Mekong Bob Posted December 1, 2012 Share Posted December 1, 2012 US$10,000 from Bank of America (USA) to Bangkok Bank (New York), BoA charges $3.00. From Bangkok Bank (New York) to Bangkok Bank (Bangkok), BBNY charges $10.00. From Bangkok Bank (Bangkok) to Bangkok Bank (Chiang Mai), there's a 500 baht charge. Exchange rate varies daily, of course. 6-10 days from BoA to Chiang Mai. Not bad! Any US citizens have better arrangements to transfer money from abroad? Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wimpy Posted December 1, 2012 Share Posted December 1, 2012 ATM card in Aeon machine. $3000 a day, no fees, no wait. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mekong Bob Posted December 1, 2012 Author Share Posted December 1, 2012 ATM card in Aeon machine. $3000 a day, no fees, no wait. ATM spits out Thai baht, I assume. Does it display the exchange rate before you accept? Is it possible that a fee is deducted, but not reported? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hml367 Posted December 1, 2012 Share Posted December 1, 2012 (edited) ATM card in Aeon machine. $3000 a day, no fees, no wait. ATM spits out Thai baht, I assume. Does it display the exchange rate before you accept? Is it possible that a fee is deducted, but not reported? Using a plastic card, the exchange rate is set by your card issuing institution. I don't know why, but for over a year I have been able to take money from my Visa credit card with no currency exchange fee. In AEON ATM's no 150 THB fee. Using signature required the limit is the limit of the card. Before or after I withdraw the money I go online and transfer from a deposit account to my credit card account. I have asked both Visa Corporate and my financial institution why there is no currency exchange fee and I did not get an answer from them. Example: this morning I withdrew 100,000 THB - charge to credit card account $3266.80. Exchange rate about 30.61. The rate I saw at Bangkok Bank this morning was 30.31. Transferring through BBL NYC then the Chiang Mai, you would get the 30.31 rate I believe. The rate shown on Visa Corporate for settlement 11/30/2012 (the date in the USA) is :1 Thai Baht = 0.032625 United States Dollar.... that is about 30.65. I check the exchange rate online before I go to the bank. I have a Visa debit card from the same financial institution. If I use that I have to pay the currency conversion fee. I have an ATM card from the same financial institution. If I use that in an ATM, including AEON, I have to pay a currency conversion fee. For me, withdrawing money from my Visa credit card with a signature, then doing an online transfer has been the best way I have found so far. Bangkok Bank in-store branches are open everyday and the money is available immediately. MSPain Edited December 1, 2012 by hml367 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neilrob Posted December 1, 2012 Share Posted December 1, 2012 You are fortunate, MSPain, to have a credit card giving good exchange rates. My Visa card (and probably most) has poor exchange rates, plus an exchange fee. For large transactions the exchange rate is usually more important than the fee charged. Incidentally, the Bangkok Bank exchange rate you quote is for bank notes. Transfers such as the OP did get 30.55B per dollar, as of this morning. In answer to the OP's question, I do transfers from my account at Vanguard (the large mutual fund company) to my account at Bangkok Bank. I initiate the transfer online. Vanguard charge no fee, I get the transfer exchange rate from Bangkok Bank, and the money is there in 2-3 business days, so I'm quite happy with this service. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hml367 Posted December 1, 2012 Share Posted December 1, 2012 You are fortunate, MSPain, to have a credit card giving good exchange rates. My Visa card (and probably most) has poor exchange rates, plus an exchange fee. For large transactions the exchange rate is usually more important than the fee charged. Incidentally, the Bangkok Bank exchange rate you quote is for bank notes. Transfers such as the OP did get 30.55B per dollar, as of this morning. In answer to the OP's question, I do transfers from my account at Vanguard (the large mutual fund company) to my account at Bangkok Bank. I initiate the transfer online. Vanguard charge no fee, I get the transfer exchange rate from Bangkok Bank, and the money is there in 2-3 business days, so I'm quite happy with this service. Excuse me. Yes, I am sure you are correct, it is the TT rate or something like that. I was looking at the table they had posted on their desk while waiting and that stuck in my mind. Also, I tried one transfer with Bangkok Bank NYC and as I mentioned in my post, the Visa card thing is better for me. What I did not like is using the ACH (I think that is what it was) method I had to wait for a certain number of days for that to clear in the US. The reason given is that the transaction has a period of time in which it can be cancelled. There are other ways of getting the money to Bangkok Bank. Still, as I said, and at least for now, the Visa card transactions are the best for me. MSPain Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hml367 Posted December 1, 2012 Share Posted December 1, 2012 In my post, # 6, I put that I transferred using ACH. I think it was using a bill paying facility, actually. It's been a while. MSPain Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wimpy Posted December 1, 2012 Share Posted December 1, 2012 My bank charges no fees when using my visa branded debit card. As a matter of fact, they refund the 150 baht fee if I happen to use a Thai bank ATM. Aeon charges no fees. The exchange rate is always better than bank note rates. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wimpy Posted December 1, 2012 Share Posted December 1, 2012 On 11/30 I received a rate of 30.651 to the US$ from an Aeon machine. Bangkok Bank shows a TT rate of 30.55 on that day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NancyL Posted December 1, 2012 Share Posted December 1, 2012 The OP is getting a very good rate for the fee from BoA to BB-NY. Our U.S. credit union charges $25 for a wire transfer. However, they have a very good exchange rate for their Visa card and only a 1% currency exchange fee (often it's as much as 3% with Visa cards issued by U.S. banks). Plus, the credit union is member owned and each year they distribute the "profits" to the members based on activity in the accounts and credit cards. Every year, the distribution for the Visa card activity has always been more a little more than 1%. We transfer money from the U.S. to Bangkok Bank just once a year and every time I research all the options just to see if anything's changed. This past year, we decided it was cheapest to simply write a personal check on our U.S. account, deposit it in Bangkok Bank and wait for the funds to clear. They said the funds wouldn't credit our account for 30 days, but the deposit showed up on day 24 or 25. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FredLee Posted December 1, 2012 Share Posted December 1, 2012 (edited) Mekong Bob, I also use BOA to transfer money, using their online wire transfer. I send it to BBK New York, using their ABA routing number, but with the name and account number of my BBK account in Bangkok. BOA charges me $14.00, and there is no charge from BBK. It gets to my account in less than 24 hours. The exchange rate is the luck of the draw, depending on what time of day the transfer takes place. I normally get slightly less than the actual rate. For example, if the exchange rate is 30.61, BBK web page will show an exchange rate of approximately 30.29, but I would get 30.41. Wire transfers get a better exchange rate than what is published on the BBK web page. Edited December 1, 2012 by FredLee Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silverhawk_usa Posted December 1, 2012 Share Posted December 1, 2012 The OP is getting a very good rate for the fee from BoA to BB-NY. Our U.S. credit union charges $25 for a wire transfer. <clipped> We transfer money from the U.S. to Bangkok Bank just once a year and every time I research all the options just to see if anything's changed. This past year, we decided it was cheapest to simply write a personal check on our U.S. account, deposit it in Bangkok Bank and wait for the funds to clear. They said the funds wouldn't credit our account for 30 days, but the deposit showed up on day 24 or 25. I have been doing this for quite a few years with Bangkok Bank, and have recommended it on TV a number of times. I get charged a $10 fee at the time of deposit and no other fees. It is never longer than 30 days for the check to clear and the amount is deposited in my account at the current exchange rate. I do it a few times per year, just need to plan ahead a little. The last time I checked, they said the maximum amount allowed was $50,000. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
richard10365 Posted December 1, 2012 Share Posted December 1, 2012 U.S. Treasury sends my military retirement check to BKK Bank NY to BKK Bank Chiang Mai ($5) which is converted to Thai baht for 200 baht. Arrives on the 1 or 2nd of the month. I'm happy with that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
muchogra Posted December 1, 2012 Share Posted December 1, 2012 The best is to use Aeon to withdraw from your US bank account - no charge now. Don't know if the exchange rate is any different from others but I would think not much different! Last time (this year), I was charged more than B2,000 by KBANK for USD10,000 in traveler checks. <deleted>! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hellodolly Posted December 1, 2012 Share Posted December 1, 2012 I use the bank of Siam take my credit card in and am not charged any thing by them. How ever my credit card charges me $16.50 Canadian no matter what the amount is, I go in once a month and get enough to last me the rest of the month. Might not be the cheapest way but for a one month supply of money I am happy with it. The $3,000 a day on the Aeon machine seems to be a little high to me for an ATM machine that would be ball park 90,000 Baht a day. While the machine does not charge you the Visa will. They do not work for free. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mania Posted December 1, 2012 Share Posted December 1, 2012 Wire transfers get a better exchange rate than what is published on the BBK web page. Yes that is because they use the TT rate or Telegraphic Transfer Rate Which they also show but you need to go here http://www.bangkokbank.com/BangkokBank/WebServices/Rates/Pages/FX_Rates.aspx Their home page just shows the Sight Bills/ Notes rate Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
muchogra Posted December 1, 2012 Share Posted December 1, 2012 ...The $3,000 a day on the Aeon machine seems to be a little high to me for an ATM machine that would be ball park 90,000 Baht a day. While the machine does not charge you the Visa will. They do not work for free. The limit is set by the account holder. For us, we set it USD!,000 a day. We have used it several times, whenever in the neighborhood, to withdraw B25,000 a day to accumulate the cash to pay for the car we have bookked. No charge! But it doesn't give the balance. Only using BBL it gives a balance but at a B150 cost when using BBL's ATM. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amexpat Posted December 2, 2012 Share Posted December 2, 2012 The best is to use Aeon to withdraw from your US bank account - no charge now. Don't know if the exchange rate is any different from others but I would think not much different! Last time (this year), I was charged more than B2,000 by KBANK for USD10,000 in traveler checks. <deleted>! Gosh, that's two-thirds of a per-cent. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hml367 Posted December 2, 2012 Share Posted December 2, 2012 (edited) I use the bank of Siam take my credit card in and am not charged any thing by them. How ever my credit card charges me $16.50 Canadian no matter what the amount is, I go in once a month and get enough to last me the rest of the month. Might not be the cheapest way but for a one month supply of money I am happy with it. The $3,000 a day on the Aeon machine seems to be a little high to me for an ATM machine that would be ball park 90,000 Baht a day. While the machine does not charge you the Visa will. They do not work for free. As I posted before, I do not pay with my Visa credit card. You MAY be charged by your financial institution. Visa Corporate charges the financial institution. It is up to the card issuing institution whether they want to pass on the charge and/or add an amount to that charge. MSPain Visa.pdf Edited December 2, 2012 by hml367 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wimpy Posted December 2, 2012 Share Posted December 2, 2012 I use the bank of Siam take my credit card in and am not charged any thing by them. How ever my credit card charges me $16.50 Canadian no matter what the amount is, I go in once a month and get enough to last me the rest of the month. Might not be the cheapest way but for a one month supply of money I am happy with it. The $3,000 a day on the Aeon machine seems to be a little high to me for an ATM machine that would be ball park 90,000 Baht a day. While the machine does not charge you the Visa will. They do not work for free. As I posted before, I do not pay with my Visa credit card. You MAY be charged by your financial institution. Visa Corporate charges the financial institution. It is up to the card issuing institution whether they want to pass on the charge and/or add an amount to that charge. MSPain Yep. I have two debit cards. I can pull 2k a day out of one, and 1k out of the other. No fees on either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neilrob Posted December 2, 2012 Share Posted December 2, 2012 (edited) We transfer money from the U.S. to Bangkok Bank just once a year and every time I research all the options just to see if anything's changed. This past year, we decided it was cheapest to simply write a personal check on our U.S. account, deposit it in Bangkok Bank and wait for the funds to clear. They said the funds wouldn't credit our account for 30 days, but the deposit showed up on day 24 or 25. On the two occasions I have had to deposit a foriegn currency check (once USD and once GBP) at Bangkok bank, they have given me a poor exchange rate. The wire transfer rate is much better. Did you check what exchange rate you were getting? Differences in exchange rates can easily outweigh fees if you are talking about significant sums. Edited December 2, 2012 by neilrob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BB1955 Posted December 2, 2012 Share Posted December 2, 2012 I use Sun Trust in the USA have it set to transfer automatic . Transfer to Bangkok bank NY usually see it in three days . Bangkok bank charges me about 200 baht my bank in USA $3.00 . Exchange rate is the TT amount listed .... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NancyL Posted December 2, 2012 Share Posted December 2, 2012 We transfer money from the U.S. to Bangkok Bank just once a year and every time I research all the options just to see if anything's changed. This past year, we decided it was cheapest to simply write a personal check on our U.S. account, deposit it in Bangkok Bank and wait for the funds to clear. They said the funds wouldn't credit our account for 30 days, but the deposit showed up on day 24 or 25. On the two occasions I have had to deposit a foriegn currency check (once USD and once GBP) at Bangkok bank, they have given me a poor exchange rate. The wire transfer rate is much better. Did you check what exchange rate you were getting? Differences in exchange rates can easily outweigh fees if you are talking about significant sums. I asked when I deposited the check and they said they couldn't quote a rate, it would be the rate in effect at the time the funds were credited to my Bangkok Bank account. I suppose I should have inquired on that day about the wire transfer rates, just to do a comparison. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dante99 Posted December 2, 2012 Share Posted December 2, 2012 Why not just open a US$ account for transfers and deposits, then you can convert to Baht when you find the rate favorable? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WtFugarwe Posted December 3, 2012 Share Posted December 3, 2012 Vanguard Money Market--Bangkok Bank--Free Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimGant Posted December 4, 2012 Share Posted December 4, 2012 I don't know why, but for over a year I have been able to take money from my Visa credit card with no currency exchange fee. In AEON ATM's no 150 THB fee.Before or after I withdraw the money I go online and transfer from a deposit account to my credit card account. Hmmm. Maybe, by preloading your credit card account with enough bucks (i.e., carrying a credit balance) to cover your ATM transaction (actually, a cash advance transaction), you escape the "instant" interest accrual cost. And, maybe because "cash advances" normally are lucrative for issuers -- because of the instant interest accrual (plus, normally a flat fee charge), your bank has waived the currency exchange fee in hopes for more lucrative returns from the "cash advance" mode. (Are you not getting a flat fee for this?) Using signature required the limit is the limit of the card. How doe that work? Are you actually presented with a "signature required?" option -- in a machine that only accepts PIN inputs for verification? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimGant Posted December 4, 2012 Share Posted December 4, 2012 6-10 days from BoA to Chiang Mai. Not bad!Any US citizens have better arrangements to transfer money from abroad? Thanks. Well, just as an exercise in math, not practicality (assuming you don't mind $3 bucks, or waiting 10 days).... ..... ACH transfers are batch transfers (as opposed to near-real time), and many financial institutions, e.g. BofA, take their sweet time in accomplishing them (remember, "time is money," and these shysters, by holding your money a few extra days (multiplied by thousands of customers), make considerable. Of course, for more than $3, you can expedite the transfer.... Sad. I use USAA (and there are others like them), whose ACH transfer is same-day. And free. So, when I initiate an on-line a transfer to my BB account via BB New York at 9:00 PM Thai time, Dec 3rd (morning Dec 3rd at USAA), I can pull-up my BB account at 9:00 AM Dec 5th and see what I've gotten at the AM's TT rate (less $10 front end, 500 baht back end fees). 36-hour turnaround time. (When "time is money," I prefer time to be on my side.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimGant Posted December 4, 2012 Share Posted December 4, 2012 (edited) On 11/30 I received a rate of 30.651 to the US$ from an Aeon machine. Bangkok Bank shows a TT rate of 30.55 on that day. Exactly as posted on the Visa site for Nov 30th (reciprocal of .032625) http://usa.visa.com/...ex_rates_us.jsp And, this seems to hold true for all of my transactions with my Visa Debit/ATM card at ATM machines -- the published rate is smack on to what I get at the ATM machine (card is the Schwab Visa card, with no fees of its own, nor the passed-on 1% Visa foreign transaction fee -- zillion threads on Schwab on this forum....). Now, Visa projects the FX rates for $ transactions at 12:01 AM NY time for the current day. So, at noon Thai time (11:00 AM when DST is in effect), you can log onto the Visa site, and see what the exchange rate will be when you use your ATM card that afternoon (again, assuming a fee-free card, like Schwab -- if you get a lesser rate than the published rate, your issuer is passing on the Visa fee -- and maybe adding some of his own). From the quote at the top, the 10 satang spread between TT buying rate at BB Bank, and the published/actual rate received, is typical for Visa (my collection of numbers over several years averages 8 satang in Visa' favor). [interestingly, MasterCard's fee-free cards average 8 satang *LESS* than the TT rate, or 16 satang off Visa....] And, if you sent via ACH $10,000 thru BB New York (assuming no ACH fee), after $10 front, 500 bt back fees, that $10k would realize an effective exchange rate of 30.47 -- or 8 baht off the TT rate (same as MasterCard). [This assumes the transfer arrives at BB in Thailand when the buying TT rate is 30.55.] What does that mean in practical terms (assuming the above FX rates remained steady)? Well, assuming a $30,000 yearly budget for Thailand -- then, using your Schwab (or equivalent fee-free Visa card), at 30.65 FX rate, would gain you 5,400 baht over a MasterCard fee free card, or $10k ACH transfers with no ACh fee (FX of 30.47). That's a few beers..... Edited December 4, 2012 by JimGant Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hml367 Posted December 5, 2012 Share Posted December 5, 2012 I don't know why, but for over a year I have been able to take money from my Visa credit card with no currency exchange fee. In AEON ATM's no 150 THB fee.Before or after I withdraw the money I go online and transfer from a deposit account to my credit card account. Hmmm. Maybe, by preloading your credit card account with enough bucks (i.e., carrying a credit balance) to cover your ATM transaction (actually, a cash advance transaction), you escape the "instant" interest accrual cost. And, maybe because "cash advances" normally are lucrative for issuers -- because of the instant interest accrual (plus, normally a flat fee charge), your bank has waived the currency exchange fee in hopes for more lucrative returns from the "cash advance" mode. (Are you not getting a flat fee for this?) Using signature required the limit is the limit of the card. How doe that work? Are you actually presented with a "signature required?" option -- in a machine that only accepts PIN inputs for verification? I am not charged a fee on my visa credit card. I do not pre-load it. I just am not charged. No fees at all. Signature required means going into the bank and proving your identity. ATM's usually have lower limits because there is no verification of who is using the card. Signature required, meaning you must be face to face with a bank employee, and they are supposed to verify your identity. MSPain Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimGant Posted December 5, 2012 Share Posted December 5, 2012 Signature required means going into the bank and proving your identity. ATM's usually have lower limits because there is no verification of who is using the card. Signature required, meaning you must be face to face with a bank employee, and they are supposed to verify your identity. So, this is an over-the-counter transaction with a credit card -- by definition, a "cash advance" operation. And, you are not being charged a 'transaction fee', nor is interest being charged (which, I guess, if you paid your balance immediately, would not be noticed)? What bank is this? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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