Clearing A Usd Check Via Singapore

[st11x]

G'day,

Bank of America (BoA) will not allow me to set up wire transfers now that I am in Thailand. However, I still have the odd checks coming from the States.

I have tried to clear one check with Kasikorn and it has took about a month and counting. Not sure what the total damages are nor the exchange rate.

Searching the forums, it seems HSBC/Citibank in Singapore might be a better way for me to clear those checks. In a way, my money is parked in a stronger and more reliable banking system till I need them. I can then wire them into Thailand instead of paying the fees at the ATM using a BoA card.

Anyone thinks this is flawed? That is, a dual conversion is most likely to be worse?

Here in Chiang Mai, we don't have HSBC nor Citibank. We do have UOB or Standard Chartered. I might lean towards the latter two as using their ATMs here should attract less fees.

thanks

Matt

[OriginalPoster]

G'day,

Bank of America (BoA) will not allow me to set up wire transfers now that I am in Thailand. However, I still have the odd checks coming from the States.

I have tried to clear one check with Kasikorn and it has took about a month and counting. Not sure what the total damages are nor the exchange rate.

Searching the forums, it seems HSBC/Citibank in Singapore might be a better way for me to clear those checks. In a way, my money is parked in a stronger and more reliable banking system till I need them. I can then wire them into Thailand instead of paying the fees at the ATM using a BoA card.

Anyone thinks this is flawed? That is, a dual conversion is most likely to be worse?

Here in Chiang Mai, we don't have HSBC nor Citibank. We do have UOB or Standard Chartered. I might lean towards the latter two as using their ATMs here should attract less fees.

thanks

Matt

Assuming that you are able to open an account in Singapore, the dual conversion would probably the main negative factor. I'm using DBS bank in Singapore but not wiring money into Thailand (the account is for money earned within Singapore). They advertize that they take US checks and give the same exchange rate on US checks as the do for US cash (see http://www.dbs.com/sg/personal/deposit/add...es/default.aspx) and that USD checks clear in two days, however if you look at the rates that they advertize on their website you'll see that their exchange rates for cash are lower than that Interbank rate (you can find the Interbank rate at http://www.oanda.com/convert/fxhistory) DBS's rates for S$-Baht might be probelematic too, you'll probably want to make sure that the conversion happens at the Thai Bank instead of at the Singapore bank.

Another thing to check into -- DBS (and other Singapore banks) have USD-denominated deposit accounts. It might be possible to have you US funds deposited into one of those and then have US$ wired to Singapore instead of S$. Might be possible, but maybe there are offsetting fees to do that or maybe they would insist on converting into S$ before doing the transfer to Thailand. Dunno.

You might want to check on the Singapore bank's wiring fees too.

[Soutpeel]

Assuming that you are able to open an account in Singapore

You will be able to open an account in Singapore with either Citibank or HSBC without issue, although if you are are a US citizen there is additional paper work relating to the IRS to deal with with Citibank.

Open a US$ demominated account. If for example you open an account with Citibank IPB in Singapore, you can draw via your ATM card in Thailand without attracting ATM fees, other than the ones some Thai banks charge ie THB 20...

Personally I would go with Citibank IPB over HSBC, I was with HSBC for many years and found their customer service dire, closed the HSBC account and moved over to Citi IPB and have never been happier with a bank, customer care and service out of Singapore is excellent

[st11x]

I am a Singapore citizen so it should be easier for me to open an account even in USD I guess. I will be going back to Singapore soon, so I can get things sorted out.

I have a Citibank account in Singapore, but it's in SGD. Is it the same as an IPB account?

Bank of America told me that they are willing to send me cashier's check. So I could ask for my checks to be deposited in the US and have the bank send me cashier's check instead. At the same time, I can consolidate all those 10 dollars checks into one bigger one. According to my mates in Singapore, cashier's check takes about a day to clear. Not sure if it's the same in Thailand though.

On that topic, I read on the forum that someone did SWIFT transfers regularly (once a month) and his account was later frozen under the suspicion of money laundering. I wonder if I keep asking the bank to send me cashier's check, will it happen to me too. It's probably something the personal banker will not openly discuss with you?

Edited January 27, 2009 by st11x

[OriginalPoster]

I am a Singapore citizen so it should be easier for me to open an account even in USD I guess. I will be going back to Singapore soon, so I can get things sorted out.

I have a Citibank account in Singapore, but it's in SGD. Is it the same as an IPB account?

Bank of America told me that they are willing to send me cashier's check. So I could ask for my checks to be deposited in the US and have the bank send me cashier's check instead. At the same time, I can consolidate all those 10 dollars checks into one bigger one. According to my mates in Singapore, cashier's check takes about a day to clear. Not sure if it's the same in Thailand though.

On that topic, I read on the forum that someone did SWIFT transfers regularly (once a month) and his account was later frozen under the suspicion of money laundering. I wonder if I keep asking the bank to send me cashier's check, will it happen to me too. It's probably something the personal banker will not openly discuss with you?

That the Citibank IPB ATM cards have no fees on international transactions sounds like reason enough to open one of those accounts. Not a lot of banks do that anymore, some dock the exchange rate by up to 3%. If Citibank IPB gives you the Internbank rate on international ATM transactions (as it appears that it does: http://flyerguide.com/wiki/index.php/Credi...8used_at_ATM.29) , that's probably one of the cheaper ways to get USD into Thailand.

[Soutpeel]

I am a Singapore citizen so it should be easier for me to open an account even in USD I guess. I will be going back to Singapore soon, so I can get things sorted out.

I have a Citibank account in Singapore, but it's in SGD. Is it the same as an IPB account?

quote]

Dont get mixed up between Citibank and Citibank IPB (International Personal Banking), the IPB is in the same citibank building on Orchard and the account you would be opening is a US$ account, you need to have a minimum deposit and maintain the balance at US $ 20,000 in order to get the no fee banking...

I have been with them quite a few years now and never had a problem transferring money from the account into Thailand or using the ATM card to withdraw cash in Thailand, and if they see what they think is a strange transaction, they will be on the phone to you very quickly to confirm, they dont just bar the account on you as some other banks do...

Edited January 27, 2009 by Soutpeel

[Soutpeel]

That the Citibank IPB ATM cards have no fees on international transactions sounds like reason enough to open one of those accounts. Not a lot of banks do that anymore, some dock the exchange rate by up to 3%. If Citibank IPB gives you the Internbank rate on international ATM transactions (as it appears that it does: http://flyerguide.com/wiki/index.php/Credi...8used_at_ATM.29) , that's probably one of the cheaper ways to get USD into Thailand.

The only condition on not paying the fees on the ATM card is that you maintain a minimum balance of US$ 20,000 in the account..

I have used this method for many years, you will however get hit the the Thai banks which charge THB 20...ie SCB

ps you are not bringing USD into Thailand, you are drawing THB against your USD account...not the same thing..

[st11x]

Thanks. So Citibank IPB sounds like a good plan. How much do they charge you for making a deposit in USD, cash or check? UOB charges you $15 (not sure US or SGD).

Being a Singaporean, it's probably better to have the funds in Singapore than in the States even though BoA pays about 2.x% interest.

The 20THB SCB fee is much better already, I'm getting hit by about US$11 each time at the ATM.

Did you try other ATMs? I tried to withdraw from SCB and they are going to charge me 20 THB too, that is on top of the $11 imposed by BoA. Haven't seen any fees charged by the other banks yet.

Thanks

Matt

[Soutpeel]

Thanks. So Citibank IPB sounds like a good plan. How much do they charge you for making a deposit in USD, cash or check? UOB charges you $15 (not sure US or SGD).

Being a Singaporean, it's probably better to have the funds in Singapore than in the States even though BoA pays about 2.x% interest.

The 20THB SCB fee is much better already, I'm getting hit by about US$11 each time at the ATM.

Did you try other ATMs? I tried to withdraw from SCB and they are going to charge me 20 THB too, that is on top of the $11 imposed by BoA. Haven't seen any fees charged by the other banks yet.

Thanks

Matt

The deposit charge not sure... as my company pays the SWIFT transfer fees for me...but guessing between US$15 and US$ 25

On the interest rate, I get 2.25% p.a. interest on my US$ cheque account with Citi IPB in Singapore, so you are not losing anything there by binning BOA.

On the ATM fees....with K-bank dont pay the THB 20, or Bangkok Bank....SCB I pay THB 20.0...

[OriginalPoster]

The deposit charge not sure... as my company pays the SWIFT transfer fees for me...but guessing between US$15 and US$ 25

From their website, fees for savings/checking accounts:

http://www.ipb.citibank.com.sg/APPS/portal...e_transacct.htm

For foreign currency time deposits:

http://www.ipb.citibank.com.sg/APPS/portal.../td_foreign.htm

For other services:

http://www.ipb.citibank.com.sg/APPS/portal.../fee_others.htm