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[Naam]

Of course, if one is only comparing foreign currency inward remittances to Thai banks, the exchange rate loss will be the same and thus can be ignored.

However, if other methods are to be considered and compared, e.g. bringing cash, credit card, traveller's cheques, Thai baht inward remittances, stored value card, etc. one requires a nominal benchmark rate for the sake of comparison.

Anyway we are somewhat edging off topic, the key point here is how the correspondent bank charge is calculated and how one can find out their fee structure.

whatever amount i transfer the charge is a flat $45 for USD or €20 for EUR. the SWIFT charges vary depending on the currency and the amount between 15 and 40 $/€.

never asked why because i consider it too tedious to listen to the blah-blah of a back-office employee

[Briggsy]

I phoned TSB. I was passed through 4 operators, all very polite I should add. The first on the customer helpline (Newcastle) was unaware of what a "correspondent bank" was. The second on "international payments desk" (South Wales) was also unaware of the term. The third on International Help (India??) was unintelligible and quickly put me through to a fourth "international desk" (Glasgow). The fourth actually turned out to be Lloyds which is now split from TSB. He tried but could not find out who the correspondent bank was. He was also perplexed as to why TSB customers were coming through to Lloyds. I gracefully called it a day at this point.

The fall back method is to ask SCB what they received and deduct it from what was sent, in this case £107.50 and the difference should be intermediary/correspondent bank fees.

This will be next week when I am back in Thailand.

[JimGant]

The third on International Help (India??) was unintelligible and quickly put me through to a fourth "international desk" (Glasgow).

Wow, two unintelligible chaps in a row..........

[Briggsy]

Unlike stories in the local press from the crime reporters embedded with the local police, this story now has a conclusion which will be shared.

Upon returning to Thailand, I went to SCB and asked for further details. First I discovered that that information can only be viewed by the receiving branch, other branches cannot view the transaction. So I had to go into my branch. They were able to provide me with a printout.

I sent the money from TSB --> Siam Commercial. However also appearing on the printout are the SWIFT codes for HSBC (UK) as the "reimbursing bank" and Standard Chartered (UK) as the "remittance bank".

Readers will recall I started with £117.50. I paid the £10 TSB fee and thus sent £107.50. However I can now see the Siam Commercial received only £102.50. So it can be seen a £5 fee was taken along the way, presumably by either the HSBC or Standard Chartered.

Then the £102.5 was converted at 50.0425 (I got that right) to give 5129 Baht. Finally a 320 Baht was applied by SCB (which Jack Mountain had) leaving 4809 Baht.

So now we know where the fees went. My next question would be if I did the same transfer with a larger amount, would that £5 fee to the intermediary banks increase and if so up to what maximum.

Any information would be appreciated.

[Naam]

So now we know where the fees went. My next question would be if I did the same transfer with a larger amount, would that £5 fee to the intermediary banks increase and if so up to what maximum.

Any information would be appreciated.

i don't think all correspondent banks charge the same amount Briggsy. but for what it's worth... my figures show that the fee varies based on the amount transferred but not too much. if you scroll back you'll find that for a USD 100k transfer $45 were charged.

for two much smaller €UR amounts (€2,660 and €3,125) the fees were €20 each. for a €UR 100k transfer the fee was €36.50 (at that time $45). therefore i think it is safe to conclude there is a cap.

[Briggsy]

Thanks Naam. I have enjoyed this small thread which has been enlightening to me.

The £5 fee is such a convenient round figure that it is unlikely to be a sum of two figures or a percentage, far more likely to be a minimum charge or less likely a flat fee.

Your experiences might suggest that these intermediary bank fees may be between a £5 minimum and perhaps a £25 maximum. And as you said different banks will have different charges. I am purely speculating here. We need another transfer on the same transactional route and then, like a simultaneous equation, we can deduce values.