Usa Security Going To Online Deposits Only

[Jingthing]

(Correction: should be Social Security in the headline.)

My understanding is that soon the only way to get your SS check is through an online transfer to a USA based account.

This is another reason that highlights the importance for Americans to maintain some USA based accounts, even if that means (as it often does) maintaining an ersatz US residence address.

Personally, I am disgusted at the hoops American expats have to go through in dealing with USA based financial institutions, but ignore this reality at your own risk.

Edited May 2, 2011 by Jingthing

[gosompoi]

Bangkok Bank has a US branch in NY with America banking routing number for you accounts in Thailand. I get America electronic checks/deposits sent to my Thai account using the Bangkok Bank routing number in NY no problem.

[jimky]

fwiw when at the embassy in Bangkok for another reason while in the waiting room a man at the window was wanting his social security checks paid to Thailand. He was told there how to do it, and also told that it was only possible with Bangkok bank. I wasn't paying attention but believe he was given a form to update his address to Thailand and then told verbally how to now go set this up with Bangkok bank.

[gosompoi]

Here is the link for more information.

http://www.bangkokbank.com/Bangkok%20Bank/Business%20Banking/SMEs/Transfering%20Funds/Receiving%20Funds/Pages/Advice_Internet_Banking.aspx

[maxman71]

Correct me if I am wrong, but Citi and BofA have branches in BKK. Should be possible to have the checks E-deposited in the US and then transferred to the branch in BKK?

[jimky]

Correct me if I am wrong, but Citi and BofA have branches in BKK. Should be possible to have the checks E-deposited in the US and then transferred to the branch in BKK?

March 28, 2011 was the day I was at the embassy waiting when the older lady at the counter was quite adamant in telling the person she was helping Bangkok Bank was the only bank he could have his Social Security payment direct deposited to. When he tried to tell her okay he'll take care of it later, she was quite persistent that he was required to update his address with them to Thailand and once he did he must set this up at Bangkok Bank. Now she could have been misinformed and there are other banks it is possible, or maybe she owns stock in Bangkok Bank, but just passing on here while i wasn't paying attention to the conversation, I am positive that what she told the man she is helping is that Bangkok Bank was the only option,

[JimGant]

My understanding is that soon the only way to get your SS check is through an online transfer to a USA based account.

Are you saying the current Direct Deposit of your Social Security check to Bangkok Bank is going away?

See the following link HERE

And note the embedded link to the Social Security Administration.

Now, I don't find Direct Deposit useful, since you have to appear in person to collect the money. So, having your SS, and other pensions, deposited in a USA account -- then ACH transfered to Thailand, as needed -- has IMO more utility. But, if you don't have a USA account, Direct Deposit works ok.

[JimGant]

I am positive that what she told the man she is helping is that Bangkok Bank was the only option,

And she is correct for the Direct Deposit system.

Edited May 2, 2011 by JimGant

[Langsuan Man]

Correct me if I am wrong, but Citi and BofA have branches in BKK. Should be possible to have the checks E-deposited in the US and then transferred to the branch in BKK?

One would think so but unfortunately that is not true in practice

BofA only has a commercial office here in LOS (for businesses only) and Citi Bank is more like a franchise since having a Citi Bank account in the US, Germany, or anywhere else means absolutely nothing to them (ie: no EFTS between countries)

The only possible advantage is that if you are in Bangkok and have your SS checks deposited in a Citi bank account in the US, you may not have to pay a fee to get that money out of the Thai Citi Bank ATM

[jfchandler]

The only possible advantage is that if you are in Bangkok and have your SS checks deposited in a Citi bank account in the US, you may not have to pay a fee to get that money out of the Thai Citi Bank ATM

LSM, AFAIK, the one CitiBank ATMs location in Bangkok, their HQ at Asoke and Sukhumvit, has ATMs that don't charge any 150 baht ATM withdrawal fee for using any U.S. bank card. Though it does seem to produce a slightly lesser exchange rate than AEON ATMs, by comparison.

However, it's a separate issue as to whether CitiBank USA would charge a U.S. withdrawal fee, or foreign currency surcharge, for using their U.S. bank card in Thailand (abroad) at the CitiBank ATMs here. The latter is a question I don't know the answer to.

More broadly, I agree with Jim's thinking about the advantages of starting the deposit to a U.S. account. Apart from the reasons Jim gives above, I'd add another that BKK Bank is the only Thai bank that currently provides that ACH facility.

Given the way Thailand works, who knows whether that will continue indefinitely into the future. I'm not saying I think that service is likely to be cancelled, because I don't. But I'd feel better about it if there was more than one Thai bank that was offering the same capability.

Edited May 3, 2011 by jfchandler

[Gonsalviz]

Correct me if I am wrong, but Citi and BofA have branches in BKK. Should be possible to have the checks E-deposited in the US and then transferred to the branch in BKK?

March 28, 2011 was the day I was at the embassy waiting when the older lady at the counter was quite adamant in telling the person she was helping Bangkok Bank was the only bank he could have his Social Security payment direct deposited to. When he tried to tell her okay he'll take care of it later, she was quite persistent that he was required to update his address with them to Thailand and once he did he must set this up at Bangkok Bank. Now she could have been misinformed and there are other banks it is possible, or maybe she owns stock in Bangkok Bank, but just passing on here while i wasn't paying attention to the conversation, I am positive that what she told the man she is helping is that Bangkok Bank was the only option,

Probably the only one she knows.

[jfchandler]

The difference with the BKK Bank route vs. others (including CitiBank) is more direct vs. indirect...

The arrangement with the federal deposits into a BKK Bank account means you choose that account as your federal direct deposit and then the funds automatically arrive each month into your BKK account. You do, however, have to physically go to the BKK Bank account branch to collect them. And they go into a special account that doesn't, for example, have ATM access.

Apart from that, of course, a person can arrange to have their federal payment direct deposited into pretty much any U.S. bank account of their choice including a CitiBank account. However, that's where the proposition gets a bit more complicated.

At that point, a person in Thailand could withdraw those funds directly via ATM in Thailand from their U.S. account. However, preferably, they'd need to be careful that the U.S. account they're using doesn't charge foreign currency exchange fees and or foreign ATM use fees.... And on the Thai end, that they're only using AEON ATMs to avoid the Thai banks' 150 baht withdrawal fee for foreign ATM cards.

CitiBank, AFAIK, doesn't offer for its regular consumer accounts any free international funds transfer capability or direct deposit of federal funds into their Thailand accounts. And last time I checked, they also have foreign currency fees when their ATM cards are used abroad. What I don't know, however, is whether U.S. CitiBank ATM/debit card users can withdraw funds from their U.S. accounts at the CitiBank ATMs at Asoke and Sukhumvit without paying any foreign currency fee from their U.S. bank.

Maybe some CitiBank customers here can chime in on that... If such withdrawals were free, then the only limitation vs. the BKK Bank route would be that ATM withdrawals typically have a daily limit such as 25,000 baht per pull.... And also, of course, that not everyone lives/works in an area convenient to CitiBank's one BKK ATMs location in Thailand.

[jfchandler]

OK, as I suspected, here's the reason a U.S. CitiBank account holder would NOT want to use their U.S. CitiBank ATM/debit card to withdraw funds in Thailand, even from CitiBank's own ATMs...

CitiBank USA, thanks very much, doesn't charge its own customers any flat fee for using CitiBank ATMs abroad.... What's called a foreign ATM fee...

However, CitiBank USA does charge its own regular customers a 3% foreign currency exchange fee on both ATM withdrawals and purchases made abroad...even from their own ATMs... The only exception is for CitiGold customers who have a high relationship value balance ($50,000 or more) with Citi, and they waive the fee for those customers...

See the following excerpts from Citi's USA web site:

Edited May 4, 2011 by jfchandler