Best Method Of Money Transfer From United States

[psychosid10]

My friend needs to transfer 500 USD to my account in Bangkok. I have an account in Bank of Ayutthaya.

whats the best method to do this? how much will an International Money Order fees be?

[Sojourner]

1, Telegraphic Transfers (TT) are between $45 and $75. You will get a prefered exchange rate over the cash $ to Baht transaction, which will offset some of the cost. The bank in the States will need to know the name of your bank, their SWIFT number and your account number. 2, Try Western Union. They are relatively fast. 3, Do you have a credit card or debit card? Go to your bank and have them swipe it thru their card reader and transfer $'s into your account. No free lunch's however.

[psychosid10]

Thanks a lot Sojourner but i have a cpl of questions..

1. Telegraphic Transfers (TT) are between $45 and $75

-- does this mean the charges to transfer 500$ is 45-75$

2. Try Western Union. They are relatively fast.

--i am not sure but i am under the impression Western union is too expensive for small tranfers. am i right?

3. Do you have a credit card or debit card? Go to your bank and have them swipe it thru their card reader and transfer $'s into your account.

-- i have a debit card but i did not get the procedure on how to do this.

[lomatopo]

Total fees for Western Union will be ~ 20 - 24%.

My recommendations would be one of the following:

1.) Go to your bank and initiate an International Wire Transfer. This should incur total fess on the order of 7% of less. You'll need the account holder's name, bank name, address, branch, account number, address, SWIFT code. You'll also need the details for the intermediary bank that Bank of Ayuthaya uses in the U.S.A. (Are you in the U.S.?). Have your friend ask for those details at his branch or look at their website.

2.) Purchase a single 500 USD Traveler's Check. Endorse it to your friend and airmail it to them.

[Sojourner]

Regarding the debit card. Visit the International Money section of your bank and ask them if you can transfer dollars into your baht account. Ask them if you can do it with your debit card. If they agree then all you have to do is give them your card and they will run it through their electronic credit card machine and dial in the amount of the transfer. I have also used the bank's currency exchange, but instead of giving them cash, I filled out a charge slip for the amount of money I wanted. Your friend in the States only needs to deposit the $500 into your Stateside bank account. If you remember the pin number for your debit card you can use any atm machine but may have to go back a couple of time to draw the full amount.

[lomatopo]

Apologies, my information should read....

Total fees for Western Union will be ~ 20 - 24%.

My recommendations would be one of the following:

1.) Have your friend go to their bank and initiate an International Wire Transfer. This should incur total fess on the order of 7% of less. He'll need your account details:  name, bank name, address, branch, account number, address, SWIFT code. He'll also need the details for the intermediary bank that Bank of Ayuthaya uses in the U.S.A. (Is  he in the U.S.?). You can ask for those details at your branch or you can look at their website.

2.) Have your friend purchase a single 500 USD Travelers Check. He should endorse it to you and airmail it to you. Total fees and postage should be ~ 1.5%, and an airmail letter from the U.S.A. takes 5 ~ 7 calendar days.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Travelers Checks incur a 33 baht fee, per check, when cashed here in Thailand, but they do yield an excellent exchange rate. Not as good as a wire transfer, but a little better than a 100 dollar bill. Your friend may have to pay a fee to purchase the Travelers Check, 1% seems typical but I am not that up to date on TCs. however many organizations (AAA for example) and financial instutions waive the fee for all or select customers.

[Sojourner]

If you have an ATM card from your Stateside bank you can use it here in Thailand. You may not be able to draw the full amount out at one time, but over a couple of days you should have the full 20,000 baht ($500.00).

[on-on]

I had to transfer a small amount of money today from the US and the international wire fee/SWIFT fee was $35 + exchange surcharge, whie Western Union was $20. I used WU's online service and it was available immediately. Your wire fee may vary by bank, I use Wells Fargo.

[lopburi3]

I had to transfer a small amount of money today from the US and the international wire fee/SWIFT fee was $35 + exchange surcharge, whie Western Union was $20.  I used WU's online service and it was available immediately.  Your wire fee may vary by bank, I use Wells Fargo.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

The fee from US should be bank charge of $25-50, $5 charge at BBL New York(in the case of Bangkok Bank), and .25% fee at Bangkok (in range of 200-500 baht). The exchange rate would be the full TT rate at the time of transfer if USD sent.

With the WU you were charged $20 and what exchange rate was used? I suspect a very poor one. Although I do not doubt that for a small exchange it may have been cheaper than SWIFT - which really needs larger transfers to offset the large bank fee for foreign wire transfers.

Edited November 16, 2005 by lopburi3

[lomatopo]

I had to transfer a small amount of money today from the US and the international wire fee/SWIFT fee was $35 + exchange surcharge, whie Western Union was $20.  I used WU's online service and it was available immediately.  Your wire fee may vary by bank, I use Wells Fargo.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

If you used a credit card for the Western Union transfer you will likely get dinged for another $5 from Western Union. Check your credit card statement (on-line) in a few days. And you will get a relatively poor exchange rate. My bank, Bank of America, charges $15 for an international wire transfer.

[on-on]

The fee from US should be bank charge of $25-50, $5 charge at BBL New York(in the case of Bangkok Bank), and .25% fee at Bangkok (in range of 200-500 baht).  The exchange rate would be the full TT rate at the time of transfer if USD sent.

With the WU you were charged $20 and what exchange rate was used?  I suspect a very poor one.  Although I do not doubt that for a small exchange it may have been cheaper than SWIFT - which really needs larger transfers to offset the large bank fee for foreign wire transfers.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

The fee was $35, flat, for a SWIFT transfer from Wells Fargo plus an exchange fee of, I think, 3%. The transaction was relatively small. Given Wells Fargo's fee, SWIFT or wire tranfer was in no way a superior option (the math is pretty simple) for this transaction. It may be for larger transactions, but not mine.

If you used a credit card for the Western Union transfer you will likely get dinged for another $5 from Western Union. Check your credit card statement (on-line) in a few days. And you will get a relatively poor exchange rate. My bank, Bank of America, charges $15 for an international wire transfer.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

No, the charges cleared around 0400 CST and there was no extraneous fee. WU wouldn't get away with slapping on an unannounced $5 and I'm sure I would've caught any reference to such a fee in the transaction process. I'm not surprised WF is higher than BofA for fees, WF is a pretty big ripoff on a number of their fees. We could then discuss why I use Wells Fargo, but since the reality is that I do I think the conversation would be fruitless, heh. You're correct that I did lose about a baht and a half on the exchange, however the exchange fee from WF along with the wire fee negated any potential downside in opportunity cost.

Whatever the case, it very well could be that for this man the optimal choice would be a wire transfer - which is why I pointed out that his wire fee may be cheaper. I was simply relating my experience. However, having not just fallen off the turnip truck yesterday I can assure both of you that for me WU was the lesser of two evils. Therefore I simply suggested he look into it. Now, the real coup would be getting online payment services like PayPal and XOOM to recognize Thailand as a legitimate market for full service. I'm still not clear on why they have limited access for Thai bank accounts, but I assume it has something to do with limited consumer market size coupled with, I assume, the reputation for fraud and/or instability.

Edited November 17, 2005 by on-on