Bangkok Bank Charges A Fee For Me To Give Them My Money.

[ScubaBuddha]

If the account you are depositing to is in a different region, there is a fee to give them your money!!! I thought this had to be a joke the first time. Simply unbelievable! Even for Thailand!! Is this practice uniform among the banks here? I would like to transfer my money to a bank that doesn't write their fee structure in lala land.

[cardholder]

You have been around long enough to know that the banks act almost independently on a regional basis - look at the ATM withdrawal price structure.

[janverbeem]

Why do you think that banks overhere have no need to sell reposessed property's .

[Tywais]

Surprised you weren't aware of this as it is common with most Thai banks. Just checked SCB, Kasikorn and Krungthai bank all have inter-provincial fees.

[Swiss1960]

Even me NOT yet living in Thailand know about the 150 Baht fee for the transfers of money from BKK head office to Pattaya (both SCB and Kasikorn same fee)

[ScubaBuddha]

Surprised you weren't aware of this as it is common with most Thai banks. Just checked SCB, Kasikorn and Krungthai bank all have inter-provincial fees.

Known about it for years. Just never got around to moaning about it till now.

[Lifer]

Another thing to know about Bangkok Bank, and maybe other banks too, is that if you don't actively use your account for a long period of time, you will be charged a fee to deposit money again. They will let me take my money out and close the account without a charge, but I can't deposit more money. Duh!?

More Thai lack of common sense. When your here long enough you start to take all the stupid things as normal. Just one more thing, Oh, well!

[aurelius]

No minimum monthly balance requirement and no monthly account keeping charges either. I'd rather have fees for services that I choose to use, than fees that I have no option over.

[PattayaParent]

No minimum monthly balance requirement and no monthly account keeping charges either. I'd rather have fees for services that I choose to use, than fees that I have no option over.

You can have that with UK banks too, you just have to choose the right one.

[Tafia]

The pro's and con's of the banking system. A world unto their own the world over.

Give me the Thai system every time in the UK to transfer money from my account to another at a different bank takes 5 working days here its done in less than 5 minutes

[hedonist44]

Surprised you weren't aware of this as it is common with most Thai banks. Just checked SCB, Kasikorn and Krungthai bank all have inter-provincial fees.

Known about it for years. Just never got around to moaning about it till now.

Fail

[Tywais]

A profanity laden post and responses removed. Keep it polite guys.

[smiling mantis]

Given that the alternative is to go to Bangkok to get my money, I'm happy with the small fee.

But yeah, it's past time to change my home branch.

[aurelius]

Wait a bit longer and they might go away..., the Bank of Thailand is slowly squeezing these fees out - the fees to transfer between regions have been slashed a couple of times in the last 8-10 months and signals from them suggest more to come. But don't hold your breath

[melvinmelvin]

not strange at all having a wee fee for a cash deposit

the absolutely most expensive service a bank can offer is the handling of cash,

that being deposit or withdrawal or foreign currency exchange or denomination exchange

the handling of cash is COSTLY for any bank

why shouldn't they charge for it

[tpiety2]

not strange at all having a wee fee for a cash deposit

the absolutely most expensive service a bank can offer is the handling of cash,

that being deposit or withdrawal or foreign currency exchange or denomination exchange

the handling of cash is COSTLY for any bank

why shouldn't they charge for it

Melvin Melvin... you sound like a thai business owner stuck in the past, it is convoluted thinking like yours that prolongs Thai banks and business' thinking that they are doing you a favor by letting you buy their products or deposit your money in their bank. They convinced the gullible masses of this and it was common practice here when they had a captive market but that is slowly changing. They begin to learn when we take our money or business elsewhere. It is a slow process but in this Global economy they will find out that 'the times they are a changing'.

I transfered my money from one province BB to another province and the BB manager couldn't cancel all fees fast enough when I got up and started to walk out.

He said "no charge for ATM card or for deposit money, no charge anything". Now I was depositing a large sum I grant you but the more people vote

with their feet the sooner Thai business will wise up and realize that we are doing them a favor by shopping with them not visa versa. Their elitist attitude always leaves me wondering why the thai people haven't seen thru this <snip> years ago.

How many depositors do you think a bank would get right now if it offered free services to the general public? Such a bank would force the other banks to become competitive.

Edited November 10, 2011 by soundman

[Daveroc]

As a Banker I guess I will never win the argument on fees. Interesting that Doctors, Dentists, Accountants Lawyers Surveyors Mechanics etc all charge for their services and we pay without comment. Banking is a commercial operation that requires considerable investment in Bricks and mortar, staffing, IT frameworks, Capital requirements and with Shareholders to consider.

In support of the Thai Banking system in relation to my home country the fee structure here is very cheap. At home I would pay the equivalent of minimum 4000 baht in bank fees per year just to run a standard personal account. I can avoid most of this if I care to leave equivalent 125,000 baht in the non interest paying account.

In Thailand, I pay no account fees and am only required to have 500 baht to open the account. I pay 200 baht a year for my ATM card.

If the services I chose to use are considered expensive, I have the choice of not using them, but then have to consider the cost of finding an alternative i.e. driving to the provincial area to pay over some money.

In the case of BBL if my account remains inactive for 12 months and the balance is below 2000 baht an inoperative fee of 50 baht a month will apply.

Let the debate continue

[flying]

As a Banker I guess I will never win the argument on fees. Interesting that Doctors, Dentists, Accountants Lawyers Surveyors Mechanics etc all charge for their services and we pay without comment. Banking is a commercial operation that requires considerable investment in Bricks and mortar, staffing, IT frameworks, Capital requirements and with Shareholders to consider.

In support of the Thai Banking system in relation to my home country the fee structure here is very cheap. At home I would pay the equivalent of minimum 4000 baht in bank fees per year just to run a standard personal account. I can avoid most of this if I care to leave equivalent 125,000 baht in the non interest paying account.

In Thailand, I pay no account fees and am only required to have 500 baht to open the account. I pay 200 baht a year for my ATM card.

If the services I chose to use are considered expensive, I have the choice of not using them, but then have to consider the cost of finding an alternative i.e. driving to the provincial area to pay over some money.

In the case of BBL if my account remains inactive for 12 months and the balance is below 2000 baht an inoperative fee of 50 baht a month will apply.

Let the debate continue

+101%

I have no problems with the minuscule fees in Thailand.

[ianguygil]

not strange at all having a wee fee for a cash deposit

the absolutely most expensive service a bank can offer is the handling of cash,

that being deposit or withdrawal or foreign currency exchange or denomination exchange

the handling of cash is COSTLY for any bank

why shouldn't they charge for it

Melvin Melvin... you sound like a thai business owner stuck in the past, it is convoluted thinking like yours that prolongs Thai banks and business' thinking that they are doing you a favor by letting you buy their products or deposit your money in their bank. They convinced the gullible masses of this and it was common practice here when they had a captive market but that is slowly changing. They begin to learn when we take our money or business elsewhere. It is a slow process but in this Global economy they will find out that 'the times they are a changing'.

I transfered my money from one province BB to another province and the BB manager couldn't cancel all fees fast enough when I got up and started to walk out.

He said "no charge for ATM card or for deposit money, no charge anything". Now I was depositing a large sum I grant you but the more people vote

with their feet the sooner Thai business will wise up and realize that we are doing them a favor by shopping with them not visa versa. Their elitist attitude always leaves me wondering why the thai people haven't seen thru this <snip> years ago.

How many depositors do you think a bank would get right now if it offered free services to the general public? Such a bank would force the other banks to become competitive.

Such a bank would need to raise revenue in another way. An increase in the NIM (Net Interest Margin), i.e. the spread between deposits and lending, for example. This would imply lowering deposit rates and/or increasing lending rates.

As Dave said it is strange that the fees charged by all other service providers are acceptable but some seem to feel that banks should not charge fees. We are a commercial enterprise, we are not state owned like so many UK and US banks.

We provide a service and we charge for it in a competitive and regulated market. As AURELIUS said, the regulators are looking at fees and banks need to comply with any changes they impose. We do listen to customers and especially in these challenging times of flooding we are making accomodations to try to help the Thai public. Please see the attached link, we, along with all members of the TBA (Thai Bankers Association) are waiving inter-regional ATM Withdrawal fees during this period to help those impacted by the flood who have had to travel to other provinces.

http://www.bangkokba...elease2nov.aspx

I do think that the term "scam" should be looked at by the moderators as that is a complete insult to the Bank an implies immoral and illegal activities. That is just silly. Posters should be more responsible.

Ian

[impulse]

Just out of curiosity, how do the laws and practices in Thailand that affect bank profitability compare with those of the USA and UK? Do they have stricter capital requirements and regulation of risk, or looser?

[samran]

Diddums.

Banks are a business, but people mysteriously expect them to provide services to people for free.

I'm guessing the OP never turned up to work and have his employer expect him to do his work for nothing, yet he's expecting the bank to do so for him. Plain hypocrisy.

At least they are charging you up front for these thing on a user pays basis, rather than hiding the costs elsewhere, or worse still, expecting others to subsidise his banking usage.

What makes this thread even more offensive, there is the (almost obligatory it seems) implication of 'them stupid Thai's' by making the comment that charging fees is even dumb for Thailand. Charging fees for banking services is common international practice. The only amazing thing about it is how they've managed to keep their fees so low, compared to say somewhere like Australia.

Edited November 10, 2011 by samran

[samran]

Just out of curiosity, how do the laws and practices in Thailand that affect bank profitability compare with those of the USA and UK? Do they have stricter capital requirements and regulation of risk, or looser?

Well, given the experience of many of the major banks during the Asian financial crisis, most Thai banks are generally more risk averse these days.

[ianguygil]

Just out of curiosity, how do the laws and practices in Thailand that affect bank profitability compare with those of the USA and UK? Do they have stricter capital requirements and regulation of risk, or looser?

It is pretty hard to generalize

I would say that the top Thai banks are in general very well capitalized.

All banks are now subject to the same BASEL regulations and the central banks in each country implement these in various ways. We are a very conservative, very well capitalized (private capital, not government) and highly liquid. Our loan to deposit ratio is strong (unlike banks like LEHMAN which is what got them in trouble).

In the US they really focus just on the top tier of banks for BASEL as the top 10 make up more than 80% of the market.

In the UK the government owns huge shares in major institutions last time I looked (RBS, LLOYDS etc.).

In Thailand banks are limited to Banking which is a result of the problems in 97. For those of us who were here then, that showed the issues which can be caused when banks diversify too much into other lines of business and do not diversify their risks.

So a hard question to answer. I will leave that up to the economists :jap:

[thaicbr]

but anyway . the banks have waived the inter provincial fee for the time being citing that they want to help the people who have been displaced.

[PattayaParent]

As a Banker I guess I will never win the argument on fees. Interesting that Doctors, Dentists, Accountants Lawyers Surveyors Mechanics etc all charge for their services and we pay without comment. Banking is a commercial operation that requires considerable investment in Bricks and mortar, staffing, IT frameworks, Capital requirements and with Shareholders to consider.

In support of the Thai Banking system in relation to my home country the fee structure here is very cheap. At home I would pay the equivalent of minimum 4000 baht in bank fees per year just to run a standard personal account. I can avoid most of this if I care to leave equivalent 125,000 baht in the non interest paying account.

In Thailand, I pay no account fees and am only required to have 500 baht to open the account. I pay 200 baht a year for my ATM card.

If the services I chose to use are considered expensive, I have the choice of not using them, but then have to consider the cost of finding an alternative i.e. driving to the provincial area to pay over some money.

In the case of BBL if my account remains inactive for 12 months and the balance is below 2000 baht an inoperative fee of 50 baht a month will apply.

Let the debate continue

as a banker I would expect that your account with the bank you work for incurs no fees?

And would also expect that you would easily be able to find out which banks don't impose monthly or yearly fees on a standard personal account.

As for comparisons with fee charging professionals banks make money from the money that is deposited with them. They are able to loan out 8X the amount deposited, at inteest rates 10X higher than they pay. That they also want to charge the depositor to allow him to provide the bank with the means that it needs to make this vast profit is unconscionable.

[Daveroc]

The "perk" of free fees was removed twenty years ago when a tax called fringe benefit tax was introduced. We operate on the same conditions as a regular customer. Yes i could shop around, like everyone else has the option of doing.

[PattayaParent]

But it gets difficult to shop around in what is increasingly becoming a monopoly with all banks charging fees.

[ianguygil]

As a Banker I guess I will never win the argument on fees. Interesting that Doctors, Dentists, Accountants Lawyers Surveyors Mechanics etc all charge for their services and we pay without comment. Banking is a commercial operation that requires considerable investment in Bricks and mortar, staffing, IT frameworks, Capital requirements and with Shareholders to consider.

In support of the Thai Banking system in relation to my home country the fee structure here is very cheap. At home I would pay the equivalent of minimum 4000 baht in bank fees per year just to run a standard personal account. I can avoid most of this if I care to leave equivalent 125,000 baht in the non interest paying account.

In Thailand, I pay no account fees and am only required to have 500 baht to open the account. I pay 200 baht a year for my ATM card.

If the services I chose to use are considered expensive, I have the choice of not using them, but then have to consider the cost of finding an alternative i.e. driving to the provincial area to pay over some money.

In the case of BBL if my account remains inactive for 12 months and the balance is below 2000 baht an inoperative fee of 50 baht a month will apply.

Let the debate continue

as a banker I would expect that your account with the bank you work for incurs no fees?

And would also expect that you would easily be able to find out which banks don't impose monthly or yearly fees on a standard personal account.

As for comparisons with fee charging professionals banks make money from the money that is deposited with them. They are able to loan out 8X the amount deposited, at inteest rates 10X higher than they pay. That they also want to charge the depositor to allow him to provide the bank with the means that it needs to make this vast profit is unconscionable.

Absolutely wrong on the leverage ratio. 8 times, wherever did you get that from??? You should really check your facts before posting. You can check to see our balance sheet that our loan to deposit ratio is very conservative.

As Dave said as employees we pay normal fees and normal interest rates. The same applied when I worked for Bank of America in San Francisco (not the think that calls itself Bank of America now in Charlotte). No fringe benefits.

As for the difference between deposit and lending rates, that is a deliberate policy of central banks around the world to provide liquidity and it is a much smaller spread in Thailand that in the UK or US. It also completely ignores the risk posed by various lending products (such as Credit Card) which are unsecured credit with very potentially high writeoffs as many banks in the West have learnt in the past few years. it

Edited November 10, 2011 by ianguygil

[PattayaParent]

^the liquidity ratio that banks are legally required to maintain in UK is 12.5%, divide 100 by 12.5 and you get 8. So they are only required to maintain 1/8th of the money actually in cash that they lend out.

Credit cards may have very high write offs, but they also have very high APRs (15% ~ 23%) to pay for this risk and are risk adverse in handing them out. The CC divisions are also a separate part of the banking system, so how does that justify banks charging customers to deposit money into their standard personal account, especially as your CC provider might not even be your bank eg. Virgin?

[ianguygil]

^the liquidity ratio that banks are legally required to maintain in UK is 12.5%, divide 100 by 12.5 and you get 8. So they are only required to maintain 1/8th of the money actually in cash that they lend out.

Credit cards may have very high write offs, but they also have very high APRs (15% ~ 23%) to pay for this risk and are risk adverse in handing them out. The CC divisions are also a separate part of the banking system, so how does that justify banks charging customers to deposit money into their standard personal account, especially as your CC provider might not even be your bank eg. Virgin?

Exactly my point on the credit card that we charge/price for risk. Secured credit like home mortgages have commensurately lower interest rates. I am glad we agree there.

I have no idea why you are quoting the UK again. This is Thailand ......

Our Credit Card division is part of the Bank. Not separate apart from internal organizational considerations. You seem to be talking about the UK environment, not Thailand, again. We run our own issuer and acquiring network.