Pattaya Enhances Safety Measures with Realistic Fire Drill on School Buses

[george]

Sending money abroad possible online

BANGKOK: -- International money transfers are now available via the Internet, but the amount must not exceed US$20,000 (Bt673,000) or the equivalent.

The recipient can withdraw the money within three days of the transaction being completed and the fee is between Bt300 and Bt500 per transaction.

Normally, when you want to transfer money abroad, the bank will carry out the transfer using a service called SWIFT (Society for Worldwide International Financial Transactions), which is the most common way to transfer funds between countries.

The sender does not need to have a bank account, but the recipient normally does. A fee will be charged from both sides, which differs between banks. For example, Bangkok Bank (BBL) charges the sender Bt400 per transaction, TMB Bank charges Bt450, Kasikornbank, Bank of Ayudhya (BAY) and Siam City Bank (SCIB) charge Bt500, while Siam Commercial Bank (SCB) charges Bt550 per transaction.

Normally, the recipient will be charged 0.25 per cent of the amount transferred but there is a Bt200 minimum and a maximum of Bt500. But the sender can also pay the recipient's fee.

The sender must know the SWIFT code of the receiving bank and specify the recipient's personal data, such as name, bank account number, passport number and sometimes even date of birth.

Aside from transactions via SWIFT, which can only be done only by bank branches, an Internet money transfer, which people can do themselves, is a convenient alterฌnative.

BBL, SCB and BAY allow customers to transfer funds abroad via Internet banking for three specific purposes: educational costs, expatriates sending money to their family, and Thais sending money to relฌatives living overseas.

BBL and SCB charge Bt300, which is lower than using the counter service, and BAY charges Bt500.

People wanting to transfer money online must have a bank account, or open one and sign up for Internet banking services.

Then, they need to submit documentation to show the transaction is for one of those three purposes. For example, it could be an invoice for school fees.

For expatriates working here, you must have a copy of your work permit and a letter from your company confirming your income in Thailand.

BBL sets a maximum amount a customer can transfer annually, while SCB and BAY do not set a limit. However, every international transfer transaction by all banks must be reported daily to the Bank of Thailand.

The central bank specifies that the maximum amount foreigners can repatriate in a year must not exceed their annual earnings, less tax and living expenses in Thailand. Normally, it works out at about 70 per cent of annual income.

If you wish to repatriate a larger amount, you will need to provide documents to support the request.

Regarding security, the person making the transfer must specify the account number of the recipient when they registered because online transfers only allow funds to be credited to registered accounts. If they want to revise any information, they must do so at a bank branch.

BBL allows customers to use this service for one year. Then, they must resubmit the documents to continue the service.

As stated earlier, the maximum amount for online international transfer is $20,000 or equivalent per transaction for BBL and SCB customers, while BAY has a limit of $10,000 and the customer must send a confirmation fax to the bank.

The foreign exchange rate used will be the realtime rate, which means the sender can transfer the money when the rate is most favourable.

In addition to all international fund transfers being reported to the Bank of Thailand, transfers of more than Bt5 million will also be notified to the AntiMoney Laundering Office.

Meanwhile, there are some other ways for sending funds abroad such as Western Union, MoneyGram, Travelex and international bank draft.

Western Union, MoneyGram and Travelex, which can make money transfers within 15 minutes, have similar approaches for international money transfers to banks.

People using these service providers do not need to have a bank account but they need to show some form of identification and provide the exact name, identification card or passport number of the recipient. They will be given a refฌerence code to send to the recipient, who will have to provide it to the paying agent.

The fee charged to the sender depends on the amount of transfer.

For example, the cheapest fee charged by Western Union is Bt350 and the maximum is Bt1,250, while Travelex charges a minimum of Bt440 for transferring funds up to Bt4,000. But if the sum is more than Bt70,000, the fee will be charged at 3 per cent of the amount transferred.

Right now, people can use the Western Union money transfer service at any post office in Thailand and at BAY and SCIB branches. BBL will begin providing the service from next month, while SCB and TMB Bank use MoneyGram and Krung Thai Bank has Travelex.

An international bank draft is a cost effective way to send money to friends and family overseas, or to make overseas purchases. Buy a draft a bank and post it to the recipient at your convenience.

This option takes longer and most drafts will take time to be cleared before the recipient can take receipt of the funds. The fee is Bt203 per draft.

-- The Nation 2008-08-08

[gk10002000]

Just thought I would mention my bank, Etrade Bank. Been with them for 8 years. Had basically no problems. I have brokerage accounts, IRA accounts, Checking accounts, money market accounts, and a credit card with them. I direct deposit my pay. Use the ATM all over the world. Online website is great for transactions and moving money between accounts.

However, this summer I was stunned when I mailed two Money Orders for deposit and they were returned! Etrade no longer accepts money orders of any kind! These were US postal office money orders and one from Money gram,, the company Wal Mart uses. Nothing big. Just $500. I called and had long heated bitch sessions with them. They always accepted money orders in the past! Every bank does. In fact, many places take money orders instead of personal checks!

Customer service gave me lip service about money laundering laws and stuff. I pointed out they used to do it, all banks accept money orders and Etrade was way out of line. They also updated their website and specifically now list Money ORders and Travelers checks as things they do not accept! What madness!

In the course of the discussion with one guy, I said I would have wired in the money from Western Union, but didn't see why I should pay the $15 Western Union fee when I could buy an.75 cent money order. He then told me Etrade would not accept Western Union Wire Transfers either!! So, I assume they would reject most other WIre transfers.

They seem to only want US bank wire transfers or cashiers checks from US banks. I don't think they will accept out of the USA checks! I would have to look at the details again.

I gave them a bunch of vulgarities, and opened up a Wachovia account and deposited the money orders after they finally made it back to my home in a return addressed envelope.

Other than that, Etrade has been good. It turns out they recently got hit with a million dollar fine for not verifying accounts and were fined under the money laundering law, so they took the knee jerk reaction and stopped all non-bank deposits! Nutty!

[JimGant]

BBL, SCB and BAY allow customers to transfer funds abroad via Internet banking for three specific purposes: educational costs, expatriates sending money to their family, and Thais sending money to relฌatives living overseas.

Nothing new here. Bangkok Bank has advertised this feature on their website for several years.... But, this is all "push." You can't use the internet banking features of these banks to "pull" money from abroad to Thailand.