Foreign Currency Deposit Accounts (Fcd)

[longball53098]

I am looking for info about Foreign Currency Deposit (FCD) accounts at the local Thai banks. So far in my research I see most if not all
the big guys offer this type of account. I am limiting my question to both Bangkok Bank and Siam Commercial Bank as I already have accounts at these banks with online banking services. I bank with Chase Morgan in the US and have both swift transfer ability with SCB and ACH transfer ability with BBL.

So far I think BBL will serve my needs as I read the website. It appears that all they need to open is a passport and a local driver
license for an individual account. Minimum opening deposit is the equivalent of 1,000 USD. The account can be a fixed deposit account and they offer one of 14 foreign currencies as the type of account. I do not plan on opening this FCD account in USD but another more stable currency against the baht such as AUD or CHF. My limited research shows me the AUD vs THB has been quite stable for more than 5 years now.

What I am unclear about at this point is?

How do I move the initial 1,000 USD to this account and convert to AUD or CHF? I cannot see where this conversion takes place. I can send the money via my ACH transfer to my Bangkok bank account but normally this will get converted to THB.

If someone here on TV can shed some more light on this feel free to let me know and if you have personal experiences all the better

I am very green and naive about this process so any help
here?

Many thanks in advance

[yoshiwara]

CHF is now in a de facto peg with the Euro so cannot see much point holding on to this currency

[cecil2805]

I opened my FCD account with BKK bank in October, 2007. I mention this, as I am unable to guarantee that their requirements have changed since then. At that time Bangkok bank advised me to firstly open the FCD account in the currency of my choice. This is necessary as you will need to tell your bank the FCD Account #, account holder's name., etc., as well as giving them the BKK bank's SWIFT code.

When you ask your bank to transfer funds to Thailand, I would think that you would ask your bank to transfer the currency of your choice, e. g. AUD.

By the way, if you happen to be on a RETIREMENT visa, the FCD account will be included in the 800 000.00 baht calculation.

Should you wish to chat via email, or SKYPE, I am quite happy to oblige.

[comserve]

You may think the AUD is stable to the THB. About 5 years ago the rate was 32B/AUD. It then dropped to 21B/AUD & now it's back to about 30-32B/AUD. If that is stable enough for you, well go ahead. I would suggest opening the FCB here first then have your sending bank to do the conversion before transfer. Personally I find quite a fluctuation in conversion rates between Aussie banks. You probably would see that same fluctuation in the US.

[rotary]

I have had a FC business acct and FC personal acct. More problems than good it does but to each his own. Check out all the fine details before you commit. You might be better off with a bank in Singapore in whatever currency and just transfer into Thailand when needed unless you need this for a visa.

Edited April 16, 2013 by rotary

[Gsxrnz]

<p>You admit openly that you're a bit naïve about FX transactions and Foreign Currency Accounts.  Your statement that the AUD has been "more stable" against the THB than the USD supports your admission.  And now you want to convert USD to AUD, so you can later convert to THB? </p>

<p> </p>

<p>EDIT - To clarify - the USD is at an all-time low against the AUD.  The AUD is close to an all-time high against the THB.  In layman's terms you are buying AUD very expensively, and then because the AUD is very high against the THB, you would be buying THB very expensively with your AUD, it arguably does not have much headroom.  There is therefore (arguably) very little, if any margin to be made on your theory.  A US person with a real need to have THB for consumption in Thailand would probably judge it better to leave as much currency in USD as they can for the time being on the expectation that the USD firms and/or the THB weakens against your domestic currency.  Because your cash/assets are held in USD at a time when the USD is very weak against Thailand and most major currencies, your kinda between a rock and a hard place at the moment.</p>

<p> </p>

<p>I suggest you do some comprehensive reading to understand more of the complexities of FX trading and the relationships between various currency cross-rates before you delve too far into actually doing anything.  Many people have been burned by transferring across currencies without knowing what they are doing, particularly with on-line leveraged day-trading.</p>

Edited April 16, 2013 by Gsxrnz

[TramsRepus]

I have had FCD accounts in Krungsri Bank since 2005 in SEK and USD with no problems and it have saved us a lot of money.

/T

[Artist]

I am not sure if this helps but I use OzForex for transferring money from AUD to THB. They are very easy to use, helpful and gave me a good rate (much better than the banks). The rate fluctuates by the minute so you can watch until it reaches a high before committing. They also warned me not to go over 5 million baht in one transaction as the Thai Reserve Bank (or whatever it is called) reviews these transactions and may hold them up.

http://www.ozforex.com.au

[AlexDorneles]

Great post. I was also looking at this type of account. My question is... if I go down to the branch and say I want to withdraw 100 USD (assuming the account is in USD). Does the bank give me the money in dollars or they will give me the equivalent in Thai Baht?

[Plastic Brontosaurus]

In my experience banks in many countries (Europe and Asia Pacific) allow the "sender" of the money to decide how to send it. So if I send money from New Zealand to my Bangkok Bank account, I can opt to send it in either NZD or THB.

If I send it in THB, the local NZ bank will convert it at their rate (which incidentally is usually bad), so I send it in NZD. Bangkok Bank then automatically converts it to THB which tends to give me a better rate.

The same would apply for sending USD to a Thai AUD account for example: you choose whether to convert the USD to AUD at the time of sending, or if you don't presumably the receiving bank will convert upon receipt.

If you send a large amount (what consists a large amount varies by bank in my experience), the bank should phone you and agree on a conversion rate prior to conversion.

However you should confirm with both the sending bank and receiving bank about their procedures I'd say. US banks are probably going to be different from most other countries in that the level of control and interference from the government in the banking world is significantly greater, and thus you may not get the same flexibility as in other markets, I assume.

[Joe Mamma]

Stay away from the US dollar,went from 52 baht per USD to 29 in 12 years.

[chiang mai]

You can specify on the transfer form the name of the destination currency with instructions to convert the funds to that currency upon receipt of them. But a word of warning, FC deposit accounts in Thailand usually come with a series of charges that are not obvious at the oputset unless you really look, from memory, and this is going back a couple of years, Bangkok Bank FC accounts made a charge once a year and another charge when funds were withdrawn so you'll need to look closely at that.

As for which currency you should hold: if you spend Baht then it would make sence to convert your USD into any currency that will maintain its value against that currency. Any ASEAN currency will do that and SGD is a fair bet, I'm not sure that AUD will achieve that objective longer term because there is no natural link between the two currencies but I'm no expert.

[topt]

Great post. I was also looking at this type of account. My question is... if I go down to the branch and say I want to withdraw 100 USD (assuming the account is in USD). Does the bank give me the money in dollars or they will give me the equivalent in Thai Baht?

If I remember correctly when I last had a $US FCD at SCB they wanted something like 5% if you wanted to take out cash. If you transferred it first into a THB account at the same bank then no charge. This was some years ago. K bank was the same at the time.

[SICHONSTEVE]

You may think the AUD is stable to the THB. About 5 years ago the rate was 32B/AUD. It then dropped to 21B/AUD & now it's back to about 30-32B/AUD. If that is stable enough for you, well go ahead. I would suggest opening the FCB here first then have your sending bank to do the conversion before transfer. Personally I find quite a fluctuation in conversion rates between Aussie banks. You probably would see that same fluctuation in the US.

I don't see the point in converting baht to a stable currency (to the baht) as you lose out big time in the currency conversion (2 times) and if, for example, it is perfectly stable then you will neither gain or lose anything at any time on account of this being the case.

In other words, just keep the account in baht!!!!.

[yoshiwara]

Great post. I was also looking at this type of account. My question is... if I go down to the branch and say I want to withdraw 100 USD (assuming the account is in USD). Does the bank give me the money in dollars or they will give me the equivalent in Thai Baht?

If I remember correctly when I last had a $US FCD at SCB they wanted something like 5% if you wanted to take out cash. If you transferred it first into a THB account at the same bank then no charge. This was some years ago. K bank was the same at the time.

If the charge for withdrawing $US from your $US account is 5% then I think that is a reasonable rate.

[Traveling Sailor]

I have had an FCD account with BBL for about two years now. I do not actively use it now, but it was great for sending money on a monthly basis from my US pension fund to Thailand. The money would arrive in $, minus a small fee. I would have to go to the branch where I opened the account to transfer/convert from $ to Baht, from FCD account to savings account, again for a small fee. The exchange rate was quite good. The initial deposit was easy once the bank gave me a temporary account number which I provided to my pension folks. The reason I chose BBL is because they have a branch in NYC, so it is like transferring $ from one American bank to another. Smaller fees and quicker transfer. To keep the account active a minimum of $500 must be kept in the account to avoid penalty fee. I have no knowledge of the Pound-Aus $ aspect. Hope this helps.

[topt]

Great post. I was also looking at this type of account. My question is... if I go down to the branch and say I want to withdraw 100 USD (assuming the account is in USD). Does the bank give me the money in dollars or they will give me the equivalent in Thai Baht?

If I remember correctly when I last had a $US FCD at SCB they wanted something like 5% if you wanted to take out cash. If you transferred it first into a THB account at the same bank then no charge. This was some years ago. K bank was the same at the time.

If the charge for withdrawing $US from your $US account is 5% then I think that is a reasonable rate.

To me that seems high - it would cost you $50 to take out $1000 bearing in mind you have sent them the $ in the first place and already incurred charges. I can understand why they do it but I am interested why you think it is a reasonable charge?

[yoshiwara]

Great post. I was also looking at this type of account. My question is... if I go down to the branch and say I want to withdraw 100 USD (assuming the account is in USD). Does the bank give me the money in dollars or they will give me the equivalent in Thai Baht?

If I remember correctly when I last had a $US FCD at SCB they wanted something like 5% if you wanted to take out cash. If you transferred it first into a THB account at the same bank then no charge. This was some years ago. K bank was the same at the time.

If the charge for withdrawing $US from your $US account is 5% then I think that is a reasonable rate.

To me that seems high - it would cost you $50 to take out $1000 bearing in mind you have sent them the $ in the first place and already incurred charges. I can understand why they do it but I am interested why you think it is a reasonable charge?

When you are opening a foreign currency account you are really opening an investment/deposit account with the understanding that at some time in the future you will convert to THB. There will be a turn on the conversion. You are not really opening a $US current account, so the 5% is a 'if you must' commission. If you want regular access to $US then you might contact say Citibank to see whether they have a friendlier rate http://www.citibank.co.th/global_docs/citith_home_en.htm

[longball53098]

Many thanks to all that gave their ideas and info. I will continue reading here and reading online and asking locally. A definite learning process. I am a bit paranoid about the US economy and the failing US dollar so whatever I end up doing most likely my cash will be converted to another more stable foreign currency.