Setting up online transfer from US bank to Bangkok Bank

[ThaiBob]

As a side note, hope the OP is using a VPN or proxy server when doing online applications or verifications. A friend had his Schwab application denied at the very last step where he had to enter the trial deposits. They (Schwab) realized he was overseas.

[wpcoe]

My credit union is aware that I live overseas and doesn't care -- it is not a factor. At least that one thing I can eliminate. :-)

Now, as for the banks/credit union that I've attempted to apply for online, I don't think it's an overseas IP number that has been the problem, the problem has been that I can't fit my Thailand address in their application form. "Square peg, round hole" syndrome.

It's a sign of our times, what with online fraud and money laundering, that banks have set up inflexible sign-up procedures. Even though Thailand has a 5-digit postal code system identical to the US 5-digit ZIP codes, the web sites seem to do a match of the postal code entered vs the city/state entered, and they must match.

[wpcoe]

Well, it has been six days (four business days) since my second attempt to set it up, and dead silence on both ends.

I was in Bangkok for the weekend, so on Monday morning went to the Bangkok Bank main office on Silom and visited the folks at the "Inward Funds Transfer Inquiry Service" counter. They tried their darnedest to blame my US bank. I gave them printouts of screenshots showing the BBL ACH and account number as I entered them, along with the screen showing that the test amounts were sent.

I sent another message to my bank asking the exact wording, and if possible date/time stamp, of the rejection from BBL and got:

The verification amounts were returned for the reason “No Account/Unable to Locate”.

The verification amount should have posted to the account on Friday, February 7th. The trace number for this item is #xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx. Your name is not on the transaction so that maybe the reason why you are having problems. The item came in with the name “ACH Allian.”.

... and sent that off to the BBL e-mail address that I got during my Monday visit.

While I was at the BBL Silom office, I double- and triple-checked that the type of savings account I had was the appropriate one to be able to receive the ACH transfers from the US.

[wpcoe]

I logged on to my Fidelity Investments account which also features the ability to set up transfers to another institution on the ACH system.

I noticed the following:

This seems unlikely, but would BBL be denying the inbound transfer because my account with them is a passbook savings account? I *assumed* all the folks who have successfully set up transfers from their US bank to BBL were to passbook savings account, but....?

(Hoo boy. First I tried to edit the previous post to add the Fidelity stuff as an addition. Got an error message when I tried to submit the modified post that I wasn't authorized to do that, but I see it *did* accept the addition of the image attachment. I'm beginning to think my entire pursuit of this ACH transfer is cursed.)

Edited February 12, 2014 by wpcoe

[olddoc]

It is your American Bank !

I never have a problem transferring money from my UK bank to the Bangkok Bank (London) and from there to my Thai Bangkok Bank "savings" account.

The whole process takes less than 24 hours!

http://www.bangkokbank.com/BangkokBank/PersonalBanking/DailyBanking/TransferingFunds/Pages/TransferringFundsNew.aspx

Edit

Added link

Edited February 12, 2014 by olddoc

[Langsuan Man]

wpcoe

do you have Internet banking with Bangkok Bank ? If not then it would appear to me that is your problem since you really don't have many options on the type of account you can have with Bangkok Bank. I have set up and used the ACH system with Bangkok Bank (NY) using both USAA Savings Bank and my Fidelity cash account for my passbook savings account here in Thailand

[Pib]

wpcoe,

I really think Fidelity is your problem; not Bangkok Bank, especially after seeing those Fidelity screens. I never experienced with any of my various bank accounts ibanking funds setup where they say you can't use a Savings account. In fact, when setting up a link they will ask you to select either Savings or Checking but it don't say you can not use Savings. Maybe Fidelity is really the bad guy here and Bangkok Bank has not been sending back in not authorized responses.

You many remember back in my above post #28 on 7 Feb I mentioned I was in the process of setting up another funds transfer link between my USAA account and Bangkok Bank account (actually I've got several links setup already to several Bangkok Bank "savings" accounts but wanted to add a new Bangkok Bank savings account I got a few weeks ago). I decided to try the USAA transfer link option of "Send funds only" vs Send & Pull funds like my other links are already setup for. As mentioned I decided to give Send only setup option a try "this time" since other TV posters having USAA accounts said the Send only link was established for them immediately and no trial deposits were apparently used versus the Send & Pull option where trial deposits are used which you had to verify which I had done before.

However, when using the Send only setup option I was greeted at the end of the setup process that it would be 3 business days before I could use the link to transfer funds...and when looking at the link it said "Restricted." OK, I initiated that setup of that link 6 Feb/Thursday 1:15am USAA time zone in Texas which is 2:15pm/Thursday/6 Feb Thailand time. I checked the my account every day since 6 Feb/Thursday and the link was still identified as Restricted/not active as of around 10am/Wednesday/12Feb Thailand time which would have been 9am/Tuesday/11 Feb USAA in Texas time...still a few business hours short of the 3 day/72 hour business setup time they quoted. I did not get to check on the link status again on Wednesday/12 Feb (i.e., yesterday), but when I checked this morning/13Feb the link is active. So based purely on the clock it took around 4 business days for the link to go active, but if I do not count the day I initiated transfer link (which I bet USAA don't count in their 3 business day estimate) then it did take right at 3 business days for the transfer link to be fully setup/go Active...I can not use it to Send funds to my new Bangkok Bank "savings" account.

Yeap, me thinks Fidelity is the core problem in your case....or was it your credit union and the Fidelity screens were just for example...in that case it's probably just your credit union. Banking sure can be frustrating sometimes....been there, done that, gone the T-shirt. Good luck in getting the transfer link setup.

Edited February 13, 2014 by Pib

[wpcoe]

It is your American Bank !

I never have a problem transferring money from my UK bank to the Bangkok Bank (London) and from there to my Thai Bangkok Bank "savings" account.

The whole process takes less than 24 hours!

http://www.bangkokbank.com/BangkokBank/PersonalBanking/DailyBanking/TransferingFunds/Pages/TransferringFundsNew.aspx

Edit

Added link

I didn't know that UK banks could use the Automated Clearing House (ACH) system for inter-bank transfers to Bangkok Bank. I thought it was only US banks transferring money via the New York BBL office: http://www.bangkokbank.com/bangkokbank/personalbanking/dailybanking/transferingfunds/transferringintothailand/receivingfundsfromusa/pages/receivingfundsfromusa.aspx

I've been using SWIFT transfers for several years now, but with a US$50 charge from my credit union, plus the hassle of faxing the application* and then waiting for two separate confirmation phone calls to my Thai mobile phone from the USA. The ACH system just seems so much easier (and cheaper).

wpcoe

do you have Internet banking with Bangkok Bank ? If not then it would appear to me that is your problem since you really don't have many options on the type of account you can have with Bangkok Bank. I have set up and used the ACH system with Bangkok Bank (NY) using both USAA Savings Bank and my Fidelity cash account for my passbook savings account here in Thailand

Yes, I do have internet banking with Bangkok Bank on the account that I'm trying to transfer funds into. Thanks for the tip that Fidelity *can* and *does* do ACH transfers into a BBL passbook savings account. I just put the info into the Fidelity system last night. They say it can take 7-10 days to verify. I'm cautiously optimistic.

wpcoe,

I really think Fidelity is your problem; not Bangkok Bank, especially after seeing those Fidelity screens. I never experienced with any of my various bank accounts ibanking funds setup where they say you can't use a Savings account. In fact, when setting up a link they will ask you to select either Savings or Checking but it don't say you can not use Savings. Maybe Fidelity is really the bad guy here and Bangkok Bank has not been sending back in not authorized responses.

You many remember back in my above post #28 on 7 Feb I mentioned I was in the process of setting up another funds transfer link between my USAA account and Bangkok Bank account (actually I've got several links setup already to several Bangkok Bank "savings" accounts but wanted to add a new Bangkok Bank savings account I got a few weeks ago). I decided to try the USAA transfer link option of "Send funds only" vs Send & Pull funds like my other links are already setup for. As mentioned I decided to give Send only setup option a try "this time" since other TV posters having USAA accounts said the Send only link was established for them immediately and no trial deposits were apparently used versus the Send & Pull option where trial deposits are used which you had to verify which I had done before.

However, when using the Send only setup option I was greeted at the end of the setup process that it would be 3 business days before I could use the link to transfer funds...and when looking at the link it said "Restricted." OK, I initiated that setup of that link 6 Feb/Thursday 1:15am USAA time zone in Texas which is 2:15pm/Thursday/6 Feb Thailand time. I checked the my account every day since 6 Feb/Thursday and the link was still identified as Restricted/not active as of around 10am/Wednesday/12Feb Thailand time which would have been 9am/Tuesday/11 Feb USAA in Texas time...still a few business hours short of the 3 day/72 hour business setup time they quoted. I did not get to check on the link status again on Wednesday/12 Feb (i.e., yesterday), but when I checked this morning/13Feb the link is active. So based purely on the clock it took around 4 business days for the link to go active, but if I do not count the day I initiated transfer link (which I bet USAA don't count in their 3 business day estimate) then it did take right at 3 business days for the transfer link to be fully setup/go Active...I can not use it to Send funds to my new Bangkok Bank "savings" account.

Yeap, me thinks Fidelity is the core problem in your case....or was it your credit union and the Fidelity screens were just for example...in that case it's probably just your credit union. Banking sure can be frustrating sometimes....been there, done that, gone the T-shirt. Good luck in getting the transfer link setup.

Fidelity is Plan B which I only initiated last night. Prior to that both my (Plan A) attempts were from my US credit union, not Fidelity. My credit union did not have any option for Send, Send & Pull, or Pull. I assume by default it is Send only. I think Fidelity might have Send and Pull potential, but (a) they are set up separately and ( I don't think BBL offers Send service to the USA, do they, other than their own international transfer service which for foreigners is only for the purpose of remitting Thai earnings?

* I'm not so comfortable faxing the SWIFT application any more, since I no longer have a land line. Not only does the SWIFT application contain the banking details of both the sending & receiving banks, I also have to fax a photo ID. Most fax machines have memory, and it would be so very simple for a shop with fax service to recall my application and ID from the fax machine memory and be all set to steal my identity.

[Pib]

You can not "Pull" money from Bangkok Bank (or probably any Thai bank) if your home country bank sets up your ibanking transfer link as a Send & Pull...the Bangkok Bank web even says don't attempt a Pull because it will be rejected (excluding trial deposits...they can't be pulled back...but it won't cause the funds link setup to reject...or at least it never has for me at my various U.S. banks). Bank of Thailand regulations, which Thai banks must follow, just don't allow Pulling of funds internationally. Thailand...money inbound...Land of Smiles; Thailand...money outbound....Land of Frowns.

I now have three USAA funds transfer links setup to three Bangkok Bank savings accounts...two are setup as Send & Pull and was done via trial deposits years/months ago and the third link was just setup for Send only ( as mentioned I gave the Send only setup link a try this this time since I would never attempt to Pull money) and apparently the Send Only option didn't use trial deposits. I know I wasn't notified of any trial deposits and I checked my Bangkok Bank account for an small deposits over the week. I think/guess the three business day waiting period for the Send Only link to go active was just to allow them enough time to send you an email that someone (hopefully you) had just initiated funds transfer link and it will be ready in 3 business days. Now if I got such an email (which I did) and I had "not" setup that link I would be on the phone immediately to USAA. Sounds like it just kinda a 3 day waiting period to give the customer and bank time to reverse course if something unexpected pops up, the link setup is fraudulent, etc.

For me, I think USAA is the only one of my banks that offers the Send Only and Send & Pull options. My other banks just did the trial deposits thing the best I can remember and it was setup as a Send & Pull as far as I know.

Edited February 13, 2014 by Pib

[Langsuan Man]

The no verification process with USAA you described is exactly how it supposed to happen. I personally don't mind waiting a few days to see Bangkok Bank added my transfer options instead of having to call BB to get the exact cents figure for verification. Since I know that I can't I send funds out anyway

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[Langsuan Man]

why bother with in and out

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[wpcoe]

Wednesday night when I entered my BBL bank details into the Fidelity web page, and Thursday morning when I checked the Fidelity web page again, Bangkok Bank was greyed out as a money transfer recipient. Thursday night, Bangkok Bank wasn't greyed out any more, so I sent a test transfer of my own: US$50 which should have no service charge on the BBL end (inbound transfers under US$50.01 are supposedly free). I was rewarded with this screen on the Fidelity web site:

Apparently the magic behind the curtain worked with Fidelity. I checked my BBL savings account and there's no record of any transaction -- the BBL folks said I should be able to see any test transfer on online banking, but it would be in baht -- but as long as it works from here on out, I'm satisfied.

[Pib]

That's good. But please note the Bangkok Bank fee you mentioned is part of the Bangkok Bank New York branch sliding scale fee...you will still have the in-Thailand branch currency receipt /conversion fee of 0.25% (Bt200 min, Bt500 max) which should be the Bt200 min fee for a $50 transfer. Since Bt200 is around $6 I expect only around $44 in baht will be deposited to you account. It will take 1-4 business days for the transfer to complete its journey depending on how fast Fidelity really sends the funds (regardless their confirmation implying it was transmitted immediately), batch processing of the ACH system, and the Bangkok Bank posting time.

Sent from my Onda V971 tablet

Edited February 13, 2014 by Pib

[Langsuan Man]

In my experience Fidelity is very quick to actually send the transfer and they have always shown up in my BB account within a day or two . But also remember due to the time and day difference it is not going to happen overnight

[Pib]

In my experience Fidelity is very quick to actually send the transfer and they have always shown up in my BB account within a day or two . But also remember due to the time and day difference it is not going to happen overnight

Yeap, and just to add a little for those listening in, any weekends and Thai or home country holidays don't count in the X-number of business day transfer time...it usually just an "average" estimate and your sending bank will be the first one to say they have no control over how long the receiving bank will take to post the received funds to your account.

[Pib]

Below is a snapshot of a spreadsheet I just created to show the Bangkok Bank New York Branch and your in-Thailand Bangkok Bank branch fees applied for some typical amounts a person might transfer to their Bangkok Bank account using the U.S. ACH transfer system. Please note the snapshot "does not" reflect any sending fee your U.S. bank may apply for ACH transfers...some banks do apply a sending fee of varying amounts for different speeds of transfer; some don't charge any fee. I've kept everything reflected in U.S. dollars by converting the Bangkok Bank in-Thailand currency receipt/conversion fee to dollars..and the final amount posting to your account in baht is also reflected in dollars.

Also, don't use this snapshot if you are using SWIFT to transfer funds as the Bangkok Bank NY ACH fee wouldn't apply but you may have additional intermediary/correspondent bank fees which generally don't apply when using ACH. As we know, SWIFT/wire is generally faster than ACH by a few days, but you pay the price for that extra speed through the generally pricey SWIFT/wire fee which probably range in the $25-$40 ballpark...and then you still get hit with the Bangkok Bank in-Thailand branch currency receipt/conversion fee of 0.25% (Bt200 min, Bt500 max) unless you give your sending bank instructions to reflect that fee back to your home bank account...either way you still get hit with the fee...same could apply for an ACH transfer. SWIFT transfers just generally cost significantly more than ACH transfers.

Back to the snapshot reflecting an ACH transfer. Please note the percent of total fees almost always decreases the more you transfer but there is one place right around the $2,000 amount where the Bangkok Bank NY Branch fee jumps from $5 to $10. Ex: send $2000 the fee is $5; but send $2,000.01 the fee jumps to $10...sending that one extra penny over $2,000 cost you $5 more in fees. Since the $2,000 point is probably pretty close for a lot of social security and military retirement pensions a person might want to take that into consideration in exactly how much you send over. There are some more notes on the snapshot so be sure to read those also.

Cheers...hope the snapshot helps.

[Pib]

Regarding the Bangkok Bank New York branch and your local in-Thailand Bangkok Bank branch fees to receive funds from the U.S. using ACH, both of below snapshots from the Bangkok Bank website apply. For those using SWIFT only the second snapshot should apply. Now remember, I'm only talking Bangkok Bank fees; not any fees charged by your home country Sending bank and whatever intermediary/correspondent banks your home Sending bank may use....you would just heap those fees onto the Bangkok Bank fees. Additionally, neither of these fees will be reflected on your Bangkok Bank passbook or your home country Sending bank account (or pension transmitting agency like Social Security, DFAS, OPM, etc) as they are applied after the funds leave your Sending bank and before the funds are posted to your in-Thailand branch account. This is probably why some folks think no Bangkok Bank fees were applied to their bank transfer or monthly pension payment, but they most surely were applied. It also helps to explain why some folks can never match the exchange their math works out to be to the Bangkok Bank exchange rate web page. As mentioned in many other posts/threads you can set your account up to receive the free SMS International Remittance alerts which will tell you the amount "arriving," exchange rate given, in-Thailand branch fee, amount and time of posting to your account.

New York Branch ACH Fee Schedule

In-Thailand Branch Fee Schedule

[JimGant]

However, if I had known this kind of verification process was going to happen I would have just selected the Send and Pull type option which uses the trial deposits which also takes around three days.

Pib, I set up two "send only" accounts with USAA, and, of course, no trial deposits ('cause, as far as they're concerned, it's a third party account -- otherwise, your name would be on it, right -- thus you're in no position to access the account and verify the two trial deposit amounts). So, accordingly, you're in position (as far as USAA is concerned) to send money to that third party. But, when it hits Bangkok Bank NY, presumably they see it's from "Pib," but the receiving party has no Pib in the account holder data field -- only Noi Hotpants (or something like that....). What does BB NY do -- reject it in NY, or forward it on the the BB account in Thailand, where it then may be rejected?

This quote from Bangkok Bank sheds no light, at least to me:

"... you must use the internet banking service of banks in the United States which allow the remitter to specify the beneficiary’s name. Otherwise, the payment instruction Bangkok Bank receives may not carry the correct beneficiary name and Bangkok Bank will have to return funds to the remitter."

Hmmmmm. There's no place on my ACH transmittal form to enter beneficiary's name (and when I set it up, I only indicated something like "joint acct with wife" as recipient name). Does this mean I can't sent money to a third party, but only to an account that has my name on it? Or, because I set up this particular transfer avenue as "send only," then, yes, it's encoded so that it will be sent to whomever's name is on the designated account....? If so, then maybe the quote from Bangkok Bank, above, is misleading -- and I do recall reading on this forum about being able to send to third parties via ACH BB NY, although no particulars were provided.

Maybe the OP, trying to set up a strictly "send and receive" type account did, indeed, run afoul of somewhere in the chain not having sending and receiving names reasonably identified as being the same (but why Fidelity succeeded where the credit union didn't, don't know -- unless the name on Fidelity account is more akin to that on the Mister xxxx account with Bangkok Bank).

Pib, will be interesting to see, if you go the "send and receive" route with USAA, how they respond. Several years ago I went this route, and got a message back something like, "Bangkok Bank has notified us that they can only receive, not send, transfers. Accordingly, we are establishing this transfer as a send only." Thus, no trial deposits.(And, presumably, no real requirement to have sender and recipient names the same.)

Is the OP aware that you can only ACH to an account whose account title (owner) matches that of the sending account? You can't ACH to someone else's account. That's true for a Bangkok Bank account as well.

Sure you can ACH to someone else's account -- if it's accordingly set up that way as a "send only" transfer. But, with Bangkok Bank, do they really need the beneficiary's name in on the ACH paperwork in order to process a third party transfer? Anyone reading this ACHing to their mother-in-law in Thailand?

[Pib]

Pib, will be interesting to see, if you go the "send and receive" route with USAA, how they respond. Several years ago I went this route, and got a message back something like, "Bangkok Bank has notified us that they can only receive, not send, transfers. Accordingly, we are establishing this transfer as a send only." Thus, no trial deposits.(And, presumably, no real requirement to have sender and recipient names the same.)

Jim,

As mentioned in my earlier post, I now have three transfer links setup between USAA and three Bangkok Bank savings accounts. Two of those links were setup many months or years ago (depends on the account) are setup as "Send and Receive/To-From." When the trial deposits hit my Bangkok Bank accounts I used those amounts to complete the verification. Those trial deposits stayed in those two accounts and where not pulled back by USAA...they may have tried but Bangkok Bank would have rejected that pull-back. Regardless, the USAA accounts were activated no problem as To and From although I would never try to pull money from Bangkok Bank as I know it would be rejected. The exact same occured for the transfer links to Bangkok Bank I setup with a couple other of my U.S. bank.

However, the latest USAA link setup I tried for a pretty new Bangkok Bank savings account (a no ATM savings account) is the one I tried the "Send" only setup thinking the transfer link would go active immediately like I had got the impression from other ThaiVisa posters who use USAA also...but as my story described it did not go active immediately and I had to wait 3 business days for it to go active/available for use. Maybe things have changed because some new laws/regulations affected U.S. banks starting in Oct 13 regarding international funds transfers...maybe that changed how USAA handles the setup of its Send only funds links....I don't know...I'm guessing....I just know I'm good to go now although I haven't run an actual transfer with the new transfer link yet.

Pib

[wpcoe]

That's good. But please note the Bangkok Bank fee you mentioned is part of the Bangkok Bank New York branch sliding scale fee...you will still have the in-Thailand branch currency receipt /conversion fee of 0.25% (Bt200 min, Bt500 max) which should be the Bt200 min fee for a $50 transfer. Since Bt200 is around $6 I expect only around $44 in baht will be deposited to you account. It will take 1-4 business days for the transfer to complete its journey depending on how fast Fidelity really sends the funds (regardless their confirmation implying it was transmitted immediately), batch processing of the ACH system, and the Bangkok Bank posting time.

Sent from my Onda V971 tablet

Thanks, Pib.

After setting up the $50 transfer from Fidelity Investments to Bangkok Bank Thursday evening (Thai time), I had to wait until Monday morning (today) for the transfer to be processed, since Friday was a holiday.

Using the TT Buying rate from the Bangkok Bank foreign exchange web page of 32.22 at 0830 this morning, the transfer should have been B1,611. But since, as Pib pointed out, they would apply the minimum B200 currency receipt/conversion fee, it would be reduced to B1,411.

Checking my BBL account activity online, it shows a deposit at 0935 this morning of B1,411.

There is still some problem with my credit union's method of transferring, and I'm not motivated to work with them to straighten it out. I'll just do a double transfer to get money here:

(1) free transfer from credit union to Fidelity and then

(2) minimal fee transfer from Fidelity to BBL

Beats the old hassle and costs with the SWIFT transfers from my credit union.

My thanks to everybody for their input along the way.

[Pib]

wpcoe,

Sweet success. I know a credit union I was with up to about 8 years ago still didn't offer ACH or SWIFT transfers on the customer's ibanking system...just internal transfers among a person's Shares and Money Market accounts at the credit union. To do a transfer to an external bank you physically had to go to a branch and initiate the transfer in person at some ridiculous fee. While credit unions do indeed offer many good deals like low interest loans, there are also plenty of the smaller ones that have some high fees for some services and lack a lot of services. So many banks/credit unions/cards and so many different levels of service and fees.

Cheers,

Pib

[Thailand J]

I have just opened an account with Bangkok Bank. I have been sending money using the SWIFT system into K-Bank. ..9000 USD a few times a year.

Before I started using the ACH system with Bangkok Bank, I went to K-Bank to check what kinda fees I was paying. Turns out SWIFT or ACH doesn’t matter at all. I am going to stay with K-Bank, they seem to have more ATM’s around

SWIFT:

Vanguard to initiate transfer: no fees

HSBC as intermediary: no fees , I thought it was $25

K-Bank inward commission: 500B

K-Bank domestic transfer, 0.1%, 750B Max: 290B

K-Bank Lease line charge: 20B

Total cost=810B

ACH:

Vanguard: no fees

Bangkok Bank 10 USD to receive ACH: 320B

Bangkok Bank in-Thailand transfer ,0.25%, 500B max : 500B

Total cost=820B

[SailingHome]

I just opened an account at Bangkok Bank on my 30 day stamp. All good but say I can not online bank :-(

[SailingHome]

Ah! And I am glad I had my USA passport in card form as a second ID. A passport was not enough at Bangkok Bank Siam Paragon.

[Pib]

I have just opened an account with Bangkok Bank. I have been sending money using the SWIFT system into K-Bank. ..9000 USD a few times a year.

Before I started using the ACH system with Bangkok Bank, I went to K-Bank to check what kinda fees I was paying. Turns out SWIFT or ACH doesn’t matter at all. I am going to stay with K-Bank, they seem to have more ATM’s around

SWIFT:

Vanguard to initiate transfer: no fees

HSBC as intermediary: no fees , I thought it was $25

K-Bank inward commission: 500B

K-Bank domestic transfer, 0.1%, 750B Max: 290B

K-Bank Lease line charge: 20B

Total cost=810B

ACH:

Vanguard: no fees

Bangkok Bank 10 USD to receive ACH: 320B

Bangkok Bank in-Thailand transfer ,0.25%, 500B max : 500B

Total cost=820B

Not many banks/companies offer no sending fee SWIFT transfers...you are lucky....most do offer no sending fee ACH transfers. All the banks/companies I'm with offer no sending fee ACH transfers with the exception of Bank of America which charges a $3 ACH sending fee...but all of my banks/companies charge a healthy fee for a SWIFT/wire transfer.

Yeap, whether the incoming funds are arriving as a ACH/SWIFT/etc transfer, unless a person selected the transfer option to reflect on receiving fees back to them (then you still get charged when the charge reflects back to your home country account), you will pay the in-Thailand Thai bank currency receipt/receiving fee in the 0.25% (Bt200 min, Bt500 max)...varies by bank....and whether the funds arrive as foreign currency or already converted to baht.

Edited February 20, 2014 by Pib

[CaptHaddock]

I have just opened an account with Bangkok Bank. I have been sending money using the SWIFT system into K-Bank. ..9000 USD a few times a year.

Before I started using the ACH system with Bangkok Bank, I went to K-Bank to check what kinda fees I was paying. Turns out SWIFT or ACH doesn’t matter at all. I am going to stay with K-Bank, they seem to have more ATM’s around

SWIFT:

Vanguard to initiate transfer: no fees

HSBC as intermediary: no fees , I thought it was $25

K-Bank inward commission: 500B

K-Bank domestic transfer, 0.1%, 750B Max: 290B

K-Bank Lease line charge: 20B

Total cost=810B

ACH:

Vanguard: no fees

Bangkok Bank 10 USD to receive ACH: 320B

Bangkok Bank in-Thailand transfer ,0.25%, 500B max : 500B

Total cost=820B

In my opinion it is unwise to originate overseas money transfers directly from Vanguard. Vanguard restricts some of the activities of US expats and in the future may become yet more restrictive. As of now Vanguard will not let an expat open a new account (e.g. a Roth Ira), although they will let him continue to trade in his existing accounts. It is possible that they will insist on expats closing their accounts in the future. There have been some unconfirmed reports that this has already happened in some cases.

Far better, in my opinion, to open an account with banks or credit unions that target military personnel as their customer base since they are less likely to to discourage expat clients. This group no longer includes USAA Federal Savings unless you have a genuine military connection, but still includes Pentagon Federal Credit Union and some others. You want the money to go from Vanguard or Fidelity to PenFed or USAA by free ACH and then to your Bangkok Bank account again by ACH paying only BB's freight. If you woke up won day to find your Vanguard accounts summarily closed without warning, you would be hard-pressed to open new brokerage accounts from abroad. Vanguard, being the best of the brokerage accounts, is irreplaceable, in my opinion.

It's possible that Vanguard will never raise an alarm, but why take the risk?

[CaptHaddock]

That's an alarming new development. My passport alone was enough at the same BB location two years ago.

Ah! And I am glad I had my USA passport in card form as a second ID. A passport was not enough at Bangkok Bank Siam Paragon.

[wallybee]

I had a transfer from Hong Kong to my Bangkok bank account.

On the transfer was mentioned to notify my phone number.

I didn't hear for 2 days, so today I went to my branch office and surprise they had already

exchanged the funds into Thai baht at an exchange rate not controlable.

I am under the impression that i would have gotten a phone call and at that time I could tell them if i wanted to have the funds

exchanged or to wait.

This is my money and BB decides when and for what FX rate the funds will be exchanged.

I spoke to the headoffice and they said it is normal procedure to exchange funds right away without the customer having any say.

Anybody any experience????

I know that Krungthai will notify you and will keep the original currency up to a year and you can call them at anytime to have the transaction activated