Why Doesnt "Me Too" Apply to Democrats?

[mstribling]

Have read multiple posts on this subject, however nothing really recent.

I currently have a US bank and will be opening an account with Bangkok Bank mid- next week.

In the past, several people had a variety of experiences doing an ACH transfer from their stateside bank to BBK bank.

Any updates? Is this still a feasible route to go?

[lopburi3]

Use every month or so and works well.

[craigt3365]

Let's move this over to the Jobs, economy, banking, business, investments forum.

P.S. I do this on a fairly regular basis and it works great. Just moved a large sum to Thailand a few weeks ago. Once setup, it's painless and only takes 2 or 3 business days.

//Moved//

[Pib]

Assuming the correct routing number for the Bangkok Bank New York and the correct account number for your local, in-Thailand Bangkok Bank is used, how easy or possible the ACH transfer is will all depend on your US Sending bank. It's totally up to the Sending bank as to whether they will ACH transfers to certain other banks.

For years I have used Bank of America (BOA) to do ACH transfers to BKK Bank but there were two periods where BOA temporarily dropped BKK Bank from the BOA approved list of banks they would do ACH transfers to. You could continue to do SWIFT transfers at a healthy fee, but not low cost ACH transfers. When calling BOA to find out more about the problem the rep would usually say BKK Bank NY was dropped due to some BOA customers being suspected of doing suspected fraudulent/illegal transfers to BKK Bank. About this time you would see a flurry of post on ThaiVisa that they couldn't get the BOA ACH transfers to BKK Bank to work anymore. But each time within a few months BKK Bank was back on the BOA list of banks that ACH transfers could be done to. I last did a ACH transfer from BOA to BKK approx 4 months ago..no problem. I think my last ACH transfer problem with BOA ocurred about 3 years ago...and that problem lasted about one month. I've also recently opened up a USAA bank account and did a ACH transfer in late Dec no problem.

There are also some Sending banks that may tell you they can't do ACH transfers to BKK Bank but can do a SWIFT transfer---beware of these banks as they are just fee-hungry...after that much higher SWIFT transfer fee.

"I all depends on your Sending bank" but there should be no problem unless that bank has experienced recent fraudulent transfers to BKK Bank and temporarily put a hold on doing such transfers to BKK Bank....but fraudulent transfers can occur to any bank/country in the world. Or, the Sending bank is a fee-hungry bank and will tell you they can only send SWIFT transfers. This is probably why you have seen some posts that ACH transfers could not be done to BKK Bank. You have also probably seen posts where their banks would not do an ACH transfers to BKK Bank and then a few weeks/months later that same poster would make an update post that his bank is once again doing ACH transfers to BKK Bank. Summary: you should have no problems at all...and some home country/sending banks can be a real pain in doing funds transfers.

[InterestedObserver]

Yup, transferring funds to your Bangkok Bank account in Thailand via their New York branch is painless and reliable. Details on the Bangkok Bank website HERE. Any problems will be with your home bank.

Edited January 8, 2011 by InterestedObserver

[asiawatcher]

Just remember at this point there are no IBAN numbers - International Bank Account Number - on Thai banks when passing connection details as all banks here are still on SWIFT - Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication.

[ronz28]

We just did a wire transfer last week from our credit union account through the NY Branch of Bangkok Bank to a Bangkok Bank Account holder in Bangkok and the money was there in Thailand in two hours with no problems. Our credit union wouldn't do an ACH transfer but charged $20 to wire it to Bankok Bank NY office.

[Pib]

We just did a wire transfer last week from our credit union account through the NY Branch of Bangkok Bank to a Bangkok Bank Account holder in Bangkok and the money was there in Thailand in two hours with no problems. Our credit union wouldn't do an ACH transfer but charged $20 to wire it to Bangkok Bank NY office.

So typical of many credit unions in that they only do the high cost SWIFT transfers versus also offering the much lower cost or free ACH transfers also. I have a credit union that is the same way...but my credit union offers very good savings account interest rates plus a few other nice benefits, so that is why I still maintain an account with them. Plus, I can do ACH funds pushes/pulls to or from from my credit union by using one of my "other banks" that provided free/low cost ACH online/counter service. That way I can still get the higher savings account interests rates provided by my credit union, but also have the ability to easily and quickly transfer money in and out. Pull the funds from my credit union into my other bank and then from my bank push-out the money to where ever, like Bangkok Bank.

Many times to get the best all around banking service, lowest fees, highest checking/savings interest rates, free/low cost ACH transfers, etc., a person needs to have multiple bank/credit union/brokerage accounts. Plus it provides some protection/a Plan B against causing money flow problems if one of your financial institutions rapidly changes some of their policies/fees, especially related to funds transfers. Having accounts at different financial institutions and being able to interlink/easily/quickly move money between these accounts via onine ACH transfers (or equivalent system) is basically like having one virtual financial institution in the sky to maintain and manage your money.