Has Anyone Made A Bofa Ach Transfer To Thailand?

[robbie22]

I have a Bank of America account in Calif. And would like to use online banking to transfer my pension here to Thailand using my Bangkok Bank acct. Now i have read some old posts and it seems some one was able to transfer there money using this ACH which allows you to transfer either the next day or 3 days processing with a very nominal fee. Has anyone done this successfully ? They say you need to transfer 2 small amounts something like .44 cents twice and verify with Bangkok Bank report to Bof A annd your are good to go there will be a tab on your account?? I went to my account selected transfer outside bank and got warning invalid address so i sent a message to BofA to clarify.

Any help Appreciated.

[jazzbo]

Yes. It works just fine. You probably queried BofA re: Bangkok Bank as an international bank; for these purposes it is just another domestic bank. To retrieve the 2 test deposits, you must either go to your branch or call Bangkok Bank on the telephone (which I have never done) and get the CENTS amounts deposited as your passbook will show the baht amount deposited which will not work.

You then plug the 2 amounts into the outside the bank transfer set-up and you should be ready to go... remember, to BofA Bangkok Bank functions as a DOMESTIC bank.

Edited January 26, 2010 by jazzbo

[ronthompson]

I was told it is not possible to do direct deposits for Social Security to Thai Banks. Have seen or read nothing different, guess u could deposit other retirement fund??

Do u mean to have retirement deposited to Bof A then transfer to Bangkok Bank? For some reason I have had problems with Bangkok Bank in that I could not open an account in my name with out a work permit, perhaps they are more friendly now

[tpthai2]

Yes. It works just fine. You probably queried BofA re: Bangkok Bank as an international bank; for these purposes it is just another domestic bank. To retrieve the 2 test deposits, you must either go to your branch or call Bangkok Bank on the telephone (which I have never done) and get the CENTS amounts deposited as your passbook will show the baht amount deposited which will not work.

You then plug the 2 amounts into the outside the bank transfer set-up and you should be ready to go... remember, to BofA Bangkok Bank functions as a DOMESTIC bank.

At this writing: Bangkok Bank is the only Thai bank that you can have your S.S.A. monthly deposits directly deposited to. Wire transfers can only be made at the counter of your B or A branch. Wells Fargo has a system that will allow direct transfer from you Wells savings or checking account via a rather complicated procedure. Get out of B of A. Check the latest U.S. evaluations.

[robbie22]

I was told it is not possible to do direct deposits for Social Security to Thai Banks. Have seen or read nothing different, guess u could deposit other retirement fund??

Do u mean to have retirement deposited to Bof A then transfer to Bangkok Bank? For some reason I have had problems with Bangkok Bank in that I could not open an account in my name with out a work permit, perhaps they are more friendly now

I am pretty sure that you can have your social security direct deposited no problem. I have my pension which they will not deposit in a Thai bank thus the problem.

You should check in to your SS check for direct deposit as in 6 years i will have the same and look forward to no atm fees. I have a retirement visa so i guess that helps to get a thai bank acct.

[Lefty]

Citi Bank allows international wire transfers via the internet thru their website, they are the only bank in the U.S. that I have found that can do this. You need to visit a brance to set account up checking account. SS and pension funds can be direct deposited to the account and you can wire funds to your Thailand account anytime via the internet. Cost about $30 for any amount.

Tom

[Gonsalviz]

I would'nt give or receive the time of day from BoA.

[Two Roads]

I have wired funds many times from my BoA account in Washington State to various Bangkok Bank accounts.

However each time was done by calling BoA. They are very efficient as funds are usually in Bangkok Bank within 24 hours of my call.

However, BoA wire transfer fee is quite expensive so if in fact you find a means to do via on-line banking please let me know.

When I checked this out a couple years ago it was not possilbe but maybe changed since then.

[jazzbo]

If you have a valid account at BofA and an account at Bangkok Bank, you can set-up a BofA 'Out of Bank' ACH domestic transfer which has a per transaction fee of US$ 3.00 for 3 business days. All can be done online from Thailand... also via Wells Fargo... a little tricky but I have done so with both.

The tricky part involves 2 test deposits that are made from your BofA account into in your BB account which must then be entered onto the BofA website -- the amounts must be in US cents but are shown as baht on your BB account -- you must contact an international dept. to get the EXACT amounts deposited both less than a US dollar... then you're all set.

Maybe you entered the wrong routing number for BB in NYC for the error you mention...

[kenk3z]

Is it possible to set up a Bangkok Bank New York domestic account for the purpose of Direct Deposit - and then have a relatively easy way to transfer money from that account to a Bangkok Bank account in Thailand - and of course getting the conversion into Baht?

And looking at it from the other angle, are their any USA banks with a branch in Thailand (including ATM somewhere) that could do similar (hopefully inexpensive) transfers.

The BOA to BB transfers sound great if you are successful in setting them up. From what I read it seems you have to "fly low" below the money laundering radar - keeping the transfers below something like $5000/month.

kenk3z

[bellagrego]

Just to add some options. The biggest bank in the world, CHASE, is one that can do about anything in banking. I am able to transfer bank to bank via wire online instantly, to Bangkok Bank or Krug Thai Bank. No ACH as the Thai swift codes do not jive with USA routing code systems. I doubt the reference of BOA to BKK ACH for that reason.

[jazzbo]

I doubt the reference of BOA to BKK ACH for that reason. To doubt is free. It is a domestic USA xfer... BKK Bank is the only Thai bank with a working domestic routing number that the BofA or WellsFargo system will recognize i.e. Kasikorn will not work though it has an ACH number.

[hyperdimension]

Are the initial test transfers a usual ACH transfer setup procedure, regardless of whether the originating bank is Bank of America, and regardless of whether the receiving bank is Bangkok Bank NY?

A finance company in the US needs to send money to my Bangkok Bank account, and they can send either by SWIFT transfer (for which they charge 35 USD) or ACH transfer (free).

SWIFT transfer from them has worked fine in the past, however since they don't charge for ACH transfer, I'd like them to send it via ACH. Their bank is JPMorgan Chase. Would they have to go through the inconvenient test transfer procedure if I ask them to send via ACH to my Bangkok Bank account (via NY)?

[hyperdimension]

Sorry, I just realized that this thread is in the Isaan forum (in which it really shouldn't be). I will post in the Banking forum instead.