Kasikorn Bank And Exchange Rates

[Prajak]

For 6 years now I transfer money from Europe into the mentioned Bank. In Euro 5 k, to be transferred into Baht. Mondaymorning 06 h Thai time online transaction, Tuesday 12 o clock in my account. Six years no problems. But not this week. Tuesday no money. Went to the bank. Tomorrow sir !

Tuesday morning, "computer broke down sir". Please come back at 15 h. But at 12 h I saw the money; website. What did I see ? The exchange rate was 55 satang per euro lower than the day before. I miss 2,750 baht. Well, I'am not broke now but this is not fair.

I know what has happened. The baht was weak, the bank knows that the Bank of T will interfere, and they keep my money 24 h more and wait for a "nice" exchange rate.

I did protest of course. I have transferred 5 million baht in the past 6 years and want a fair deal. But in the local banks they follow the orders from Bangkok and have nothing to say. They seem to be just vassals.

I assume that lots of banks in this country are filling their pockets with farang money but than please tell me in advance.

Or should I know better ??

Leaving this bank will not help I suppose. I think all banks do this. This is Thailand.

Grin and bear it ?

[Prajak]

" Tuesday morning, "

Well, that was Wednesday morning. Today. Sorry.

[Jonathanpattaya]

" Tuesday morning, "

Well, that was Wednesday morning. Today. Sorry.

Correct and, you need to improve your English as well!

[wernerfreitag]

Same experience with Krung Thai , even worse compared to Kasikorn.

[pianoman]

I have been doing two to three transfers per year over the past 7 years, first two years into Bangkok Bank, then the last 5 years with Kasikorn Bank... Transfers from the US have taken from 2 days up to 7 days on various occations, but in all the transfers except two, the exchange rate actually increased from the time of transfer to the date / time of crediting to my account... All of these transfers were in the $5K to $18K USD range... I think that any variation is just "Luck of the Draw" and has nothing to do with someone actually making a "stall" just to gamble that the exchange rate will change to their advantage...

I really do not think that any bank is going to purposely stall a transfer on one account to advantage themselves by such a small percentage... Even in Thailand where the banking rules are not a tight as in the west, they do have to answer to the BOT regarding their accounting process...

Pianoman

Edited September 2, 2009 by pianoman

[Mosha]

My pension is sent every month on the 25th. It takes between 3 and 7 days to appear in my Kasikorn account.

[Prajak]

Jonathanpattaya, is this forum only for native English speaking persons ? May be I am wrong, I hope I am wrong.

Your response is impolite. And guys like you discourage me to ask things here. I speak 5 languages but just 1 fluently. Should be OK.

[rodcourt49]

" Tuesday morning, "

Well, that was Wednesday morning. Today. Sorry.

Correct and, you need to improve your English as well!

Actually, your sentence structure, grammar and punctuation is poor. Leave him alone!

[geovalin]

" Tuesday morning, "

Well, that was Wednesday morning. Today. Sorry.

Correct and, you need to improve your English as well!

You too!

[basjke]

Actually a swift transfer takes about 1 hour to arrive in Bangkok from Europe.I know because I once had an issue with Kasikorn bank over a transfer of a quite big amount of money.I too it up with both Kasikorn and my european bank and at the end I got a printed copy of the transaction with all the times up to the minute from the routing of the money.

Turned out that it was my bank in Europe who took the money out of my account and then waited 2 days to transfer.

But I could see that the sent time in Europe and the arrival time in Bangkok were only about 1 hour difference.

[JustinCredible]

Jonathanpattaya, is this forum only for native English speaking persons ? May be I am wrong, I hope I am wrong.

Your response is impolite. And guys like you discourage me to ask things here. I speak 5 languages but just 1 fluently. Should be OK.

Well said. Just ignore him. His English leaves a lot to be desired as well!!

[dre1247]

" Tuesday morning, "

Well, that was Wednesday morning. Today. Sorry.

Correct and, you need to improve your English as well!

How arrogant Jonathan not all writers here are native English speakers. You should improve your manner, that is much more important.

[Thongkorn]

" Tuesday morning, "

Well, that was Wednesday morning. Today. Sorry.

Correct and, you need to improve your English as well!

Actually, your sentence structure, grammar and punctuation is poor. Leave him alone!

I know this is off topic but I am dyslexic , and my English, Spelling and Grammar is not that good but , I still have points of views, like other people . It will not stop me from voicing my opinion,I am 55 and have had enough ribbing over the years ,Not to let it bother me,Better to try than not to try, i say.

[Chaimai]

The exchange rate was 55 satang per euro lower than the day before. I miss 2,750 baht. Well, I'am not broke now but this is not fair.

Grin and bear it ?

The English speakers will be familiar with the phrase:-

I doubt that you would have handed back 2,750 Baht if the rate had moved in your favour (as it did for me over 24 hours this week ).

Grin and bear it.

[dre1247]

The exchange rate was 55 satang per euro lower than the day before. I miss 2,750 baht. Well, I'am not broke now but this is not fair.

Grin and bear it ?

The English speakers will be familiar with the phrase:-

I doubt that you would have handed back 2,750 Baht if the rate had moved in your favour (as it did for me over 24 hours this week ).

Grin and bear it.

The point is the bank withheld HIS money to wait for the rate to change (insider info?) and that is incorrect. Still this is nothing compared how banks sat on YOUR money say 20 years ago, 3 weeks was normal, just for the interest. And yeah sh*t happens.

Edited September 3, 2009 by dre1247

[Mosha]

What gets me the banks hang onto your money while they use it to make aprofit for themselves. Then they slap you with bank charges for the privilege.

[Prajak]

The reactions here are heartwarming. This forum is not for native English speakers only, well, I do not read this here. I do not want to improve my knowledge of English since I live here and am learning Thai language. I speak Thai every hour of the day with the local people, speak English with English speaking people, speak Germand with..., speak French with.... and speak Dutch with my fellow Dutchmen. My knowledge of foreign languages is not up to date anymore but as long as everybody knows what I mean it should be OK in forums like this. Comment on someones language or grammar is impolite when the forum is open for everybody. And I think this forum is.

No hard feelings, Jonathan. But your comment was disappointing.

[Chaimai]

The point is the bank withheld HIS money to wait for the rate to change (insider info?) and that is incorrect.

I am not sure that is actually what happened. Kasikorn have a good reputation and the application of the exchange happens centrally. I have never had a problem with them. (shoddy practice if I am wrong though).

(I also agree that there is nothing wrong Prajak's postings - Thai Visa is not a grammatical test)

[GungaDin]

Last Wednesday night @ 23:59 I transferred $3000 from my Westpac (Aus) a/c to my K-bank account.

It was in my account/ATM @ 0700 on Thursday.

A nice surprise!

[Gary A]

I recently made a fairly large wire transfer. I transferred from Citibank USA to Siam Commercial Bank. Not more than two hours later Siam Commercial called me and told me the amount and the exchange rate I received.

[AsiaCheese]

Until around 10 years ago, I used to have an account with Bangkok Bank. Transfers took up to 8 days (it was SWIFT even then; a matter of hours to get the stash of cash from there to here). Even taking into account numerous ants running around the bank with piles of paper and not enough computers, 8 days is way too long, so it looked very much like BB was using the "window of opportunity" to play with exchange rates and other short-term uses of a foreign currency. When I changed to Kasikorn (TFB back then), things changed radically -- 3-4 days were the norm. Meanwhile this has shrunk to 1-2 days.

Swiss banks at one point (a good number of years ago) got slapped on the wrist for sitting on transferred funds (bank-to-bank) for too long; they then "solved the problem" by informing customers that "okay, transfers will be near-instant in the future, but we need to apply new charges to cover our cost". The result were pretty much intransparent quarterly "general banking fees". The cost issue is debatable, as fund transfers between/within banks are pretty much 100% done by computer, especially with electronic banking. There's only getting mad at banks, no getting even...

[Robroy]

I think you mean:

"Correct, and you need to improve your English as well."

Correct and, you need to improve your English as well!

[GungaDin]

I think you mean:

"Correct, and you need to improve your English as well."

Correct and, you need to improve your English as well!

I love commas.

[Carmine6]

6 years of transfers, this one shows up late, and it has to be the bank trying to line their pockets with farang money.

You might as well stick with Kasikorn, because at some point any of the other banks is going to be "lining their pockets" with your money through a similar delay. Except you may find other banks aren't so talented in taking money as I've had some delays give me a better exchange rate.

[thaihome]

Other then having the money for an extra 24 hours, can some one explain how the bank made money by waiting for the exchange rate to change? Sure, they got to pay out less baht, but the foreign currency they got to keep was worth less as well. Seems to me that on their books they came out the same either way.

TH