Why Doesnt "Me Too" Apply to Democrats?

[mstribling]

Has anyone had any experiences with their US employer depositing their payroll checks via direct deposit into BKK bank accounts?

I understand the process to set it up. I'm curious if anyone has actually done it?

Thanks.

[lopburi3]

This could have tax implications so might not be the best idea. If you just pull money earned in a previous year Thailand does not attempt to tax.

[mstribling]

This could have tax implications so might not be the best idea. If you just pull money earned in a previous year Thailand does not attempt to tax.

hmmm Have to think about that.

[Pib]

Assuming you have direct deposit setup now with your employer and they send it to a US bank now, it would work no differently in sending your paycheck to Bangkok Bank. When you setup a direct deposit with a US private employer or even the US govt, all you are doing is providing your employer the Routing number of the your bank and your bank account number. When the employer transmits your pay, the employer does not charge a fee nor will your US bank for receiving the funds. But sending it to a Thai bank, like Bangkok Bank, there will be fees applied by Bangkok Bank as it flows through their New York branch (they take their slice) and when your local in-Thailand branch receives the funds. This is nothing more than an ACH electronic transfer of funds.

Every funds transfer action flows with "coding" further describing the type of payment. It's coding you don't see, but the banks can see and utilize. "If it was a US govt pension" like for military retirement, social security, VA, etc., then Bangkok Bank is probably going to see special coding in the transfer that says it's a US Govt payment, and require you to come in to set up a Direct Deposit account to continue to receive the funds. It's just another Bangkok Bank account that earns interest, HOWEVER, BUT, you can not have internet banking, telephone, ATM banking linked to the account. The only way to withdraw or transfer funds is to physically show up at the bank with your passport for ID and your passbook to accomplish the withdrawal/transfer in person. ONLY YOU IN PERSON CAN GET TO THE MONEY. This is driven by Bangkok Bank and other Thai banks trying to comply with a US law to prevent fraud where a govt pensioner dies which means the pension payment is suppose to stop, but the spouse/family don't notify the govt and the pension continues to flow and be withdrawn/spent by spouse/familyanyone who was listed on a regular type joint account...this is fraud. If you can't personally show up to withdraw/transfer funds this you just might be dead.

But for a paycheck payment from a private employer like you are probably talking about the transfer coding is different; so having to setup a special direct deposit account shouldn't be required. You can just deposit directly into your regular account which has internet banking, phone banking, ATM access, etc. Just use the Bangkok Bank routing number and your Bangkok Bank account number. But keep in mind you won't be able to flow money from the account back to the US except in special situations. Whatever money you send over it shouldn't be more than "you and yours in Thailand" need to live on.

Do a search on TV regarding funds transfers and it will pull up a ton of previous posts. Plus looked at the pinned topics in this forum which talk about it a lot.

Edited January 24, 2011 by Pib

[JimGant]

This could have tax implications so might not be the best idea. If you just pull money earned in a previous year Thailand does not attempt to tax.

I doubt the Thai revenuers are on top of all the US direct deposits to Thai banks. And even if they are, they're probably smart enough to realize that those that represent 'taxable income' also have related W-2 and 1099 forms. And that there's a tax treaty with the US to preclude double taxation -- and that the US, in the above situations, gets dibs first.

Now, if you were a Euro, with no home country taxes while abroad, yeah, direct deposit might not be too smart. But, as a Yank, your privilege to fund being the world's policeman should preclude any Thai taxes.

[mstribling]

Thanks for the replies and the information. I assume your experiences were positive.

[JimGant]

I had a discussion on this forum awhile back with, I believe, Pib, who was doing some direct deposits of Gov't checks into BB via BB NY. My point then, and now, was it made more sense to direct deposit all and any Gov't and private pension checks into a US bank account, then ACH whatever and whenever to BB via BB NY.

For Gov't checks, this meant you didn't need to have a special "show up in person" BB account, but could just ACH to your BB savings account, accessible via Internet or ATM machine. Plus, the ACH/BB Thailand costs were the same as a direct deposit -- but you controlled the timing and amounts. Assuming you're not living hand-to-mouth, this would seem a nice flexibility to have.

It doesn't seem too hard to maintain a US bank account, even when full-time retired in Thailand. Some banks are better than others, for ease and expense of ACH transfers. But, the majority seem to be of the friendly variety (with USAA, if you qualify, being right at the top).

So, something to ponder. Pib, I'm sure, can elaborate on the comparisons.

[Pib]

Yes, I did do the direct deposit for part of my military pension to Bkk Bank for about nine months. I switched to this method when Bank of America which was my prime stateside bank at the ime instituted the policy of needing a SafePass card for any ACH transfer over $1000. A person could also use SafePass via SMS password but this only worked on cell phone systems in the U.S. Since it's harder than heck to order and get a SafePass card outside the 50 states (BofA policy), even with an APO address like I have, it took me over six months to get the SafePass card. So during this "I gotta get a SafePass card" goat-rope, I switched to just having DFAS send part of my pension (an allotment) directly to Bkk Bank since this allotment pretty much met my monthly living expenses. Initially I set the direct deposit up to flow to my regular Bkk Bank account and that worked OK for about two months, but then one day I got that letter from Bkk Bank saying that since the monthly payment was coming from a US govt agency I had to set up a Direct Deposit account to continue to receive the funds. So, I went in and setup a Bkk Bank Direct Deposit account. Actually, it works OK, can save you some ACH transfer fees if you current stateside bank charges such fees for outbound transfers (many do...like BofA charges $3...many banks charge a lot more), etc. But as I mentioned above it does have the down side of needing to physically go to a BKk Bank outlet (I always used the little outlets in Lotus and Big C near me) to withdraw funds or transfer funds to your regular Bkk Bank account which has the ATM, internet banking banking, phone banking privileges.

But I now have an account with USAA in the states which provides free outbound ACH transfers. So, I have my pension go to USAA and then I transfer funds as required/when needed from USAA to my regular Bkk Bank account and/or the old Direct Deposit account, which is basically no more than an account in your name only and you must physically appear before a bank clerk to get funds. Yea, getting funds transferred from the States to Thailand without paying a lot of fees can get challenging sometimes, depends on your Stateside banks/credit unions, and other issues that just seem to pop up over night sometimes. If there is one constant, it's change. Cheers.

Edited January 25, 2011 by Pib

[mstribling]

Thanks for the replies. I am going through the ACH goat-rope right now. I bank with Fidelity and they seem to be a pain in the ass to set this up.

I was actually inquiring about a payroll check.

I intend to keep my Mil retirement and VA checks going to my stateside bank, and have my employee checks deposited in BKK bank to give wife some funds while i'm out playing.

Thanks.

[Pib]

Thanks for the replies. I am going through the ACH goat-rope right now. I bank with Fidelity and they seem to be a pain in the ass to set this up.

I was actually inquiring about a payroll check.

I intend to keep my Mil retirement and VA checks going to my stateside bank, and have my employee checks deposited in BKK bank to give wife some funds while i'm out playing.

Thanks.

Piece of cake....just use the Bangkok Bank NY branch routing number and your in-Thailand Bangkok Bank branch savings account number.....absolutely no different than using the routing and account number of a States-side bank. Cheers.

[JimGant]

I am going through the ACH goat-rope right now. I bank with Fidelity and they seem to be a pain in the ass to set this up....I intend to keep my Mil retirement and VA checks going to my stateside bank,

Sounds like you qualify for USAA Federal Savings Bank. Set-up on-line. Search this forum for the related kudos. Expat friendly too, from their worldwide clientele being military and ex-military types.

[mstribling]

Thanks for all the sound advice.

[Pib]

Just FYI, per this late breaking CNN news article at http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2011/pf/1101/gallery.least_evil_banks/3.html they have ranked USAA as one of the eight "least evil" US banks. Other banks on the list I routinely read ThaiVisa posts about are Capital One and Charles Schwab. Just FYI.