What Bank Are Doing Best Exchange Rates Now

[dmax]

i need to send a swift transfer later on today ( 14th april ) from uk to thailand, i have 3 accounts in thailand with ( kasikorn, ayuthya, siam commercial ) i was looking on their websites today and i cannot see the exchange rates . so what i want to know is generally which bank out of the 3 of these is giving the best rates at the moment.

i did notice last month before i came back to uk that ayuthya where doing the best rates for around a week beating even the chinese exchange,s who i usually went to . i know all bank exchanges are going up and down by the hour but i only want to know who are generally giving the best rates at the minute.

thanks in advance

[4evermaat]

single best tool I've used many times before taking a trip to the ATM: http://bankexchanger...et/default.aspx

After making a small paypal donation along with several recommendations, they now use a cookie to store your previous settings. In other words, once you select your currency and rate type (usually "TT" rate), it will save that setting so you don't have to re-do this everytime you visit the site.

Of course I try to make it to an AEON atm when possible, so I avoid the 150 baht fee. And they usually have best rates anyway (I think its the VISA rate). They are not a bank, but a credit card company. You can also go inside Bangkok Bank and do cash advance, but it takes longer and works well only if you remember to bring passport with you that day.

[dmax]

thanks matt .

[Ayutthaya69]

thanks matt .

the reason you canot loocking becaus all bank closed for songkran the bank would be open next monday 18 of april

[pkrv]

Kasikombank here,

http://www.kasikornbank.com/EN/RatesAndFees/ForeignExchange/Pages/ForeignExchange.aspx

ayuthya here - interesting isn't it?

http://www.krungsri.com/en/foreign-exchange-rates.aspx

Siam here,

http://203.147.4.235/Bankrate/exchange_rate.htm

And Bangkok Bank (BBL), here

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

[dmax]

thanks again ive sent the money from uk to thailand allready, do i get more by sending money by swift transfer ? or bring the cash with me and change them in thailand ?

[pkrv]

thanks again ive sent the money from uk to thailand allready, do i get more by sending money by swift transfer ? or bring the cash with me and change them in thailand ?

It depends on how much we are talking about - from the UK a largish SWIFT transfer is about £20 (GBP) - but you get the TT rate. Smaller transfers incur, well basically, the cash tourist rate (usually very, very poor). You have to do the sums yourself.

But the sums do add up, depending on what you wish to do – i.e. how much you wish to transfer.

[maxtingtong]

single best tool I've used many times before taking a trip to the ATM: http://bankexchanger...et/default.aspx

Yes mate, it looks useful, but it's not the real exchange rates you get on the ATM, withdrawing with foreign cards. Is important to remember that when you go to an ATM the exchange rate isn't the one of the thai bank, nor the one of your foreign account, but the VISA or Mastercard one's, depends on your card's circuit, always much worst and hard to know..

:jap:

[4evermaat]

single best tool I've used many times before taking a trip to the ATM: http://bankexchanger...et/default.aspx

Yes mate, it looks useful, but it's not the real exchange rates you get on the ATM, withdrawing with foreign cards. Is important to remember that when you go to an ATM the exchange rate isn't the one of the thai bank, nor the one of your foreign account, but the VISA or Mastercard one's, depends on your card's circuit, always much worst and hard to know..

:jap:

My experience has been the exact opposite. I use the website along with my calculator and get exact total of my withdraw amount. Then login to online banking or call your bank to get the recent transaction dollar amount. The way my bank does it, they charge a SEPARATE foreign transaction fee (1%). Some banks may include the fee in the total amount, but usually fees from the card issuer are calculated separately.

I can no longer do this with AEON, except in retrospect i can do reverse calculation to see what the rate was, and it usually beats the best thailand bank TT rate by a few cents, plus no 150 baht fee.

[4evermaat]

thanks again ive sent the money from uk to thailand allready, do i get more by sending money by swift transfer ? or bring the cash with me and change them in thailand ?

It depends on how much we are talking about - from the UK a largish SWIFT transfer is about £20 (GBP) - but you get the TT rate. Smaller transfers incur, well basically, the cash tourist rate (usually very, very poor). You have to do the sums yourself.

But the sums do add up, depending on what you wish to do – i.e. how much you wish to transfer.

Swift would be quicker for larger transactions, although oanda also has a money transfer service for larger amounts. An EFT/ACH transaction may be cheapest, but may take 2-4 business days to complete.

[pkrv]

thanks again ive sent the money from uk to thailand allready, do i get more by sending money by swift transfer ? or bring the cash with me and change them in thailand ?

It depends on how much we are talking about - from the UK a largish SWIFT transfer is about £20 (GBP) - but you get the TT rate. Smaller transfers incur, well basically, the cash tourist rate (usually very, very poor). You have to do the sums yourself.

But the sums do add up, depending on what you wish to do – i.e. how much you wish to transfer.

Swift would be quicker for larger transactions, although oanda also has a money transfer service for larger amounts. An EFT/ACH transaction may be cheapest, but may take 2-4 business days to complete.

This seems US centric - From a UK perspective I use Bangkok Bank's (BBL) correspondent bank in the UK, but I could use SWIFT via say Nationwide. I understand the guys in the US also make use of their BBL's correspondent bank

USA here:

http://www.bangkokba...from%20usa.aspx

UK here:

http://www.bangkokba...0from%20uk.aspx

They have recently overhauled their UK offering - it is much improved.

But you have to have a BBL account.

[jfchandler]

The OP has already sent his funds, but the question raised remains a valid one... And the answer depends on a lot of different factors that may vary in each individual situation, including how much money the person wants to move into Thailand in one transaction, and what kind of home country bank cards they have available to them in terms of their foreign currency fees (or hopefully lack thereof).

Generally speaking, I'd rank the options in the following general order of value/cost effectiveness:

1. If the person can use a home country bank card that charges NO foreign currency exchange fees, then keeping the funds in that home country account and using that bank card in Thailand to make withdrawals from AEON's ATMs is going to produce the best available result. No fee from the home country bank, no fee from AEON, and AEON's ATMs provide the prevailing full VISA or MC network exchange rate.

However, AEON ATMs have limits on the amount that can be withdrawn per transaction, something like 35,000 baht per pull. And the person's home bank account likely has some kind of daily ATM withdrawal limit per 24 hour cycle. So if someone needs to pull a very large amount of funds all at once, then other options are better. But for routine travel or vacationing or living expenses, the AEON option is the tops. Yet, some folks don't have access to no foreign currency fee bank accounts, and if one's ATM card is charging a 3% foreign currency fee, then the situation and economics change.

2. At least for Americans, the internal BKK Bank transfer method of going thru BKK Bank's New York branch almost always works out to be more cost effective than traditional international wire transfers/SWIFT transfers, because of the usually hefty fees the home country banks typically charge for those, plus the additional fees charged by intermediary banks when they get involved, and then a small % fee charged by the receiving bank in Thailand.

Using BKK Bank's internal transfer method through the New York branch has a small sliding scale fee based on the amount being sent, there are no intermediaries involved in charging fees, and BKK Bank in Thailand charges a 0.25% receiving fee, minimum 200 baht and maximum 500 baht. The sum of those fees for a given transfer almost always will work out to be less than a traditional international wire transfer. For Brits, BKK Bank has a similar arrangement through their London Branch, but someone like PKRV or others should speak more to the details of that for the Brits. And of course, one would need to have a BKK Bank account in Thailand to use those methods.

3. After that, you get into the area of traditional wire transfers through individual home country banks, where the total of all the fees involved can vary widely, or the various online money transfer agents. Needless to say, those like Western Union and MoneyGram aren't particularly cost effective. Regarding PayPal, and using a PayPal account in one's home country to send money to one's PayPal account in Thailand, I did an analysis of my own on that a few months back that showed it less cost effective than the no fee ATM method and BKK Bank's US/New York method... But how it would compare with traditional international wire transfers would depend, I suppose, on the cost/fee details of the particular banks involved.

[pkrv]

The OP has already sent his funds, but the question raised remains a valid one... And the answer depends on a lot of different factors that may vary in each individual situation, including how much money the person wants to move into Thailand in one transaction, and what kind of home country bank cards they have available to them in terms of their foreign currency fees (or hopefully lack thereof).

Generally speaking, I'd rank the options in the following general order of value/cost effectiveness:

1. If the person can use a home country bank card that charges NO foreign currency exchange fees, then keeping the funds in that home country account and using that bank card in Thailand to make withdrawals from AEON's ATMs is going to produce the best available result. No fee from the home country bank, no fee from AEON, and AEON's ATMs provide the prevailing full VISA or MC network exchange rate.

However, AEON ATMs have limits on the amount that can be withdrawn per transaction, something like 35,000 baht per pull. And the person's home bank account likely has some kind of daily ATM withdrawal limit per 24 hour cycle. So if someone needs to pull a very large amount of funds all at once, then other options are better. But for routine travel or vacationing or living expenses, the AEON option is the tops. Yet, some folks don't have access to no foreign currency fee bank accounts, and if one's ATM card is charging a 3% foreign currency fee, then the situation and economics change.

2. At least for Americans, the internal BKK Bank transfer method of going thru BKK Bank's New York branch almost always works out to be more cost effective than traditional international wire transfers/SWIFT transfers, because of the usually hefty fees the home country banks typically charge for those, plus the additional fees charged by intermediary banks when they get involved, and then a small % fee charged by the receiving bank in Thailand.

Using BKK Bank's internal transfer method through the New York branch has a small sliding scale fee based on the amount being sent, there are no intermediaries involved in charging fees, and BKK Bank in Thailand charges a 0.25% receiving fee, minimum 200 baht and maximum 500 baht. The sum of those fees for a given transfer almost always will work out to be less than a traditional international wire transfer. For Brits, BKK Bank has a similar arrangement through their London Branch, but someone like PKRV or others should speak more to the details of that for the Brits. And of course, one would need to have a BKK Bank account in Thailand to use those methods.

3. After that, you get into the area of traditional wire transfers through individual home country banks, where the total of all the fees involved can vary widely, or the various online money transfer agents. Needless to say, those like Western Union and MoneyGram aren't particularly cost effective. Regarding PayPal, and using a PayPal account in one's home country to send money to one's PayPal account in Thailand, I did an analysis of my own on that a few months back that showed it less cost effective than the no fee ATM method and BKK Bank's US/New York method... But how it would compare with traditional international wire transfers would depend, I suppose, on the cost/fee details of the particular banks involved.

Hi jfchandler - excellent response as always - and you clearly identify your US slant to the argument.

From a UK perspective - there are now no cards that give you the true exchange rate and no fee for cash point withdrawls - This evaporated with Nationwide’s (a UK Building/Savings society) FLEX card

I personaly use the i24 card as a global international credit card (even in Thailand)

http://www.barclayca...ta/special.html

(Commission-free foreign exchange. Barclaycard i24 doesn't charge you when you make purchases abroad. You'll even continue to earn cash back on your spend wherever you go in the world)

BUT it is rather critical you pay it off every month otherwise the costs are astronomical!

I still use the Nationwide card for other foreign countries (other than Thailand) because it does (I THINK) still give a good FX rate

I use my BBL account in Thailand for all cash point withdrawals and simply send over a largish sum (last time about £10,000) to cover expenses for severl years to come via BBL London - it's fine, great rate (the TT rate) but was a tad slow last time about 7 working days.

[jfchandler]

From a UK perspective - there are now no cards that give you the true exchange rate and no fee for cash point withdrawls - This evaporated with Nationwide’s (a UK Building/Savings society) FLEX card

I'll admit to not being a Brit, as you already know... But I'm also aware and have read a fair amount from other Brits about the no foreign currency fee current account/ATM card available from MetroBank in London.... Seems to fit the bill as a replacement for Nationwide.... Though I gather you do have to open an account with them at one of their branches and can't do so only online...

https://www.metrobankonline.co.uk/Global/Important%20Summaries/IIS%20Current%20Account.pdf

From my recollection, there also are a couple of other Building Societies in the UK that still have no foreign currency fees on some of their accounts/ATM cards. But I gather they're limited to people who live in their particular service areas.... Whereas I don't believe MetroBank has any residency restrictions on new account openings.

[pkrv]

From a UK perspective - there are now no cards that give you the true exchange rate and no fee for cash point withdrawls - This evaporated with Nationwide's (a UK Building/Savings society) FLEX card

I'll admit to not being a Brit, as you already know... But I'm also aware and have read a fair amount from other Brits about the no foreign currency fee current account/ATM card available from MetroBank in London.... Seems to fit the bill as a replacement for Nationwide.... Though I gather you do have to open an account with them at one of their branches and can't do so only online...

https://www.metroban...t%20Account.pdf

http://www.thaivisa...._1#entry4284613

From my recollection, there also are a couple of other Building Societies in the UK that still have no foreign currency fees on some of their accounts/ATM cards. But I gather they're limited to people who live in their particular service areas.... Whereas I don't believe MetroBank has any residency restrictions on new account openings.

Hi Again - yes I have heard of this but have not really bothered to investigate further. For me cash point withdrawals which are now becoming increasingly rare (I earn cash from using the i24 credit card) are as follows

UK - SMILE (Co-op bank internet banking arm)

Thailand - BBL

Other countries well it is sort of a cost vs. hassle issue - I will use i24 every time I can use a credit card, and will simply exchange pure UK cash for the destination currency at a UK (Royal Mail) post office.

If I run out of cash fine, I pay the £3.00 fee on my nationwide account which has fallen into almost disuse, but still has emergency funds in it.

As a rule of thumb you should have cash reserves/assets in your local currency/currencies. For us that is THB and GBP.

[uffit]

The best you can do is to bring cash and go change .....

http://superrich.co.th/app/our_rates.aspx

Link for exchange rates/ Thaibanks

http://bankexchangerates.daytodaydata.net/default.aspx

uffit

[4evermaat]

I cannot comment on UK or AUS, but USA the better banks/credit unions are those that are "military friendly" or "federal gov't friendly" And in many cases you do not need to actually be an employee of federal govt to qualify for membership. Those banks will give you the best overseas deals (low or no fees on overseas.

Open that account with BBL or any Thai bank that will allow non-cost electronic funds transfer.

I broke down the different transfer options in this post. http://www.thaivisa....ost__p__4235714

I think some posts above actually covered it well also.

I'm sure the other western countries have a similar strategy to picking out the best local banks to use overseas?

[SantiSuk]

^^ I agree. If you can stand the risk of bringing hard cash and you have the time to hunt around the exchange shops you'll get a better rate than the banks (UK or Thai) will offer and no prospect of bank or ATM fees. I reckon you get about half a baht to the pound additional using this route. Curiously I usually get a better rate at a bank's exchange booth at Ubon airport than I do in Bangkok.

This route is not much good for long term stayers or those who are buying a condo or building a house though.

[pkrv]

This route is not much good for long term stayers or those who are buying a condo or building a house though.

True

[jfchandler]

The best you can do is to bring cash and go change .....

http://superrich.co..../our_rates.aspx

Link for exchange rates/ Thaibanks

http://bankexchanger...et/default.aspx

uffit

Not sure about that advice....

Using a no-fee ATM card at an AEON ATM will always produces an exchange rate very close to the Bank of Thailand's Interbank Exchange Rate and/or XRates.com's daily rate, which usually are pretty close to each other. The XRates rate for the U.S.dollar on Friday was 30.13 baht to $1. The BOT didn't post an IER figure for the day because of the Song Kran holidays...

The SuperRich web site's best rate for its main Rajadamri branch on Friday for buying U.S. dollars was 29.85 baht to the dollar.

I'll stick with AEON ATMs, thanks very much.

SuperRich is a private business that aims to make a profit on their transactions. The rate delivered by the AEON ATMs, assuming one's home bank card charges no fees, is the VISA or MC network rate. It's going to be pretty tough for any legal private business to offer better than that. And SuperRich obviously doesn't.

They may, however, offer a better exchange rate than the lower "buying TT" rates typically used by the Thai banks in handling wire transfers or counter withdrawals.

[jfchandler]

Open that account with BBL or any Thai bank that will allow non-cost electronic funds transfer.

Maybe you meant to say "low-cost" above, because I don't know of any Thai bank that provides/allows "non-cost" (AKA free) electronic funds transfers from abroad.

All the Thai banks I'm familiar with will charge a percentage fee commission on incoming international funds transfers. And that's in addition to the fees that most home country banks charge for sending international funds transfers, whether by SWIFT or similar.

Even using BKK Bank's internal transfer system from the U.S. to Thailand through their New York branch, the New York branch charges a small fee and then the receiving branch in Thailand charges a 0.25% commission, minimum 200 baht and maximum 500 baht on the incoming funds.

And even then, the Thai bank, BKK or other, at best is going to give you their buying TT rate on incoming transfers.

By comparison, a true no foreign currency fee home country ATM card used at an AEON ATM is going to produce an exchange rate better than the Thai banks' buying TT rate, and that is the VISA/MC networks international exchange rate. And no 150 baht Thai bank ATM withdrawal fee to boot.

[4evermaat]

Open that account with BBL or any Thai bank that will allow non-cost electronic funds transfer.

Maybe you meant to say "low-cost" above, because I don't know of any Thai bank that provides/allows "non-cost" (AKA free) electronic funds transfers from abroad.

Correct, low-cost was a beter terminology. And you can call your bank and request a temporary debit card ATM limit increase for larger withdrawals if needed.

AEON ATM is good. It's too bad that there are none in Patong Beach. You have to drive to phuket town. I've seen them in major shopping malls in Bangkok.

Another factor to consider: the transportation costs. Looking for the best bank rate is good only when you are going in the same direction as the exchange/ATM. A few satang extra will not be worth it if you have to pay 100 baht or more each way to the ATM,

Do your best to open up a bank account locally in thailand and get FULL internet banking priviliges (with SMS password). It will help you all the way around short or long term.

[jfchandler]

Agreed... The main limitation of AEON ATMs is that, while they are located throughout Thailand and not just in BKK, their locations are not so numerous in area outside of BKK.... And so depending on where a person lives/travels, they may or may not be a common-sense, convenient ATM option.

If I didn't have an AEON ATM available to me (but fortunately I do), my next choice would be using a home country bank that doesn't charge any foreign currency fee and reimburses other banks' ATM fees, including those like the 150 baht one charged by Thai banks. If someone has that kind of home country banking arrangement, they can use any Thai bank ATM and come out with basically the same rate as an AEON withdrawal.

Charles Schwab Bank's checking account fits that criteria... So do some of Capital One's accounts, though their foreign ATM reimbursements have a monthly $ limit. Then there also are a number of smaller and lesser known banks and credit unions that offer the same arrangements, sometimes only for qualifying accounts that require a monthly direct deposit, a minimum monthly balance or other elements.

E*Trade used to offer that kind of service for its qualifying accounts, but last year began charging a 1% foreign currency fee on ATM card use....though they still do reimburse for the Thai banks' 150 baht withdrawal fee.

[4evermaat]

Agreed... The main limitation of AEON ATMs is that, while they are located throughout Thailand and not just in BKK, their locations are not so numerous in area outside of BKK.... And so depending on where a person lives/travels, they may or may not be a common-sense, convenient ATM option.

If I didn't have an AEON ATM available to me (but fortunately I do), my next choice would be using a home country bank that doesn't charge any foreign currency fee and reimburses other banks' ATM fees, including those like the 150 baht one charged by Thai banks. If someone has that kind of home country banking arrangement, they can use any Thai bank ATM and come out with basically the same rate as an AEON withdrawal.

Charles Schwab Bank's checking account fits that criteria... So do some of Capital One's accounts, though their foreign ATM reimbursements have a monthly $ limit. Then there also are a number of smaller and lesser known banks and credit unions that offer the same arrangements, sometimes only for qualifying accounts that require a monthly direct deposit, a minimum monthly balance or other elements.

E*Trade used to offer that kind of service for its qualifying accounts, but last year began charging a 1% foreign currency fee on ATM card use....though they still do reimburse for the Thai banks' 150 baht withdrawal fee.

There is an AEON atm in Big C in phuket town and also Central Phuket town. Unfortunately I didn't know that when I was living near there. I did swing by often and if the ATM wasn't in some obscure location, I could have pulled up to the Big C and did a quick withdraw as needed.

There is one AEON center in Chumphon town down the street from Ocean Mall on the same street as the daily night Bazaar market. Luckily, you have to go to Chumphon town anyway to do most of your major shopping, so it's not "out of the way". Other than those days (still trying to determine if there are exact dates every month or what) where the line is packed with people wanting to pay their bills, I can withdraw quickly; there is no one there. Ironically 8/10 times it is better than going to bangkok bank. Sometimes the line is, well, long. The one at Tesco is much less long, but doesn't have the cash advance machine.

[jfchandler]

It's kind of funny....

Whenever I'm visiting an AEON ATM, I'm always seeing Thai people putting their money into the machine (credit card payments).

I rarely see Thai people pulling money out of the AEON machines... Glad I'm there to keep their ATM machines from overflowing with cash...