Cost to Transfer Money to Thailand - I beat it!

[BuddhaMind]

So I decided to make another transfer from my Chase account in America to Bangkok Bank in Chiang Mai the other day. I wanted to transfer $5000. At Chase they call it a Wire Transfer and it cost $40 (1238B). They then asked me if I wanted to transfer in American dollars or in Thai baht. They said transferring in Thai baht might take longer, and the rate would be 29.90 baht per dollar. That seemed a bit low to me, as I've seen high 30's the last week, so I decided on US dollar. I thought, what's the worst that could happen, I lose a few baht as Bangkok Bank takes a fee? So that's what I did, transfer in US funds. Now today when I looked at the transfer into Bangkok Bank, it said that I sent 154,812 baht. That comes out to 30.96 baht per dollar! The cost of sending Thai baht would have been 5312 baht or $171.58!!! Crazy. Did I beat the system? No. Do I feel fantastic? Yes.

Transfer to Thailand in US Dollar. But you probably already knew this. Why didn't you say anything?

:-)

[mesquite]

Good job. The US banks always try to sell you on "convert to THB with us" It's all BS and much more expensive. Sending money in USD and then converting here to THB is much cheaper as you found out.

Edited July 30, 2013 by mesquite

[bamboozled]

So, this leads me to the question, which I still don't quite understand: When I take out money from a US account from the ATM (in Thailand) and the bank asks me if I want to use their conversion, do I say yes or click "continue without the conversion". I'm always thrown for a lulu when this question comes up...

[anto]

So, this leads me to the question, which I still don't quite understand: When I take out money from a US account from the ATM (in Thailand) and the bank asks me if I want to use their conversion, do I say yes or click "continue without the conversion". I'm always thrown for a lulu when this question comes up...

I never remember them asking that when i used to use my Irish ATM .ONLY QUESTION THEY ASKED WAS HOW MUCH BAHT YOU WANT TO TAKE OUT ?

To the OP i thought everyone knew by now that its best to get the conversion done in Thailand of any currency.I must have see it said at least 100,000 times in Thaivisa threads .

[AngelsLariat]

So, this leads me to the question, which I still don't quite understand: When I take out money from a US account from the ATM (in Thailand) and the bank asks me if I want to use their conversion, do I say yes or click "continue without the conversion". I'm always thrown for a lulu when this question comes up...

That's called "dynamic currency conversion" and it is always a lousy deal. Decline it.

[hml367]

Dynamic Currency Conversion at an ATM?

What is dynamic currency conversion?

Dynamic Currency Conversion (DCC), also referred to as Cardholder Preferred Currency (CPC), is a service offered by merchants – not Visa - in some countries when you are traveling abroad. If you choose to use the DCC service, the merchant will convert the purchase price of goods or services at the point of sale from the currency in which the price (i.e., the merchant’s local currency) is displayed into another currency (i.e. your home currency) using an exchange rate that typically includes a service fee.

Here’s an example of a DCC transaction:
A U.S. Visa cardholder is in Singapore and decides to purchase a box of chocolates priced at SGD 20. At checkout, the merchant offers the cardholder the option to pay in USD using a DCC service.

The merchant dynamically converts the SGD transaction amount to USD 15.80. The DCC transaction amount and transaction currency (in USD) are disclosed to the cardholder. An exchange rate of 0.79 (1 SGD = .79 USD), which includes a 2.5% mark up (over a wholesale exchange rate) and the 2.5% commission/fee/mark up are also disclosed to the cardholder.

The cardholder actively chooses DCC by checking a box on a printed receipt or pushing a button on an electronic screen and agrees to pay USD 15.80 for the box of chocolates using the exchange rate provided by the merchant that includes a 2.5% fee for the DCC service.

If you do not want to use DCC when making a purchase, then you have the right to refuse the offer and have your transaction billed in the merchant’s local currency, which will then use Visa’s conversion rate. If you did not agree to DCC, but see it on your bill, then you should ask your issuing bank to contest the charge.

[AngelsLariat]

Dynamic Currency Conversion at an ATM?

Yes, at some ATM's but I think not if you are using a card that's on Visa's network. There have been a number of previous threads about it on ThaiVisa.

[AngelsLariat]

So I decided to make another transfer from my Chase account in America to Bangkok Bank in Chiang Mai the other day. I wanted to transfer $5000. At Chase they call it a Wire Transfer and it cost $40 (1238B). They then asked me if I wanted to transfer in American dollars or in Thai baht. They said transferring in Thai baht might take longer, and the rate would be 29.90 baht per dollar. That seemed a bit low to me, as I've seen high 30's the last week, so I decided on US dollar. I thought, what's the worst that could happen, I lose a few baht as Bangkok Bank takes a fee? So that's what I did, transfer in US funds. Now today when I looked at the transfer into Bangkok Bank, it said that I sent 154,812 baht. That comes out to 30.96 baht per dollar! The cost of sending Thai baht would have been 5312 baht or $171.58!!! Crazy. Did I beat the system? No. Do I feel fantastic? Yes.

For transferring that amount of money, it might be cheaper still to send the money by ACH to Bangkok Bank's New York branch than to do a Wire Transfer. See http://www.bangkokbank.com/BangkokBank/PersonalBanking/DailyBanking/TransferingFunds/TransferringIntoThailand/ReceivingFundsfromUSA/Pages/ReceivingFundsfromUSA.aspx

Edited July 30, 2013 by AngelsLariat

[hml367]

Dynamic Currency Conversion at an ATM?

Yes, at some ATM's but I think not if you are using a card that's on Visa's network. There have been a number of previous threads about it on ThaiVisa.

I have never seen that question. An ATM is a cash advance transaction not POS.

I also contacted Visa corporate in the USA and they said the conversion is done by the card issuing bank.

" For more information about exchange rates, including currency conversions, we invite you to visit the Exchange Rate section of the Visa Corporate web site at the following address: http://corporate.visa.com/pd/consumer_services/consumer_ex_rates.jsp

For specific information regarding how the exchange rate is applied to your account, please contact the financial institution that issued your Visa card. "

I wonder what ATM this would have been at.

As I have posted before, I have been quite lucky. If I make a cash advance on my Visa credit card I am not charged any currency conversion fees. I asked my financial institution and Visa why and neither could tell me why. I, either before I go to the bank or after going, just transfer online from my checking account to my Visa credit card account. I have had this for a couple years at least. My financial institution also does not charge any fees for making any transactions.

As you must know, the Visa exchange rate is usually better than the in-country rate for Thailand banks. Sometimes the TT rate is a little better than the Visa exchange rate except, for me anyway, the conversion fee must be considered.

Edited July 30, 2013 by hml367

[AngelsLariat]

Dynamic Currency Conversion at an ATM?

Yes, at some ATM's but I think not if you are using a card that's on Visa's network. There have been a number of previous threads about it on ThaiVisa.

I have never seen that question. An ATM is a cash advance transaction not POS.

I also contacted Visa corporate in the USA and they said the conversion is done by the card issuing bank.

" For more information about exchange rates, including currency conversions, we invite you to visit the Exchange Rate section of the Visa Corporate web site at the following address[/size]:[/size] http://corporate.visa.com/pd/consumer_services/consumer_ex_rates.jsp [/size] [/size]

For specific information regarding how the exchange rate is applied to your account, please contact the financial institution that issued your Visa card. "[/size]

I wonder what ATM this would have been at.

Googling "dcc atm thailand" will turn up some previous discussions on the topic. When DCC is not in play, Visa/Plus will normally give you an exchange rate that is somewhat better than the TT rate offered by Thai banks.

Edited July 30, 2013 by AngelsLariat

[hml367]

That is why I wonder what ATM this was at... so I can definitely avoid it!

My last employment was as a branch manager of my financial institution. Part of my responsibilities was the "plastic". It has been quite a few years, so certainly very different now.

Edited July 30, 2013 by hml367

[AngelsLariat]

That is why I wonder what ATM this was at... so I can definitely avoid it!

My last employment was as a branch manager of my financial institution. Part of my responsibilities was the "plastic". It has been quite a few years, so certainly very different now.

I haven't encountered it myself using an ATM card that is on the Plus network though I have run into it a number of times when using a Visa card to pay merchants or hotels in Thailand and other Asian countries.

[Suradit69]

A domestic dollar transfer to Bangkok Bank in New York should be quicker and less expensive than wiring to Chiang Mai.

Edited July 30, 2013 by Suradit69

[bamboozled]

The Kasikorn Bank ATMs ask the question about currency conversion....

[cassde]

I am from the UK and always use Bangkok Bank's London office to transfer GBPounds to Bangkok. I always get the prevailing TT rate. It seems cheaper than the usual FX company.

[hellodolly]

So, this leads me to the question, which I still don't quite understand: When I take out money from a US account from the ATM (in Thailand) and the bank asks me if I want to use their conversion, do I say yes or click "continue without the conversion". I'm always thrown for a lulu when this question comes up...

I never remember them asking that when i used to use my Irish ATM .ONLY QUESTION THEY ASKED WAS HOW MUCH BAHT YOU WANT TO TAKE OUT ?

To the OP i thought everyone knew by now that its best to get the conversion done in Thailand of any currency.I must have see it said at least 100,000 times in Thaivisa threads .

They always ask me which account do I want it taken out of?

[hellodolly]

Dynamic Currency Conversion at an ATM?

Yes, at some ATM's but I think not if you are using a card that's on Visa's network. There have been a number of previous threads about it on ThaiVisa.

I have never seen that question. An ATM is a cash advance transaction not POS.

I also contacted Visa corporate in the USA and they said the conversion is done by the card issuing bank.

" For more information about exchange rates, including currency conversions, we invite you to visit the Exchange Rate section of the Visa Corporate web site at the following address: http://corporate.visa.com/pd/consumer_services/consumer_ex_rates.jsp

For specific information regarding how the exchange rate is applied to your account, please contact the financial institution that issued your Visa card. "

I wonder what ATM this would have been at.

As I have posted before, I have been quite lucky. If I make a cash advance on my Visa credit card I am not charged any currency conversion fees. I asked my financial institution and Visa why and neither could tell me why. I, either before I go to the bank or after going, just transfer online from my checking account to my Visa credit card account. I have had this for a couple years at least. My financial institution also does not charge any fees for making any transactions.

As you must know, the Visa exchange rate is usually better than the in-country rate for Thailand banks. Sometimes the TT rate is a little better than the Visa exchange rate except, for me anyway, the conversion fee must be considered.

So you are saying if I transfer the money from my savings account into my Visa account before I use it I will get a better deal than my present system.

At prtesent I use my Visa card at the bank to get money then go home and transfer what I figure is a close sum into the Visa account.

It takes a few days before the final Visa bill show up I then just transfer enough to pay it off.

[SunsetT]

So, this leads me to the question, which I still don't quite understand: When I take out money from a US account from the ATM (in Thailand) and the bank asks me if I want to use their conversion, do I say yes or click "continue without the conversion". I'm always thrown for a lulu when this question comes up...

No No No! Say No every time and click continue and then you will get the Mastercard or Visa rate, whichever your card is, which beats all Thai bank exchange rates every time! This is an international bank scam which should be banned! I thought it was just in Thailand but it happened when I was in Spain recently. Also any purchase you make abroad or in duty free transit etc. if they ask or not, tell them you want to pay in their local currency and not your own. Its the same scam. They want to give you their own exchange rate which is inferior to Visa or Mastercard everytime. Paypal and Agoda do it too. Say no every time.

[BB1955]

So I decided to make another transfer from my Chase account in America to Bangkok Bank in Chiang Mai the other day. I wanted to transfer $5000. At Chase they call it a Wire Transfer and it cost $40 (1238B). They then asked me if I wanted to transfer in American dollars or in Thai baht. They said transferring in Thai baht might take longer, and the rate would be 29.90 baht per dollar. That seemed a bit low to me, as I've seen high 30's the last week, so I decided on US dollar. I thought, what's the worst that could happen, I lose a few baht as Bangkok Bank takes a fee? So that's what I did, transfer in US funds. Now today when I looked at the transfer into Bangkok Bank, it said that I sent 154,812 baht. That comes out to 30.96 baht per dollar! The cost of sending Thai baht would have been 5312 baht or $171.58!!! Crazy. Did I beat the system? No. Do I feel fantastic? Yes.

For transferring that amount of money, it might be cheaper still to send the money by ACH to Bangkok Bank's New York branch than to do a Wire Transfer. See http://www.bangkokbank.com/BangkokBank/PersonalBanking/DailyBanking/TransferingFunds/TransferringIntoThailand/ReceivingFundsfromUSA/Pages/ReceivingFundsfromUSA.aspx

I have been using this option for the last three years . Cost me $3.00 from my bank and I think the most BKK Bank has charged me was 300 baht the max they will charge you on any amount is 500 baht . The money generally takes about 5 days from send to spend ..

[hml367]

Dynamic Currency Conversion at an ATM?

Yes, at some ATM's but I think not if you are using a card that's on Visa's network. There have been a number of previous threads about it on ThaiVisa.

I have never seen that question. An ATM is a cash advance transaction not POS.

I also contacted Visa corporate in the USA and they said the conversion is done by the card issuing bank.

" For more information about exchange rates, including currency conversions, we invite you to visit the Exchange Rate section of the Visa Corporate web site at the following address: http://corporate.visa.com/pd/consumer_services/consumer_ex_rates.jsp

For specific information regarding how the exchange rate is applied to your account, please contact the financial institution that issued your Visa card. "

I wonder what ATM this would have been at.

As I have posted before, I have been quite lucky. If I make a cash advance on my Visa credit card I am not charged any currency conversion fees. I asked my financial institution and Visa why and neither could tell me why. I, either before I go to the bank or after going, just transfer online from my checking account to my Visa credit card account. I have had this for a couple years at least. My financial institution also does not charge any fees for making any transactions.

As you must know, the Visa exchange rate is usually better than the in-country rate for Thailand banks. Sometimes the TT rate is a little better than the Visa exchange rate except, for me anyway, the conversion fee must be considered.

So you are saying if I transfer the money from my savings account into my Visa account before I use it I will get a better deal than my present system.

At prtesent I use my Visa card at the bank to get money then go home and transfer what I figure is a close sum into the Visa account.

It takes a few days before the final Visa bill show up I then just transfer enough to pay it off.

What I posted is what I do. I didn't say you or anyone else will get a better rate doing anything.

You can check the rates on the Visa corporate site against the rates on the Thai bank site to make the comparison. When I compared them last night the TT rate was better than the Visa rate.

MasterCard also has the rates online.

The situation that arises with TT is knowing when the actual exchange takes place. With Visa the rate happens on the date of the transaction.

What you do is what I posted, isn't it? Maybe I didn't word it correctly?

Edited July 31, 2013 by hml367

[jackr]

But you probably already knew this. Why didn't you say anything?

A quick search would have revealed all... onshore rate is always better. Everyone knows.

[WinnieTheKhwai]

So.. what is better when you use a Thai credit card in the USA, and at the point of sale it asks me if I want to convert or not.. It seems to me it's always better to decline such things, because my local (Thai) bank will have the best rates, not some scammy American service?

You got to wonder why banks intentionally make this difficult..

Edited July 31, 2013 by WinnieTheKhwai

[elgordo38]

I have contacted Forex on transferring $15,000 Canadian dollars to my BKK Bank account and the charge is quoted at around 30 satang difference from the rate that comes up on my computer. BKK Bank tells me that the money goes right into my account no "deposit fee"

[AngelsLariat]

So.. what is better when you use a Thai credit card in the USA, and at the point of sale it asks me if I want to convert or not.. It seems to me it's always better to decline such things, because my local (Thai) bank will have the best rates, not some scammy American service?

You got to wonder why banks intentionally make this difficult..

Have you done that before (use a Thai CC card in the US)? When you do that, how does the exchange rate compared to the TT rate published by Thai banks? I"ve previusly tested a Kasikorn ATM card to make an ATM withdrawal from the States and found the exchange rate and fees to be punishing.

Edited July 31, 2013 by AngelsLariat

[Thighlander]

The TT rate at BKK Bank is .25%, with a minimum of 200 thb and a maximum of 500 thb. The fee from BKK Bank, new york is a sliding scale:

less than 50.01 is free, 50.01 tp 100 is 3 usd, 100.01-2000.00 is 5 usd, 2000.01 to 50,000 is 1p usd and more than 50K is 20 usd.

[scottishjohn]

"The situation that arises with TT is knowing when the actual exchange takes place. With Visa the rate happens on the date of the transaction"

This is not true for UK Visa Debit transactions, either ATM or POS. The rate is on the date of billing, not the dtime of transaction and is subject to an ERA (exchange Rate Adjustment) set by visa. With HSBC this is 2.75% at the moment.

[hml367]

"The situation that arises with TT is knowing when the actual exchange takes place. With Visa the rate happens on the date of the transaction"

This is not true for UK Visa Debit transactions, either ATM or POS. The rate is on the date of billing, not the dtime of transaction and is subject to an ERA (exchange Rate Adjustment) set by visa. With HSBC this is 2.75% at the moment.

That is too bad. My financial institution is in the USA. I have found the Visa branded debit card and credit card to have the same rates and timing for me. However, as I indicated in an earlier post, I pay no currency exchange fees when using my Visa credit card. If I use my Visa branded debit card I Pay a 1% currency exchange fee.

Just for information, these are from the Visa Europe exchange rate web page http://www.visaeurope.com/en/cardholders/exchange_rates.aspx :

Use our currency converter to find the rate that Visa Europe used on the day your transaction was processed or to get an indication of the rate you may receive when using your Visa card to exchange currency.

1. Rates apply to the date the transaction was processed by Visa; this may differ from the actual date of the transaction.
2. Visa sets direct cross rates between many major currencies however, not all transactions qualify for cross rates. If in doubt, please contact your issuer.
3. Historical data is available for the twelve month period preceding today’s date.
4. These rates are provided by Visa Europe to its member banks. If your Visa card was not issued by a Visa Europe bank, please click here to find rates applied by Visa Inc.

Edited July 31, 2013 by hml367

[scottishjohn]

"The situation that arises with TT is knowing when the actual exchange takes place. With Visa the rate happens on the date of the transaction"

This is not true for UK Visa Debit transactions, either ATM or POS. The rate is on the date of billing, not the dtime of transaction and is subject to an ERA (exchange Rate Adjustment) set by visa. With HSBC this is 2.75% at the moment.

I should also have added that most UK banks will apply an additional ATM fee for all cash transactions abroad! With HSBC this is 2% per transaction min £1.75 Max £5.00.

Also be aware that the use of credit card issued in the US and UK are VERY different when it come to cash ( in all it's forms). Cash transactions (I am quoting HSBC again) are subject to at 2.99% fee and debit interest is applied immediately the transaction is made and is basically compound interest. Beware of any cash transaction on MOST UK credit cards. Gambling/Betting and purchase of lottery tickets, TCs and Foreign Currency all count as cash transactions.

There are of course some exceptions, but very few.

[scottishjohn]

Yet another addition to the above. All HSBC VISA credit card overseas transactions have 2.99% added to the bill, but no ERA. (Exchange Rate Adjustment)

Edited July 31, 2013 by scottishjohn

[cerbera]

I am from the UK and always use Bangkok Bank's London office to transfer GBPounds to Bangkok. I always get the prevailing TT rate. It seems cheaper than the usual FX company.

GCEN is FREE, better rates. Reliable. Quote ref 1651 0100 for Thailand .