Internet Banking In Thailand

[simon43]

Do any of the Thai banks offer internet banking for a foreigner who is not working (no WP)? (This is a question asked by an American friend who wants to live in Thailand and wants to open a personal bank account that offers internet banking, bill payments etc online.

Thanks

Simon

[Mobi]

I do not have a work permit and I operate internet banking, including the payment of bills, through Kasikorn Thai.

What they won't give me is a credit card, although I do hold a a Thai based Amex card from the days when they had an expat manager, but even then it was a major hassle.

[photojourn]

I use Kbank and have found their internet banking service to be fine so far and their website to be quite good.

[longball53098]

I live in LOS on a retirement extension. Have not been out of country for 3 or more years.

I do 90% of my local Thai banking on-line with Siam Commercial Bank (SCB) and 100% of my US banking on-line with Chase Bank.

The only issues have been occasional problems with security as I bucked the system and had to have my access unblocked.

I totally rely on the system and so far it has not failed me. All of my transfers are done via on line services. I never have to talk to a soul. Typically money is in my SCB account in less than 18 hours. I have 3 SCB accounts and I move money between them on line and pay bills on line.

No work permit just my good looks and passport supporting my good looks to open the account.

The Chase accounts were all set before I came to LOS

Hope this helps

[JimGant]

All of my transfers are done via on line services. I never have to talk to a soul. Typically money is in my SCB account in less than 18 hours.

Are these ACH transfers, and if so, is an intermediary bank in the States being used? What are your fees -- on both ends -- and what rate (TT?) are you getting? Thanx.

[longball53098]

The transfer is a swift transfer direct from my Chase account to my SCB account.

Chase dings me 40 bucks and SCB at a percentage rate based on the amount and never more than 500 baht.

I get the TT rate in effect at the time the money arrives I guess. I send in USD and convert it here when it hits SCB bank

I was told I could somehow instruct the SCB exchange dept. to hold the funds and call me for further instruction as to if i wanted to wait to convert for a better rate but I have never tried that.

[JimGant]

The transfer is a swift transfer direct from my Chase account to my SCB account.

Nice that this can all be initiated via the internet. But those $40 wire fees get onerous, particularly for fairly small amounts of transfer. Bangkok Bank allows EFTs, using its New York branch, charging no more than $10 for a transfer of $50,000 or less.

If you had a Bangkok Bank account, I would imagine your Chase account could set this up on-line -- as it would be the same as setting up a transfer agreement between Chase and another US financial institution. At least this is how it worked for me with my USAA Federal Savings Bank account. However, folks with accounts at Bank of America have reported problems, so I don't know which camp Chase is in.

Here's a line to the Bangkok Bank website that explains this: Here

Edited March 9, 2009 by JimGant

[Mobi]

Although I have internet banking both here and overseas, I don't trust it for large transfers.

I always transfer my money from the UK by telephonic instructions which includes the use of passwords. The big advantage is that all my instructions are recorded on tape, and if there are any problems later on,. they will play the tape back and check. It happened once when they made a mistake and sent the funds in Thai Baht rather than sterling, and they checked the tape and compensated me for my loss.

I also make my transfer via SWIFT and it costs me 25 Pounds a time. The funds are usually in my Bank in Thailand the next day. If the amount is more than 10,000 pounds, the foreign exchange Dept at K Bank head Office will hold the funds in sterling until I instruct them to covert.

[aurelius]

Internet banking at BBL will let you set up an instruction for international transfers out of thailand with a kind of "annual limit", and then you can transfer whenever suits you. Charge is 300bt per transfer. On the incoming end, they link with their NY branch so that it can receive ACH from within the US, and then forward on to Thailand. Tends to be cheaper than remittances from other banks in the US if they "hop" between banks before getting here. Work permit not required for the internet banking.

[Chang_paarp]

On Mobi's advice I went to a Kbank branch in the Pattaya area and opened an account. No problems.

We were 1/2 way throught he process when the lady filling in the forms stopped and said "Oh you live here!" . Did not change a thing. I walked out of the branch with a Visa debt card (In the name of "valued customer") and the concise instructions in English to access my internet banking.

The usual answer to this question is if a certain bank or branch says "Oh difficult." go to the next one down the road, same bank different branches, different results. One other piece of advice is to dress correctly and be polite.

[Mobi]

Visa (debit Card) no problem.

It's the credit (charge card) that they won't give you without a work permit.

[longball53098]

The transfer is a swift transfer direct from my Chase account to my SCB account.

Nice that this can all be initiated via the internet. But those $40 wire fees get onerous, particularly for fairly small amounts of transfer. Bangkok Bank allows EFTs, using its New York branch, charging no more than $10 for a transfer of $50,000 or less.

If you had a Bangkok Bank account, I would imagine your Chase account could set this up on-line -- as it would be the same as setting up a transfer agreement between Chase and another US financial institution. At least this is how it worked for me with my USAA Federal Savings Bank account. However, folks with accounts at Bank of America have reported problems, so I don't know which camp Chase is in.

Here's a line to the Bangkok Bank website that explains this: Here

Yes quite correct I could open an account at BKK and do it that way and save about 40 % on the fees. I actually have an ACH transfer set up from Chase to BKK NY and into my wifes account here and that created somewhat of a firestorm with both banks when I set it up. They originally wanted the names on all the accounts to be mine but once I called each bank's fraud departments and cleared up the situation they approved setup and I can now transfer from my Chase account to her BKK account here using the ACH system and the cost is less but it also takes 4 to 6 days to complete it this way and then I still need to transfer funds from her account to my SCB account and that is a hassle also that has a fee involved.

I choose the swift transfer for me as it works well, it's efficient and secure. Special precautions were taken above the normal internet banking to include wire transfers from Chase. They treat this method as almost a separate system and devote a big operation to it. It may appear simple when done on a computer but I'm sure it's quite secure. I do not fear about making any errors on my part or the bank side. If some problem comes up I get notified almost immediately and then the phone calls start.

I only do about 3 transfers a year so I don't mind paying for the speed and convenience.

[JimGant]

I only do about 3 transfers a year so I don't mind paying for the speed and convenience.

I hear ya. I too usually use Swift transfers, as they are, as you say, considerably faster than the ACH variety. Plus, I send fairly larger amounts, so the fixed fee is nicely amortized. But having the ACH option is a nice fallback.