What Bank Gives Best Rate For Pound? Need To Change £5000

[MB1]

Just a couple of points:

I believe that all international ATM cards are charged 150 Baht a time in Thai ATM's.

Do you really want to carry 5k in cash when a funds transfer costs so little?

HMRC (UK Customs) prohibits UK citizens from taking more than 1k cash out of the country UNLESS they can satisfactorily prove where it came from.

However, as with cash found by HMRC or

police officers at any place within the UK, if it

amounts to £1000 or more (or the equivalent in

other currencies), it may be seized if the officer

has reasonable grounds to suspect that it is

either the proceeds of, or is intended for use in,

unlawful conduct.

You are here: Excise & Other

Declaring cash when entering or leaving the UK

(Download options for this document)

From 15 June 2007, if you are travelling to or from a country outside the European Union (EU), you will need to declare any sums of cash of 10,000 Euro or more (or the equivalent in another currency) to HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC).

You do not need to declare cash if you are travelling to or from another EU country.

Leaflet - Declaring cash

For the purposes of this requirement, the countries of the EU are:

Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Gibraltar, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain (including the Canary Islands), Sweden, and the United Kingdom (not including the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands).

Declaring cash to HMRC

You must declare cash on duplicate Form C9011, and post the completed top copy 1 in the drop box provided at the port or airport.

You can either pick up the form when you get to the port or airport and complete it there, or you can print it down from this website, which gives you the opportunity to complete it before you start your journey.

HMRC officers may ask to see evidence of your having made a declaration. Therefore it is important to keep a copy of the completed form. This is automatically generated on carbon copy 2 if you make your declaration on a form provided at the port or airport. If you use the printed down form, you will need to photocopy the completed copy 1. (You do not need to complete copy 2 of the printed down form.)

Definition of the term 'cash'

The term ‘cash’ covers:

currency notes and coins

bankers’ drafts

cheques of any kind, including travellers’ cheques.

Your rights if your cash is seized

HMRC officers will only seize cash if they have reasonable grounds to suspect it is the proceeds of, or is intended for use in, unlawful conduct.

Seized cash cannot be kept for more than 48 hours without a court order (not including public holidays and weekends).

A court may order seized cash to be:

detained while investigations are carried out

forfeited permanently if the investigation shows it is associated with criminal activity.

If your cash is seized, you will be given information on how to appeal against the decision.

EU website

Download ‘Regulation 1889/2005 of the European Parliament and of the Council’.

Where does the £1000 limit come from?, your own post taken from HMRC website actually gives you the correct answer, you must declare quoted below,

"any sums of cash of 10,000 Euro or more (or the equivalent in another currency) to HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC)."

10,000 euros is almost £10,000 at todays exchange rates so the £1000 limit is absolute bollicks, how many people leave the UK daily with over £1000 on them in either cash or travellers cheques.?.

The actual rule is that if you have over 10,000 euro on you then you must declare on duplicate form C9011 if travelling to a country not in the EU, if the cash or cheques is legit then you should have no problems, only people who need worry are those who cant prove that the cash or cheques is legitimate.

Edited October 7, 2009 by MB1

[clinique]

Just trying to understand the transaction from both the consumer and the banks cost viewpoint, that's all, sorry to be a pain. Last question I promise, which banks are involved in this chain, in the UK and here, please. Ta.

Opps, just spotted something and can't be bothered to rewrite the whole post - you said that you don't get charged for cash advances which implies a credit card. If you're using a credit card to withdraw cash I can understand it all, but not an ATM card.

Useing Credit card, debit card, ATM card, = same result.

rather not name the banks on public forum. PM me

[chiang mai]

Just trying to understand the transaction from both the consumer and the banks cost viewpoint, that's all, sorry to be a pain. Last question I promise, which banks are involved in this chain, in the UK and here, please. Ta.

Opps, just spotted something and can't be bothered to rewrite the whole post - you said that you don't get charged for cash advances which implies a credit card. If you're using a credit card to withdraw cash I can understand it all, but not an ATM card.

Useing Credit card, debit card, ATM card, = same result.

rather not name the banks on public forum. PM me

PM'd.

[bartender100]

Just a couple of points:

I believe that all international ATM cards are charged 150 Baht a time in Thai ATM's.

Do you really want to carry 5k in cash when a funds transfer costs so little?

HMRC (UK Customs) prohibits UK citizens from taking more than 1k cash out of the country UNLESS they can satisfactorily prove where it came from.

However, as with cash found by HMRC or

police officers at any place within the UK, if it

amounts to £1000 or more (or the equivalent in

other currencies), it may be seized if the officer

has reasonable grounds to suspect that it is

either the proceeds of, or is intended for use in,

unlawful conduct.

You are here: Excise & Other

Declaring cash when entering or leaving the UK

(Download options for this document)

From 15 June 2007, if you are travelling to or from a country outside the European Union (EU), you will need to declare any sums of cash of 10,000 Euro or more (or the equivalent in another currency) to HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC).

You do not need to declare cash if you are travelling to or from another EU country.

Leaflet - Declaring cash

For the purposes of this requirement, the countries of the EU are:

Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Gibraltar, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain (including the Canary Islands), Sweden, and the United Kingdom (not including the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands).

Declaring cash to HMRC

You must declare cash on duplicate Form C9011, and post the completed top copy 1 in the drop box provided at the port or airport.

You can either pick up the form when you get to the port or airport and complete it there, or you can print it down from this website, which gives you the opportunity to complete it before you start your journey.

HMRC officers may ask to see evidence of your having made a declaration. Therefore it is important to keep a copy of the completed form. This is automatically generated on carbon copy 2 if you make your declaration on a form provided at the port or airport. If you use the printed down form, you will need to photocopy the completed copy 1. (You do not need to complete copy 2 of the printed down form.)

Definition of the term 'cash'

The term ‘cash’ covers:

currency notes and coins

bankers’ drafts

cheques of any kind, including travellers’ cheques.

Your rights if your cash is seized

HMRC officers will only seize cash if they have reasonable grounds to suspect it is the proceeds of, or is intended for use in, unlawful conduct.

Seized cash cannot be kept for more than 48 hours without a court order (not including public holidays and weekends).

A court may order seized cash to be:

detained while investigations are carried out

forfeited permanently if the investigation shows it is associated with criminal activity.

If your cash is seized, you will be given information on how to appeal against the decision.

EU website

Download ‘Regulation 1889/2005 of the European Parliament and of the Council’.

Where does the £1000 limit come from?, your own post taken from HMRC website actually gives you the correct answer, you must declare quoted below,

"any sums of cash of 10,000 Euro or more (or the equivalent in another currency) to HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC)."

10,000 euros is almost £10,000 at todays exchange rates so the £1000 limit is absolute bollicks, how many people leave the UK daily with over £1000 on them in either cash or travellers cheques.?.

The actual rule is that if you have over 10,000 euro on you then you must declare on duplicate form C9011 if travelling to a country not in the EU, if the cash or cheques is legit then you should have no problems, only people who need worry are those who cant prove that the cash or cheques is legitimate.

Confusing advise from the HMRC , they say its alright to take out 10,000 euro's , but say if we find you carrying 1000 you have t0 prove how you got it, how are you going to do that at an airport? i often take more than that as way of splitting my trip cash, using debit cards and travelers cheques.

[chiang mai]

Just a couple of points:

I believe that all international ATM cards are charged 150 Baht a time in Thai ATM's.

Do you really want to carry 5k in cash when a funds transfer costs so little?

HMRC (UK Customs) prohibits UK citizens from taking more than 1k cash out of the country UNLESS they can satisfactorily prove where it came from.

However, as with cash found by HMRC or

police officers at any place within the UK, if it

amounts to £1000 or more (or the equivalent in

other currencies), it may be seized if the officer

has reasonable grounds to suspect that it is

either the proceeds of, or is intended for use in,

unlawful conduct.

You are here: Excise & Other

Declaring cash when entering or leaving the UK

(Download options for this document)

From 15 June 2007, if you are travelling to or from a country outside the European Union (EU), you will need to declare any sums of cash of 10,000 Euro or more (or the equivalent in another currency) to HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC).

You do not need to declare cash if you are travelling to or from another EU country.

Leaflet - Declaring cash

For the purposes of this requirement, the countries of the EU are:

Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Gibraltar, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain (including the Canary Islands), Sweden, and the United Kingdom (not including the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands).

Declaring cash to HMRC

You must declare cash on duplicate Form C9011, and post the completed top copy 1 in the drop box provided at the port or airport.

You can either pick up the form when you get to the port or airport and complete it there, or you can print it down from this website, which gives you the opportunity to complete it before you start your journey.

HMRC officers may ask to see evidence of your having made a declaration. Therefore it is important to keep a copy of the completed form. This is automatically generated on carbon copy 2 if you make your declaration on a form provided at the port or airport. If you use the printed down form, you will need to photocopy the completed copy 1. (You do not need to complete copy 2 of the printed down form.)

Definition of the term 'cash'

The term ‘cash’ covers:

currency notes and coins

bankers’ drafts

cheques of any kind, including travellers’ cheques.

Your rights if your cash is seized

HMRC officers will only seize cash if they have reasonable grounds to suspect it is the proceeds of, or is intended for use in, unlawful conduct.

Seized cash cannot be kept for more than 48 hours without a court order (not including public holidays and weekends).

A court may order seized cash to be:

detained while investigations are carried out

forfeited permanently if the investigation shows it is associated with criminal activity.

If your cash is seized, you will be given information on how to appeal against the decision.

EU website

Download ‘Regulation 1889/2005 of the European Parliament and of the Council’.

Where does the £1000 limit come from?, your own post taken from HMRC website actually gives you the correct answer, you must declare quoted below,

"any sums of cash of 10,000 Euro or more (or the equivalent in another currency) to HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC)."

10,000 euros is almost £10,000 at todays exchange rates so the £1000 limit is absolute bollicks, how many people leave the UK daily with over £1000 on them in either cash or travellers cheques.?.

The actual rule is that if you have over 10,000 euro on you then you must declare on duplicate form C9011 if travelling to a country not in the EU, if the cash or cheques is legit then you should have no problems, only people who need worry are those who cant prove that the cash or cheques is legitimate.

Confusing advise from the HMRC , they say its alright to take out 10,000 euro's , but say if we find you carrying 1000 you have t0 prove how you got it, how are you going to do that at an airport? i often take more than that as way of splitting my trip cash, using debit cards and travelers cheques.

Yes, not easy indeed. What is being said is that any cash amount under £1,000 is fine, any amount between £1,001 and ££10,000 requires an explanation and potentially, proof and receipts etc, anything over £10,001 is illegal. In practice, the area of concern is the middle group of up to £10,000 - but with a sensible explanation and a little bravado, a fair wind and a half way decent HMRC chappie, this shouldn't be a real problem, unless of course one was trying to do something a little, er, um, not kosher!

[MB1]

In reply to last 2 posts above and any other posts giving conflicting advice, I have just spoken to HMRC on their help line, advise given is there is no £1000 rule, the rule of 10,000 euros and above must be declared, also on looking at HMRC website there is also no mention of a £1000 rule.

Phone number for HMRC helpline, 0845 0109000.

HMRC Website...

http://customs.hmrc.gov.uk/channelsPortalW...tyType=document

Apologies in advance if phone number and website addy is against forum rules.

Back to topic, in answer to OP, shop around if exchanging a large amount of cash and look who's giving the best rate, also if bringing large amounts of cash to Thailand or any other country for that matter, have you considered using a prepaid cash travel card ?, look up on money supermarket and see who's giving the best rates and what the costs involved are, a much safer way to carry large amounts.

I know for fact that the post office allows £5000 to be prepaid onto it's travel card.

Edited October 7, 2009 by MB1

[chiang mai]

In reply to last 2 posts above and any other posts giving conflicting advice, I have just spoken to HMRC on their help line, advise given is there is no £1000 rule, the rule of 10,000 euros and above must be declared, also on looking at HMRC website there is also no mention of a £1000 rule.

Phone number for HMRC helpline, 0845 0109000.

HMRC Website...

http://customs.hmrc.gov.uk/channelsPortalW...tyType=document

Apologies in advance if phone number and website addy is against forum rules.

Whilst there may not be an official rule governing amounts over £1,000 and less than (?)10k, there are checks and procedures in place to question amounts within that range. I for one would not want to be in a situation where, moving rapidly towards my departure time, I was stopped by HMRC to explain why I had a few thousand Pounds in cash in my pocket and being asked to produce details of where it came from. Under those circumstances, any prior knowledge of the actual laws would be meaningless.

[bartender100]

In reply to last 2 posts above and any other posts giving conflicting advice, I have just spoken to HMRC on their help line, advise given is there is no £1000 rule, the rule of 10,000 euros and above must be declared, also on looking at HMRC website there is also no mention of a £1000 rule.

Phone number for HMRC helpline, 0845 0109000.

HMRC Website...

http://customs.hmrc.gov.uk/channelsPortalW...tyType=document

Apologies in advance if phone number and website addy is against forum rules.

Back to topic, in answer to OP, shop around if exchanging a large amount of cash and look who's giving the best rate, also if bringing large amounts of cash to Thailand or any other country for that matter, have you considered using a prepaid cash travel card ?, look up on money supermarket and see who's giving the best rates and what the costs involved are, a much safer way to carry large amounts.

I know for fact that the post office allows £5000 to be prepaid onto it's travel card.

This from there website, plain enough. More than 1000 and you will be stopped.

However, as with cash found by HMRC or

police officers at any place within the UK, if it

amounts to £1000 or more (or the equivalent in

other currencies), it may be seized if the officer

has reasonable grounds to suspect that it is

either the proceeds of, or is intended for use in,

unlawful conduct.

[MB1]

I said in last post HMRC helpline says £1000 not true, also link I provided, no mention of £1000.

http://customs.hmrc.gov.uk/channelsPortalW...tyType=document

One of the HMRC documents did say this.

"Can HMRC officers seize my cash?

HMRC officers will not detain your cash if

they have no reason to doubt its legitimacy

and, where appropriate, the cash has been

properly declared."

I do think that HMRC are only going to question legitamacy of cash over £1000 up to £10,000 if you flag up as a known crimminal.

chiang mai, in all my years of travel I have never once been questioned over the amount of cash, cheques or prepaid travel cards I have on me when travelling and it's a lot of years travelling abroad.

Edited October 7, 2009 by MB1

[dmax]

neither have i,,i usually bring 4-5 k each yr or each trip

[chiang mai]

I said in last post HMRC helpline says £1000 not true, also link I provided, no mention of £1000.

http://customs.hmrc.gov.uk/channelsPortalW...tyType=document

One of the HMRC documents did say this.

"Can HMRC officers seize my cash?

HMRC officers will not detain your cash if

they have no reason to doubt its legitimacy

and, where appropriate, the cash has been

properly declared."

I do think that HMRC are only going to question legitamacy of cash over £1000 up to £10,000 if you flag up as a known crimminal.

chiang mai, in all my years of travel I have never once been questioned over the amount of cash, cheques or prepaid travel cards I have on me when travelling and it's a lot of years travelling abroad.

I also have traveled extensively for the past forty five years and have never had a problem when it comes to amounts of cash carried - but there again, I don't fit any profile that customs folks seem to look for and I don't do dodgy things when it comes to cash. But I am aware of others who have run into problems on this front thus I'm keen to understand not only the legalities of this scenario but also the practicalities. Personally I like low risk in my life so if I need to move more than £500 from one place to another I am almost certainly going to do it via internet banking, it only makes sense.

[ianguygil]

If you are in London, Bangkok Bank has a branch in the City next to the Gherkin. You can go to them in person and arrange the transfer.

Also, transferring to Bangkok Bank via SWIFT will give you better overall value (ever after fees) than using banknotes, but you need an account in Thailand to transfer the money into. Also, as others state, there is much less risk in a transfer than in bringing a huge amount of cash. You could also consider a Cashier's cheque.

[chiang mai]

If you are in London, Bangkok Bank has a branch in the City next to the Gherkin. You can go to them in person and arrange the transfer.

Also, transferring to Bangkok Bank via SWIFT will give you better overall value (ever after fees) than using banknotes, but you need an account in Thailand to transfer the money into. Also, as others state, there is much less risk in a transfer than in bringing a huge amount of cash. You could also consider a Cashier's cheque.

Good points - I had forgotten to mention earlier that you can buy GBP cashiers cheques in Thailand, drawn on Bangkok Bank London and the rate of exchange for those cheques is the same as the TT rate - when presented in London they will clear in three days, an inexpensive and safe way to transfer money. Presumably you can do something similar in reverse by buying a Baht Cashiers Cheque at BB London, drawn on BB Bangkok and depositing it here in Thailand.

[chiang mai]

Just trying to understand the transaction from both the consumer and the banks cost viewpoint, that's all, sorry to be a pain. Last question I promise, which banks are involved in this chain, in the UK and here, please. Ta.

Opps, just spotted something and can't be bothered to rewrite the whole post - you said that you don't get charged for cash advances which implies a credit card. If you're using a credit card to withdraw cash I can understand it all, but not an ATM card.

Useing Credit card, debit card, ATM card, = same result.

rather not name the banks on public forum. PM me

PM'd.

PM'd again

[ianguygil]

Sorry, I forgot to mention in my post that I am associated with Bangkok Bank. I have tried to be up front with that in prior posts. This morning I was in a rush and saw this post.

The link to information about the branch is on the website and easy to find, just select International Branches from the dropdown at the top right of the home page. Then select the UK from the list on the page.

Please note that Thai banks need to conform to the laws and regulations of the government and the central bank. I see many items about opening an account on ThaiVisa and never express an opinion. I would assume that all would understand, accept and expect that banks need to obey the law, in Thailand or any other country.

It is a good idea to call the branch in the UK to ask for their advice on this amount you want to move. There are many options, the worst of which would be to bring a lot of cash. Their number is Tel: +44 207 929-4422. I have no idea of the circumstances of the person wishing to move funds or if they will be legally eligible for an account, so calling the branch is a good idea, and it is just a domestic call, so cheap.

Good luck.

[pkrv]

Hmm an interesting couple of posts:

Time for me to visit Bangkok Bank's London office and armed with a Passbook Savings account isssued by Bangkok Banks Head Office see what exactly is possible.

http://www.bangkokbank.com/Bangkok%20Bank/...%20in%20UK.aspx

Their blanket statement to me over the phone was they did not offer any retail services at all. Especially when it came to opening an account.

I'll try to pop in tommorrow, and report back.

Any specific requests for information let me know. I will check this tread/PM's around 09:30 my time tommorrow.

Edited October 8, 2009 by pkrv

[ianguygil]

You an also receive funds without a Bangkok Bank account using what is called in the industry PUPID (Pay Upon Proper ID). Please see teh website regarding funds transfer, receiving funds from overseas and the checklist on "getting your money faster"

Tips are

"Faster Service

• For the same day payment service, payment instructions must reach Bangkok Bank by 4.00 pm* and be correctly formatted with complete details.
  
• If you are an international traveler without a Bangkok Bank account and wish to receive funds from abroad in cash, please remind the person who is sending the funds to specify your passport number, telephone number and address in Thailand in the payment instruction.
  
• If you are a Bangkok Bank account holder, make sure that you advise the remitter to specify the correct account name and account number as it appears on your accounts - errors may cause delays.
  
• Instruct the remitter to send the funds via a Bangkok Bank correspondent bank. Please phone (66) 0-2685-7777 for more information."
  

[pkrv]

OK - On the correspondent bank issue and sorry I will submit a double post as I will also contribute this to the pinned banking thread.

The correspondent bank for Bangkok Bank in the UK is the branch at:

61 St Mary Axe

London, EC3A 8

020 79294422

I visited there this morning, and am an existing customer at their head office branch in Bangkok.

There is not one cash point, passbook update, or cash deposit machine to be seen.

Whist I can see that a Bangkok Bank branch in Thailand could issue a cashier’s cheque in Stirling, the UK branch simply cannot, I was told to go to Thomas Cook down the road.

They did understand about PUPID (Pay Upon Proper Id) but only from Thailand to UK perspective and indeed under unusual circumstances. Like a student makes an emergency call home because he/she has spent their allowance.

They can send up to 500 GBP cash to your account. There is a 15 GBP fee for a 5 working day service, and for the first transaction you need to produce proof of address and passport. They can transfer up to 4,000 GBP for a 15 GBP fee again for a 5 working day service, but you need to give them a cheque and additionally provide three months of pay slips, plus lots of other information.

All in all the 3.00 GBP tube fare, fees, hassle, and quite frankly I got the impression ‘why are you wasting our time with this trivia’ sort of means they are useless to us. They are there for business, full stop.

I did also ask if they could do the paperwork for providing proof of foreign funds for purchasing a Farang quota condo. They said no.

So no use for retail banking/services, at all! But at least I did get to see the Gherkin close up, so it was fun.

[ianguygil]

The point about PUPID is that you can transfer via SWIFT from your local bank in the UK, to Bangkok Bank in Thailand. You just need to provide the specific details on how they can identify you when you come in to pick up the money.No need to use the local branch. So that makes it much easier I would assume

[pkrv]

The point about PUPID is that you can transfer via SWIFT from your local bank in the UK, to Bangkok Bank in Thailand. You just need to provide the specific details on how they can identify you when you come in to pick up the money.No need to use the local branch. So that makes it much easier I would assume

Thanks for the clarification ianguygil.

I would also guess they would need to know the SWIFT code and the branch code, becuase I would guess you would need to specify where you wished to pick the money up from?

IMO this is too complex for words. These guys would be better off taking cash over. The savings, v.s. grief, v.s. risk on just taking the cash out in Thailand (but not carrying it with you on the plane) simply would just not be worth it.

Interesting - but personally I could not see myself using this service.

[ianguygil]

This is the normal process for non account holders. It is used all over the world. You only need to specify the SWIFT code for the Bank and country. And that is all on the website.

It is an option offered and it is up to each customer to choose the approach which is best for them. The website is pretty clear with what needs to be specified as I said in my prior post.

And as I said, nobody should ever expect any Thai bank to open an account when the person is not eligible under law or central bank regulations of any country.

Good luck.