Etrade Bank Cancels Online Money Transfers

[dondraper]

I would be very weary about depositing any funds with an institution whose stock that trades at under $10/share. E-Trade isn't even a marginable stock anymore for christ sakes!

gov insured.

[Jingthing]

why cant u do a domestic bank transfer to bkk ny branch? that costs nothing.

Difficult for people who don't bank with Bangkok Bank.

[Jingthing]

I am bumping this topic.

The reason is that I am seeking any RECENT reports of people who have tried to do SWIFT transfers ONLINE from the USA to Thailand using an etrade BROKERAGE account.

The report in my OP is accurate, but I am wondering about any more RECENT experiences of success or failure trying this.

BTW, I am talking about USA based etrade accounts. Perhaps things are different with global etrade accounts.

Edited June 21, 2010 by Jingthing

[Jingthing]

OK, I have official confirmation from etrade now.

ONLINE international wires are STILL NOT possible by etrade US based accounts. Period.

However you can mail or fax the wiring instructions from your etrade bank or brokerage account (there is no form for this). Third party wires are NOT supported. So it must be your account at etrade to your account in Thailand.

I do like the idea of online wires, but one time I made that work through a Citibank account, it was a nightmare with security questions. US banks really don't like it.

SWIFT by fax isn't bad. I think I will keep my etrade accounts open. I have a number of US accounts for wires as I have found US wiring policies change over time and I always want a backup.

Edited June 21, 2010 by Jingthing

[moe666]

OK, I have official confirmation from etrade now.

ONLINE international wires are STILL NOT possible by etrade US based accounts. Period.

However you can mail or fax the wiring instructions from your etrade bank or brokerage account (there is no form for this). Third party wires are NOT supported. So it must be your account at etrade to your account in Thailand.

I do like the idea of online wires, but one time I made that work through a Citibank account, it was a nightmare with security questions. US banks really don't like it.

SWIFT by fax isn't bad. I think I will keep my etrade accounts open. I have a number of US accounts for wires as I have found US wiring policies change over time and I always want a backup.

This post was started over a year ago, you haven't changed accounts yet.

[Jingthing]

OK, I have official confirmation from etrade now.

ONLINE international wires are STILL NOT possible by etrade US based accounts. Period.

However you can mail or fax the wiring instructions from your etrade bank or brokerage account (there is no form for this). Third party wires are NOT supported. So it must be your account at etrade to your account in Thailand.

I do like the idea of online wires, but one time I made that work through a Citibank account, it was a nightmare with security questions. US banks really don't like it.

SWIFT by fax isn't bad. I think I will keep my etrade accounts open. I have a number of US accounts for wires as I have found US wiring policies change over time and I always want a backup.

This post was started over a year ago, you haven't changed accounts yet.

I have no idea what your point is! Your comment sounded hostile. I guess your affairs are 100 percent seamless. Anyway, have you ever tried opening new US accounts when you don't live in the US? Anyway, I have multiple accounts. I originally opened etrade because I loved their online SWIFT capability. But it no longer exists.

Perhaps I should have explained why I bumped this topic. On another thread, a poster suggested that you COULD do etrade SWIFTs online. Well, maybe from non-US based etrade accounts, but not US based ones.

Edited June 21, 2010 by Jingthing

[Langsuan Man]

Jingthing here is some recent, last week information, the applies to E*trade Bank accounts ONLY

They will accept a International Wire Transfer request via fax only so long as it is on their form. The form must be faxed with a cover sheet and a copy of either your US passport or a US State Drivers license (I scanned the cover sheet with my DL to minimize the number of pages) If you are going to use a computer to scan and fax them make sure you use the option that will allow all pages to be faxed at one time (multiple page fax)

If the request arrives at E*Trade Bank before noon it will go out that day, after noon and it will go out first thing in the morning

If it is a large amount (over $50,000) then they will require that you call them so that they can do a Identity Verification via phone , which consists of answering three questions regarding your credit history

My last two wires, one in March and the other June cost me $25 to E*trade and $15 to someone along the chain for a total of $40 and SCB gave me pretty close to what the FOREX rate was on the day that the wire arrived, which was the day after I requested it before noon

For those nay sayers that say you should get another bank they certainly are entitled to their opinions. But find me a bank that will do Foreign Wires for $25 and will reimburse all ATM fees both foreign and domestic and maybe I will think about changing, until then, as we say in New York, Forgedaboudit

Attached are the forms you will need

etrade_faxcover blank.PDF

ETB_international_wire.pdf

[zaphodbeeblebrox]

Jingthing here is some recent, last week information, the applies to E*trade Bank accounts ONLY

They will accept a International Wire Transfer request via fax only so long as it is on their form. The form must be faxed with a cover sheet and a copy of either your US passport or a US State Drivers license (I scanned the cover sheet with my DL to minimize the number of pages) If you are going to use a computer to scan and fax them make sure you use the option that will allow all pages to be faxed at one time (multiple page fax)

If the request arrives at E*Trade Bank before noon it will go out that day, after noon and it will go out first thing in the morning

If it is a large amount (over $50,000) then they will require that you call them so that they can do a Identity Verification via phone , which consists of answering three questions regarding your credit history

My last two wires, one in March and the other June cost me $25 to E*trade and $15 to someone along the chain for a total of $40 and SCB gave me pretty close to what the FOREX rate was on the day that the wire arrived, which was the day after I requested it before noon

For those nay sayers that say you should get another bank they certainly are entitled to their opinions. But find me a bank that will do Foreign Wires for $25 and will reimburse all ATM fees both foreign and domestic and maybe I will think about changing, until then, as we say in New York, Forgedaboudit

Attached are the forms you will need

etrade_faxcover blank.PDF

ETB_international_wire.pdf

Thank you for this information and for these forms. To date, I haven't had to request a wire transfer, but, in case of emergency, this is great information.

And I agree with you about e*Trade's ATM fees. I don't think any other brokerage house offers an ATM card without fees for using foreign ATM's.

Others have warned me about e*Trade's financial health, as they were hit by the sub-prime mess, but as long as your deposit is within the FDIC-insured limit, I don't see any reason to worry. Hundreds of banks have failed since the crisis hit, and the FDIC, or other banks, have made good on the insured deposits.

[traveldog]

Hi Jing,

Well I was able to do my wire transfer from my etrade account to my TMB bank here about 3 weeks ago. Did it online as I have done for the last many years for the $25 fee. My account was initiated in the US when I lived there, after moving here in 2001 I changed my mailing address to here in Thailand, naturally, and haven't had any real problems with them to date....maybe I was just lucky???

[Jingthing]

Also thanks for their forms. Their chat customer representative told me quite clear that there are no such fill them in forms! I specifically asked. She clearly said no, just send a free form letter. I originally thought I was asking about brokerage wires only; but then she told me both bank and brokerage will do the wires. Is there a similar form for the brokerage wires, or perhaps her free form advice does apply to brokerage transfers.

[Jingthing]

Hi Jing,

Well I was able to do my wire transfer from my etrade account to my TMB bank here about 3 weeks ago. Did it online as I have done for the last many years for the $25 fee. My account was initiated in the US when I lived there, after moving here in 2001 I changed my mailing address to here in Thailand, naturally, and haven't had any real problems with them to date....maybe I was just lucky???

Your etrade account web address is etrade.com or does it have the word GLOBAL in it? You are talking about a brokerage wire, correct? This is getting quite bizarre, as I have now been told two times (a long time ago and yesterday) by etrade that online SWIFT wires are NOT supported. The first time was after putting an actual wire order through where they made me call them just to tell them it wasn't possible.

[aurelius]

Not trying to hide a thing. People are so accusatory here, it is incredible.

The point is banks are tightening on transfers and they are being pressured to do so by Homeland Security. I think that probably explains the etrade change, and I expect citibank might be next, if they haven't already canceled their online SWIFT service.

As far as the Bangkok Bank scheme, I do believe I have read reports here on tv of such transactions that have indeed been BLOCKED. I am too lazy to look these up, but that is my recollection.

In any event, it is a trick, and I would bet good money it does not last. In my view, people would be foolish indeed to rely on that method to work reliably LONG TERM. They had best set up a backup method, because sorry, that is fishy. It is not a domestic transfer.

Fees don't concern me. Reliability and not having to travel back to the US to effect transfers does. I need these transfers to be legit and show up clearly in my Thai bank book for immigration visa purposes, as do lots of oither people.

Yes, Homeland Security does know about ALL SWIFT transfers. I don't think they would be pleased with people evading the SWIFT system. I think the BB situation is a short term glitch. My opinion, you are welcome to yours.

Bangkok Bank processes the largest volume of FX trade in Thailand and with a New York branch is not likely to be stopping this service any time soon, in fact they seem to be expanding options. The part of the service that is a domestic transfer is between the US bank to BBL's New York branch (via ACH - nothing fishy about this). Stop worrying about nothing and quit posting lazy information which is out of date and/or incorrect.

[Jingthing]

Please keep the topic on ETRADE bank, please. That was the reason this thread was bumped.

Beyond that, I don't need your lectures about something I posted a LONG TIME AGO.

Also note, for people who don't bank with Bangkok Bank and don't intend to change their Thai bank, WHO CARES?

On the other hand, for people who have not yet set their banking relationships in Thailand, they may well consider Bangkok Bank as a good option. So hope that is helpful to some people.

Thank you.

Edited June 22, 2010 by Jingthing

[Langsuan Man]

Hi Jing,

Well I was able to do my wire transfer from my etrade account to my TMB bank here about 3 weeks ago. Did it online as I have done for the last many years for the $25 fee. My account was initiated in the US when I lived there, after moving here in 2001 I changed my mailing address to here in Thailand, naturally, and haven't had any real problems with them to date....maybe I was just lucky???

Your etrade account web address is etrade.com or does it have the word GLOBAL in it? You are talking about a brokerage wire, correct? This is getting quite bizarre, as I have now been told two times (a long time ago and yesterday) by etrade that online SWIFT wires are NOT supported. The first time was after putting an actual wire order through where they made me call them just to tell them it wasn't possible.

I think that the crux of the discussion is the difference between E*trade Bank and E*trade Brokerage. There is no way to initiate an E*trade Bank Wire transfer other than via the fax method described in my post above, which obviously uses the SWIFT info for Wires since it is on the form and must be filled out

Also you can get two or three different answers from E*trade Bank depending which rep you end up talking to or exchanging secure messages with. Not one person, nor did the website, say a word about the ID requirement until they rejected my wire request because it did not contain the ID. This ID rule was adopted between March and June of this year

[traveldog]

Yeah, sorry guys. I am talking Etrade brokerage account, though I have an Etrade bank account as well, so why is it different I have no idea???

[Jingthing]

Yeah, sorry guys. I am talking Etrade brokerage account, though I have an Etrade bank account as well, so why is it different I have no idea???

Yeah my experience of my online SWIFT being rejected after I processed it (again a few years ago) was with an etrade BROKERAGE account. There was no online banking method offered on the website. I think the process still exists to do the transfer online for brokerage, but again, based on my experience that doesn't mean they will actually accept it. I think that really sucks, that their website and actual policies can be so bizarrely in conflict. Perhaps I will try this again sometime (online SWIFT) just for fun, ha ha.

Oh, here is another wrinkle. I wonder if my online SWIFT was possibly rejected because it was initiated from a non-US IP (from Thailand)? Just a shot in the dark theory of course.

To anyone following this arcane drama -- for future purposes when talking about any experiences, please specify US based or global based etrade accounts, and also whether talking about etrade bank or etrade brokerage.

Edited June 23, 2010 by Jingthing

[Jingthing]

Update on etrade securities.

Even though their website STILL clearly shows that they do support online SWIFT transfers (same name accounts) with use of a one time security code, in fact, they don't. I don't see an online facility for the bank part of it like that.

Confirmed again, they do not support online SWIFT transfers.

They want a physical letter or fax but do not support a form letter for such requests.