Cash Transfer Test

[vagabond48]

Indeed.... I'm just a traveler on the road of life...

I learn here, hopefully, the same like everyone else.

Some things we know... Some things...yet to learn...

you are indeed a wise man.

[mcgriffith]

McG... respectfully... you're already failing Thailand banking 101, and you're not even a lap around the track yet.

AEON, no question, is the best deal going in Thailand for ATMs right now, because they are fee-free... But that's on the Thailand end of things.

On the U.S. end of things, Bank of America has got to be one of the WORST U.S. banks that anyone can try to use in Thailand. And I say that as a 20+ year customer of theirs... until I came to Thailand. You're going to be fee-free on the Thailand end, but you're going to get reamed on the U.S. end. So I don't want you to think I was recommending THAT kind of approach.

Last time I checked, BofA charges a 3% foreign currency fee on all international ATM withdrawals and a flat charge of something like $5 per ATM transaction. HSBC-U.S. isn't quite that bad, but they're close... I'm also a customer of theirs, again, back when I was in the U.S., but not after moving here. They may also have gone to the 3% international surcharge...but I haven't used them for the longest time...

If you live here in Thailand or spend a lot of time here, I'd seriously consider getting some better banking relationships on the U.S. end, if you can. Capital One, by comparison, is much better both for ATM and credit card use. Schwab Bank is great for their savings and checking accounts. And even E*Trade is very good, if you have a large enough combined balance to avoid their monthly account fee. For all of those, I mean they are good because they have little or no extra fees for international ATM use.

If you can't switch away from BofA for some reason, rather than relying on ATM use, for which BofA will kill you internationally, you might be better off using their relatively new capacity to do international wire transfers directly from their BofA online banking module. The fee to send money in U.S. $ to Thailand, if I recall correctly, is a flat $35. It's $25 if you have them do the exchange and send in Thai baht, which you don't want to do because BofA likewise will give you a lousy exchange rate. But if you had the capability to send large amounts not so often, doing that or doing a domestic ACH from BofA or HSBC to Bangkok Bank's New York Branch (if you have a BKK Bank account in Thailand) might be better alternatives.

Fair enough.

I'll try an AEON ATM with both a BofA and HSBC ATM card, and see what I get.

Naw, jf, I was just trying to placate you ATM dudes.

I have been doing EFT's from US banks to BBL New York for several years now.

Hits my acct here in CM within 24 hrs.

I do a minimum of $5000 a time.

Costs: $10 in New Yawk (for $5000; tiered pricing).

And up to a max of 500 THB here when the money hits BBL in Bangkok.

Every time I do these transactions, I get a 1 page sheet from my local branch titled: "Record Inquiry".

It details the entire money trail, and shows the coding for all the transfers, and the exact exchange rate.

I also signed up for the instant SMS service BBL offers, detailing much of the same info.

My total cost is approx. .005; 1/2 of 1 percent. But I admit that I just get the hourly telex rate, which is why I will still investigate further.

A total cost of $25 USD to transfer $5000 USD is piddling, IMO.

But if you can show me a way to shave that down even further (short of traveling back to the US and joining the First Podunk Bank of Boise Idaho)- all power to ya!

[jfchandler]

OK... McG... you've got a pretty decent plan going... I can't/won't take issue with that... The BKK Bank route is one of those I suggested to you above.

But when you started talking/posting about wanting to use your BofA or HSBC ATM cards here in Thailand, it's the kind of thing that would make one thing you'd gone off the deep end...

[mcgriffith]

There is another compelling reason to use the method detailed above.

Should one choose to take USD out of Thailand...under the currency laws here it is strictly circumscribed.

Say you have 2M THB here, and you want to convert that to USD, and exit Thailand with that money.

If you can not demonstrate that the monies came in from foreign sources, it's a no go.

The "Record Inquiry" proves the origin.

A pile of ATM receipts, with little or no detailing, could prove somewhat problematic.

[silverhawk_usa]

McG... respectfully... you're already failing Thailand banking 101, and you're not even a lap around the track yet.

AEON, no question, is the best deal going in Thailand for ATMs right now, because they are fee-free... But that's on the Thailand end of things.

On the U.S. end of things, Bank of America has got to be one of the WORST U.S. banks that anyone can try to use in Thailand. And I say that as a 20+ year customer of theirs... until I came to Thailand. You're going to be fee-free on the Thailand end, but you're going to get reamed on the U.S. end. So I don't want you to think I was recommending THAT kind of approach.

Last time I checked, BofA charges a 3% foreign currency fee on all international ATM withdrawals and a flat charge of something like $5 per ATM transaction. HSBC-U.S. isn't quite that bad, but they're close... I'm also a customer of theirs, again, back when I was in the U.S., but not after moving here. They may also have gone to the 3% international surcharge...but I haven't used them for the longest time...

If you live here in Thailand or spend a lot of time here, I'd seriously consider getting some better banking relationships on the U.S. end, if you can. Capital One, by comparison, is much better both for ATM and credit card use. Schwab Bank is great for their savings and checking accounts. And even E*Trade is very good, if you have a large enough combined balance to avoid their monthly account fee. For all of those, I mean they are good because they have little or no extra fees for international ATM use.

If you can't switch away from BofA for some reason, rather than relying on ATM use, for which BofA will kill you internationally, you might be better off using their relatively new capacity to do international wire transfers directly from their BofA online banking module. The fee to send money in U.S. $ to Thailand, if I recall correctly, is a flat $35. It's $25 if you have them do the exchange and send in Thai baht, which you don't want to do because BofA likewise will give you a lousy exchange rate. But if you had the capability to send large amounts not so often, doing that or doing a domestic ACH from BofA or HSBC to Bangkok Bank's New York Branch (if you have a BKK Bank account in Thailand) might be better alternatives.

Fair enough.

I'll try an AEON ATM with both a BofA and HSBC ATM card, and see what I get.

Naw, jf, I was just trying to placate you ATM dudes.

I have been doing EFT's from US banks to BBL New York for several years now.

Hits my acct here in CM within 24 hrs.

I do a minimum of $5000 a time.

Costs: $10 in New Yawk (for $5000; tiered pricing).

And up to a max of 500 THB here when the money hits BBL in Bangkok.

Every time I do these transactions, I get a 1 page sheet from my local branch titled: "Record Inquiry".

It details the entire money trail, and shows the coding for all the transfers, and the exact exchange rate.

I also signed up for the instant SMS service BBL offers, detailing much of the same info.

My total cost is approx. .005; 1/2 of 1 percent. But I admit that I just get the hourly telex rate, which is why I will still investigate further.

A total cost of $25 USD to transfer $5000 USD is piddling, IMO.

But if you can show me a way to shave that down even further (short of traveling back to the US and joining the First Podunk Bank of Boise Idaho)- all power to ya!

I write a personal check to myself drawn on my U.S. bank. Usually $8,000 at intervals of whatever is needed for my living expenses. I deposit it in my Bangkok Bank account. I am charged a $10 fee, paid in baht at the time of the deposit. 21-30 days later the money is in my account, at the current exchange rate. No other fees involved. I just plan ahead to cover expenses yet keep the account below the U.S. reporting requirements.

[Maejo Man]

Say you have 2M THB here, and you want to convert that to USD, and exit Thailand with that money.

If you can not demonstrate that the monies came in from foreign sources, it's a no go.

The "Record Inquiry" proves the origin.

Not necessarily so Macca. I went into SBC a while back, and asked how much it was to TT 500,000 baht to anoverseas account. She said it would be 300 and something baht, so I said good, I'd like to send it please. She duely filled out the form, I paid her the money and off it went. At no time did she ask as to the source of the money. As it happend it had come in from overseas in the first place anyway.

[mcgriffith]

Maejo, you are right.

I should have mentioned that I was referring to taking cash/currency out of Thailand.

Anyone can TT money out. BBL offers an instant transfer service for this, as well.

[wimpy]

I have TT'd money out of Thailand. I had to show evidence of bringing the money into Thailand.

[DickFarang]

Today I withdrew (the maximum amount of) THB 20,000 from a Siam City Bank ATM at the local 7Eleven, i.e. THB 20,150 including the fee of THB 150.

The exchange rate they applied was 47.82 THB/EUR, whereas the Windows Sidebar shows at this moment 50.10738 THB/EUR.

On the counter value of EUR 421.37 that means a difference of THB 964 rounded.

In other words the Thai bank charges THB 150 + THB 964 = THB 1,114 or 5.57 % of the amount of THB 20,000.

My bank in Europe, who performs the transfer in Euro, charges for this amount about EUR 6 or THB 300.

Is there a difference among banks in the exchange rate they apply ?

[Maejo Man]

I have TT'd money out of Thailand. I had to show evidence of bringing the money into Thailand.

Just as a matter of interest Wimpy, which bank was that? If you don't work here, it must be obvious that it would have to come from overseas at one stage.

[wimpy]

I have TT'd money out of Thailand. I had to show evidence of bringing the money into Thailand.

Just as a matter of interest Wimpy, which bank was that? If you don't work here, it must be obvious that it would have to come from overseas at one stage.

It was Siam Commercial - Thapae Branch. I believe they wanted proof that I wasn't earning money here without paying taxes. I have also tried to TT money out using online banking with two different Thai banks. No go. A work permit was required to use that service.

Edited October 15, 2009 by wimpy

[jfchandler]

For me, one of the advantages of the ATM funding approach is that

a - I'm keeping all my available funds earning decent interest -- far better than what's available from Thai banks -- in U.S. FDIC insured accounts.

And if my bank ever had a problem, I'd feel a whole lot better about the prospects of quickly getting my deposited money back under the FDIC system, than I would as a farang in Thailand trying to deal with the Thai banking system and/or government.

Not to forget, the Thai government and banks also have decided to gradually begin reducing the maximum amounts they will insure for Thai bank deposits... for everyone...not just farangs. If memory serves, they're headed to maximum 1 million baht per account???

On the flip side, the U.S. insured deposits amount per account has gone from $100,000 U.S. to $250,000 U.S. thru 2013, and probably will remain at an elevated level after that ... assuming we're still all here then.

and

b - if things ever go tits up here for me personally, or for the country (Thailand) at large, the only financial exposure I have is the cash in my pocket and a bit on the side...

[jfchandler]

According to the X-Rates.com web site, here are the Euro-baht exchange rates for the days involved. These are the best rates you could expect to get from an ATM transaction...assuming no one was charging you any fees.

2009-10-12 October 12, Monday 49.219 THB

2009-10-13 October 13, Tuesday 49.49 THB

2009-10-14 October 14, Wednesday 49.71 THB

2009-10-15 October 15, Thursday 49.794 THB

We already know you're paying the 150 baht fee on the Thai end, which you could have avoided by using an AEON ATM instead of Siam City Bank.

Likewise, your home bank is charging you a 6 Euro fee for making a foreign transaction. I can't answer whether there are good European bank options available that don't charge such fees.

But in general, to answer your question, all the Thai banks for ATM transactions pretty much use the standard VISA/MC network rates for international exchange (VISA usually being a bit better, and MC a bit worse). So you probably would have gotten the same rate using any Thai bank on that day, except for Bank of Ayudhya for MasterCard logo cards, which is an exception that gives even lower rates for U.S. $ and Euro-based accounts.

Siam City Bank did charge you the 150 baht fee... But I don't believe they were responsible for your reduced exchange rate. That more likely is a function of your home bank taking a cut thru the exchange process, and/or, charging you a percentage amount for a foreign transaction.

Also, to figure your actual exchange rate for purposes of comparisons with the marketplace, you need to exclude the 150 baht ATM fee and your home bank's service charge. Yes, those result in you getting less actual funds. But they're fees that are not part of the exchange rate equation.

I say that because, you appear to be including the 150 baht fee as part of your exchange rate calculation. 20150b / 47.82 = 421.37 EUR. To see your real exchange rate, you should use 20,000b and 421.37 EUR. That yields a real exchange rate of 47.46.

Today I withdrew (the maximum amount of) THB 20,000 from a Siam City Bank ATM at the local 7Eleven, i.e. THB 20,150 including the fee of THB 150.

The exchange rate they applied was 47.82 THB/EUR, whereas the Windows Sidebar shows at this moment 50.10738 THB/EUR.

On the counter value of EUR 421.37 that means a difference of THB 964 rounded.

In other words the Thai bank charges THB 150 + THB 964 = THB 1,114 or 5.57 % of the amount of THB 20,000.

My bank in Europe, who performs the transfer in Euro, charges for this amount about EUR 6 or THB 300.

Is there a difference among banks in the exchange rate they apply ?

[jfchandler]

Silverhawk, thanks for posting the info about that... We don't hear too much here about U.S. check depositing in Thailand, probably because of the typical length of time it takes the Thai banks to clear those funds. But if someone can plan ahead and do large amounts, I guess it's OK.

I do think, though, that Thai banks fees for this may vary from bank to bank. I only inquired about doing this once at Siam Commercial Bank with a bunch of small U.S. checks I had received. A year or so ago, they had a minimum face amount of $50 per check and a fee of 203 baht per check. And I believe they told me it would take a month or more to receive the funds.

Out of curiosity, can you pull up and post what exchange rate you received on one of those recent U.S. check deposits (excluding the fee amounts)? It would be interesting to see how the check deposit rate for funds compares with the no-fee ATM rate for the same date/s.

I write a personal check to myself drawn on my U.S. bank. Usually $8,000 at intervals of whatever is needed for my living expenses. I deposit it in my Bangkok Bank account. I am charged a $10 fee, paid in baht at the time of the deposit. 21-30 days later the money is in my account, at the current exchange rate. No other fees involved. I just plan ahead to cover expenses yet keep the account below the U.S. reporting requirements.

[jfchandler]

Here's the detail on SCB's web site today... it seems they have expanded their international fund transfer options since the last time I checked...

I'm not sure which of these is going to produce the best result, especially if one is trying to send the funds to one's own account abroad.

Outward Remittance

Draft

The service is for drafts denominated in foreign currency and payable to recipients abroad.

* Low fee

* Highly secure, only the payee specified on the

draft can draw the funds.

* In case of loss, the funds can be redeemed or a

new draft can be issued.

* Fee

200 baht/draft, plus 3 baht for stamp duty.

SWIFT, Telex

This service is for outward remittance via or Telex transfer..

Quick and secure transfers to a recipient’s account.

* Fee

550 baht/transaction, exclusive of fee charged to the recipient by the drawer bank.

SCB Easy Net (via their online banking capacity)

SCB introduces Internet outward remittance via SCB Easy Net. This service is for overseas study expense payments and expats sending money to their home countries.

* The service is available for SCB Easy Net

members.

* A sender needs to submit an application form

containing recipient details, and evidence of the

remittance purpose to an SCB branch.

* Remittance is available anywhere and anytime

at your convenience.

* The exchange rate is the same as the rate at SCB

bank counters.

* Fee

300 baht /transaction

(This service, according to their web site, has limits of greater than $200 U.S. and less than $20,000 U.S. per transfer, plus some kind of total/cumulative limit. You're supposed to certify the funds are for one of several purposes, including education expenses, family support or remittance of savings.)

* For more information,

please contact the SCB Easy Call Center at 0 277... or visit any SCB branch nationwide.

Not necessarily so Macca. I went into SBC a while back, and asked how much it was to TT 500,000 baht to anoverseas account. She said it would be 300 and something baht, so I said good, I'd like to send it please. She duely filled out the form, I paid her the money and off it went. At no time did she ask as to the source of the money. As it happend it had come in from overseas in the first place anyway.

[silverhawk_usa]

Silverhawk, thanks for posting the info about that... We don't hear too much here about U.S. check depositing in Thailand, probably because of the typical length of time it takes the Thai banks to clear those funds. But if someone can plan ahead and do large amounts, I guess it's OK.

I do think, though, that Thai banks fees for this may vary from bank to bank. I only inquired about doing this once at Siam Commercial Bank with a bunch of small U.S. checks I had received. A year or so ago, they had a minimum face amount of $50 per check and a fee of 203 baht per check. And I believe they told me it would take a month or more to receive the funds.

Out of curiosity, can you pull up and post what exchange rate you received on one of those recent U.S. check deposits (excluding the fee amounts)? It would be interesting to see how the check deposit rate for funds compares with the no-fee ATM rate for the same date/s.

I write a personal check to myself drawn on my U.S. bank. Usually $8,000 at intervals of whatever is needed for my living expenses. I deposit it in my Bangkok Bank account. I am charged a $10 fee, paid in baht at the time of the deposit. 21-30 days later the money is in my account, at the current exchange rate. No other fees involved. I just plan ahead to cover expenses yet keep the account below the U.S. reporting requirements.

I show a deposit to my account on 9-Sept-09 of 270,693.54 baht. That was for a $8,000 USD check deposit (excluding fee paid in cash). So = 33.84 if my math is correct. I don't know what the listed exchange rate was for that day.

[vagabond48]

[i show a deposit to my account on 9-Sept-09 of 270,693.54 baht. That was for a $8,000 USD check deposit (excluding fee paid in cash). So = 33.84 if my math is correct. I don't know what the listed exchange rate was for that day.

The IER from xrate.com for that day was 34.0153. Without including any fees using a VISA debit card, I get no less than 99.90% to 100.10% of the IER. Your was at 99.49% which is on the mark.

[vagabond48]

I realize not all folks can or want to do this but, if I have any checks (which are very few) coming to me, I make sure that they go to my mailing US address of a friend, who has deposit slips with postage free envelopes ready. He just writes "deposit in the name of" and mails the check to my bank and the money normally appears online within 2 to 3 business days available for withdrawal. I have a debit card with this bank.

[jfchandler]

Thanks much SilverHawk for filling in the details on this, and also to Vagabond for saving me the work of looking up the prevailing exchange rate for that day!!!

For everyone else reading, the advantage of SilverHawk doing an $8,000 check deposit, I believe, was to keep below the U.S. IRS reporting limit that requires additional tax stuff if any time during the tax year you have $10,000 or more on deposit in a foreign bank, even if for only one day, if I recall correctly.

As far as the check deposit is concerned, as long as someone has the time to wait for their money or plans ahead enough, Silverhawk's check deposit via BKK Bank produced a very respectable exchange rate for that date...certainly competitive with typical Thai ATM transactions. By typical, I mean ones were the person's home bank allows VISA or MC to take their 1% or so cut, thus lowering the real exchange rate a bit.

(Of course, if someone was using one of the few U.S. banks that don't pass along the VISA/MC cut, don't charge foreign use fees and even refund Thai ATM charges, and/or avoid Thai ATMs that charge the 150 baht ATM fee by using only AEON ATMs for now, you'd have been able to net close to the full 34 baht per dollar rate at that time. But then again, the dollar has been falling lately, so an earlier larger check deposit would beat a long series of periodic ATM withdrawals when the dollar is nosediving....)

Add into that the growing difficulty/narrowing choices for avoid the the 150 baht per withdrawal ATM fee, and the number of withdrawals it would take to get to $8,000 U.S., and that kind of check deposit becomes a pretty reasonable transaction, especially if one has no qualms about moving/keeping that much money in a Thai bank account.

It would be interesting to see, how that kind of check deposit would compare, value-wise, with a so-called debit card/bank counter withdrawal. In the latter case, the person would get immediate access to their funds, presumably avoid any fee since Thai banks don't seem to be charging fees for counter withdrawals, and presumably would get a comparable exchange rate...though the data on the later is not entirely clear.

Any thoughts on the latter point/comparison???

[i show a deposit to my account on 9-Sept-09 of 270,693.54 baht. That was for a $8,000 USD check deposit (excluding fee paid in cash). So = 33.84 if my math is correct. I don't know what the listed exchange rate was for that day.

The IER from xrate.com for that day was 34.0153. Without including any fees using a VISA debit card, I get no less than 99.90% to 100.10% of the IER. Your was at 99.49% which is on the mark.

[ChouDoufu]

checked with kasikorn today. they will accept checks for deposit drawn on us banks.

must deposit at the branch where your account is managed.

there is a 30-day hold period.

kasikorn charges a $10 fee.

[JimGant]

chou,

Your Fidelity brokerage account must be waiving the 1% foreign transaction fee, as there's no way you could have gotten an exchange rate of 33.6 on or around Oct 12th. With the waiving, you would have gotten pretty much what X-rate com has for the 12 Oct IER (33.33). And as Vagabond points out, the X-rate info is pretty much right-on with their Interbank Exchange Rate (IER) as a measure of what the best Debit/ATM cards are giving. And these cards are the brokerage cards -- such as E*Trade and Schwaab. Your Fidelity, then, must be waiving to stay competitve. (And I believe another poster here has indicated Fidelity is not charging the foreign transaction fee, at least for now.)

Anyway, a counter operation is certainly the way for you to go, as even with your front-end wire fee being waived, you still have fees on this end -- plus you only get the TT rate, which averages 10-15 satang less than the IER. As long as Fidelity keeps eating the foreign transaction fee..........

Interestingly, although the Fidelity representative I spoke with said that this 1% fee is included for ATM withdrawals from a Fidelity core account I have made many withdrawals and there is no fee. Is this a mistake? Probably not. Perhaps it is related to the type of account, such as a Premium Services account.

The above from HERE

Edited October 19, 2009 by JimGant

[jfchandler]

Actually, I believe a similar situation exists relative to E*Trade and use of their ATM card.

The E*Trade web site and such says they do or will charge a 1% foreign currency fee. But in practice, no separate charges show in their online banking, and the regular withdrawals carry the IER rate or very close to it.... in addition to their refunding the Thai ATM fees.

[vagabond48]

I just received what I thought was another debit card from Bank of Internet from my Advantage (paying 1.65%) account but it turns out to be an ATM card only which is neither a VISA or Mastercard and uses the Plus and Star network. I had planned to use it in the future to make larger teller counter withdrawals while this type of transaction remained free. According to the rep, the foreign exchange rate for this card is determined by the bank. If this is correct, can someone tell me what online information do I use to figure the current rate of a particular bank? Typically, how would a VISA debit card rate, excluding all fees, compare to a non VISA/Mastercard rate?

Edited October 21, 2009 by vagabond48

[ChouDoufu]

jim, when i spoke with the rep, he explained that it's not fidelity, but the visa company that imposes the fee.

visa does the currency conversion, adds the 1% fee, and passes that number on to fidelity.

cash advance for 5000 baht from the teller, resulted in a $151.47 deduction from my account.

5000 baht at the 33.34 rate would be $149.97, add 1% fee and you get $151.47

the 33.64 rate that appeared on my account was not the actual charge. that was the authorization showing

the exchange rate at the time of the transaction. when the transaction was posted (and the authorization

removed), visa applied the exchange rate at that day's closing.

[ChouDoufu]

oops, that should read "the 33.64 rate that i calculated and posted earlier in this thread was based on the original $150.11 charge."

(for the authorization, 5000 baht at the 33.64 rate at the time of the transaction would be $148.63, add 1% fee for $150.11)

[JimGant]

Chou, I don't quite follow your math. Assuming the following quote is correct.......(and this also works the same for your ATM transaction, once you subtract out the $4.50 baht equivalent ATM fee)

Next made a 5000 baht cash advance at the bank counter.

The online charge was 150.11; subtract the 1% fee and the exchange rate here was 33.6428

Divide 5000 by 150.11 and you get 33.30. Pretty close to the advertised IER for that time period - upon which you could not do better (33.64 is nonsensical). Meaning, you had no 1% Visa foreign transaction fee being passed on by Fidelity (meaning, they're offering you a 'sweetner,' like they -- and their competitor brokers -- have been doing for quite some time now). When -- and if -- the bottom falls out is the pertinent question.....

he explained that it's not fidelity, but the visa company that imposes the fee.

visa does the currency conversion, adds the 1% fee, and passes that number on to fidelity.

Right. This is the 'sweetner' I'm talking about. Fidelity (and its competitors) are eating the Visa foreign transaction fee as an incentive for your account -- and anticipated activity within it. However, I can't see how this can go on if you turn out to be just another account holder parking his money. And this seems to be the case with many here who have these "golden" fee-free cards. But, enjoy while it lasts.

[ChouDoufu]

lemme try again...this is for cash advance at the teller, so no atm fee to consider. only have the visa 1% fortran fee.

ignore the $150.11 as that was merely the charge authorization. any calculations with this, including the 33.64 rate

are just best guesses as to how the charge was being processed. there may have been no 1% fee added at this

point, i don't know, but this was only a hold placed against the account. the final amount posted is not broken down.

the only one that matters is the actual charge of $151.47 for a 5000 baht cash advance.

working the math on this will give you the daily exchange rate and a 1% fee, so i don't see any sweetener.

OR.........Divide 5000 by 151.47 and you get 33.01 here VISA is taking a 1% cut on the forex spread. perhaps they

add another 1% foreign transaction fee that fidelity then removes?

so visa is either a) adding a 1% forex spread and charging a 1% fee that fidelity deletes, or 2) giving me the wholesale

forex rate and charging a 1% fee the fidelity lets pass through. regardless, i'm getting approximately the closing

rate for the day plus a 1% fee.

[jfchandler]

So presumably using your Fidelity VISA card, you'd also be getting the lower actual exchange rate (market minus 1%) when using the card for ATM cash withdrawals.... It sounds like you're saying Fidelity is not reimbursing the 1% fee at month's end or anything like that....

If that's the case, that's not as good a deal/arrangement as is the case with Schwab and E*Trade.

[vagabond48]

I don't have the time to get into this right now but Fidelity has the same debit card linked to different accounts providing different fee benefits. The visa debit card I use is linked to the MySmart Cash account which reimburses all fees worldwide and unknown to the reps like those at Schwab, does not charge the foreign exchange fee of 1%. The main problem is that many of their people including supervisors are ignorant of the difference between the card being linked to their brokerage account versus the mysmart cash account. I am waiting after the end of the month before I recount my recent lengthy experience getting my 150 baht (successfully) refunded.

Edited October 22, 2009 by vagabond48

[ChouDoufu]

jfchandler:

what i'm saying is that using the visa gold debit card attached to a brokerage account, either at atm or at teller,

i am getting the actual exchange rate. visa then adds a 1% foreign transaction fee, which is not reimbursed by

fidelity. in addition, only domestic atm fees are refunded.

vagabond48:

with an atm transaction, do you see any atm fee posted in account history? in my case, the atm fee (as well

as the 1% for-tran fee) was bundled into the tranasaction, and only the final amount was shown. i didn't have

a separate line item that i could ask to have reimbursed.