Late American Pension Deposits By Bangkok Bank

[guidodaddio]

Once again, Bangkok Bank has delayed depositing Americans' Social Security pension payments in our accounts. According to a message I received today from the U.S. Social Security Administration, the U.S. Treasury deposited Americans' pension payments on Friday, December 2. Monthly pension payments are made on the 3rd of every month. However, when the 3rd falls on a weekend, as in this month, the U.S. Treasury deposits are made the preceding Friday. However, Bangkok Bank did not deposit the funds in our accounts on Friday, Dec 2. In the past, however, as in September (3 months ago) the 3rd also fell on a weekend, the U.S. Treasury deposited payments on the preceding Friday, and Bangkok Bank DID deposit the funds the same day. So, the explanation they frequently give American customers when the U.S. Treasury deposits payments on a Friday, but they do not deposit it in our accounts until the following Monday, is that it is because of the weekend, which of course is not a valid excuse. This time, Bangkok Bank told many American customers who asked why the money was not deposited on time, it was because of the King's birthday, which of course has absolutely nothing to do with their failure to make the deposits. Now because Monday is a holiday, Americans have to wait four extra days for their payments on Tuesday.

If Bangkok Bank is delaying pension deposits in customers account because of negligence, or in order to make additional profit on the interest for a few extra days, resulting in inconvenience to and for some, financial hardship on retired Americans in Thailand, then it's time for American customers to change banks. Unless Bangkok Bank has a plausible explanation why they sometimes can make deposits on the Fridays when the 3rd of the month falls on a weekend, and other times they do not, I recommend American customers protest by closing their pension accounts with them. If they cannot execute pension payments consistently on time, they should not be entitled to the money they make from the pension accounts of thousands of retired Americans in Thailand. I understand that because of Bangkok Bank's repeated failure in this matter, many Americans have already switched their pension accounts to HSBC, where they have not had the same problem.

[PennyFarthing123]

Have you taken into the account of the time difference between here and the US. Even though they deposit it on their Friday it is Saturday here.

[kurtmartens]

I'm not on social security, but KBank delayed a transfer into my account from Bank of America "due to the King's Birthday"...so its not just Bangkok Bank. As you said, you are always free to switch banks. I just consider it part of the trials of living in Thailand.

[CWMcMurray]

Penny beat me too it....

09:00am in Fri in the US is 21:00 Fri in Thailand... so no big mystery as to why the bank does not credit the account until the next business day.

I do not think anyone is trying to cheat you or intentionally delaying in crediting your account. It is just a matter of the transfer being made outside of normal business hours.

If this is not something that you can accept, I would recommend switching your direct deposit back to your US account. You may pay a bit more in ATM fees, but you will then be able to access your funds as soon as they hit your US account.

[aurelius]

"If Bangkok Bank is delaying pension deposits in customers account because of negligence, or in order to make additional profit on the interest for a few extra days, resulting in inconvenience to and for some, financial hardship on retired Americans in Thailand, then it's time for American customers to change banks. Unless Bangkok Bank has a plausible explanation why they sometimes can make deposits on the Fridays when the 3rd of the month falls on a weekend, and other times they do not, I recommend American customers protest by closing their pension accounts with them."

Be sure to let us know what their answer is. Because otherwise the recommendation to change banks is just foolish rhetoric. (oh, please remind me how many branches HSBC has outside Bangkok - would that be ZERO?)

[CharlieH]

I think CWMcMurray sums it up nicely.......

"I do not think anyone is trying to cheat you or intentionally delaying in crediting your account. It is just a matter of the transfer being made outside of normal business hours."

also:

I think that if the payment is late by just a few days or even a weekend for whatever reason and it has such an impact on you then perhaps you should be thinking more as to whether you should even be here in Thailand.

Edited December 5, 2011 by CharlieH

[Pib]

Sending money half way around the world with at least a 12 hour time zone difference, different holidays in the two countries, different banking rules in the two countries, etc. Sorry, I just can't get get up-in-arms (or even mildly upset) over small delays in monthly transfers while living in Thailand. This is not a Bangkok Bank issue; it's an issue in living overseas and with transfers to all Thai banks. Of course, you can't transfer money to all Thai banks as easily (and as cheaply) as you can to Bangkok Bank since all Thai banks don't have low cost ACH transfer capability like Bangkok Bank.

[TwentyBaht]

guidodaddio,

You have been given good information in the above postings.

I am from the US. And, have an account with Bangkok Bank.

That said, transfer expectations must be tempered by the prevailing factors of time differential, holidays, and weekends. Nothing can be done about this.

And, I'm quite unaware of any mass migration of American SSA accounts to HSBC. And, frankly, didn't know HSBC was authorized by the U.S. Government for direct SSA deposit.

I see this is your first post. If you read a bit further, you will find postings by Daveroc and Ianguygil who are with Bangkok Bank, and are available for PM. They have helped explain banking procedures and personally helped many posters on this forum. And, we are fortunate to have them.

Also, there are many other talented posters with considerable banking expertise. The debate sometimes gets very detailed. Which, is all to our benefit.

[JimGant]

Once again, Bangkok Bank has delayed depositing Americans' Social Security pension payments in our accounts...In the past, however, as in September (3 months ago) the 3rd also fell on a weekend, the U.S. Treasury deposited payments on the preceding Friday, and Bangkok Bank DID deposit the funds the same day.

"Once again?" Sounds like maybe 'first time' -- and the King's birthday sounds plausible enough.

I understand that because of Bangkok Bank's repeated failure in this matter, many Americans have already switched their pension accounts to HSBC, where they have not had the same problem.

US Gov't pensions/social security can only be direct deposited to Bangkok Bank, so "many Americans" have not switched their direct deposits of US Gov't checks to HSBC. And even if they could, since these direct deposits have to be picked-up in person, HSBC, with its few branches (as pointed out by aurelius) would not be very convenient.

Depositing your US Gov't check(s) in a US account, then using ACH thru BKKB New York, costs you exactly the same in fees and exchange rate (TT) as direct deposit. Plus, you (and your spouse) have access to it without having to show up at the bank in person. Yes, it does add a few days to its receipt over direct deposit. But if that's a concern (i.e., you're living hand-to-mouth), you've got a lot of bigger problems to address.

Edited December 5, 2011 by JimGant

[ralphlsasser]

I've never had a problem with Bangkok Bank. I received my check this month on the 2nd, as I always do when the 3rd falls on a Saturday.

[wayned]

In the past, when the 3rd fell on a weekend the deposits were inconsistant. In April, the 3rd was on a Sunday, my deposit arrived on Friday the 1st. In July, the 3rd was on a Sunday, the deposit was made on Monday the 4th. In September, the 3rd was on Saturday, the deposit was made on Friday the 2nd. There doesn't seem to be any consistancy of when the deposit to your account is going to be made and I am surprised that anyone received their money on Friday.previous post stating that they did. I called someone in international transfers on Friday afternoon and she told me that she had had many calls about SSA payments and as far as she could determine the money was not deposited to anybody's account in New York. She didn't know whether it was the fault of the New York branch or the US government.

So, I sent an e-mail to SSA in Manila asking what was going on. Monday morning I received the following reply: "I have checked the computer and you are on current pay plesae check with your bank I'm sure that your money should arrive soon'! As usual total BS from SSA. So whether it's Bangkok Banks fault or not I guess if the 3rd falls on a weekend you can't depend on your deposit until the following Monday. If you're that strapped for cash maybe you should find other sources to support your habits.

As far as everybody closing their pension accounts in protest, if we did that then nobody would have any money! Bangkok Bank, all be it a joke, is the only Bank in Thailand that is authorized to receive direct deposits of SSA payments The federal government won't due direct deposit to any other bank in Thaikand and if they send you a check, it could take up to 45 days to clear, not a good move.

I guess that this saga will contiune today, but even if we do get the deposit today, don;t expect it to be credited to your account early since it is the first day back after a 3 day weekend.

Note to Dave: Good CS BS, Huh!

[meatboy]

why anyone would want their pensions to reach the banks on friday when fri-mon exchange rates are at low,just check it out.

[Rama]

The last time I looked, no banks IN Thailand are acceptable for direct deposit by SS. It is probably being deposited into the US branch of Bangkok Bank - true? I am sure that bank transfers between the US Bangkok Bank and Thailand Bangkok Banks are not done automatically, but rather manually. I am sure the people in the US Bangkok Bank don't work on weekends or Thai holidays..............

[wayned]

I did check it out. The third of the month fell on a weekend on four months in 2011. The SSA payments were deposited in my account the Friday before in April and September, but were late in July, they were deposited the Monday after and late again this Month. According to the website exchangerates.org.uk, the USD to THB rates in April and September were fairly stable over the weekend, but in July it was declining and there was a significant drop from 30.7359 on Friday to 30.4250 on Monday. Since I was not paid on Friday and was paid on Monday I lost approximately 622 baht because of the lower excahange rate, and I'm only one person, how many US retirees lost the same amount, quite a good deal for BBKB for withholding the payments until Monday. You said that the rate is going up now but that is wrong, it is going down, ever so slightly, which will mean that all SSA recipients willl receive less when we are paid than we would have if we were paid on Friday. The same thing happened in December 2009 where we weren't paid until the 7th causing a significant loss. All financial institutions play games with international transfers to use exchange rates to benefit them, but I'm not accusing them of doing it in this case, only pointing out facts.. What the OP is complaining about, and all SSA recipients should be made aware of is that we are loosing money because of the delay. Since BKKB is the only approved Bank in Thailand to receive these payments, we have no chioce other than have it deposited in a US bank and process the transfer ourselves. Personally, I don't have a US bank account and would not be financially attractive to try to open one.

[wayned]

I did check it out. The third of the month fell on a weekend on four months in 2011. The SSA payments were deposited in my account the Friday before in April and September, but were late in July, they were deposited the Monday after and late again this Month. According to the website exchangerates.org.uk, the USD to THB rates in April and September were fairly stable over the weekend, but in July it was declining and there was a significant drop from 30.7359 on Friday to 30.4250 on Monday. Since I was not paid on Friday and was paid on Monday I lost approximately 622 baht because of the lower excahange rate, and I'm only one person, how many US retirees lost the same amount, quite a good deal for BBKB for withholding the payments until Monday. You said that the rate is going up now but that is wrong, it is going down, ever so slightly, which will mean that all SSA recipients willl receive less when we are paid than we would have if we were paid on Friday. The same thing happened in December 2009 where we weren't paid until the 7th causing a significant loss. All financial institutions play games with international transfers to use exchange rates to benefit them, but I'm not accusing them of doing it in this case, only pointing out facts.. What the OP is complaining about, and all SSA recipients should be made aware of is that we are loosing money because of the delay. Since BKKB is the only approved Bank in Thailand to receive these payments, we have no chioce other than have it deposited in a US bank and process the transfer ourselves. Personally, I don't have a US bank account and would not be financially attractive to try to open one.

Update: The exchange rate according to the above website was 30.8698 on Friday. Although my payment has not been credited to my account yet, the current excange rate on BKKB website is 30.4600. That equates to approximately an 820 baht loss to me because the payments were not credited on Friday. There are a lot of Americans that receive SSA payments and that equates to a significant amount. When they are late the exchange rates are alwyas going down. I think that they are playing the international money transfer game with our money. Ian or Dave, any comments would be appreciated.

[meatboy]

i have my pensions trans.once a year,you will see i have posted a complaint regarding the rate i recieved,as the exchange rate changes many times a day we just dont now when at what time our money reaches our account,the day in question i had found 4diff.rates guess what i recieved? yes the lowest of the 4 which made the diff.at the best rate a loss of 3,500bht or 8cases of chang

[Daveroc]

I did check it out. The third of the month fell on a weekend on four months in 2011. The SSA payments were deposited in my account the Friday before in April and September, but were late in July, they were deposited the Monday after and late again this Month. According to the website exchangerates.org.uk, the USD to THB rates in April and September were fairly stable over the weekend, but in July it was declining and there was a significant drop from 30.7359 on Friday to 30.4250 on Monday. Since I was not paid on Friday and was paid on Monday I lost approximately 622 baht because of the lower excahange rate, and I'm only one person, how many US retirees lost the same amount, quite a good deal for BBKB for withholding the payments until Monday. You said that the rate is going up now but that is wrong, it is going down, ever so slightly, which will mean that all SSA recipients willl receive less when we are paid than we would have if we were paid on Friday. The same thing happened in December 2009 where we weren't paid until the 7th causing a significant loss. All financial institutions play games with international transfers to use exchange rates to benefit them, but I'm not accusing them of doing it in this case, only pointing out facts.. What the OP is complaining about, and all SSA recipients should be made aware of is that we are loosing money because of the delay. Since BKKB is the only approved Bank in Thailand to receive these payments, we have no chioce other than have it deposited in a US bank and process the transfer ourselves. Personally, I don't have a US bank account and would not be financially attractive to try to open one.

Update: The exchange rate according to the above website was 30.8698 on Friday. Although my payment has not been credited to my account yet, the current excange rate on BKKB website is 30.4600. That equates to approximately an 820 baht loss to me because the payments were not credited on Friday. There are a lot of Americans that receive SSA payments and that equates to a significant amount. When they are late the exchange rates are alwyas going down. I think that they are playing the international money transfer game with our money. Ian or Dave, any comments would be appreciated.

I will investigate what the time frame on the US payments is but I suspect it ties in with the explanations already given. Time differences between the countries and the holiday yesterday.

For the record, the exchange rate this morning as per the website is 30.71. You are incorrectly looking at the note rate.

[chiang mai]

Not to derail this thread but I'd appreciate any guidance anyone can give about how I can start to claim my US SSc Pension - my starting point is that I presume I have to go to the US Embassy in BKK with ID etc and start some form filling?

[Pib]

The last time I looked, no banks IN Thailand are acceptable for direct deposit by SS. It is probably being deposited into the US branch of Bangkok Bank - true? I am sure that bank transfers between the US Bangkok Bank and Thailand Bangkok Banks are not done automatically, but rather manually. I am sure the people in the US Bangkok Bank don't work on weekends or Thai holidays..............

The Bangkok Bank New York Branch "routing number" is used and the in-Thailand Bangkok Bank branch of the individual is used for the account number. Really no different than sending to any U.S. bank/credit union like BoA, Citi, etc., where only a routing number and account number are needed. Don't know whether Bangkok Bank NY does any manual intervention other than taking their fee/slice for the funds flowing thru them onto the local, in-Thailand branch but I've heard they do take American and Thailand holidays.

Edited December 6, 2011 by Pib

[TwentyBaht]

chiang mai,

There is information regarding SSA application on the Thai US Embassy website. And, the Consulate in Chiang Mai, which is where I went.

And, actually, much of the application can be done by phone with the Manilla Office of SSA. You set up an appointment by email. And, they will call you.

I was a bit surprised as to how easy the process was.

If you will do a forum search, there is a fairly detailed past thread.

Cheers

[chiang mai]

chiang mai,

There is information regarding SSA application on the Thai US Embassy website. And, the Consulate in Chiang Mai, which is where I went.

And, actually, much of the application can be done by phone with the Manilla Office of SSA. You set up an appointment by email. And, they will call you.

I was a bit surprised as to how easy the process was.

If you will do a forum search, there is a fairly detailed past thread.

Cheers

Many thanks TB, appreciated.

[kokesaat]

I just applied for social security.....completely by phone with the folks in Manila. Apply 3 months before you're eligible or before you want to begin. Very friendly and efficient service.

As for different exchange rates on the date your pension is deposited and as for having to wait an extra day or two to get your money, about the only option is to have your money deposited in a stateside account and you control the transfers yourself. You'll pay much more to do it that way.

I'm pretty simple when it comes to living in Thailand.....for me, the fact that I can have my social security or pension actually deposited in my Thai bank account is fantastic. I consider myself very lucky!

[chiang mai]

I just applied for social security.....completely by phone with the folks in Manila. Apply 3 months before you're eligible or before you want to begin. Very friendly and efficient service.

As for different exchange rates on the date your pension is deposited and as for having to wait an extra day or two to get your money, about the only option is to have your money deposited in a stateside account and you control the transfers yourself. You'll pay much more to do it that way.

I'm pretty simple when it comes to living in Thailand.....for me, the fact that I can have my social security or pension actually deposited in my Thai bank account is fantastic. I consider myself very lucky!

This is a really lazy request but, any chance you have the number of the Manila office handy?

[JimGant]

why anyone would want their pensions to reach the banks on friday when fri-mon exchange rates are at low,just check it out.

According to the BB website, on Friday, 2 Dec, the buying TT rate was 30.66 in the morning, and 30.68 at its latest. Today, Tuesday, 6 Dec, the Bangkok Bank buying TT rate was, initially, at 30.71 (as reported by Dave), but closed at 30.75

So, all you folks complaining about late arrival, please report on how much you made due to the long weekend. (By the way exchangerates.org does not reflect buying TT rates.)

about the only option is to have your money deposited in a stateside account and you control the transfers yourself. You'll pay much more to do it that way.

No, you'll pay the same -- assuming you're depositing into a US bank account without fees, including free ACH transfers (like USAA). The Bangkok Bank fees for a do-it-yourself ACH transfer are identical to those for a direct deposit. And, you don't have to show up in person to claim your loot.

[aurelius]

If you enroll for the sms alert service at a BBL atm then you will receive an alert when the funds hit your account together with a saying what exchange rate and fees were applied. Free service. Select 'apply for service' on the main menu and then 'sms alerts', follow the prompts.

[meatboy]

why anyone would want their pensions to reach the banks on friday when fri-mon exchange rates are at low,just check it out.

According to the BB website, on Friday, 2 Dec, the buying TT rate was 30.66 in the morning, and 30.68 at its latest. Today, Tuesday, 6 Dec, the Bangkok Bank buying TT rate was, initially, at 30.71 (as reported by Dave), but closed at 30.75

So, all you folks complaining about late arrival, please report on how much you made due to the long weekend. (By the way exchangerates.org does not reflect buying TT rates.)

about the only option is to have your money deposited in a stateside account and you control the transfers yourself. You'll pay much more to do it that way.

No, you'll pay the same -- assuming you're depositing into a US bank account without fees, including free ACH transfers (like USAA). The Bangkok Bank fees for a do-it-yourself ACH transfer are identical to those for a direct deposit. And, you don't have to show up in person to claim your loot.

this year was the first time i had used swift trans.[uk-thai] i have always used a currency dealer that way i now exactly what rate i am getting so from now on that is what i will do.