Charges For Bankers' Cheques Issued By, And Deposited In Thai Banks

[Mobi]

A few years ago I had a banker’s cheque issued for a substantial sum of money by my bank in Bangkok to pay a builder who was building my house in Pattaya.

When the builder paid it into his bank account in Pattaya (same bank as mine)) he complained to me about the bank charges to clear it. I forget how much they were but I do recall it was a considerable sum.

I may be in a similar situation soon (except I will be on the receiving end – hopefully - and I wondered if anyone happened to know the following:

1. How much do banks charge to issue such cheques, and is there a sliding scale and a maximum?

2. How much do receiving banks charge to clear such cheques in a different province (i.e. Bangkok/Pattaya) and is there a sliding scale and is there a maximum?

I am talking cheques in excess of a million Baht.

I know I can go to my bank and ask, but I am not convinced I will get the full story – if indeed they know, or even understand what I am asking.

Thanks for any expert advice out there.

Mobi

[PCA]

I am certain if you go to the bank and ask that you will get the full story (fees and maybe even special conditions). Just ask for the manager and he'll take his time as soon you mention million(s)

[Mobi]

I am certain if you go to the bank and ask that you will get the full story (fees and maybe even special conditions). Just ask for the manager and he'll take his time as soon you mention million(s)

Sorry, but after 13 years here, I'm not convinced that I will be sure to get the right answer. This isn't 'Thai bashing', I'm just stating a fact.

Maybe I will get chapter and verse, maybe I won't - its all a bit hit and miss. You just never know.

Surely you must realise this from the different so-call rules that different banks impose on farangs who want to open accounts. Some require work permits, some non- immigrant visas, some nothing.

I know its not the same, but it simply demonstrates the way they can bend or misinterpret rules when it suits them. I need to be sure.

I will go and ask my bank, and I may well get a proper answer, but want to see if their information syncs with anyone's personal experience.

[PCA]

I am certain if you go to the bank and ask that you will get the full story (fees and maybe even special conditions). Just ask for the manager and he'll take his time as soon you mention million(s)

Sorry, but after 13 years here, I'm not convinced that I will be sure to get the right answer. This isn't 'Thai bashing', I'm just stating a fact.

Maybe I will get chapter and verse, maybe I won't - its all a bit hit and miss. You just never know.

Surely you must realise this from the different so-call rules that different banks impose on farangs who want to open accounts. Some require work permits, some non- immigrant visas, some nothing.

I know its not the same, but it simply demonstrates the way they can bend or misinterpret rules when it suits them. I need to be sure.

I will go and ask my bank, and I may well get a proper answer, but want to see if their information syncs with anyone's personal experience.

yes and I didn't talk thai bashing either but banking. Anyway maybe somebody gives you better clues.

[doontp]

Bangkok Bank charged me Bt20 for a cashier's check. I don't believe the amount matters.

I'm not 100% on this, but I think they said the fee to deposit it into a different Bangkok Bank branch would be 1% of the amt of the cashier's check, which can be significant. The lady's English was not very well. I'm not sure if the fee would be more if it were to be deposited into a different bank such as Kasikorn Bank.

She did make it clear that there would be no fee if it's deposited into an act located in the same Bangkok Bank branch that the cashier's check was issued from.

I would advise you to do an online transfer. Online banking with Bangkok Bank is very easy for me to use. They charge Bt12-25, irregardless of what bank in Thailand the transfer goes to. Fee amt depends on how fast you want the transfer to post.

[Pib]

If it's treated like a Bill for Collection check it will probably be around 0.10% of the check amount.

[Naam]

Bangkok Bank charged me Bt20 for a cashier's check. I don't believe the amount matters.

flat fee of 20 Baht (Siam Commercial and Kasikorn), amount irrelevant.

[Mobi]

Bangkok Bank charged me Bt20 for a cashier's check. I don't believe the amount matters.

flat fee of 20 Baht (Siam Commercial and Kasikorn), amount irrelevant.

My original reply seems to have disappeared.

Anyway here's an update.

I went to my bank and they told me, as you reported,a cashiers cheque costs 20 Baht .

What they didn't tell you, and what I stated in my vanished post is that when you present a cashier's cheque to a bank you are charged 0.1% on the cheques's value.

Not a lot if the cheque is for a few few thousand Baht, but a ten million Baht cheque would cost 10,000 Baht.

However, if you have the bank issue a 'draft' there will be no charges when the draft is presented to the bank, but the 'buyer' of the draft will be charged.... guess what?.....

0.1% of the draft's value.

So either the 'buyer' or 'receiver' is stuck with a 0.1% bank charge. there is no getting away from it.

Furthermore, if it is not the same bank the draft, or cashier's cheque will take several days to clear.

Maybe it worth paying a few thousand Baht to avoid having to deal wit large amounts of cash, but there is always the residual problem of whether the cheque or draft is genuine or not.

And bank transfers will not work in situations when the transaction has to be done simultaneously and you don't 100% trust each other.

[Mobi]

Bangkok Bank charged me Bt20 for a cashier's check. I don't believe the amount matters.

I'm not 100% on this, but I think they said the fee to deposit it into a different Bangkok Bank branch would be 1% of the amt of the cashier's check, which can be significant. The lady's English was not very well. I'm not sure if the fee would be more if it were to be deposited into a different bank such as Kasikorn Bank.

She did make it clear that there would be no fee if it's deposited into an act located in the same Bangkok Bank branch that the cashier's check was issued from.

I would advise you to do an online transfer. Online banking with Bangkok Bank is very easy for me to use. They charge Bt12-25, irregardless of what bank in Thailand the transfer goes to. Fee amt depends on how fast you want the transfer to post.

As you will see from my earlier post, an online transfer will not work as everything has to be simultaneous.(paying the money/ signing over the asset being bought/sold.)

Yes, the bank staff seem to have a hang up when it comes to expressing percentages.

The woman told me the charge is 1 Baht per thousand Baht. She even wrote it down for me - i.e. 10 Baht for 10,000; 100 Baht for 100,000, 1,000 Baht for 1,000,000 and so on...

So I wrote down 0.1% and she looked at me mystified - an assistant bank manager!!!.... ah well...

[Nowhereman60]

I get checks reimbursement checks from my health insurance, it is paid on checks from Citibank Thailand. Bangkok bank charge me 10 baht per check to cash each check no matter the amount.

[Naam]

Bangkok Bank charged me Bt20 for a cashier's check. I don't believe the amount matters.

flat fee of 20 Baht (Siam Commercial and Kasikorn), amount irrelevant.

My original reply seems to have disappeared.

Anyway here's an update.

I went to my bank and they told me, as you reported,a cashiers cheque costs 20 Baht .

What they didn't tell you, and what I stated in my vanished post is that when you present a cashier's cheque to a bank you are charged 0.1% on the cheques's value.

Not a lot if the cheque is for a few few thousand Baht, but a ten million Baht cheque would cost 10,000 Baht.

However, if you have the bank issue a 'draft' there will be no charges when the draft is presented to the bank, but the 'buyer' of the draft will be charged.... guess what?.....

0.1% of the draft's value.

So either the 'buyer' or 'receiver' is stuck with a 0.1% bank charge. there is no getting away from it.

Furthermore, if it is not the same bank the draft, or cashier's cheque will take several days to clear.

Maybe it worth paying a few thousand Baht to avoid having to deal wit large amounts of cash, but there is always the residual problem of whether the cheque or draft is genuine or not.

And bank transfers will not work in situations when the transaction has to be done simultaneously and you don't 100% trust each other.

i regularly use cashier cheques to transfer from one Thai Bank to another (from Siam Commercial to Kasikorn). i pay 20 Baht per cheque and i don't pay any fees charged by the receiving bank.

[doontp]

Bangkok Bank charged me Bt20 for a cashier's check. I don't believe the amount matters.

flat fee of 20 Baht (Siam Commercial and Kasikorn), amount irrelevant.

My original reply seems to have disappeared.

Anyway here's an update.

I went to my bank and they told me, as you reported,a cashiers cheque costs 20 Baht .

What they didn't tell you, and what I stated in my vanished post is that when you present a cashier's cheque to a bank you are charged 0.1% on the cheques's value.

Not a lot if the cheque is for a few few thousand Baht, but a ten million Baht cheque would cost 10,000 Baht.

However, if you have the bank issue a 'draft' there will be no charges when the draft is presented to the bank, but the 'buyer' of the draft will be charged.... guess what?.....

0.1% of the draft's value.

So either the 'buyer' or 'receiver' is stuck with a 0.1% bank charge. there is no getting away from it.

Furthermore, if it is not the same bank the draft, or cashier's cheque will take several days to clear.

Maybe it worth paying a few thousand Baht to avoid having to deal wit large amounts of cash, but there is always the residual problem of whether the cheque or draft is genuine or not.

And bank transfers will not work in situations when the transaction has to be done simultaneously and you don't 100% trust each other.

I clearly understand about a lack of trust.

A possible idea:

Schedule an appointment with your banker. The other party and yourself go to your bank together.

Use your banker's computer to log into your bank acct. Obviously, do not allow anyone to watch you enter your username and password when logging in. I have done this already at my bank.

Allow only your banker to view your balance and verbally confirm to the other party that you have enough money in your acct to conduct the transaction. This should help the other party feel comfortable.

Complete the steps for the instant transfer, but do not press the SEND button. At this point, allow the other party to view the computer screen so he can see the information. He should be able to see the money amt coming from your act and going into his act. Hopefully the other party can understand this.

Have your banker click the SEND buttom simultaneously as both partys sign. End of transaction.

Conducting the transaction inside a bank should give the other party peace of mind. In my opinion, no bank would get involved if they felt a scam was taking place. Good luck.

[Sophon]

Bangkok Bank charged me Bt20 for a cashier's check. I don't believe the amount matters.

flat fee of 20 Baht (Siam Commercial and Kasikorn), amount irrelevant.

My original reply seems to have disappeared.

Anyway here's an update.

I went to my bank and they told me, as you reported,a cashiers cheque costs 20 Baht .

What they didn't tell you, and what I stated in my vanished post is that when you present a cashier's cheque to a bank you are charged 0.1% on the cheques's value.

Not a lot if the cheque is for a few few thousand Baht, but a ten million Baht cheque would cost 10,000 Baht.

However, if you have the bank issue a 'draft' there will be no charges when the draft is presented to the bank, but the 'buyer' of the draft will be charged.... guess what?.....

0.1% of the draft's value.

So either the 'buyer' or 'receiver' is stuck with a 0.1% bank charge. there is no getting away from it.

Furthermore, if it is not the same bank the draft, or cashier's cheque will take several days to clear.

Maybe it worth paying a few thousand Baht to avoid having to deal wit large amounts of cash, but there is always the residual problem of whether the cheque or draft is genuine or not.

And bank transfers will not work in situations when the transaction has to be done simultaneously and you don't 100% trust each other.

i regularly use cashier cheques to transfer from one Thai Bank to another (from Siam Commercial to Kasikorn). i pay 20 Baht per cheque and i don't pay any fees charged by the receiving bank.

The fee Mobi is referring to is not really a fee for cashing a draft/cashiers cheque, but an out of province fee because the draft was issued in another province. They would have charged him the same fee if they had made the payment as a bank transfer instead of a draft.

Sophon

[Sophon]

Bangkok Bank charged me Bt20 for a cashier's check. I don't believe the amount matters.

I'm not 100% on this, but I think they said the fee to deposit it into a different Bangkok Bank branch would be 1% of the amt of the cashier's check, which can be significant. The lady's English was not very well. I'm not sure if the fee would be more if it were to be deposited into a different bank such as Kasikorn Bank.

She did make it clear that there would be no fee if it's deposited into an act located in the same Bangkok Bank branch that the cashier's check was issued from.

I would advise you to do an online transfer. Online banking with Bangkok Bank is very easy for me to use. They charge Bt12-25, irregardless of what bank in Thailand the transfer goes to. Fee amt depends on how fast you want the transfer to post.

As you will see from my earlier post, an online transfer will not work as everything has to be simultaneous.(paying the money/ signing over the asset being bought/sold.)

Yes, the bank staff seem to have a hang up when it comes to expressing percentages.

The woman told me the charge is 1 Baht per thousand Baht. She even wrote it down for me - i.e. 10 Baht for 10,000; 100 Baht for 100,000, 1,000 Baht for 1,000,000 and so on...

So I wrote down 0.1% and she looked at me mystified - an assistant bank manager!!!.... ah well...

For some strange reason I have always been quoted the out of province fee to be 10 Baht per 10,000 Baht transferred/deposited.

Most Thai Banks charge this out of province fee even if you make the transfer yourself via Internet Banking. It's true that Bangkok Bank have fixed fees for Internet Banking transfers, but not in all situations. If I transfer from my (Bangkok based) Bangkok Bank account to another bank in another province I pay 35 Baht for an immediate transfer. But if the transfer is for my other Bangkok Bank account in Lamphun, then I am charged the 0.1% out of province fee - go figure.

Sophon

[Mobi]

Bangkok Bank charged me Bt20 for a cashier's check. I don't believe the amount matters.

I'm not 100% on this, but I think they said the fee to deposit it into a different Bangkok Bank branch would be 1% of the amt of the cashier's check, which can be significant. The lady's English was not very well. I'm not sure if the fee would be more if it were to be deposited into a different bank such as Kasikorn Bank.

She did make it clear that there would be no fee if it's deposited into an act located in the same Bangkok Bank branch that the cashier's check was issued from.

I would advise you to do an online transfer. Online banking with Bangkok Bank is very easy for me to use. They charge Bt12-25, irregardless of what bank in Thailand the transfer goes to. Fee amt depends on how fast you want the transfer to post.

As you will see from my earlier post, an online transfer will not work as everything has to be simultaneous.(paying the money/ signing over the asset being bought/sold.)

Yes, the bank staff seem to have a hang up when it comes to expressing percentages.

The woman told me the charge is 1 Baht per thousand Baht. She even wrote it down for me - i.e. 10 Baht for 10,000; 100 Baht for 100,000, 1,000 Baht for 1,000,000 and so on...

So I wrote down 0.1% and she looked at me mystified - an assistant bank manager!!!.... ah well...

For some strange reason I have always been quoted the out of province fee to be 10 Baht per 10,000 Baht transferred/deposited.

Most Thai Banks charge this out of province fee even if you make the transfer yourself via Internet Banking. It's true that Bangkok Bank have fixed fees for Internet Banking transfers, but not in all situations. If I transfer from my (Bangkok based) Bangkok Bank account to another bank in another province I pay 35 Baht for an immediate transfer. But if the transfer is for my other Bangkok Bank account in Lamphun, then I am charged the 0.1% out of province fee - go figure.

Sophon

Yes you are correct. It did mention this in my vanished post, but forgot to restate it.

Nam, I assume you are not doing province to province transfers

The 01% fee is levied when you issue a cheque or draft from one province to another - in my case Bangkok to Pattaya, even if it is the same bank.

I am not sure what the situation is on Bank transfers but have not been previously aware of any charges

I used to make substantial transfers from my bank in Bangkok to my acccount in Pattaya using online banking and never had any charges levied - well there might have been 35 Baht or so, but nothing substantial.

Doontp, thank you for your innovative solution, but it will not work. All transactions, including the signing of documents have to take place at the land office.

Edited May 30, 2013 by Mobi

[Naam]

Nam, I assume you are not doing province to province transfers

a correct assumption.

[doontp]

Bangkok Bank charged me Bt20 for a cashier's check. I don't believe the amount matters.

I'm not 100% on this, but I think they said the fee to deposit it into a different Bangkok Bank branch would be 1% of the amt of the cashier's check, which can be significant. The lady's English was not very well. I'm not sure if the fee would be more if it were to be deposited into a different bank such as Kasikorn Bank.

She did make it clear that there would be no fee if it's deposited into an act located in the same Bangkok Bank branch that the cashier's check was issued from.

I would advise you to do an online transfer. Online banking with Bangkok Bank is very easy for me to use. They charge Bt12-25, irregardless of what bank in Thailand the transfer goes to. Fee amt depends on how fast you want the transfer to post.

As you will see from my earlier post, an online transfer will not work as everything has to be simultaneous.(paying the money/ signing over the asset being bought/sold.)

Yes, the bank staff seem to have a hang up when it comes to expressing percentages.

The woman told me the charge is 1 Baht per thousand Baht. She even wrote it down for me - i.e. 10 Baht for 10,000; 100 Baht for 100,000, 1,000 Baht for 1,000,000 and so on...

So I wrote down 0.1% and she looked at me mystified - an assistant bank manager!!!.... ah well...

For some strange reason I have always been quoted the out of province fee to be 10 Baht per 10,000 Baht transferred/deposited.

Most Thai Banks charge this out of province fee even if you make the transfer yourself via Internet Banking. It's true that Bangkok Bank have fixed fees for Internet Banking transfers, but not in all situations. If I transfer from my (Bangkok based) Bangkok Bank account to another bank in another province I pay 35 Baht for an immediate transfer. But if the transfer is for my other Bangkok Bank account in Lamphun, then I am charged the 0.1% out of province fee - go figure.

Sophon

Yes you are correct. It did mention this in my vanished post, but forgot to restate it.

Nam, I assume you are not doing province to province transfers

The 01% fee is levied when you issue a cheque or draft from one province to another - in my case Bangkok to Pattaya, even if it is the same bank.

I am not sure what the situation is on Bank transfers but have not been previously aware of any charges

I used to make substantial transfers from my bank in Bangkok to my acccount in Pattaya using online banking and never had any charges levied - well there might have been 35 Baht or so, but nothing substantial.

Doontp, thank you for your innovative solution, but it will not work. All transactions, including the signing of documents have to take place at the land office.

Options:

bring cash or,

negotiate the bank fees or,

bring a notebook or tablet pc with wireless/wi-fi internet to the land office to do the money transfer or,

use a computer with internet access at the land office to do the money transfer.