Has Anyone Got A Bangkok Bank Savings Account ?

[chris5346]

Hi,

i'm just about to pay some money(baht)into my bangkok bank savings account using swift from the uk .

has anyone done the same before and did you get any charges from bangkok bank ?

i'm transferring approx. £2000 this time.

i'm using a company called HiFX they are offering a good rate for conversion in the u.k and no charges,

i could send money in GBP but can take a while for money to clear and rates may go down also if i send in GBP i will have more charges and on a relatively small amount i think maybe cheaper sending Baht ?

the exchange rate has suddenlty jumped up last few days ,

HiFX are offering approx. 1% less than BKKbank TT rate and without the bank charges maybe best way for me ?

i'm not 100% sure what BKK bank will charge for paying money in - i would have thought nothing but has anyone had experience with this ?

thanks for looking,

any advice appreciated,

Chris

[Crossy]

I've not noticed any local charges when transferring money in, but I always tick the 'all charges to sender' box on my sending bank.

Bank charges in Thailand are very reasonable anyway, even if they charge it will be a few hundred Baht.

[richardt1808]

Hi,

The last time I had money transferred to my BBL account, I made sure that the sender paid all commissions. When the money arrived, there was a 300B Bank charge, no big deal on a large amount.

Cheers

[lopburi3]

The charge is .25% of the transfer amount in the range 200-500 baht.

It is very seldom advisable to send anything but home currency to Thailand. Normally the rate in Thailand will be better for the exchange.

Then there is the originating bank Swift change.

Then there is often an intermediary bank change.

[Alwaysright]

I've not noticed any local charges when transferring money in, but I always tick the 'all charges to sender' box on my sending bank.

Bank charges in Thailand are very reasonable anyway, even if they charge it will be a few hundred Baht.

Whenever I feel like it I go to Kasikorn and drop a check into my savings account.I really don't care that it takes a month to clear.They charge US $10.00 for the service so I write bigger checks(same charge).This is a great way to do it and you get a higher exchange rate so you get your $10.00 back.This is not for cheap Charlies on a budget.I also have an American Express Gold card and can cash a check(Bangkok Bank) for $2500.00 every 21 days if I want.That amounts to all the money a frugal person can ever want.Bangkok Bank charges 200 Baht and you get it back on the extra exchange rate.

SO what is your problem?????

[Jimi007]

Bangkok Bank has a branch in New York, USA I have two accounts with them here. I transfer online from Bank of America to Bangkok Bank NY. Usually $2,000. B of A charges me $3, Bangkok Bank NY charges $5, Bangkok Bank in Bangkok charges me 200 Baht. But Monday, I got 32.41 Baht to the dollar. Pretty good rate! I don't know if they have a branch in the UK though. Just checked their exchange rate today and it's 32.14 buying the dollar. 32.43 for buying TT.

[InterestedObserver]

Actually you use the Bangkok Bank, NY branch RTN routing code along with your Thailand bank account number. Best way to deposit dollars from the US into your BBL account, no international (SWIFT) transfer necessary.

[pkrv]

Hi - InterestedObserver and Jimi007.

Please could you expand on what you have said. I think you have said if you can find out the RTN routing code for the NY Bangkok branch, they will route to your local Bangkok Bank branch with few charges?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Routing_transit_number

However how do you go about this - this is new to me - but I think this is just a US thing

Yes London does indeed also have a correspondent bank branch at

61 St. Mary Axe

London EC3A 8BY

020 7929 4422

But they cannot help - however i think you may have just clarified why there is a discrepency between what people are saying on this board - i.e. we are all in different positions.

Edited June 4, 2010 by pkrv

[InterestedObserver]

Here you go:

http://www.bangkokbank.com/Bangkok%20Bank/...from%20USA.aspx

[pkrv]

Here you go:

http://www.bangkokbank.com/Bangkok%20Bank/...from%20USA.aspx

Thank you InterestedObserver - very, very informative - For US Bank holders only - Now I understand why there has been such confusion on Thai Visa.

The same is not possible from the UK.

For the OP if he has a Thai bank account and does not mind waiting 1/2 months then a sterling/GBP cheque otherwise IMO a sterling/GBP transfer to his bank and pay the SWIFT fee. He is more lightly to get the better rate/less fees from his Thai bank.

[chris5346]

i was going to use the london branch until they sent me this e-mail :

Dear Mr Gascoyne The best way to find out our current rates is by calling our office, this is an automated message detailing the rate. 0207 929 4422. There is a £35 pound minimum charge for amount under £6000, amounts over £6000 are charged at 0.25% at a maximum charge of £65. The webpage rates are for Thailand branches only,

which is different to what's written on their web site ?

that's why i'm asking what exactly happens because i've never done transfers before to my newly opened BKK bank account.

if i transfer GBP will i definately get the TT buying rate of 47.29750 ?

Currency Description Bank Note Buying Rates Selling Rates

Bill-DD-TT Buying Rates Selling Rates Sight Bill TT USD1 USD : 1 31.40 32.78

USD5 USD : 5-20 31.71 32.78

USD50 USD : 50-100 32.18 32.83 32.33 32.43 32.68 GBP United Kingdom 46.93 48.53 47.17500 47.29750 47.97500

has anyone transferred in and worked out what rate they received ?

i guess it's difficult to know exactly when the money goes in and the rate at that time ?

barclays charge £25 and i think they said takes 7 days to reach thailand ? on larger amounts than £1000 maybe worth doing as long as the rate doesn't drop too much waiting for the money to arrive.

i can buy baht in uk today for 46 and transfer for free with hifx which maybe a bit cheaper on amounts around £1000 ?

other choice is i can continue to use my u.k debit card but they charge 2.75 and £4.5 but at least the conversion will be done tomorrow ? i think for amounts around 40,000 baht it costs the same ?

thanks ,

chris

[chris5346]

oops that looks a bit messy,

i was trying to show you the exchange rates table found here :

http://www.bangkokbank.com/Bangkok%20Bank/...s/FX_Rates.aspx

chris

[sarahsbloke]

I use Hifx

Bangkok bank pinch 200bht form the money without telling you

Hifx refunds the 200bht to your UK account (if you ask)

There are no SWIFT fees, but if you do the transfer on Monday, the money actually appears in Thailand on Friday after 2pm

The Hifx web site shows you the amount that will be paid (changing every 30 seconds) until you hit the "CONFIRM" button, and that is what you get.

If you use a bank to do a SWIFT transfer to the Bangkok Bank, the charge is UK SWIFT charge 25-35UKP, 200bht, and the exchange rate you get is whatever the Bangkok bank exchange rate says on the day the money arrives (3-5 days after you send from the UK)

If you use a UK debit card don't forget the 150bht ATM charge per transaction made in Thailand for using a Thai ATM, on top of all the other charges.

Edited June 4, 2010 by sarahsbloke

[chris5346]

hi,

yes thank you for confirming , i think i know most of what goes on now,

if i need to buy baht i think i will use hifx sometime because very simple to use and gauranteed rate, they said that baht is very unstable , do you claim back the 200-500 Baht each time ?

i've been following rate recently and so difficult to know what to do :

http://news.bbc.co.uk/news/business/market...78/intraday.stm

the pound dropped around the election and has jumped up 3 % last 3 days and doubt will jump again soon so maybe good idea to transfer asap ?

i'm going to apply for nationwide card also which i should have done ages ago which is only 1% good for smaller transactions and i'll do swift for larger amounts.

i don't get the 150B fee because i go inside the bank during opening hours with my passport to withdraw money.

also they blocked my cards for atm use about 6 months ago ?

thanks again,

chris

[Pib]

Home country funds (pounds, dollars, etc) wired to Thailand banks get the TT rate when arriving.

Don't transfer in baht because it would probably be a rare case of the sending bank giving you a better rate than in Thailand. It seems most sending banks end up giving you approx 1 to 3% less in baht "if" exchanging/sending "in baht" as the sending bank uses their own exchange rate which is favorable to their profits.

Bangkok Bank is going to give you their TT rate and charge a receiving fee of 0.25%, with the minimun fee being 200 Baht and the max fee 500 Baht. So if you send 1 pound they will charge 200 Baht; if you send a zillion pounds they will charge a max of 500 Baht.

[pkrv]

Home country funds (pounds, dollars, etc) wired to Thailand banks get the TT rate when arriving.

Don't transfer in baht because it would probably be a rare case of the sending bank giving you a better rate than in Thailand. It seems most sending banks end up giving you approx 1 to 3% less in baht "if" exchanging/sending "in baht" as the sending bank uses their own exchange rate which is favorable to their profits.

Bangkok Bank is going to give you their TT rate and charge a receiving fee of 0.25%, with the minimun fee being 200 Baht and the max fee 500 Baht. So if you send 1 pound they will charge 200 Baht; if you send a zillion pounds they will charge a max of 500 Baht.

I agree. He should have to do a SWIFT transfer, though, I have a horrible feeling as this is first time, he will only see the costs, not the advice, nor destination.

[chris5346]

i was thinking of sending in baht only if i use hifx because they don't charge £25 to send and they re-emberse the 200Baht, also gauranteed rate and if rate drops the same as it's just gone up in last few days better for me.

i agree if i was sending from my bank account in uk i may as well send in GBP because it will save me money.

i'm not too worried about small charges it's just the rates changing whilst waiting for the money to arrive i'm not happy about especially if sending larger amounts, which i'm thinking of doing in the future,

i will try and listen to all your advice ,

if i use my debit card 80000 b may cost me £1728.72 + £4.5 http://www2.visaeurope.com/fxcalculator/

if i use hifx will cost me £1740

if i send gbp swift may cost £1691 +£25 +200B (using todays 47.3)

i think i'm just expecting the rates to jump down 2% the same way they have just jumped up so more concerned about swift,

if they jump down 2% whist waiting then swift will cost £1766 + £25 +200B.

i'll see what the rates are doing tonight /tomoz , maybe better to just send a minimum amount this time and maybe re-think everything - i have been living in thailand on the rental from my house in u.k but i haven't been very clever in the way i have been sending the money over , maybe i should send enough money to last a year and keep the rental in the u.k, i'll save on transfer fees, it will also be easier for my visa because i can either show 400,000B lump sum or 40,000 a month. i just wasn't planning on living in thailand when i first came here.

i'm thinking of popping back to the u.k so maybe a good idea to bring cash or travellers cheques when i return, i guess i can bring 20,000$ or equivalent ?

thx

chris

[JimGant]

Thank you InterestedObserver - very, very informative - For US Bank holders only - Now I understand why there has been such confusion on Thai Visa. The same is not possible from the UK.

Actually, there is a Bangkok Bank in London, and like BB NY, you can use it as a conduit to Thailand (but using the UK BACS system, the equivalent to the US ACH system).

See HERE

However, at 20GBPs, it's certainly more expensive than an ACH transfer.

This subject has come up before, but I've never seen any substantive dialogue amongst the Brits as to how it compares with other money transfer options. It's interesting that you have the option to buy the baht in London, which lowers the transfer fee to 15GBPs, with no fee on the receiving end. I wonder if you get a better deal buying baht from BB London vice a British bank? If so, then sending baht vice pounds may be a better deal (?).

Anyone used BB London -- and can comment on how the two methods compare?

[chris5346]

i haven't used them yet but i have spoken to them and sent e-mails ,

i think basically there's some information missing on the thailand website, london branch are saying they charge extra as written here :

The best way to find out our current rates is by calling our office, this is an automated message detailing the rate. 0207 929 4422. There is a £35 pound minimum charge for amount under £6000, amounts over £6000 are charged at 0.25% at a maximum charge of £65. The webpage rates are for Thailand branches only,

maybe if you convert in london you get charged £35-£65 and if you convert in thailand you get charged 200-500B ?

i'm waiting to hear back from them to confirm, their rates are very good it's just the charges i need to clarify.

[robbie22]

Bangkok Bank has a branch in New York, USA I have two accounts with them here. I transfer online from Bank of America to Bangkok Bank NY. Usually $2,000. B of A charges me $3, Bangkok Bank NY charges $5, Bangkok Bank in Bangkok charges me 200 Baht. But Monday, I got 32.41 Baht to the dollar. Pretty good rate! I don't know if they have a branch in the UK though. Just checked their exchange rate today and it's 32.14 buying the dollar. 32.43 for buying TT.

Can you walk me through it how you set up transfer using BOFA online banking they keep telling me I can not do it. Are you using the ACH method of transfer?? This would really help me to get my pension to Thailand. Your expert thoughts on this would be appreciated very much. I have my account in Calif and also have BKK bank savings.

[pkrv]

Thank you InterestedObserver - very, very informative - For US Bank holders only - Now I understand why there has been such confusion on Thai Visa. The same is not possible from the UK.

Actually, there is a Bangkok Bank in London, and like BB NY, you can use it as a conduit to Thailand (but using the UK BACS system, the equivalent to the US ACH system).

See HERE

However, at 20GBPs, it's certainly more expensive than an ACH transfer.

This subject has come up before, but I've never seen any substantive dialogue amongst the Brits as to how it compares with other money transfer options. It's interesting that you have the option to buy the baht in London, which lowers the transfer fee to 15GBPs, with no fee on the receiving end. I wonder if you get a better deal buying baht from BB London vice a British bank? If so, then sending baht vice pounds may be a better deal (?).

Anyone used BB London -- and can comment on how the two methods compare?

Thank you very very much for bringing this to our attention - This has got to be new because I visited the London Branch last year - and nothing was on offer. I have about 10,000 GBP to transfer so will now investigate. The world moves on

But I note some confusion already - However this should be automated. I can stand additional fees to see what actually happens. Will carry out this transfer in the next few days and report back.

Edited June 5, 2010 by pkrv

[Pib]

Bangkok Bank has a branch in New York, USA I have two accounts with them here. I transfer online from Bank of America to Bangkok Bank NY. Usually $2,000. B of A charges me $3, Bangkok Bank NY charges $5, Bangkok Bank in Bangkok charges me 200 Baht. But Monday, I got 32.41 Baht to the dollar. Pretty good rate! I don't know if they have a branch in the UK though. Just checked their exchange rate today and it's 32.14 buying the dollar. 32.43 for buying TT.

Can you walk me through it how you set up transfer using BOFA online banking they keep telling me I can not do it. Are you using the ACH method of transfer?? This would really help me to get my pension to Thailand. Your expert thoughts on this would be appreciated very much. I have my account in Calif and also have BKK bank savings.

It's pretty easy...pretty self explanatory. Logon to your BoA account, select the Transfer menu, Select Add Account, Select Outside Bank, and enter the Bangkok Bank NY routing number and your In-Thailand Bangkok Bank account number. Setup as a Domestic account since you are using teh Bangkok Bank NY routing number. Of course there are more details/entries than I've mentioned but they really are self explanatory/easy and if I remember right there are a couple small test transfers which you'll have to verify. You'll also have to establish your SafePass.

Now keep in mind this is basically setting up a ACH transfer when you want to send money "from/to" your BoA account, either manually or automatically--BUT, don't try to transfer money "from" your Bangkok Bank account as it will reject or BoA with cancel the transfers since as you probably know Thailand just don't allow the easy transfer of money out of the country unless you have a work permit or under certain other conditions.

Also, since I expect your pension is coming from the government or private company probably direct deposit to your BoA account, you can't use this BoA funds Transfer function to have the money transferred directly from the govt/private company to Bangkok Bank--you'll need to give the govt/private company the Bangkok Bank NY routing number and your Bangkok Bank account number to set that up.

[Pib]

P.S. Above info is based on the regular BoA Bank internet banking system; if you are using the BoA Military Bank internet banking system, then the precedure/setup is different and actually less capable. After you logon to the BoA Military system, go to the Services memu, and then select Wire Transfers.

[robbie22]

P.S. Above info is based on the regular BoA Bank internet banking system; if you are using the BoA Military Bank internet banking system, then the precedure/setup is different and actually less capable. After you logon to the BoA Military system, go to the Services memu, and then select Wire Transfers.

Thanks Pib yes my pension is direct deposit to BofA and i would like to save some money here. Do you have the routing number for Bangkok bank in Ny?? I will try to set it up and report back here. Thanks

[Pib]

P.S. Above info is based on the regular BoA Bank internet banking system; if you are using the BoA Military Bank internet banking system, then the precedure/setup is different and actually less capable. After you logon to the BoA Military system, go to the Services memu, and then select Wire Transfers.

Thanks Pib yes my pension is direct deposit to BofA and i would like to save some money here. Do you have the routing number for Bangkok bank in Ny?? I will try to set it up and report back here. Thanks

This Bangkok Bank link provides the info.

http://www.bangkokbank.com/Bangkok%20Bank/...from%20USA.aspx

Also, if you plan to set up a direct deposit to Bangkok Bank, please be sure to read the part if your pension is coming from a "U.S. Govt agency" like Social Security, DFAS, OPM, etc. ***What will/should happen is after a few monthly direct deposits is Bangkok Bank will send you a letter saying you must come in and setup a Direct Deposit account (it's different from a regular Savings Account) with them so Bangkok Bank can satisfy some U.S. laws. Until then Bangkok Bank will hold your funds and/or notify the U.S. govt to stop your direct deposit. They give you about a month to show up to setup the account. Funds transfer always have underlying coding, which the customer never sees, that reflects what type of organizaton/bank (public or private) is sending the funds.

Although the web link info indicates Bangkok Bank will mail the direct deposit paper to the government agency after they establish the Bangkok Bank Direct Deposit Account, I would recommend that "if" you can quickly provide the new account number to the agency via just logging onto their system or calling the agency to make the change that you make it clear to Bangkok Bank that "you" will notify the agency/make the change as you can do it quickly vs waiting much longer for snail mail method to update things. The routing number remains the same, which is the Bangkok Bank NY routing number. This is what I did. Bangkok Bank was still happy as they got my signatures on the necessary paperwork to set-up a direct deposit account and allows them to comply with U.S. Law since they do a lot of business in the U.S. primarily thru their New York Branch. I setup my direct deposit account up with the Silom Branch of Bangkok Bank (2nd floor of the Bangkok Bank Headquarters) but you can setup it up at any Bangkok Banch Branch in the country and still have your regular account at any branch in the country.

A Bangkok Bank direct deposit account is a saving account (interest earning) with the standard passbook, HOWEVER, BUT you "can not" use an ATM card, telephone banking, or internet banking with the direct deposit account. But you can setup a SMS notice on the direct deposit account. "You have to personnally show up and do money withdrawals or movements of funds to other accounts."

Supposedly the core purpose of the Direct Deposit account is to prevent fraud when a U.S. Govt Retiree dies and the pension is suppose to stop immeidately. Since a person must walk his living, breathing body into the Bangkok Bank with passport to get/transfer money from the direct deposit account, the money can't be gotten by say a Thai wife who fails to notfiy the govt of the husband's death and the pension continues to flow. With a Direct Deposit account even if the retiree dies and the funds continue to flow into the account the funds would still be available for U.S. Govt recovery at some point when the govt and Bangkok Bank eventually fines out the retiree passed away.

I have one of these Direct Deposit accounts; and a regular account which has all the ATM, telephone banking, internet banking functions, etc. Periodically, I just move some money from my direct deposit account to my regular account...and all is good. Also, I get my monthly pension (actually I'm just sending an allotment subamount from the total pension) direct deposited on the first business day of the month with an SMS notice showing up between 9am to 3pm providing the dollar amount received, the TT exchange rate (I've always got TT Update 1 exchange rate for the day), and the Baht amount. Works sweet.

Now if your pension ain't a U.S. govt pension, then never mind above Direct Deposit account info...just setup the direct deposit for your regular account. Cheers.

Edited June 6, 2010 by Pib

[lungdavid]

I've not noticed any local charges when transferring money in, but I always tick the 'all charges to sender' box on my sending bank.

Bank charges in Thailand are very reasonable anyway, even if they charge it will be a few hundred Baht.

I have transferred money from Aussie many times through my Aussie internet account, $30 and 3 days is all it takes whatever the amount

[JetsetBkk]

Sorry, not Bangkok Bank.

My experience of Krung Thai is no charge at Krung Thai, 20 GBP charge at UK (Nationwide Building Society) Bank. The FX Statement makes no mention of a charge at Krung Thai.

If Krung Thai take any commission, it is not significant enough to make the rate look low because I usually get the rate posted for that day, but with a few hundred thousand baht coming in, it's not easy to spot the odd few hundred being taken out as commission by calculating the rate.

[pkrv]

Hi Guys - Regarding Bangkok Bank's UK London correspondent branch - Sorry I will do a double post here and to the pinned thread on Thai Banking.

Going from the following information:

http://www.bangkokbank.com/Bangkok%20Bank/Personal%20Banking/Transfering%20Funds/Transferring%20into%20Thailand/Receiving%20Funds%20from%20UK/Pages/UK_Internet%20Banking.aspx

The fee it says is 15 GBP and Bangkok Bank generally seem to have good rates.

This is new to me but seems to be what I wish. I have a simple SMILE internet bank account

As others have said no one is really commenting on this approach using the UK London Bangkok Bank branch I will give this a go and give a blow by blow account - so expect several posts.

Now transferring 10,000 GBP I note the rate offered by Bangkok Bank at this moment in time is 46.81

http://www.bangkokbank.com/Bangkok%20Bank/Web%20Services/Rates/Pages/FX_Rates.aspx

Just sort of crossing my fingers at this time, it should be OK - PKRV -

[pkrv]

Cash just transferred. I used the bill payment option from my SMILE account as this gave me more options to fill in the details requested. However as our Bangkok Bank account is in two names there was some heavy abbreviation - I will let you know what happens.

[JimGant]

Now transferring 10,000 GBP I note the rate offered by Bangkok Bank at this moment in time is 46.81

That's the buying TT rate -- which you would get if you sent pounds to Thailand. But, since you're buying your baht at BB London, I have a feeling you'll get a lesser buying rate. How much less will dictate whether or not converting in London -- and thus saving 5 GBPs on sending end and 500 baht on receiving end -- is worth it.