Lowest Cost Correspondent Bank For Bangkok Bank

[WilliamIV]

The point that has been ignored here is the conversion of the Funds from US Dollars to Baht.

For the Transfer to take effect the Dollars MUST end up in (one of) the Bangkok Bank’s US Dollar Account in New York.

There are various ways this settlement can take place.

1) the Remitting Bank in America can convert the Dollars to Baht – in so doing they will make the Foreign Currency Exchange profit - and send a direct instruction to Bangkok Bank in Bangkok to pay so many Baht to the Beneficiaries account. But they will send the Dollars to New York >

a) to a Bank who holds a Dollar Account in the name of Bangkok Bank or

to their own Correspondent (note the correct spelling) Bank in New York who will then transfer it to a) and maybe collect charges for doing so.

In this case Bangkok Bank in Bangkok will debit their Dollar Account in New York to pay the Beneficiary.

2) The Remitter can Instruct the Remitting Bank to pay Dollars to Bangkok Bank’s Dollar Account with a Named Bank in New York who he knows holds a Dollar Account for Bangkok Bank and say that it is for the Account of Bill Bates A/c No. xxxxx in Bangkok Bank Siam Square Branch, Bangkok.

This will result in Bangkok Bank converting the Dollars into Baht (instead of the remitting Bank) and in theory should result in a better exchange rate and more Baht.

Actual Charges or Fees are not the only Criteria to judge how expensive a Tranfer is – exchange Rates and who actually does the Currency Conversion are also relevant.

Bill

[Naam]

The point that has been ignored here is the conversion of the Funds from US Dollars to Baht.

For the Transfer to take effect the Dollars MUST end up in (one of) the Bangkok Bank’s US Dollar Account in New York.

= i regularly transfer funds (USD and €UR) by SWIFT to Siam Commercial via Bangkok Bank. no such thing like via USD account of Bangkok Bank in New York. conversion is then done by SCB.

[JimGant]

To save fees, you can set up your brokerage account via ACH transfer by entering Bangkok Bank, New York’s routing number of 026008691 and your Bangkok Bank account no. This will eliminate or reduce the USD 20 -30 sending bank fee because the ACH transfer fee is quite low or sometimes waived.

More info at

http://www.bangkokbank.com/Bangkok+Bank/Pe...ds+from+USA.htm

I pay $35 to SWIFT transfer to BBL. I usually send a large amount, so the $35 doesn't cut too deeply into the realized exchange rate I get.

But, obviously, if I could only pay $5 to $10 to send money to Thailand via ACH, I'd do it (allowing me to send smaller amounts, preferable with a rising dollar). However, as others have pointed out here, some folks have apparently had problems with this ACH scheme. But I can't seem to use the search function to nail this down....

So, can somebody (bodies) shed some light on problems experienced..... and is the main problem highlighted by this quote:

The ACH (to Bangkok Bank NY) will be blocked if noticed by human review from reports here.

From what I've read on BBL's website, the above kind of problem would occur if you tried to send money *from* (not *to*) Thailand back thru BBL NY and the ACH system, as this seems to say:

"Important Note: You cannot transfer funds from Bangkok Bank’s account in Thailand to your account with banks or online payment service providers in the US via Bangkok Bank's New York branch and the ACH system. If you initiate direct debit or ACH debit transactions to Bangkok Bank's New York branch, banks in the US and online payment service providers may suspend your account. "

Also, for those who have succesfully set up ACH with BBL New York and your Thai BBL account, did you experience those two <$1.00 trial deposits the BBL website mentions? I've set up several ACH accounts domestically, and never have I had any trial runs with my ACH service. I can't imagine why my ACH service would look at adding BBL New York any differently......(?).

Oh, is this ACH method of transfering money a recent service offered by Bangkok Bank? Or has this been offered for several years (and I just haven't noticed it).

Sorry if all this has been hashed over in other threads.... but searching on "ACH" draws a blank.

[WilliamIV]

The point that has been ignored here is the conversion of the Funds from US Dollars to Baht.

For the Transfer to take effect the Dollars MUST end up in (one of) the Bangkok Bank's US Dollar Account in New York.

= i regularly transfer funds (USD and €UR) by SWIFT to Siam Commercial via Bangkok Bank. no such thing like via USD account of Bangkok Bank in New York. conversion is then done by SCB.

The Accounting for Euros would not be done thru a Dollar Account !!!!

It would be thru the Bank's Euro Account in maybe Hamburg or Brussels.

Pouds Sterling thru an Account in London etc.

[Naam]

The Accounting for Euros would not be done thru a Dollar Account !!!!

It would be thru the Bank's Euro Account in maybe Hamburg or Brussels.

EUR transfers are all routed via Frankfurt, USD via NY. but there is no "correspondence" bank per se involved when SWIFT is used. nobody can explain to me why a USD transfer from Bank A in Singapore to Bank B in Singapore is routed via NY or EUR via Frankfurt

[thaihome]

To save fees, you can set up your brokerage account via ACH transfer by entering Bangkok Bank, New York’s routing number of 026008691 and your Bangkok Bank account no. This will eliminate or reduce the USD 20 -30 sending bank fee because the ACH transfer fee is quite low or sometimes waived.

More info at

http://www.bangkokbank.com/Bangkok+Bank/Pe...ds+from+USA.htm

I pay $35 to SWIFT transfer to BBL. I usually send a large amount, so the $35 doesn't cut too deeply into the realized exchange rate I get.

But, obviously, if I could only pay $5 to $10 to send money to Thailand via ACH, I'd do it (allowing me to send smaller amounts, preferable with a rising dollar). However, as others have pointed out here, some folks have apparently had problems with this ACH scheme. But I can't seem to use the search function to nail this down....

So, can somebody (bodies) shed some light on problems experienced..... and is the main problem highlighted by this quote:

The ACH (to Bangkok Bank NY) will be blocked if noticed by human review from reports here.

From what I've read on BBL's website, the above kind of problem would occur if you tried to send money *from* (not *to*) Thailand back thru BBL NY and the ACH system, as this seems to say:

"Important Note: You cannot transfer funds from Bangkok Bank’s account in Thailand to your account with banks or online payment service providers in the US via Bangkok Bank's New York branch and the ACH system. If you initiate direct debit or ACH debit transactions to Bangkok Bank's New York branch, banks in the US and online payment service providers may suspend your account. "

Also, for those who have succesfully set up ACH with BBL New York and your Thai BBL account, did you experience those two <$1.00 trial deposits the BBL website mentions? I've set up several ACH accounts domestically, and never have I had any trial runs with my ACH service. I can't imagine why my ACH service would look at adding BBL New York any differently......(?).

Oh, is this ACH method of transfering money a recent service offered by Bangkok Bank? Or has this been offered for several years (and I just haven't noticed it).

Sorry if all this has been hashed over in other threads.... but searching on "ACH" draws a blank.

The ACH transfer through the BB New York branch is not a new service, my attempts to set it up were in 2006. BB has recently added the instructions to the website. The 2, less the a dollar trial, transfers are standard for all ACH setups for both my banks.

Some members claim to be doing this to BB with no problem. When I tried with BofA, the trial transfers went through, I called BB in Bangkok and they gave me the USD amounts, the transfers were validated on the online banking, then immediately frozen. With First Internet Bank, the same thing, except they actually did a $5k transfer once then they froze it. In both cases, the explanation given was the ACH provider (not part of the Bank) does not allow transfers to accounts outside the US.

Give it a try and see what happens. Let us know.

TH

[JimGant]

The ACH transfer through the BB New York branch is not a new service, my attempts to set it up were in 2006. BB has recently added the instructions to the website. The 2, less the a dollar trial, transfers are standard for all ACH setups for both my banks.

Some members claim to be doing this to BB with no problem. When I tried with BofA, the trial transfers went through, I called BB in Bangkok and they gave me the USD amounts, the transfers were validated on the online banking, then immediately frozen. With First Internet Bank, the same thing, except they actually did a $5k transfer once then they froze it. In both cases, the explanation given was the ACH provider (not part of the Bank) does not allow transfers to accounts outside the US.

Give it a try and see what happens. Let us know.

This should be interesting. Reading thru all the stuff here, including the links to Bangkok Bank, it would certainly be easy to stumble. What struck me is that to do the <$1.00 transfers would automatically put the deal into 'tilt' since a two-way street is opened -- and the deal is you can only go one way (US to Thailand). The E-commerce link of BB mentioned by Heng even says to not verify these transfers -- because it's for only within the US (and thus will queer the deal). Gee, if you can't verify, how can the deal be established........ But why is such seemingly pertinent info buried in a E-commerce link -- and not the one on for 'US bank account owners?'..... And, more importantly, how is such a circle jerk rectified......?

Well, interestingly, when setting this up today with my USAA Federal Savings accounts, one question asked was: "Do you have signatory control over this [bangkok Bank] account?" Answering 'no' would mean you could only send money ACH from US to Thailand (which, of course, is want I want to do -- and what the system only allows). So, even tho I have signatory control, I answered 'no.' Result: No <$1.00 trial runs will be sent -- transfers to Thailand can be made in 3 or less business days.

Sounds like some people are having success with this ACH system to Thailand. But, it's easy to see why some are also having problems. In fact, it's hard to see how anyone is having success, given the advice about how to implement and handle the $1.00 transfers.....

Anyway, stay tuned. I'll update when my money arrives -- or is returned.

[JimGant]

I wanted to see how the <$1.00 trial transfers would work, so I also set up an account where I said I had 'signatory control,' i.e., both debit and credit control. Here's the first email I got from USAA Federal Savings:

To help identify you as the owner, we made two temporary deposits to your non-USAA account and one withdrawal for the sum of the two deposits. (Your account balance will not change because of the temporary deposits.)

What happens next

Please complete the following steps within 30 days, or you'll have to repeat this process to enable transfers from this account.

Contact your financial institution to get the amounts of the temporary deposits, which will have the description "TRIALCREDIT."

Go to Manage Accounts on usaa.com and select Enter Temporary Deposits from the drop-down menu beside your account. Verify the temporary deposits by entering the exact amounts.

If the amounts match, the account will be available for funds transfer immediately

Nothing too amazing about that -- pretty much as advertised.

But the next email was interesting:

Unfortunately, your financial institution [bangkok Bank] notified us that this is a credits-only account -- withdrawals aren't allowed. Based on this information, we've added this account to your funds transfer list for deposits only. Please contact your financial institution if you have questions about the account.

Well, it's not a "credits-only" account -- it's a regular savings account. But Bangkok Bank -- knowing it's 'effectively' a credits-only acct for ACH purposes -- now informs your US bank that money can only be sent one-way. As such, the "TRIALCREDIT" drill is not required to set up this one-way ACH avenue. And, this answers Heng's question:

I wonder how the latter folks ever get anything set up if they don't confirm the trial deposits? I use Card Service International through Bank of America and I don't recall any trial deposit requirement during the setup.

Also, maybe Bangkok Bank has gotten its act together since 2006, when Thaihome struck out trying to ACH money from BofA........

[aurelius]

I've checked with BBL staff about their website on US ACH and here is what I understand from them:

BBL's New York branch can receive funds from US ACH and transfer these funds to your account with BBL, Thailand. But whether you can actually send funds via US ACH and BBL, New York to your account with BBL (Thailand) depends largely on the account verification procedures of your US sending bank.

Some US banks will verify accounts by sending two small credit amounts into your account with BBL. You may find out about these two amounts in USD from BBL by contacting their Phone Banking Center tel.1333 (need ATM PIN) and confirm the amounts online to your US bank. Or a better way to get these two small amount credits in USD now is to register for BBL's newly launched SMS Remittance Alert service via their Phone Banking Center – Check on how to apply from their website:

http://www.bangkokbank.com/Bangkok+Bank/Pe...tance+Alert.htm.

After confirming these two small amounts, you should be able to activate the service to transfer funds from US account to BBL account by using BBL, New York routing number 026008691 and your account no. with BBL, Thailand. BBL staff said Bank of America, HSBC Online, ING Direct and JP Morgan Chase send two small credit amounts and they receive funds from these banks via US ACH regularly.

The problem is with US banks which verify accounts by sending both one or two small amount credits and one small debit amount. BBL will accept credit amounts only and will reject debit amount because they will not allow a transfer from Thailand to US. In this case, you will not be able to get the debit amount to confirm online and set up the transfer service. This is the same as what BBL wrote in their advisory note that they will not accept debit transactions from US ACH.

If you want to transfer funds to your BBL account in Thailand via US ACH and BBL (New York) from your US bank internet banking facility, you must confirm the two small amounts credited into your account with BBL (Thailand) to your US bank.

BBL's advice not to confirm two small credit amounts online in their website refers to registration procedures with PAYPAL to transfer funds from a PAYPAL account via US ACH and BBL (New York) to your account with BBL Thailand. Unlike US bank internet banking services, you can transfer funds from PAYPAL to your BBL account in Thailand without confirming the two small credit amounts. If you confirm these two amounts, PAYPAL may automatically send debit transactions to debit your account with BBL(Thailand) when you need to pay PAYPAL and there are insufficient funds in your PAYPAL account. As far as I know, PAYPAL will try to get your funds in the following sequence - PAYPAL account , Bank account and Credit Card. When PAYPAL sends a debit transaction to BBL(New York), BBL (New York) will return this debit to PAYPAL because BBL will not allow transfers from Thailand to USA and this may cause PAYPAL to suspend your account. If you choose to confirm these two amounts to PAYPAL, you should use your PAYPAL account linked with BBL(New York) for receiving funds only so as to avoid unintentional debit, and use another PAYPAL account for payment needs.

Because BBL is the only Thai bank with a NY branch, they are the only bank in Thailand which can help you get funds from PAYPAL in USD and convert USD into BAHT using the FX rate in Thailand is which is better than FX rate PAYPAL quotes. Most Thais trading on EBAY withdraw funds from PAYPAL via BBL(New York) for this reason.

Hope this helps.

[sinsinthai]

you can get more information and maybe open yourself

a bank account in Switzerland, they are considered very safe

and might be ideal for you - open-bank-account.com