Nationwide Flexaccount Vs Swift

[cowman1]

Hello,

I know there are thousands of topics on this subject already, but I can't seem to find a difinitive answer. Basically I need to get 200,000 baht transferred to my thai bank account, from my parents account in UK.

I already have a FlexAccount card debit card with their Nationwide account in England, and I have always used this in the past for receiving small amounts from them. However as they are now transferring 200k, I am conscious of finding the best deal (I will be sending the cash back again in a couple weeks, so don't want them to lose much money during the process).

My question is, which would be the cheapest way to do it?

1) Send it by SWIFT (in english pounds).

2) My parents deposit the 200k into the nationwide account, and I draw it out here. If this is the better option, is there a limit on how much can be withdran every day? I would like to complete the process within a week if possible.

Thanks, in advance for any help!!

[Totster]

2) My parents deposit the 200k into the nationwide account, and I draw it out here. If this is the better option, is there a limit on how much can be withdran every day? I would like to complete the process within a week if possible.

The daily limit is set by card issuer (Nationwide). My limit for daily withdrawals is GBP 300, which at the moment is approx ฿18,000. So to withdraw the ฿200,000 from an ATM would take 12 days

Totster

Edited September 20, 2008 by Totster

[brahmburgers]

I think SWIFT would be your better option if you can arrange it.

There is a flat transaction fee per each transfer with Swift. For me, getting money from California, it's $30 each time - regardless of the total amount of the transfer.

In contrast, ATM withdrawals have roughly 3% of transfer amount ......plus other add-on fees, most of which are hidden fees you don't find out about until/unless you check your balance later. Bankers are experts at adding hidden fees.

good luck.

[cowman1]

It's just, I was led to believe there were no costs involved with the nationwide account when taking out over here? So would that make it a better option? Albeit, taking a longer time to process due to the limit on withdrawals.

The SWIFT transaction costs were 15 pounds in thai baht and 30 pounds in sterling.

[Totster]

There are no fees for using your Nationwide ATM card overseas. I got a rate of 62 with my last withdrawal on the 19th

Totster

[Lite Beer]

Nationwide.No fees at all.

Swift transfer £20-30.

If you do not need it all in one go and you do not need proof of transfer for Immigration etc. I would have though that Nationwide debit card would be cheaper.

[Steve2UK]

As Lite Beer and Totser say, definitely no transfer fees with Nationwide - added to which they give a consistently good exchange rate.

As I've posted before, you can take your Nationwide Debit card (must be the Debit card not just a cash card) into a Thai bank and draw what you want over the counter. I have done this twice with Siam Commercial Bank here in Chiang Mai - once for 200,000 and once for 400,000 baht. If you choose a major branch, I see no reason why any of the Thai banks wouldn't treat it the same. In your case, it makes sense to choose a branch of your own Thai bank - the one where you opened the account if it's a reasonable size.

The process is like using your Debit card to make a purchase in a store. They will take your card and run it to check that you have sufficient funds in the account - then you sign the transaction (like a sales) slip they'll give you. They might ask you for an explanation of what the money's for (with me they did one time and not the other) and will almost certainly want to make a photocopy of your passport which they'll ask you to sign. That's it - you then immediately have the 200,000 baht to deposit into your Thai account. The usual ATM withdrawal per day limit doesn't apply - because you're not using an ATM. The GBP deduction from your Nationwide account will be the same as if you had made x number of ATM withdrawals.

Edited September 20, 2008 by Steve2UK

[Chaimai]

As Lite Beer and Totser say, definitely no transfer fees with Nationwide - added to which they give a consistently good exchange rate.

As I've posted before, you can take your Nationwide Debit card (must be the Debit card not just a cash card) into a Thai bank and draw what you want over the counter. I have done this twice with Siam Commercial Bank here in Chiang Mai - once for 200,000 and once for 400,000 baht. If you choose a major branch, I see no reason why any of the Thai banks wouldn't treat it the same. In your case, it makes sense to choose a branch of your own Thai bank - the one where you opened the account if it's a reasonable size.

The process is like using your Debit card to make a purchase in a store. They will take your card and run it to check that you have sufficient funds in the account - then you sign the transaction (like a sales) slip they'll give you. They might ask you for an explanation of what the money's for (with me they did one time and not the other) and will almost certainly want to make a photocopy of your passport which they'll ask you to sign. That's it - you then immediately have the 200,000 baht to deposit into your Thai account. The usual ATM withdrawal per day limit doesn't apply - because you're not using an ATM. The GBP deduction from your Nationwide account will be the same as if you had made x number of ATM withdrawals.

An excellent and informative post - thank you.

I have also expounded the virtues of the Nationwide Flex Account. I am funded in Sterling and have used the daily card limit to effectively switch funds into my Thai bank account - I have never tried a larger withdrawal over the counter. I shall do on my next trip as this is a good mechanism to move larger amounts when the rate is deemed to be favourable - and it avoids the SWIFT charge whilst still enjoying the good N/Wide rate.

Steve - do you know if there is any limit on the 'over the counter' transactions ?

[Tafia]

As Lite Beer and Totser say, definitely no transfer fees with Nationwide - added to which they give a consistently good exchange rate.

As I've posted before, you can take your Nationwide Debit card (must be the Debit card not just a cash card) into a Thai bank and draw what you want over the counter. I have done this twice with Siam Commercial Bank here in Chiang Mai - once for 200,000 and once for 400,000 baht. If you choose a major branch, I see no reason why any of the Thai banks wouldn't treat it the same. In your case, it makes sense to choose a branch of your own Thai bank - the one where you opened the account if it's a reasonable size.

The process is like using your Debit card to make a purchase in a store. They will take your card and run it to check that you have sufficient funds in the account - then you sign the transaction (like a sales) slip they'll give you. They might ask you for an explanation of what the money's for (with me they did one time and not the other) and will almost certainly want to make a photocopy of your passport which they'll ask you to sign. That's it - you then immediately have the 200,000 baht to deposit into your Thai account. The usual ATM withdrawal per day limit doesn't apply - because you're not using an ATM. The GBP deduction from your Nationwide account will be the same as if you had made x number of ATM withdrawals.

If you deducted this way and deposited immediatly into your Thai Account or made a transfer into your Thai Account using the same method (if that is possible) will that show up as funds from outside the Kingdom to satisfy Immigration on extensions?

Edited September 21, 2008 by Tafia

[Steve2UK]

As Lite Beer and Totser say, definitely no transfer fees with Nationwide - added to which they give a consistently good exchange rate.

As I've posted before, you can take your Nationwide Debit card (must be the Debit card not just a cash card) into a Thai bank and draw what you want over the counter. I have done this twice with Siam Commercial Bank here in Chiang Mai - once for 200,000 and once for 400,000 baht. If you choose a major branch, I see no reason why any of the Thai banks wouldn't treat it the same. In your case, it makes sense to choose a branch of your own Thai bank - the one where you opened the account if it's a reasonable size.

The process is like using your Debit card to make a purchase in a store. They will take your card and run it to check that you have sufficient funds in the account - then you sign the transaction (like a sales) slip they'll give you. They might ask you for an explanation of what the money's for (with me they did one time and not the other) and will almost certainly want to make a photocopy of your passport which they'll ask you to sign. That's it - you then immediately have the 200,000 baht to deposit into your Thai account. The usual ATM withdrawal per day limit doesn't apply - because you're not using an ATM. The GBP deduction from your Nationwide account will be the same as if you had made x number of ATM withdrawals.

An excellent and informative post - thank you.

I have also expounded the virtues of the Nationwide Flex Account. I am funded in Sterling and have used the daily card limit to effectively switch funds into my Thai bank account - I have never tried a larger withdrawal over the counter. I shall do on my next trip as this is a good mechanism to move larger amounts when the rate is deemed to be favourable - and it avoids the SWIFT charge whilst still enjoying the good N/Wide rate.

Steve - do you know if there is any limit on the 'over the counter' transactions ?

I don't actually know of any specific limit but I can readily imagine that there's a threshold figure that would likely trigger extra checks of some kind - vis a vis anti-moneylaundering rules or fraud etc. I'm sure it must help if you're doing both transactions at a bank where you hold your own account - i.e. it's from an overseas account in your name to go into a Thai account in your name. The time I was asked by the cashier what the money was for (that time I was actually taking the cash away to pay a year's rent in advance), it seemed more like casual conversation than she was actually checking. I've certainly been through a more rigorous "sanctioning" procedure at my own bank in London when I wanted to send GBP 11,000 to a car-dealer's Thai account.

BTW, both times I did this at SCB I was actually clutching my SCB savings book - but no-one was interested in seeing it (just the passport). One other point: I see elsewhere that SCB are now charging 20 baht for ATM withdrawals; by the same logic, it's possible that they now make some small charge for the process I've described - but, if they do, it's likely to be peanuts compared to SWIFT charges.

[Steve2UK]

As Lite Beer and Totser say, definitely no transfer fees with Nationwide - added to which they give a consistently good exchange rate.

As I've posted before, you can take your Nationwide Debit card (must be the Debit card not just a cash card) into a Thai bank and draw what you want over the counter. I have done this twice with Siam Commercial Bank here in Chiang Mai - once for 200,000 and once for 400,000 baht. If you choose a major branch, I see no reason why any of the Thai banks wouldn't treat it the same. In your case, it makes sense to choose a branch of your own Thai bank - the one where you opened the account if it's a reasonable size.

The process is like using your Debit card to make a purchase in a store. They will take your card and run it to check that you have sufficient funds in the account - then you sign the transaction (like a sales) slip they'll give you. They might ask you for an explanation of what the money's for (with me they did one time and not the other) and will almost certainly want to make a photocopy of your passport which they'll ask you to sign. That's it - you then immediately have the 200,000 baht to deposit into your Thai account. The usual ATM withdrawal per day limit doesn't apply - because you're not using an ATM. The GBP deduction from your Nationwide account will be the same as if you had made x number of ATM withdrawals.

If you deducted this way and deposited immediatly into your Thai Account or made a transfer into your Thai Account using the same method (if that is possible) will that show up as funds from outside the Kingdom to satisfy Immigration on extensions?

I can only go by what I saw happen with my SCB savings account when I used my UK (Nationwide) Debit card. On the occasion when what I wanted to do was to get money from my UK account to deposit immediately into my SCB account, I think they may have misunderstood or missed the second stage when I was asking. Anyhow, they physically handed me 200,000 baht against my Debit Card; I then said (again) that I wanted to deposit the cash into my SCB account - which they then did.

So my answer to your question(s) can only be "I don't actually know" - my SCB savings book just shows the amount deposited and not the source. That said, I would imagine that the Thai bank would have no problem writing you a letter confirming the source of the deposit if you do as I did - and they'll probably want about 200 baht for that service (same as for the letter confirming the Thai bank account status which I have to use for annual extension of my O-A visa - although I do mine based solely on UK income).

I hope this helps.

[Chaimai]

BTW, both times I did this at SCB I was actually clutching my SCB savings book - but no-one was interested in seeing it (just the passport). One other point: I see elsewhere that SCB are now charging 20 baht for ATM withdrawals; by the same logic, it's possible that they now make some small charge for the process I've described - but, if they do, it's likely to be peanuts compared to SWIFT charges.

Thanks again Steve. My Thai bank is also SCB and whilst I avoid them for N/Wide ATM withdrawals, I would undertake the above transaction through them as most of the Baht are likely to be going directly into the SCB account. It will be interesting to see what rate (and charge, if any) I get.

[Steve2UK]

BTW, both times I did this at SCB I was actually clutching my SCB savings book - but no-one was interested in seeing it (just the passport). One other point: I see elsewhere that SCB are now charging 20 baht for ATM withdrawals; by the same logic, it's possible that they now make some small charge for the process I've described - but, if they do, it's likely to be peanuts compared to SWIFT charges.

Thanks again Steve. My Thai bank is also SCB and whilst I avoid them for N/Wide ATM withdrawals, I would undertake the above transaction through them as most of the Baht are likely to be going directly into the SCB account. It will be interesting to see what rate (and charge, if any) I get.

Happy to help .

BTW, I'm 99.9% sure that the rate is not set by SCB - any more than they (or any other Thai bank) set the rate when you use their ATM. It's not like you're buying foreign exchange from SCB (et al) - you get the rate that Nationwide (N/W) are operating at the time of the debit being cleared in your N/W account. SCB presumably charge N/W the baht amount and get paid that amount. I did an informal check on this when I used my N/W card in an ATM to get 10,000 baht the day after one of my in-bank withdrawals; I later checked my N/W account online and the rates were near-identical.

[JohnC]

I will be sending the cash back again in a couple weeks, so don't want them to lose much money during the process

I think you need to make sure your Thai bank notes your passbook as funds received from abroad, this will be simple as you draw the cash from them on your N/W debit card and immediately deposit back to them to your thai bank. This will be important when you want to return the money to your parents in a few weeks.

[Chaimai]

. I did an informal check on this when I used my N/W card in an ATM to get 10,000 baht the day after one of my in-bank withdrawals; I later checked my N/W account online and the rates were near-identical.

Evidence seems to suggest that the N/W rate equates to the BBK draft rate.

[Chaimai]

I think you need to make sure your Thai bank notes your passbook as funds received from abroad, this will be simple as you draw the cash from them on your N/W debit card and immediately deposit back to them to your thai bank. This will be important when you want to return the money to your parents in a few weeks.

John C, I don't think this has any relevance

[davehowden]

KRUNG THAI BANK SAY CANNOT!

I asked my Krung Thai Bank in Singburi about using my Nationwide Debit Card to move 1,000,000 bht into my account with them from my Nationwide Flex Account and they said "Cannot". I then phoned the Krung Thai Bank Head Office in Bangkok and they also said "Cannot".

Is this peculiar to Krung Thai do you think or have the rules changed?

Dave

[dave2]

Nahh the rules have not changed ...

i went into my krung thai bank in thapae road chiang mai a month ago and asked them to swipe my n wide debit card for 1500 gb pounds and the answer was the same ... cannot ... its over the 20,000 baht daily limit !

i explained that the card had no limit provided you had the money in the account to three suspicious staff who didnt understand it or believe it but they did try it when i asked them to swipe the card.

result .... three gobsmacked krung thai bank staff asked me to punch in my pin number and 1500 gb pounds was in my account in seconds

maybe krung thai bank teach their staff ALL cards have a limit ... i dont know

ps ... you should have seen the face of the girl in TMB Bank two years ago when i asked her to draw 12.000 ( twelve thousand pound ) the same way ..... she was gobsmacked too but she didnt question it when i asked her to draw 7.000 from n wide in november this year.

dave2

[jesimps]

As Lite Beer and Totser say, definitely no transfer fees with Nationwide - added to which they give a consistently good exchange rate.

As I've posted before, you can take your Nationwide Debit card (must be the Debit card not just a cash card) into a Thai bank and draw what you want over the counter. I have done this twice with Siam Commercial Bank here in Chiang Mai - once for 200,000 and once for 400,000 baht. If you choose a major branch, I see no reason why any of the Thai banks wouldn't treat it the same. In your case, it makes sense to choose a branch of your own Thai bank - the one where you opened the account if it's a reasonable size.

The process is like using your Debit card to make a purchase in a store. They will take your card and run it to check that you have sufficient funds in the account - then you sign the transaction (like a sales) slip they'll give you. They might ask you for an explanation of what the money's for (with me they did one time and not the other) and will almost certainly want to make a photocopy of your passport which they'll ask you to sign. That's it - you then immediately have the 200,000 baht to deposit into your Thai account. The usual ATM withdrawal per day limit doesn't apply - because you're not using an ATM. The GBP deduction from your Nationwide account will be the same as if you had made x number of ATM withdrawals.

Armed with my Nationwide debit card and my passport, I went to my local (Jomtien) Kasikorn bank today (I have an account there) and asked them to 'swipe' me 100.000 baht. They said 'No way, but try our big bank in South Pattaya near Tuk Com' Took a taxi to there and was told I could only have 20.000. I argued that lots of people (didn't actually quote this forum) draw 200.000 and more over the counter with their UK debit cards, but they wouldn't budge. They did however, point me in the direction of TNB on Pattaya Central Road who they said would let me have up to 200,000, but by that time I'd lost the will to live and went for a beer instead. The moral of this tale is that SCB, TNB and maybe some other Thai banks will give you loads of dosh by debit card, but Kasikorn won't; at least not in Pattaya.

[dave2]

Jesimps .

i have an account at

Thai Military Bank

Pattaya Branch 325/67-70 M 10 NONGPURE

BANGLAMUNG CHONBURI 20150 THAILAND

which is at the top of soi pattayaland 2 ( same side as the kitten club ) on second road .

go in there , ask them to swipe your card and the answer will be .... how much you want ?

ive swiped my nationwide debit card in there many times for years ( for between 200 quid to 5000 a time ) with no problems or questions

enjoy the cash ..... have a beer for me .... dave2

[briley]

Point to note Bangkok bank in tesco lotus Chiang Mai do not have a swipe machine - so you have to use the ATM with a limit.

[Bizz]

without opening a new topic can someone answer this question for a friend of mine i have not the answer.

Is it possible to open a Nationwide Account online as an irish Citizen and transfer € to £ avoiding charges on withdrawals

[dave2]

Bizz .

with all the new money laundering laws in england an englishman with an address in england , a job , a n insurance number , a passport and is married with two kids will probably have a problem opening a nationwide ( or any bank ) account these days !

so an irishman trying to open an account online for either punt , euros , pounds or even dollars has more chance of getting pregnant than opening a new account of any type anywhere. ....... but your freind could try .... : )

dave2

[jesimps]

Bizz .

with all the new money laundering laws in england an englishman with an address in england , a job , a n insurance number , a passport and is married with two kids will probably have a problem opening a nationwide ( or any bank ) account these days !

so an irishman trying to open an account online for either punt , euros , pounds or even dollars has more chance of getting pregnant than opening a new account of any type anywhere. ....... but your freind could try .... : )

dave2

I've had two accounts with Nationwide for donkey's years, but to open a dollar account with Nationwide Intl, I printed a form yesterday (4 bloody pages) which I have to complete and send off. By the time it gets to the IOM, the pound will probably be worthless and I won't be able to afford dollars anyway. There's no way your friend will be able to open an account via the web. Nationwide need completed, signed forms for most things ie money txfers, change of address etc.

[phaethon]

I did an informal check on this when I used my N/W card in an ATM to get 10,000 baht the day after one of my in-bank withdrawals; I later checked my N/W account online and the rates were near-identical.

Thanks, it seems, given that I would rather transfer in multiple smaller amounts in the hope that rates recover/even out over time,that the N/W card is the best bet over SWIFT.

[Abrak]

I have ATM cards from both TFB and SCB.

I find the following:

1) Maximum withdrawal in any one transaction is Bt20,000

2) Maximum withdrawal per day is Bt40,000 (in other words to take out Bt40,000 requires 2 transactions)

3) Cost per withdrawal is Bt10

Now a lot of this experience is simply down to my basic assumptions in that I dont go to the ATM and ask for Bt40k because I assume it will refuse etc. Is this basically right or for instance does it matter what ATM I choose. For instance if I go to a TFB ATM can I take out more and not be charged with my TFB ATM card.