Citibank Thailand Is A "thai Bank" For Retirement Visa Purposes?

[chubby]

sawasdee,

i'm thinking of opening up and USA citibank account, but am told i must also open a citibank thailand bank account , in order to save money of ?foreign transaction fees citi bank -> citi bank

is this a good way to mange cash flow instead of say somethign like ING bank - > bangkok bank as far as fees go

AND, would the citibank Thai bank, count as a "thai bank" for the purposes of a retirement visa ?

thanks

[lopburi3]

An account located in Thailand would qualify but that requires setting up at there office here AFAIK and the same transfer procedures of any bank I believe. As they have only one location and not designed for personal accounts it would not be my choice. To save on transfer fees set up an account at any bank offering free ACH transfers in USA and then open a Bangkok Bank account here. Only charge then will be small $5 or $10 at Bangkok Bank, New York and normal 200-500 baht fee in Thailand. As transfer is done in USD you get the full exchange rate so likely to work out better than other methods.

Whatever you do also sign paperwork for wire transfers prior to leaving just in case you ever need to make international SWIFT transfers as most banks require such paperwork be on file and signed at there location to later process such a request (you do not have to have foreign bank information to sign paperwork). You may never need to use, especially if you use the Bangkok Bank ACH method, but best to have in reserve.

[Langsuan Man]

I think that you will find out that opening a CitiBank outside of Thailand, in order to save on EFTS fees, will require a "premium" account with a $100,000 balance requirement

If you are going to live in Bangkok then you can use your CitiBank ATM card and obtain cash from their Bangkok location ONLY, and then deposit the cash into a Thai Bank account

Unfortunatley you will also find that CitiBank offers one of the lowest, in not the lowest, exchange rate of any bank here in Thailand

[Soutpeel]

Citibank to Citibank transfers are free with the exception of Thailand and a few other places, so even having a "premium" account doesnt help you....explored this route a few years ago as I have a Citi bank premium account in SGP, Talked to Citi Thailand - they said cannot...will pay for transfer.. ...granted this was a few years ago, so something may have changed...

[imovercs]

I have used citibank here for years and like their service. I always wire transfer (swift) and the fee is reasonable as I only do once or twice a year. It is very fast, often same day. Problem if you need to withdraw large amount of cash must go to Bangkok, but if you sign up for online banking you can transfer to another account, your own or someone elses but that takes a few days to complete. Another positive you can withdraw from the Bangkok account using any banks atm and there is no fee for this service anywhere in Thailand. If you do a lot of travelling you can do the same in many countries in asia and europe. You can also transfer funds from us or thailand to many countries at no charge but not to or from thailand and the us. It may happen as they keep adding countries where this is allowed. I have found their exchange rate comparable to others. Nice addition if you can keep say the 800k for retirement purposes or more in any combination of accounts or investments then you are assigned a personal banker and can just call that person or visit when you need something and not have to stand in line.

[worldhipster]

Depending where you live in the US like if in New York or close to open a account At Bangkok Bank there if you have direct deposit to account. then open one in bangkok upon arrival you can then do online transfers. or if you have citibank two opitions then withdraw at citibank atm and save ATM fees or open account here but need 100,000 to open account at citibank here then can do online tranfers to and from accounts here and overseas. third opition is once you have visa stamp open account in any Thai bank withdrawn from citibank ATM deposit in account most banks here issue no name ATM card same day.

[lopburi3]

Bangkok Bangkok New York is not open for personal accounts - you just use them for ACH transfer from your normal US bank to your Bangkok Bank account in Thailand.

[ubonjoe]

A person preparing to move to Thailand wanting to set up a direct deposit account in the US and have SF1199A submitted to SSA before departing US so that there is no delay in getting your payments.

http://www.bangkokbank.com/BangkokBank/PersonalBanking/DailyBanking/TransferingFunds/TransferringIntoThailand/ReceivingFundsfromUSA/Pages/ReceivingFundsfromUSA.aspx

[mahjongguy]

The Citibank on Sathorn Road has ATMs that are linked to the American bank, and it has a Citibank inside which is in every single way a Thai bank. There is no connection between these two operations.

[chubby]

in 2012, when i was in bkk for 1 month, they allowed me to open a Bangkok Bank account, but i'm not sure what type of account it is, because I did not have a work visa, which they asked for initially.

perhaps, I should just use this one and do ING Ach transfers to the NY branch

and forget about citibank, though, i believe i was told that i could open a regular citi bank ( NOT one with $100k international level) and use that US bank to transfer money to the separate Thai version , once in bkk again and open a citibank account.

perhaps the waiving of the foreign trans fee is not that signficant to beat just using the new york bangkok bank route ; which seems to only be useful for large amounts anyway

i'm sort of wondering if that bangkok bank account i opened in 2012 with like 500 baht in it, must be reported to the IRS too now

[mahjongguy]

- Take the common example of an ex-pat who brings in US$35,000 annually for living expenses. You could do that once a year and the total fees from the sending and receiving banks would range from $45 to $65. You would get an exchange rate a few satang better than the day's published rate (in this example, a bonus worth about $55). All well and good. But, since the exchange rate fluctuates, chances are that you'd be much better off on average by bringing the money over in smaller chunks three or four times a year. Now you are more concerned about the transfer costs, and that's where the cheaper fees incurred through BKK Bank New York become appealing.

- If you have US$10,000 or more in your totaled overseas accounts then Yes the 500 baht in your Thai account must be listed as well. That's in the report sent to a Treasury office in mid-year. The newer IRS report is sent in along with your tax filing, includes the same bank accounts as well as other investments, and applies to overseas holdings of $50,000 or more.