Currency Transfers From Canada To Thailand

[spud67]

In February I transferred 30,000 baht to BKK Bank from CIBC. Costs were:

30,0000 B ($1086.54) Amount to be received

828.32 B ( $30.00) Service Charge CIBC

1656.63 B ( $60.00) Intermed Charges United Overseas Bank

32.484.95 B ($1176.54) Total

Then the BKK Bank charged a 100B fee on arrival even though I wanted to pay the full amount.

That's about 8% plus the exchange rate makes it close to 10%. I really want to rectify this.

I am considering the following options:

1. Open a separate account in Canada with an International debit card to leave for my fiancee; pay $5.00 per withdrawal. The plus for this is she is very good at budgeting so she could maximize the withdrawals and minimize the fees.
2. Open an account with Canadian Forex/Oz Forex; $15 transfer fees between $2,000 to $10,000 in value but no transfers below $2,000 and I am not sure how they transfer the money to Australia for the first part of the transaction
3. Paypal???

I would like to hear about others' experiences and comments on how to do this effectively and efficiently. I am not considering a credit card because my fiancee's expenses are mostly cash based.

[ppppjjjj]

I use XE.com to do transfers from Canada, you have to setup an account and verify yourself once. After that it's easy I just do a bill payment into their/my account.

[Rogue33]

Hi Spud67!

I transferred money often in the past from Canada to Thailand. I used the RBC International Money Transfer service to transfer money from my RBC account to my SCB or BKK Bank accounts here in Thailand. The cost was 13.95 $ CAD by transfer (or even lower), I think up to a limit of 2 000 $ CAD by transfer if I'm right. If I remember right I wasn't charged any fees to received the money here in Thailand. The timeframe for the transfer was 2-3 days maximum. IMO, this is the most cost efficient way to transfer money from Canada o Thailand if you transfer 2 000 $ CAD or less. Also, it's pretty easy to register for this service if you have a RBC account (you can register online, no need to call if I remember).

For large amounts wire transfer could be more cheap (some currency exchange bureau offer good exchange rates and reduced wire transfer fee if you transfer more than an certain amount of $).

IMO, option 1 is best. Like you said, you just leave a debit card to your wife here and she can uses it to withdrawn the money once or twice a month directly from the BKK Bank ATM. This is pretty convenient for her and you only pay between +/- 5 $ CAD by withdrawn of 25 000 bahts. So, this option is even cheaper than using transfer money services (as the RBC one).

I would avoid to use Paypal, Western Union and Money Gram since their fees are on the expensive side.

Hope this can help you,

Cheers,

Jonathan

[gerry53]

Rogue33 is on the right track. The RBC International Remittence can be done once every 24 hours for up to $2,500 CDN and costs $13.50 each transaction even for lesser amounts. For the best value take out the maximum each time - less fees. It will flow right into the recipients account or she will have to produce ID to pick it up. All very easy to do online once it is set up and 2 to 3 days is correct.

Sending Thai Baht to Canada is always a bad decision, the Canadian bank will hammer you on the exchange rate. Here in Thailand you get a better rate sending Cdn dollars in then having it changed here into baht.

For very large sums a SWIFT transfer is the easiest in my opinion. Great for major purchases, investments or buying property.

If you are coming here for a month or 3 taking travellers cheques is the easiest and safest, plus it gets the best rates (better than cash), just another option.

Good luck with your fiancee.

Edited April 2, 2013 by gerry53

[spud67]

Rogue33 is on the right track. The RBC International Remittence can be done once every 24 hours for up to $2,500 CDN and costs $13.50 each transaction even for lesser amounts. For the best value take out the maximum each time - less fees. It will flow right into the recipients account or she will have to produce ID to pick it up. All very easy to do online once it is set up and 2 to 3 days is correct.

Sending Thai Baht to Canada is always a bad decision, the Canadian bank will hammer you on the exchange rate. Here in Thailand you get a better rate sending Cdn dollars in then having it changed here into baht.

For very large sums a SWIFT transfer is the easiest in my opinion. Great for major purchases, investments or buying property.

If you are coming here for a month or 3 taking travellers cheques is the easiest and safest, plus it gets the best rates (better than cash), just another option.

Good luck with your fiancee.

Gerry, just to confirm what you are saying...it is better to send funds in Canadian dollars and let Bangkok Bank convert it to baht?

Thanks everyone for your help. No rush now but I am reviewing all of the options.

[gerry53]

Yes spud67, that is correct. I use the Kasikorn Bank exclusively but I am sure it will be the same at the Bangkok Bank. I have done all the methods I listed and when you exchange CDN dollars for Thai baht in Canada you take a major hit. If you SWIFT transfer, use International Remittance, travellers cheques or even cash you get a better rate here in Thailand using CDN dollars. Try buying Thai baht at a currency exchange or bank in Canada and you will see what I mean. Even for small pocket change upon arrival here it is best to bring Cdn $ and exchange to Thai baht at the airport.

Never exchange your Cdn dollars for American dollars either as you just lose more in each currency tansaction and the Cdn dollars are readily accepted.

[reflectionx]

Another option to consider is Desjardins credit card. I had issued one on the name of my wife while she was still waiting for her PR. They have no fee for cash advance, plus they only charge 1.8% on the exchange rate (most credit cards are are 2.5% + plus ATM fee). She used in China and Thailand. In China there was no ATM fee, so she could withdraw few bucks as needed.

The small problem is that when you get money in Thailand, you end up paying 150 baht each time you withdraw. So she found one bank (don't remember which one) that had 25 000 limit in one transaction. So it will cost you about 450 form the exchange rate and 150 ATM fee.

Obviously, I transfered the funds from my chequing account to the credit card the same day as the cash advance interest kicks in the same day.

[JusMe]

Spud: You said: "Open a separate account in Canada with an International debit card to leave for my fiancee; pay $5.00 per withdrawal. The plus for this is she is very good at budgeting so she could maximize the withdrawals and minimize the fees."

From this, I'll assume there's full trust, so you could treat all this as if it was your own bank account. Although, you could have a separate and distinct account just for this purpose.

Set up a specific bank account in Canada with a debit card. (Mine's with Canadian Western.) Send her the debit card with the PIN.

Then she goes to the closest AEON machine and withdraws a requested amount in Thai baht. There is no atm fee from AEON. My Canadian Western bank account is charged Cdn$3.00 per transaction.

As it's a separate and specific Canadian bank account, in Canada you can deposit into it any amount you want, and thereby control the amount that can be taken from the atm here in Thailand.

[bushwacker]

" There is no atm fee from AEON. My Canadian Western bank account is charged Cdn$3.00 per transaction." JusMe, are you suggesting that there are no fees from Aeon even though you do not have an account with them? Are you saying that Aeon will give out Baht drawn on a Canadian Western Bank when you are not a customer and do it with a smile i.e. no charges? This is hard to believe.

cheers

[shepsel]

If you are staying here long term, some advance planning saves a lot of bank fees. I have an account at Scotia Bank, and when my funds are getting to the point where I want to have more money here (say six months worth), I write a cheque in Canadian dollars to myself, and deposit it into my account at Bangkok Bank. They charge me a $10 US fee for the deposit, and in about thirty days the money is in my account. There are no extra fees.

[JusMe]

" There is no atm fee from AEON. My Canadian Western bank account is charged Cdn$3.00 per transaction." JusMe, are you suggesting that there are no fees from Aeon even though you do not have an account with them? Are you saying that Aeon will give out Baht drawn on a Canadian Western Bank when you are not a customer and do it with a smile i.e. no charges? This is hard to believe.

cheers

You've got it - perhaps hard to believe, but that's the way it works.

AEON isn't a bank at all; it's a Japanese credit card company and has branches for that activity around Thailand, as well as ATMs so people can pay their bills, do some semi-banking, etc. Not sure if I could get an AEON credit card or not, but I assure you I do not now have anything to do with them other than the use of their ATMs. And they have a higher withdrawal limit than the Thai banks - just ensure your own Canadian bank has a good limit set. I usually get about 40k baht at a time.

As it is not a Thai bank, there is no general Thai fee for withdrawals. Hard to believe, but there is no fee at all! So the only fee I pay, is the Cdn$3.00 for my Canadian Western withdrawal.

Maybe hard to believe, but sure works well for me - withdraw Thai baht from the ATM here and it comes out of my Canadian Western account in Canadian dollars.

[Edit] for extra comment

This is also immediate, rather than waiting for up to a month while a cheque clears. And it's much cheaper than the Thai charge of maybe US$10.

Edited April 5, 2013 by JusMe

[Rogue33]

I can confirm what Jusme is saying. You don't pay any bank fees if you use your Canadian debit card @ AEON ATMs. In other terms, you don't have to pay the 150 bahts fee that you pay at most ATMs in Thailand. You just pay what your Canadian bank or credit union is charging you for an international withdrawn, so yes about 3 $ CAD in most case.

In the other hand, I'm not sure if you get the best exchange rate using AEON (compare to Bangkok Bank, Kasikorn). Also, regarding withdrawing limit. I'm not sure about the limit but I know you can at least withdrawn 20 000 bahts (based on personal experience).

[Pib]

I can confirm what Jusme is saying. You don't pay any bank fees if you use your Canadian debit card @ AEON ATMs. In other terms, you don't have to pay the 150 bahts fee that you pay at most ATMs in Thailand. You just pay what your Canadian bank or credit union is charging you for an international withdrawn, so yes about 3 $ CAD in most case.

In the other hand, I'm not sure if you get the best exchange rate using AEON (compare to Bangkok Bank, Kasikorn). Also, regarding withdrawing limit. I'm not sure about the limit but I know you can at least withdrawn 20 000 bahts (based on personal experience).

AEON ATMs use the Visa/MasterCard exchange rates which are equal to plus or minus a few stang the Thai bank TT Buying Rate.

[Rogue33]

Thanks for the info Pib.

[Pib]

I can confirm what Jusme is saying. You don't pay any bank fees if you use your Canadian debit card @ AEON ATMs. In other terms, you don't have to pay the 150 bahts fee that you pay at most ATMs in Thailand. You just pay what your Canadian bank or credit union is charging you for an international withdrawn, so yes about 3 $ CAD in most case.

In the other hand, I'm not sure if you get the best exchange rate using AEON (compare to Bangkok Bank, Kasikorn). Also, regarding withdrawing limit. I'm not sure about the limit but I know you can at least withdrawn 20 000 bahts (based on personal experience).

AEON ATMs use the Visa/MasterCard exchange rates which are equal to plus or minus a few stang the Thai bank TT Buying Rate.

Additionally, I've heard AEON ATM will deliver up to 40K baht per withdrawal, if, repeat if, your bank card allows that much per withdrawal/per day. Your debit card sets your withdrawal limit; not really the ATM. I have a couple of U.S. debit cards and both of them allow $1000 withdrawal per day which amounts to approx. 30K baht (or it use to but the exchange rate is now closer to 29 than 30 baht/USD). I have used my cards numerous times in AEON ATMs to withdraw 30K but now days due to the baht strength I pull 29K baht per withdrawal so I dont' go over my $1000 limit per day set by the bank debit card.

[JusMe]

Additionally, I've heard AEON ATM will deliver up to 40K baht per withdrawal, if, repeat if, your bank card allows that much per withdrawal/per day. Your debit card sets your withdrawal limit; not really the ATM. I have a couple of U.S. debit cards and both of them allow $1000 withdrawal per day which amounts to approx. 30K baht (or it use to but the exchange rate is now closer to 29 than 30 baht/USD). I have used my cards numerous times in AEON ATMs to withdraw 30K but now days due to the baht strength I pull 29K baht per withdrawal so I dont' go over my $1000 limit per day set by the bank debit card.

I've regularly been taking 40k baht per withdrawal, although I did once have to ask my Canadian bank to increase my limit to ensure I could get that amount. I don't know what the AEON limit is, but perhaps I'm working at it. But the real limit does seem to be set by the debit card and Canadian bank, definitely not AEON.

Can't remember for sure now, as it was a while back, but I might have "exceeded" my limit due to exchange rate changes, and had to reduce my withdrawal to 38k baht. But again, that was my Canadian bank limit.

[smithjames]

Currency Online like to keep things simple.They offer you the best deal because they are the online self service currency transfer specialists. They like to think they make moving money easy.You can transfer money easily.

[Canada]

Spud: You said: "Open a separate account in Canada with an International debit card to leave for my fiancee; pay $5.00 per withdrawal. The plus for this is she is very good at budgeting so she could maximize the withdrawals and minimize the fees."

From this, I'll assume there's full trust, so you could treat all this as if it was your own bank account. Although, you could have a separate and distinct account just for this purpose.

Set up a specific bank account in Canada with a debit card. (Mine's with Canadian Western.) Send her the debit card with the PIN.

Then she goes to the closest AEON machine and withdraws a requested amount in Thai baht. There is no atm fee from AEON. My Canadian Western bank account is charged Cdn$3.00 per transaction.

As it's a separate and specific Canadian bank account, in Canada you can deposit into it any amount you want, and thereby control the amount that can be taken from the atm here in Thailand.

I deal with RBC. I had a very difficult time with them and ultimately was unsuccessful at setting up another account with another ATM attached to it. Seems as though they wanted me to have one card only for all accounts aside from Visa. You may need to use another bank aside from your own to accomplish this. I have used all of the above mentioned methods of transferring money that only involve my bank and a bank here. Easiest is to use debt card. Semi large amounts, easiest is to cash advance visa and then pay immediately when it shows online. Over 20,000 swift transfer. I eventually opened a FCA (Foreign Currency Acct) for this. It stays in Bkk Bank as CAD until I want to exchange it, which gives room to wait for a better rate as it does fluctuate. If you don't do it this way, you get the rate on the day it arrives. Period.

[jingjoke]

Unless you're running a business in Thailand they do not permit FCA (Foreign Currency Accountst) for individuals. If as an individual you do have an FCA, count yourself lucky.

[JimGant]

You just pay what your Canadian bank or credit union is charging you for

an international withdrawn, so yes about 3 $ CAD in most case.

A quick Google on RBC (Royal Bank of Canada) shows a $5 flat ATM fee to use an ATM machine outside Canada -- plus a 2.5% foreign transaction fee (which no doubt includes the 1% Visa/Plus network fee).

Each account cash withdrawal from a Canadian dollar account you make at an ATM outside Canada displaying the PLUS System Symbol, and any fees that may be imposed by any third party for using the ATM, are converted to Canadian dollars no later than the date we post the transaction to your account at our exchange rate that is 2.5% over a benchmark rate set by Visa International, a subsidiary of Visa Inc.

So, withdrawing $1000 equivalent of baht will cost you $30 (plus 150 baht, if not at an Aeon machine). I wonder if Canadians can open accounts with Schwab -- and have absolutely no fees, including the Plus 1% network fee. Or, do Canadians have fee free options with any Canadian financial institutions.....?

Pib, did you ever try and raise your Schwab $1000 daily cap?

[Pib]

Pib, did you ever try and raise your Schwab $1000 daily cap?

No, never did. Probably because between my State Farm and Schwab Visa debit cards (both no foreign transaction fee cards) I have a total $2,000 daily limit. When it's time to recharge my Bangkok Bank account, I usually slide both of those cards into the AEON ATM to pull $2000 worth of baht, and then walk around the Lotus mall corner to a Bangkok Bank outlet and deposit the money into a Bangkok Bank Cash Deposit Machine...the whole process takes 5-10 minutes. This has been my method of getting my day-to-day living money for around 1.5 years...or has it been 2.5 years...time is a blur sometimes. And since I go to this Lotus mall at least 2 times a week just for shopping/groceries I don't have to make any special trip/expend any extra diesel for the Fortuner to get money ASAP and with zero fees along the line.