Wire Transfer: Bank Of America To Thai Scb [Timing? Alternatives?]

[saanya]

Hi,

I wired money from my Bank of America account to my Thai SCB bank last Thursday afternoon and chose the 1 day option.

It's Wednesday now the next week 10th and it's still not here. The staff when I visited the SCB branch I opened my account at played dumb and said they had to call Bangkok, and even that failed because it was "lunch time".

After taking our number and saying they'd call us back they never did.

Bad service and uninformed responses can be expected, so no surprises there. But now it's probably time to learn how to get to the bottom of it and that means telling them how to do their job so they can use their status as an employee to work toward getting a real answer for us instead of just going the "graeng jai" route with their peers and simply not being 'too proactive".

Do I first call my Bank of America and verify it went through and it's exact status? My online account shows the transfer is "complete".

What's the SBC branch in Bangkok's number, -do they have a wire transfer department? Is there specific staff to ask for or a certain way to phrase the question to avoid getting a blanket statement of "it normally takes a week" and then having that turn into "it normally takes a week or so".

Right now I know very little but after paying 1K baht to have a "one day" transfer I feel somewhat "taken advantage of". My wife knows that's real money we could have spent on something useful instead of corporate financial runaround.

Next time we won't be so stupid. Luckily I'm not on the hook, this was just money to put down on a truck and the longer it takes, not a big deal. But it's the principle of having waited patiently and not seeing any result at all that's forcing me to turn to my peers and ask how you do it.

Perhaps I should be switching banks then, both in the US and here. Probably much better set of options -how do you do this, what banks do you know and trust for this kind of financial task?

Thanks indeed for any replies, -certainly much appreciated.

Kind regards...

-saanya

[BillR]

well I wire from bank of america to The yellow bank here all the time and its usually 1 day. Was the amount over 1 mil baht? I forget the exact number but larger amounts you have to go into the bank and sign a form saying what its for and they will then release the money. If you go in and ask, you have to tell them it was a big amount or they will just check your account and so sorry no money yet.

I also sent from here to BofA yesterday and it the money was in BofA this morning:)

Edited November 11, 2010 by BillR

[thaihome]

Can you be more specfic as to what you mean by a "Wire transfer"?

This was a Swift transfer? It had to have been because I don't think SCB is an availble option for the ACH transfer using a Routing transit number for a US bank. I think you can only do that with Bangkok Bank which has a US branch with a Fed nubmer.

Don't recall there being a option for one day service for a Swift transfer. It takes as long as it takes, for me never more then 2 days and if the timeing is right one day.

TH

[Berkshire]

Was this your first time transferring money over to SCB? Any Thai bank? I don't have much experience with SCB, but can say that with Bangkok Bank, it took around 2-3 days the first few times. Subsequently, it usually took no more than one day, two days tops. If it's already been a week, I'd say you have a problem. Unless the amount is fairly large, as another person mentioned, at which time the bank should contact you and ask what the money's for. You should normally be able to go into the bank and tell them your story and someone should be able to give you a coherent answer.

[astral]

Banks are a law unto themselves in these matters.

With SWIFT it should take minutes, but rarely does.

12 hours is the fastest I have seen and was to HSBC, who of course have an office in London, where my money comes from and an office in Bangkok.

A lot is to do with the relationship between the banks.

The more steps in the chain, more chances for the money to sit waiting.

1. Where is your sending bank, New York, or "hicksville"?

Better if you can get it sent from the head office.

2. Does your receiving bank, SCB have a presence in the US.

Much better if it does.

Bangkok Bank is present in New York, I beleive.

PS Apologies if there is a town called Hicksville.

[NanLaew]

Sounds like the OP's account may not be in the Big Mango but out in the boonies?

I bank with BofA in the US and when it says online that the money has gone, it has gone.

You can ask them to send you some form of confirmation that it was received by SCB and armed with that, get the local branch managers elbow and get him to call their foreign remittance department in Bangkok, not deal with the counter clerk. make sure that you do this between 9am and noon so you won't get exasperated by someones notion of being out for lunch. I am pretty sure that you can get SCB's phone numbers and do it all yourself if you have the patience.

I would stay with BofA but open an account here with Bangkok Bank as they do have a more reliable, if slightly longer remittance route via their NYC branch. It was suspended for a few months last year which was a pain in the arse but it's working again and so far, I haven't had any cash go adrift. There was a couple of times when I had to call BB's foreign remittance people and the ladies that answered were knowledgeable, helpful and spoke better English than me.... well, almost.

[saanya]

well I wire from bank of america to The yellow bank here all the time and its usually 1 day. Was the amount over 1 mil baht? I forget the exact number but larger amounts you have to go into the bank and sign a form saying what its for and they will then release the money. If you go in and ask, you have to tell them it was a big amount or they will just check your account and so sorry no money yet.

I also sent from here to BofA yesterday and it the money was in BofA this morning:)

It was only 2,000 USD/ 62K baht.

The account at my US Bank is from San Francisco, CA going to a bank in Nong Khai in Nong Khai province. And yes it's the first time sending, I don't think it was a SWIFT # but instead just the bank routing number and my account #.

Bank of America is pretty much the largest bank and probably owns several square blocks of downtown Manhattan in NYC, so it's probably not Hicksville.

It looks now as if there's a problem and I'll treat it as such with both banks and see who's not set properly in the transaction.

It sounds like the "Yellow Bank" is good at this from what I have read in the post, and is known as Ayuthaya. SCB (call ThaiPanit?) is probably known as the "Purple Bank".

Probably will go at 9:30AM. I'll get all sorts of info from BofA tonight when they open in NY at 9PM (9AM their time).

It'll likely take about 9 times being transferred between different departments till we hit upon the correct "foreign remittance" folks.

Maybe we'll set up an account in Yellow bank and see how it goes, maybe Purple bank is only best for topping up phone cards, paying True, and buying Airasia tickets.

-saanya

[lomatopo]

I would stay with BofA but open an account here with Bangkok Bank as they do have a more reliable, if slightly longer remittance route via their NYC branch. It was suspended for a few months last year which was a pain in the arse but it's working again and so far,

How do you deal with the new one-time security code feature, where BofA sends an SMS to your phone which you need to initiate the transfer? When I'm back in the U.S. this is no problem but my U.S. phone doesn't roam here.

Edited November 11, 2010 by lomatopo

[thaihome]

....The account at my US Bank is from San Francisco, CA going to a bank in Nong Khai in Nong Khai province. And yes it's the first time sending, I don't think it was a SWIFT # but instead just the bank routing number and my account #.

It was a Swift transfer. SCB is not an option for the ACH transfer as it does not have an Fed routing number.

TH

[thaihome]

...How do you deal with the new one-time security code feature, where BofA sends an SMS to your phone which you need to initiate the transfer? When I'm back in the U.S. this is no problem but my U.S. phone doesn't roam here.

You can buy a safe pass card for $19.95 that will generate the random number.

TH

[Langsuan Man]

What exact address did you use for your Swift Transfer ?

You should have used this address, since ALL International Wires go through the main branch (Inward Remittance Department)

Inward Remittance Department telephone number is 02256-1852-3

Edited November 11, 2010 by Langsuan Man

[lomatopo]

...How do you deal with the new one-time security code feature, where BofA sends an SMS to your phone which you need to initiate the transfer? When I'm back in the U.S. this is no problem but my U.S. phone doesn't roam here.

You can buy a safe pass card for $19.95 that will generate the random number.

TH

Thanks for that. SafePass is an optional service but is now required for int'l xfers over $1,000 (I think). I go back often enough so I can just use the SMS option but I was considering changing the phone number to a family member then getting the temporary one-time PIN from them live if I was ever in a pinch.

I imagine the OP's money is on-hold in Bangkok awaiting exact name, branch and account number match up. Should be easy to sort it out once you have full documentation from BofA.

For the OP, how did you initiate this wire xfer? Did you set this up before you left the U.S.? Typically you have to approve this in person.

[ballbreaker]

OP is it safe to assume you filled out the necessary paperwork to allow international transfers before you left the US. If you did not the money will never leave the US because of regulations so you should check with BofA and have them trace because you have not received.

You also need to understand it is best that you provide the SWIFT number when talking with BofA along with name of receiving bank, address and account number.

Nothing wrong with transfer process using SCB if you provide proper info to BofA and filled out necessary paperwork to allow for international transfers before you left US.

SCB stands for Siam Commercial Bank and is one of the top three banks in Thailand.

Only my opinion but Bangkok Bank, Siam Commercial Bank and Kasikorn Bank are the best because they are largest three banks in Thailand.