Bank Of America To Bangkok Bank Ltd

[smiling mantis]

The very best that I have so far found, that REALLY works is to simply write a personal check and deposit it into my Thai bank account at Siam City Bank, The charge for this is 220 baht .There is no charge from Bank of America

Yes, I think I can deal with the initial delay here too, once you prime the pump so to speak this should be a very suitable arrangement.

What is the exchange rate you are receiving?

And just to clarify, this can be done with a simple passbook account, right? The kind you don't need the work permit to open?

And the banks themselves don't really matter in this arrangement, isn't that right? So if would work just as well with Chase instead of BoFA, or Bangkok Bank instead of Siam City, yes?

A very interesting and informative discussion here. Thank you all for your contributions.

[LoveDaBlues]

Why would they do that? It's not illegal. I'm sure there were some very smart people involved when this service was provided. The service does what it was designed to do.

Thailand has over 100,000 people living in the Los Angeles area who uses this system to send money back to Thailand on a regular basis. Bangkok Bank is making money because of this. They won't shut it down. BOA won't either because the Thai people in LA have accounts with BOA just for this reason. It's worth millions to both banks annually. And it's all legal.

Your right about the NYC branch of BKK Bank. You have to open the account in Thailand. I have been receiving my money via my Bkk Bank savings account for over 2 years now.

Once your here you can easily transfer your funds from your BOA account in Cali to Bangkok Bank NYC who then SWIFTs them to Thailand automatically.

I don't think I ever said it was illegal, I am just stating my experience with both BofA and FIB. In both cases, after successfully doing the verify transfers (and in the case of FIB actually making a $5k transfer) the transfers were suspended with the explanation the ACH provider would not do transfers to an account outside the US. Despite my arguments that the Bangkok Bank NYC branch was a US registered bank they were firm and will not process any more transfers.

Customer (Thaihome) - 02/12/2006 01:32 AM Please explain why you have suspended transfer service to an account you have already made 3 successful transfers.

Response (Mark) - 02/13/2006 08:59 AM

Dear Thaihome,

I am the ACH Coordinator here at First Internet. I have checked with our ACH provider on this situation for you. Our provider did some research and has determined that Bangkok Bank is domiciled outside of the Unite States and thus is not acceptable for ACH transfers. The previous transactions were apparently processed in error and they will not allow these transfers in the future.

TH

Get another bank; they're crap.

It's EASY sending money from the USA to a Thai bank. BUT.....you must go thru an 'intermediary' bank in the USA UNLESS the bank you're dealing with in the USA IS an 'intermediary' bank for your Thai bank. You must get a list of these 'intermediary' banks from your Thai bank.

Example. I use Krung Thai bank. They gave me a list of 7 'intermediary' banks in the US that they could receive a transfer from (6 in New York; 1 in California). One of these banks was Krung Thai in Los Angeles and so I chose this bank. I use both Netbank and BOA in America. I chose Netbank to send to Thailand because in the future I will probably close down my BOA account. Anyway my money xfers go like this: Netbank ---->Krung Thai (Los Angeles)----->Krung Thai (Thailand). The xfers take about 3 days.

Fees: Netbank charges flat fee of $20; Krung Thai (USA) charges flat fee on $20; Krung Thai (Thailand) charges .25% of money sent with a minumum of 200 baht and a maximum of 500 baht.

So if I xfer 20K USD the total fees are $40 USD and 500 baht.

The key is; to the best of my knowledge....you MUST go thru an intermediary bank.

I am looking for a cheaper way of transferring money to Thailand as I just got my retirement visa (barely) and was given a STERN WARNING that next year Immigration wants to see monthly deposits in my Thai bank with the foreign bank deposit code and the amount of 65K baht or more.

Hope this helps. LDB.

[wallyc]

Richard10365 & LoveDaBlues ...

Thank you both for this thread. I find the information to invaluable. I will be in Chiang Mai in 2 weeks and plan to open an account with Bangkok Bank. I have saved this entire thread so I can follow your examples, printing the parts I am sure I will forget. I did click the Transfer Funds button in my B of A online account and there was the selection for foriegn banks and Bangkok Bank was 1 choice.

I'll report back the middle on Nov.

thanks again,

wallyc

[jackbox]

Here are three more ways to get money cheap into Thailand from the USA.

Have relative or someone you know open a WAMU Free Checking account at Washington Mutual Bank in the United States. This account lets you send free wire transfers anywhere in the world on the SWIFT system. Since you have to go into a branch personally every time you want to do a transfer you need someone in the USA to do it for you. I did one the other day to my SCB Savings account in Thailand as a test. The main intermediary bank for SCB in the USA is HSBC NY. HSBC did not skim any fees from the transfer as intermediary banks often do. The only fee was an incoming wire fee from SCB. The fee is low. It is only 0.25 % of the remitted value, minimum fee is at 200 Baht, maximum is 500 Baht.

You can also open an E*Trade brokerage account. They give you an ATM debit card to access your funds. This card allows you to withdraw from any ATM in the world without a fee from E*Trade. Since most Thai banks do not charge a fee for an international ATM card and E*Trade does not charge the withdrawal is free. You can then deposit the money into the Thai bank of your choice.

You can also open an online savings account (currently 5.05% interest) with HSBC Bank in the USA (I think you need USA address but not sure). This account has no fees of any kind. You can withdraw from an HSBC ATM in Thailand free of charge (branch in BKK and some atms scattered throughout LOS). Again, you can then deposit the withdrawn funds into your account at your Thai bank. They also have free online transfer in and out of the account so you can do the BofA Bangkok Bank NYC trick but with no $3.00 fee when you send money to Bangkok Bank.

[genobkk]

no no it is very very simple, I use wels Fargo, I set up a code to wire money to my K Bank account here, I use my voange phone to call the bank, give the code and the money is here the next afternoon, I wiere at 11 pm Thai time, the money is in Thailand by 2 pm the next day....fee is $12 plus the money K bank Kasicorn bank charges...get a wells fargo bank go in to the branch, set up a wiere transver, you can set up to do a code if you use the same bank every month or you can set it up to let you wire to any bank in the world just by makeing a phone call.......I been doing the wells fargo way for 2 years now, before I used checks, ATMS, when ever I went to the USA I would wiere from my WAMU accocount, then wamu canncled my debit card and dais I was sueing it in thaialnd and that they would NOT unlock it, I called got a manger and they unlocked it, after that I closed my WAMU account and moved to wells fargo, the best thing I ever did....WAMU wil kill your debicard if they feel youuse it to much, that bank really sucks, now I have a BOFA account but never use it, only use my WElls Fargo they are the best!!!

[blizzard]

call bangkok bank to get the amount of the trial deposits. good stuff.

ive been trying the trial and error method, doesnt work too well as its hard to get the exchange rate used.

[wallyc]

Reporting back from trips of 10/2006 and 5/2007. Could not open an account in Chiang Mai, but was successful in Pattaya. OK, got the Bangkok Bank savings account. Back home, set-up the BofA `outsidebank' funds transfer. BofA sent 2 small amounts to BB as a test. I called BB 3 days later to find the amounts transfered. Entered the amounts and the account was `verified' by BofA. The next day I sent $100 to my BB account. It arrived 4 days later. BofA deducted $103 from my account. BB credited my account at the on-shore rate of 34.56 baht. But, my new balance did not jive with my records. I did not know about the 500 baht charge by BB. Now that I know what they did, it does add-up. Have since sent 2 more transfers. Will try entering my BB account number and the Swift codes in the `additional instructions' box to see if the 500b charges do go away as was mentioned in a previous post.

I find I can transfer money, using iKobo for less than than the above method, but the money does not go to my BB savings account and I need that for Visa purposes. If the 500b charge goes away, then the above is indeed the method of choice for me. When I move to Thailand next year, I will have the proper Visa and will be able to set-up on-line banking with BB and I already have that with BofA - I might never need to leave my room ......

wallyc

[blizzard]

holy wally!

i just sent 100$ from boa to bangkok bank via transfer to test things out. 500 baht is steep, but for convenience i can live with it.

do you know if 500 baht is flat fee or is fee based on how much you transfer.

i should ask bangkok bank but im so happy i got account i dont want to bother them......lol.

Edited June 5, 2007 by blizzard

[richard10365]

I'm glad I could help.

[wallyc]

holy wally!

i just sent 100$ from boa to bangkok bank via transfer to test things out. 500 baht is steep, but for convenience i can live with it.

do you know if 500 baht is flat fee or is fee based on how much you transfer.

i should ask bangkok bank but im so happy i got account i dont want to bother them......lol.

Hey Blizzard,

I sent the same amount twice, the third transfer was a different amount and will arrive on June 7. I will call BB for the balance and will be able to tell from that info. The next transfer I make I will enter the account numbers ( SWIFT etc...) in the `additional instructions' box to see if the 500b charge disappears as mentioned in a post above.

wallyc

( neat stuff going on here ... )

[lordofdelusion]

I just linked my HSBC online account to Bangkok bank as of 6-6-2007. I opened the Bangkok bank account with nothing but a passport on 6-4-2007. Today I went into the bank to verify the test deposits in US funds. No problem. Verified online with HSBC and done! That was too easy.

One caution though. The Bangkok bank account was opened in my full name as it appears on my passport and as my HSBC account is also.

My Bank of America account, however, doesn't use my full name. The trial deposits from them were rejected as the names were not the same. The nice lady at the Bangkok bank told me that they have to be an exact match. OOPS!

[thaihome]

holy wally!

i just sent 100$ from boa to bangkok bank via transfer to test things out. 500 baht is steep, but for convenience i can live with it.

do you know if 500 baht is flat fee or is fee based on how much you transfer.

i should ask bangkok bank but im so happy i got account i dont want to bother them......lol.

Bangkok Bank incoming FX Fees

0.25% Thai Baht amount

200 Baht (minimum fee)

500 Baht (maximum fee)

TH

[blizzard]

lord

try again. im pretty sure the name on my boa america account doesnt match the full name i gave to bangkok bank. if i use my passport as id i give full name but when i use america drivers license as id i just give middle initial.

[blizzard]

my bangkok bank received my bank of america transfer of $200. funny thing is i wasnt charged any fees.

[popshirt]

All of you Bank of America transfer to Bangkok Bank clients should keep your fingers crossed.

In my experience, over a 2 year period, the transfer sometimes works and sometimes it doesn't.

I had it all set up too, and managed several transfers successfully.

Then for some reason, BofA "locked" my "outside of bank" transfer option.

It took 10 emails and almost one month before I was given the lame excuse that "Bangkok Bank refused the transfer."

On checking with Bangkok Bank, they said this is not true as all my transfer information was correct, it would have been routed thru Bangkok Bank New York City and into my account, no problem.

Customer service wants to speak to me by telephone. This is very inconvenient as the 1-800 number does not work with my telephone service in Thailand.

I called BofA using their regular U.S. area code number and was told that internet banking is an entirely separate operation and they could do nothing for me.

Finally got it cleared up and several transfers were made successfully.

Last month my option to transfer was "locked" again. It is still locked as I write this after about 7 or 8 emails back and forth, all of the replies are "scripted" and don't really address the problem.

My account is with BofA in Southern California where there are lots of Thais living.

I also have an account with Citibank. Because the BofA outside the bank option is locked, I am now asking Citibank to request transfer of funds from BofA and have no problem with them wiring to Bangkok Bank. They do charge a fee however that is more than I paid at BofA.

Several friends of mine have had very good service from ING Bank (the online bank) which is FDIC insured. I am going to move my banking to ING as there are no fees for ATM withdrawals anywhere in the world and will make life easier for me.

My message here for BofA customers is, don't count on this working for you over the long term or every time you need it. It doesn't!

[richard10365]

Popshirt, try using Skype to call the 1-800 numbers in the USA. I use it all the time. All the calls are free. I imagine I save a lot of money calling the IRS, DFAS, VA and whoever else I need something from with a 1-800 number. A high speed internet connection is required.

[lopburi3]

And you can call a US 800 number using the normal CAT service but you have to wait for the announcement to finish (you will be charged normal rates). Another option is to call the toll free number from Thailand of the service providing the 800 number and if it is set up for international service you will be connected free of charge. But as said Skype or other service would work well.

[blizzard]

skype works REAL good. usually you get what you pay for but not in this case. set up account and need no money if just going to call toll free numbers.

[blizzard]

will a thai bank accept a check denominated in american dollars?

[blizzard]

did wire transfer for the first time in my life......lol.

bangkok bank charged $10 for 200$ transfer.

what a pain in the ass. the process not the fee.

[jfchandler]

Re arranging online transfer of funds from U.S. Banks to Bangkok Bank in Thailand via BKKB's New York branch (as discussed at great length above)....

I've just finished successfully linking both my Bank of America and HSBC checking accounts to my Thailand-based Bangkok Bank savings account. In both cases, it involved using the normal trial deposits method at the U.S. end, and then waited for the funds to arrive in my BKK Bank account. A quick call to BKKB customer service to get the original U.S. $ amounts for the trial deposits, since they show up here in baht, and then back online to my U.S. accounts to confirm the trial deposit amounts and finalize the online bank account linking.

Having done that, I also just did a successful online transfer of U.S. $ from my BofA account to my BKKB account, just a few bucks to make sure it really worked. And it DID... in just a couple of business days.

As previously mentioned in earlier posts, BofA charges $3 per online transfer transaction, I think the New York branch of BKK Bank charges a similar amount, and then BKKB in Thailand charges between 200 min. and 500 max. baht, depending on the size of the transfer. So in general, that is a better financial deal than a $40 (more or less depending on the bank) international wire transfer.

Now that I've also linked my HSBC account in the U.S. to my BKKB account, I'll also be trying a trial run actual funds transfer there soon.

As guidance on this, for anyone who hasn't read ALL of the prior posts in this thread, prevailing wisdom is to keep any single online funds transfer (amount and fees combined) below $5,000 U.S. as larger amounts seem to trigger bad reactions, such as BofA disconnecting/voiding your transfer link.

John, formerly from L.A.

[jfchandler]

Duplicate posting deleted

Edited November 22, 2007 by jfchandler

[Pakawala]

Skip,

I haven't been watching this thread in the past and your question(s) may have already been answered but..., I'm retired Navy and also drawing Soc. Sec. and BOTH can be directly deposited to a BKK Bank Ltd. account. I believe you will need to go to a BKK Bank in your home in Thailand to initiate this (as I did here in Udon Thani). You CANNOT use an ATM to withdraw from this direct deposit account and therefore will need to open a separate Savings account for which they will issue you an ATM card. When the deposits start arriving you will have to go to the bank and physically transfer the funds to the savings account. Now to avoid the hassle of going to the bank and making the physical transfers, once the deposits start you can go to your MyPay site and change the account to which the direct deposit is going, from the direct deposit account to your savings account. After that, you can access your money directly from the savings account and the direct deposit account will be dormant. Hope this helps.

Did it Work? I am retiring in 2008 from Civ service and plan to retire in Thailand. looking for a way to transfer money to bbb on a monthly basis, hoping it worked for you. so I can use that route also.

Skip,USAF retred

[retiredusn]

I have both a Wells Fargo and BofA account in California.

I tried doing a BillPay transfer with Wells Fargo to my Bangkok Bank via the Bangkok Bank office in New York. It did NOT work.

WF showed paying the test $30 transfer, but a week later it showed the transfer to be rejected by BB.

I can transfer from WF ot BofA and visa versa. But I could not get money to BB.

JFYI

I have a preset amount transfered from Wells Fargo each month to SiamCity bank and the only transfer cost is $14.us dollars, any time I need more I can just increase it online.

[Gumballl]

I recently performed a wire transfer from my BofA account to my BB account. The amount I transferred was $500. My BB account was credited with 16427 Baht. For a small amount like this, does anyone know what BB charged me for this transaction? Would the fee that is charged increase if I were to transfer, say, $1500?

I would like to know if it would be less expensive to withdraw using the ATM card? I know BofA charges a flat fee of $5 plus a 1% foreign currency exchange fee. With the wire transfer costing me $3, plus whatever BB charged me, it might be cheaper to rely on ATM withdrawals.

Is it possible to go into a BB branch office to withdraw 60,000 Baht using my BofA Visa/Debit/ATM card?

Edited December 31, 2007 by Gumballl

[Pib]

I use both the BOA civilian-version and BOA Military Banks (two separate business units/banks under BOA) to accomplish online wire transfer of funds to Bangkok Bank every few months. I've got accounts at both banks. I even faxed in the request one time to BOA Military when their online wire transfer function was down for a day or so. Both banks have their transfer cost advantages depending on the amount and how fast you want to send the money. I've used both the Bangkok Bank SWIFT code and Bangkok Bank New York Routing Number depending on the amount/how fast it needs to arrive Thailand.

If routing the money through the Bangkok Bank New York, they tap off a $5 fee....this $5 is in addition to the fee is charged by BOA Civilian or Military Banks to "initiate" the wire transfer (the fees vary depending on the BOA bank, how fast the money needs to transfer, etc). Then Bangkok Bank (in Thailand) charges 200 Bath minimum, and depending on the amount being transferred, up to 500 Baht maximum to receive wire.

About the cheapest you can get by on a transfer using the BOA Civilan-version Bank is using a 3 business day transfer which costs a $3 wire transfer initiation fee (or $10 if using next business day transfer), $5 fee as it goes through the Bangkok Bank New York, and then 200 Baht (or approx $6) on the receiving end at Bangkok Bank in Thailand...total wire transfer cost about $14 (or $21 if using next business day).

So, excluding the wire initiation fee which is above and beyond the amount that you wire over (i.e., wire $1000, the home bank will charge you account $1000 "plus" the wire initiation fee), some of the money will be "siphoned off for other fees as it routes into your bank account in Thailand." So far, wiring money using BOA has worked fine.

Edited December 31, 2007 by Pib

[richard10365]

For all you military folks out there, I'm retired Army too. I switched from using BOA to send my money to having my paycheck delivered straight to Thailand. The only thing you pay is the $5 for BKK Bank NY and the conversion fee here in Thailand (200 Baht). I use MyPay (DOD folks know what this is) to send my paycheck straight to Thailand from the U.S. Treasury.

[Pib]

Thanks for the info regarding using MyPay. For sending that monthly retirement check automatically, definitely no use sending it to a U.S. bank first, just to turn around and resend it. Now if DFAS will only recognize Thai banks for VFR-direct payments (i.e., DFAS sends direct to an in-country Thai bank vs going thru an intermediary bank) that would eliminate another wire transfer fee other than the fee the receiving Thai bank charges.

Question: under the way you have your money transmitted from DFAS, do you get an "in-country" exchange rate or a lower "wholesale/off shore exchange rate?" I expect since the transfer probably still goes thru a intermediary bank (Bangkok Bank NY I expect), you are probably getting the higher in-country TT rate. Thanks and Happy New Year.

[bikerlou47]

Here is a service my bank has I just found out about. I don't know if similiar banks have the same.

I can save on my ATM fees with this. ATM fees here in Thailand are $5 US when I use my Bank of America ATM visa card. My Bangkok Bank ATM fees are 20 baht. It adds up if you use your card alot.

My Bank of America online account has a feature that allows me to transfer money from my checking account in the USA to my Bangkok Bank LTD account here in Thailand.

I can transfer my entire pension here for $3 US (3 day process) or $10 US (next day process)

For the 3 day process, I can transfer $10,000. For next day I can only transfer $2000.

I wish I had that much to transfer every month.

This also maybe a possibility for you guys that have BOA in the states, I for some reason am considered a PREMIER CUSTOMER.

As a PREMIER CUSTOMER my wire transfers are done at no charge and I get a PREMIER BANKER who takes care of my transfers. On the 15th of every month she wires to my BKK account my pension funds. I dont have to think about it she handles it for me.

Also when I use my BOA ATM card it at no charge.

My suggestion is for you to contact the BOA and request to be a premier customer. It works for me and I have been doing it for 3 years.

[Pib]

Thanks for the info. Looked at the BOA site and it appears the premier service is focused towards those folks with $100,000 in combined deposits, investments, lines of credit and loans (not including a first mortgage) or $500,000 in combined balances (including a first mortgage) with Bank of America and its affiliates. And the service only applies if a person open an account in selected states (about 20 or so of the 50 states).