for wire transfers, if any, depending on the amounts transfered.

It might take you a couple of hours to establish both accounts, but they can be established while still in Thailand as a friend of mine just finished doing it.

He says the conversion rates are quite good.

I just established a PayPal account with two credit cards and a U.S. Bank and a Thai bank in the same account, about two hours of online work, and I am no speed whiz.

Thanks for the information, but I will NEVER deal with Pay Pal again. They have no people working there and their computers don't understand unusual problems. All my problems with them started when I moved to Thailand and tried to order something from eBay. My account was "limited". Actually frozen with no means to even log in to complain. I think the account is still frozen and no amount of email gets their attention. No thanks.

[CaptHaddock]

Open an account at Bangkok Bank. BB has a branch in New York with an American ABA number. You can then wire from Citibank to BB using the "domestic transfers" screen on Citi's website. You enter your account info at BB and in the "special instructions" area you identify your BB branch location. Citi charges the domestic wire fee of USD 18.75 instead of the international fee and they wire dollars. Money gets there overnight.

[popshirt]

Open an account at Bangkok Bank. BB has a branch in New York with an American ABA number. You can then wire from Citibank to BB using the "domestic transfers" screen on Citi's website. You enter your account info at BB and in the "special instructions" area you identify your BB branch location. Citi charges the domestic wire fee of USD 18.75 instead of the international fee and they wire dollars. Money gets there overnight.

This method got me in a lot of trouble. I was transferring from Bank of America to Bangkok Bank (NY). It worked ok for a few times, but then the Patriot Act (I guess) kicked in and I was accused of money laundering (I never transferred more than $5,000USD a month) and my transfer option was FROZEN, actually they used the word "coded" with no recourse. It is still frozen. I now use Citibank and willingly pay the $30 fee for wire transfers directly to Silom head office of Bangkok Bank.

[bayrider]

I think the Western Union rate is ok. Wonder what you guys think?

[CaptHaddock]

Open an account at Bangkok Bank. BB has a branch in New York with an American ABA number. You can then wire from Citibank to BB using the "domestic transfers" screen on Citi's website. You enter your account info at BB and in the "special instructions" area you identify your BB branch location. Citi charges the domestic wire fee of USD 18.75 instead of the international fee and they wire dollars. Money gets there overnight.

This method got me in a lot of trouble. I was transferring from Bank of America to Bangkok Bank (NY). It worked ok for a few times, but then the Patriot Act (I guess) kicked in and I was accused of money laundering (I never transferred more than $5,000USD a month) and my transfer option was FROZEN, actually they used the word "coded" with no recourse. It is still frozen. I now use Citibank and willingly pay the $30 fee for wire transfers directly to Silom head office of Bangkok Bank.

Interesting. I have done transfers over $5,000 all after the Patriot Act and that hasn't happened to me. I did call Bangkok Bank in New York to check the procedure before I did the first transfer. Their only requirement was putting the branch in the "special instructions" box. They seemed to regard the transaction as routine. Citi called me after the first transfer to verify that it was legitimate. I haven't done very many transfers this way, probably half a dozen over the past 3 years. Also, I have had an account with Citi for 25 years. Were you doing them very frequently? Have you had a Citi account for only a short time?

[lopburi3]

Believe there is a hold if anyone (human) sees the transaction from previous reporting. Not sure of instructions to provide "branch name" as that is the first three digits of the account number - but perhaps it is a legal issue. Bangkok Bank does provide legal transfer service to special accounts (authorized for US Government payments) but these accounts require in person withdrawals.

[thaihome]

Open an account at Bangkok Bank. BB has a branch in New York with an American ABA number. You can then wire from Citibank to BB using the "domestic transfers" screen on Citi's website. You enter your account info at BB and in the "special instructions" area you identify your BB branch location. Citi charges the domestic wire fee of USD 18.75 instead of the international fee and they wire dollars. Money gets there overnight.

This method got me in a lot of trouble. I was transferring from Bank of America to Bangkok Bank (NY). It worked ok for a few times, but then the Patriot Act (I guess) kicked in and I was accused of money laundering (I never transferred more than $5,000USD a month) and my transfer option was FROZEN, actually they used the word "coded" with no recourse. It is still frozen. I now use Citibank and willingly pay the $30 fee for wire transfers directly to Silom head office of Bangkok Bank.

Pretty much the same thing happened to me with both Banks I use (one of which is BofA). It was explained at some length that it is a requirement of the ACH provider that the account be located in the US. There is no legal requirement, but the ACH provider has gone the extra step to be sure there are no complications. I always figured there was some woman whose husband has ran off to Thailand making these decisions.

TH

[tkahng]

i heard that using citi atm in bangkok, we can withdraw cash in dollar currency. is this true? pls somebody help!

[Digitalbanana]

I wire regularly from Citibank USA to Kasikorn in Thailand and the wire fees were free until the last 2/3 months when Citi now charge me 20USD per transfer. I don't normally transfer any more than 20kUSD per time tho.

[thaihome]

i heard that using citi atm in bangkok, we can withdraw cash in dollar currency. is this true? pls somebody help!

Citibank in Thailand, to my knowledge, does not have ATM machines except for one at the main branch on Sathorn. Have no idea if it give US dollars, but I seriously doubt it.

TH

[onethailand]

Open an account at Bangkok Bank. BB has a branch in New York with an American ABA number. You can then wire from Citibank to BB using the "domestic transfers" screen on Citi's website. You enter your account info at BB and in the "special instructions" area you identify your BB branch location. Citi charges the domestic wire fee of USD 18.75 instead of the international fee and they wire dollars. Money gets there overnight.

This method got me in a lot of trouble. I was transferring from Bank of America to Bangkok Bank (NY). It worked ok for a few times, but then the Patriot Act (I guess) kicked in and I was accused of money laundering (I never transferred more than $5,000USD a month) and my transfer option was FROZEN, actually they used the word "coded" with no recourse. It is still frozen. I now use Citibank and willingly pay the $30 fee for wire transfers directly to Silom head office of Bangkok Bank.

Pretty much the same thing happened to me with both Banks I use (one of which is BofA). It was explained at some length that it is a requirement of the ACH provider that the account be located in the US. There is no legal requirement, but the ACH provider has gone the extra step to be sure there are no complications. I always figured there was some woman whose husband has ran off to Thailand making these decisions.

TH

Interesting. I've just set this up with my US account and my BBL account in Thailand - verified in two days. Need to use it to wire funds to pay for my kid's school fees... but that isn't going to be readily obvious to the ACH processor nor the banks - so my suggestion would be to use the comments field - or the special instructions field if no comments field is available - to further identify the reason for the transaction.

Will be testing this soon - I hope it doesn't encounter any problems.

As an aside - SCB now has ATM machines in the departure area which are denominated in USD - but you have to have an SCB card to use it.

[MEGALITHIC]

Want to transfer money from my US Citibank to (eventually) my Kasikorn account. ATM fees for Citibank amount to 2% of the withdrawl, so pulling money out that way and depositing it is not an option. Wire transfers from Citibank are better at a flat $30 fee.

Would opening an account at Citibank Thailand give me a better rate when I transfer from Citi US? Any ways to ensure this is done to so that I receive the onshore rate?

If it ends up not being worthwhile opening a Citibank TH account, does anyone have any experience in transfering from Citi US to Kasikorn and making sure the funds are transfered in USD and the currency exchange is done at the onshore rate when received by Kasikorn (using citibank online to perform the transfer).

I received a reply from Citi regarding the instructions and fees, but am awaiting answers to the above questions from them. Just looking for some answers from people who have done this and have any ways of ensuring the onshore rate is used during the transfer.

IMO I think you would be better opening a USD offshore account in Singapore. If you get a citi gold account you'll get interset on your money and you'll also get one free I.T. transfer per month. That way you can do one free transfer per month into your Thai bank account.

Just something to consider

[Koronie]

Open an account at Bangkok Bank. BB has a branch in New York with an American ABA number. You can then wire from Citibank to BB using the "domestic transfers" screen on Citi's website. You enter your account info at BB and in the "special instructions" area you identify your BB branch location. Citi charges the domestic wire fee of USD 18.75 instead of the international fee and they wire dollars. Money gets there overnight.

Hi,

Is the fee of USD 18.75 representing an ACH Tranfer fee ? How do they charge ?

Thanks.

[Langsuan Man]

Having had a US Citibank account and a Thai Citibank account I can tell you that you have no advantage. I used to have to go to the ATM's on the ground floor of Citibank on Sathorn , get my cash in Thai Baht only and then take the escalators upstairs to deposit them into my Thai Citibank account. Add to the fact that Thai Citibank required a minimum of 100,000 THB to keep from paying a monthly maintenance fee I soon closed the Thai Citibank account.

The Thai currency control laws are what keep you from having Electronic Funds Transfers (EFTS) between US and Thai banks. I have heard of the Pay Pal system and the Bangkok Bank US account but have found the easiest way is to find a US bank that does not rape you for wire transfers. Or find a US bank that doesn't charge for ATM withdrawals and just use that to fund your Thai bank account.

I don't want to sound like a commercial but E'trade Bank does not charge me a cent for unlimited ATM withdrawals (on the Plus network) and their exchange rate is always higher than the Siam Commercial Bank (SCB) posted exchange rate. If I do want to wire a large sum into my Thai bank account from the US, E'trade only charges me $25 for a wire, irregardless of the amount of the wire.

[CaptHaddock]

Open an account at Bangkok Bank. BB has a branch in New York with an American ABA number. You can then wire from Citibank to BB using the "domestic transfers" screen on Citi's website. You enter your account info at BB and in the "special instructions" area you identify your BB branch location. Citi charges the domestic wire fee of USD 18.75 instead of the international fee and they wire dollars. Money gets there overnight.

Hi,

Is the fee of USD 18.75 representing an ACH Tranfer fee ? How do they charge ?

Thanks.

ACH transfers are free as far as I know. So I don't think this is ACH. Citi calls this a domestic wire transfer and the USD 18.75 appears to be a flat rate, not a percentage. They deduct it from my account. Is that what you were asking?

By the way, FYI other posters here eventually had problems with this method. I haven't yet.

Edited October 19, 2008 by CaptHaddock