Joint Bank Account In Uk Thai Wife

[peterpop]

I have been resident in Thailand for four years. I am legally married to my Thai wife. I am registered with HMRC and the UK Pensions Depatment as resident in Thailand.

I bank with Nationwide in UK. They refuse to allow my wife to become a joint holder of my account. In the future my wife will become the beneficiary of my UK Private pension. This is paid into Nationwide. At that time she will not be able to draw her entitlement.

I need to open an account in UK [or Isle of Man, jersey etc], into which pension payments by BACS transfer can be made, and out of which she can obtain cash by using an ATM Debit Card. I can have SWIFT payments made to an overseas bank but at 25 pds a time.

Otherwise I am unable to find a solution to this. The Nationwide says that she must be resident in UK for three years to open an account. I have no intention of returning to live in UK.

Help please !!

[Artamus]

Try one of the Jersey or Guernsey branches. I had no problem adding my wife to my accounts there with major banks.

[garrfeild]

Don't you have to register the marriage in the UK for her to get the entittlement?

[snuggzzz]

Try HSBC they deal in both Thailand and the UK. It should not be a problem getting an account in both Countries.

[473geo]

I was surprised when my private pension was able to be paid direct into Thai bank, only stipulation was my name had to be on the account.......might be worth a quick check with your pension provider......apologies if you have alread tried this avenue

[AyG]

Are you sure that her withdrawing cash by debit card is a good idea? Nationwide, for example, charges a fixed one pound fee per transaction, plus a percentage spread on the exchange rate. This makes small withdrawals relatively expensive. Much better, in my opinion, to save the money up, then just make one or two SWIFT transfers per year. Incidentally, some banks are significantly cheaper than the GBP 25 you pay.

BTW, are you aware that UK pension payments can be made directly into a Thai bank account? The exchange rate isn't fantastic, though, from what I've heard.

[theoldgit]

You could open up a joint Nationwide International savings account in the IOM, you can do this from Thailand, and have your pensions paid into it.

You can transfer funds, in GBP's, electronically to Thailand at £20 a pop, you could also transfer funds free of charge into your Nationwide UK account if you ever need to. In the event that your demise is before that of your wife, then she has full access to the account.

Another option is to open an account with Bangkok Bank, your pension can be paid into their London branch, and they will transfer it to Thailand, they will charge. Contact "ianguygil" on Thai Visa, he is very helpful and will point you in the right direction.

Edited July 29, 2011 by theoldgit

[peterpop]

Thankyou all for your helpfull advice. I will check my pension company [Alliance Trust SIPP Draw down]. I already use Torfx to transfer large sums, very cheap, but I did not want to burden my wife with large amounts, after my death, for perhaps obvious cultural reasons relating to Thai family pressures. Hence the preference for ATM use that Nationwide International do not offer.

Ref HSBC it seems that you have to give them large sums of money to open an International account or have I missed something.

I repeat that I just want a simple Current account, JOINT USE with an ATM CARD

I will work at it again..

You could open up a joint Nationwide International savings account in the IOM, you can do this from Thailand, and have your pensions paid into it.

You can transfer funds, in GBP's, electronically to Thailand at £20 a pop, you could also transfer funds free of charge into your Nationwide UK account if you ever need to. In the event that your demise is before that of your wife, then she has full access to the account.

Another option is to open an account with Bangkok Bank, your pension can be paid into their London branch, and they will transfer it to Thailand, they will charge. Contact "ianguygil" on Thai Visa, he is very helpful and will point you in the right direction.

[peterpop]

Marriages registered at the Amphur are accepted by HMRC but I am talking about PRIVATE PENSIONS here.

Don't you have to register the marriage in the UK for her to get the entittlement?

[peterpop]

I wrote to The Bangok Branch in London. They acknowledged receipt, said that they would look into it and then went to sleep.

Nationwide International does not issue ATM Cards, otherwise I would have used them.

Thanks for your reply

You could open up a joint Nationwide International savings account in the IOM, you can do this from Thailand, and have your pensions paid into it.

You can transfer funds, in GBP's, electronically to Thailand at £20 a pop, you could also transfer funds free of charge into your Nationwide UK account if you ever need to. In the event that your demise is before that of your wife, then she has full access to the account.

Another option is to open an account with Bangkok Bank, your pension can be paid into their London branch, and they will transfer it to Thailand, they will charge. Contact "ianguygil" on Thai Visa, he is very helpful and will point you in the right direction.

[peterpop]

Are you sure that her withdrawing cash by debit card is a good idea? Nationwide, for example, charges a fixed one pound fee per transaction, plus a percentage spread on the exchange rate. This makes small withdrawals relatively expensive. Much better, in my opinion, to save the money up, then just make one or two SWIFT transfers per year. Incidentally, some banks are significantly cheaper than the GBP 25 you pay.

BTW, are you aware that UK pension payments can be made directly into a Thai bank account? The exchange rate isn't fantastic, though, from what I've heard.

Your suggestion may be the way to go. Perhaps quarterly payments would avoid the risk of having large amounts sitting in an account with the family breathing down her neck.

It costs 6.70 pds to use a Nationwide card at Aeon Bank for a max transfer of 14000 bht. Same as 20 pds per quarter for a Swift transfer. I had not registered the relative costs since Nationwide put up its charges.

Thanks for that

[peterpop]

I was surprised when my private pension was able to be paid direct into Thai bank, only stipulation was my name had to be on the account.......might be worth a quick check with your pension provider......apologies if you have alread tried this avenue

I have asked my Pension provider to quote for this service. Thank you.

[peterpop]

Try one of the Jersey or Guernsey branches. I had no problem adding my wife to my accounts there with major banks.

Would you mind recommending one of the banks in CI. Thanks

[theoldgit]

I wrote to The Bangkok Branch in London. They acknowledged receipt, said that they would look into it and then went to sleep.

"ianguygill" (he is an expat working in their IT Department) contacted me when I posted in a similar thread, he sent me the link to their site which explains the procedure:

http://www.bangkokbank.com/Bangkok%20Bank/Personal%20Banking/Transfering%20Funds/Transferring%20into%20Thailand/Receiving%20Funds%20from%20UK/Pages/Receiving%20payments%20from%20UK%20pension.aspx seems pretty straightforward and it would allow your pensions to make their way to a Bangkok Bangkok. Didn't really work for me as I will have two pensions, State and Private, they forward the money as soon as it's received, so two fees, suspect you might be in a similar position, but it means the transfers would be made automatically. I did get a speedy response, maybe because Ian initiated the enquiry, had I not got a response I would have shared your concerns about future handling of the account

Nationwide International does not issue ATM Cards, otherwise I would have used them.

Yes, that is the downside with them as it's basically a savings account. I don't really need one, apart from drawing cash if I'm on holiday in the UK, to save the double transaction charges.

[garrfeild]

Marriages registered at the Amphur are accepted by HMRC but I am talking about PRIVATE PENSIONS here.

Don't you have to register the marriage in the UK for her to get the entittlement?

OK, have you looked at transfering your pension overseas? I'm not sure of the requirements. But if it's offshore, you might be able to have your wife as joint account holder? This would solve the problem of your wife getting access as and when. No income tax either when you draw on the pension, as it would be offshore. Google QROPs or look up Abbey Financial Solutions as a company that could advise you, nothing to do with Santander.

It might help avoid messing around with UK banks who in general aren't very helpful. The fewer banks your dealing with the better for your wife, less chance of something going wrong!

Some of the banks don't like sending renewed ATM/debit/Credit cards to Thailand. I had a hell of a fight with Natwest before they finally agreed to renew my card because they view Thailand as unsafe to post cards to. As do Abbey Santander and Barclay's Banks to mention a couple. So in my view that has to be a major concern when choosing a bank.

Edited July 29, 2011 by garrfeild

[PattayaParent]

Try one of the Jersey or Guernsey branches. I had no problem adding my wife to my accounts there with major banks.

Would you mind recommending one of the banks in CI. Thanks

Co-Op Bank IOM, low minimum balance (not more than 3k Quids), no fees if you keep the minimum balance, ATM and credit cards if you qualify.

Last time I checked them was a couple of years ago so sorry if info is out of date now.

[peterpop]

Marriages registered at the Amphur are accepted by HMRC but I am talking about PRIVATE PENSIONS here.

Don't you have to register the marriage in the UK for her to get the entittlement?

OK, have you looked at transfering your pension overseas? I'm not sure of the requirements. But if it's offshore, you might be able to have your wife as joint account holder? This would solve the problem of your wife getting access as and when. No income tax either when you draw on the pension, as it would be offshore. Google QROPs or look up Abbey Financial Solutions as a company that could advise you, nothing to do with Santander.

It might help avoid messing around with UK banks who in general aren't very helpful. The fewer banks your dealing with the better for your wife, less chance of something going wrong!

Some of the banks don't like sending renewed ATM/debit/Credit cards to Thailand. I had a hell of a fight with Natwest before they finally agreed to renew my card because they view Thailand as unsafe to post cards to. As do Abbey Santander and Barclay's Banks to mention a couple. So in my view that has to be a major concern when choosing a bank.

I share all your concerns.

I looked hard at QROPS but with a pension pot of 100k it was virtually the same deal to have minimum administration fee of 2k stirling per year or pay 20% tax on the draw down. I had good advice from both Abby and The Fry Group. Both wanted my business but admitted it would be a close thing in costs so I stuck with my UK company [Alliance Trust]

I have more or less made up my mind to try to get my uncooperative UK Banks who receive my UK State pension and private pensions, to transfer funds,by standing order, to my FX Trader [Torfx] who will then make a Thai Baht transfer on receipt of an authorising telephone call. They hold my funds in a Barclays Account. This also gets around the ATM Card renewal nightmare.

Life ain't ever simple is it.

[garrfeild]

Marriages registered at the Amphur are accepted by HMRC but I am talking about PRIVATE PENSIONS here.

Don't you have to register the marriage in the UK for her to get the entittlement?

OK, have you looked at transfering your pension overseas? I'm not sure of the requirements. But if it's offshore, you might be able to have your wife as joint account holder? This would solve the problem of your wife getting access as and when. No income tax either when you draw on the pension, as it would be offshore. Google QROPs or look up Abbey Financial Solutions as a company that could advise you, nothing to do with Santander.

It might help avoid messing around with UK banks who in general aren't very helpful. The fewer banks your dealing with the better for your wife, less chance of something going wrong!

Some of the banks don't like sending renewed ATM/debit/Credit cards to Thailand. I had a hell of a fight with Natwest before they finally agreed to renew my card because they view Thailand as unsafe to post cards to. As do Abbey Santander and Barclay's Banks to mention a couple. So in my view that has to be a major concern when choosing a bank.

I share all your concerns.

I looked hard at QROPS but with a pension pot of 100k it was virtually the same deal to have minimum administration fee of 2k stirling per year or pay 20% tax on the draw down. I had good advice from both Abby and The Fry Group. Both wanted my business but admitted it would be a close thing in costs so I stuck with my UK company [Alliance Trust]

I have more or less made up my mind to try to get my uncooperative UK Banks who receive my UK State pension and private pensions, to transfer funds,by standing order, to my FX Trader [Torfx] who will then make a Thai Baht transfer on receipt of an authorising telephone call. They hold my funds in a Barclays Account. This also gets around the ATM Card renewal nightmare.

Life ain't ever simple is it.

I still need a card to log onto online banking, to make payments etc, part of the online security. I also use a forex company to transfer funds here.

I am surprised though that your wife can't be a joint account holder. Although I have been a Natwest client for years, I changed my address to here in Thailand without any problems.

The problem is with the call centres they always respond in the negative, and you never get the same answer twice. They just don't know what they are talking about most of the time. It must have taken me 15 e-mails+ before they agreed to renew my card and courier it to me, even after I said I would be willing to pay for the courier. Didn't cost me in the end, and got £25 good will gesture.

As you say Life isn't simple

Edited July 30, 2011 by garrfeild