New ATM charge for international withdrawal

[crazygreg44]

OP... if your here a long time, open up a thai bank account and send money over here once a month. It will save you heaps in ALL the fees. I just opened up one recently with a tourist visa and calculated that doing IMT from my country will save me $50 a month all up. Over 12 months....

very funny ! . . and your home country bank takes how much of a fee for the International Money Transfer ? And the Thai receiving bank charges how high a fee for depositing it into your account ???

An IMT always costs fees & charges, along with maybe one of the banks offering you the most gruel exchange rate.

An then there's always the point, do your banks charge you a fixed fee, or do they charge by percentage of volume ? A large amount for a fixed fee might come as a real bargain, while for some monthly smallish pension transfers the fixums are a constant pain.

It is really a question of careful cross-examination of all available methods, on ATM withdrawals versus IMT, I think ATM withdrawals win !

[thaisail]

Debit cards charged at 150bt, credit cards at 180bt

[catweazle08]

I use a visacard from a bank in Germany whose policies clearly state that they will pay back all fees from foreign ATM's. I have never had a problem, they always pay back all those fees. 150 nor 180, I don't need to care.

DKB?

[thaisail]

My Schwab debit card gets charged 180 baht at all Thai ATMs!

Debit cards charged at 150bt, credit cards at 180bt

[schnazzy]

it went up a couple months ago, to 180 baht for any foreign ATM card (debit card). AEON may be 150, I haven't checked.

I go online and transfer money from a locked down account to my account I use for International withdrawls. I have a VISA logo'd ATM card for this account.

I go to Bangkok bank with my passport and your VISA logo'd ATM card and get a "cash advance" for about what I need for 3-4 weeks.

Since this is my money, not a real visa card, there is no charge from my bank. Bangkok bank can't charge for VISA cash advances. My foreign bank account does not charge an international transaction fee.

Note, I never leave money in the account that I have an ATM card for. If it is ever stolen, the thieves will be bummed they can't steal more than about 100 baht.

The fee's are only going to go higher. Those that are ok with paying it, perpetuate the problem.

Also, as others have suggested, you can have an investment account etc, and many of those will refund fee's every month.

[thailand49]

As far as I have seen only SCB is the only bank charging the higher fee, I just last night use Bangkok Bank it was still 150, but I'm sure this being Thailand everyone else will fellow, greed breeds.

[ajj]

For uk best option open halifax current bank a/c transfer funds once every 2 months in pounds sterling to thai bank a/c in your name, fee only 9.50 pounds .You could transfer pension monthly if prefered . Bangkok bank give good exchange rate and charge is only approx 600b for any sum . Transfer easy on internet banking from thailand , takes 3 working days . Then free atm use of thai bank a/c .

[circusman]

By ATM.

It will cost you 180 baht per transaction.

We already know that !!!!!!!!!!!!

[BradinAsia]

Now I used the funds in my Bangkok Bank Direct Deposit account for my monthly living

expenses -- with no bank fees at all.

Using today's (Apr 17) buying TT rate of 32.07, if your Direct Deposit had arrived today, your effective exchange rate would have been 31.83 for $2,200. [ ((2200-10)*32.07)-200]. Yes, Direct Deposit fees are identical to fees you'd incur by doing an ACH transfer yourself. In this situation, $10 front end fee, and 200 baht backend fee (.25%, min 200, max 500 baht). Because of the fixed nature of these fees, more is better -- thus a $3,500 transfer would have an effective rate of 31.90.

Excluding the serendipity (or not) of constantly changing FX rates, you'll always beat sending money to your Bangkok Bank account by using a completely fee free Debit/ATM card. But 'completely fee free' includes absorbing the 1% Foreign Transaction Fee charged by the networks -- but most don't. And some even add to this -- Chase charges 3%, plus a flat fee of $5. Ouch. So unless you have Debit/ATM cards from Schwab, State Farm, Fidelity, and a couple others -- that 1% adds up -- even if you're being reimbursed the 150/180 baht ATM owner's fee. In the above scenario, with the FX rate being 32.07, if your card charges only that 1%, this still means your effective exchange rate is 31.75 [32.07*.99] -- inferior to what you'd get by sending money to Bangkok Bank via Direct Deposit or self-initiated ACH.

Such a Direct Deposit account cannot have an ATM or debit card connected to it. Withdrawals can only be made from a Bangkok Bank teller using the account passbook and proper ID.

Since you already have part of your pension going to a Stateside bank, why would you not have both pensions go there -- then ACH whatever amount you need (and whenever) via Bangkok Bank New York? As pointed out, the Bangkok Bank fees are identical for ACH and Direct Deposit -- and many banks don't charge for an ACH transfer (B of America charges $3, but I'd gladly pay this to free myself from having to physically go to the bank to collect my baht). Anyway, several folks on this forum swear by Direct Deposit -- but I believe they think this service is free -- which it is not.

Bottom line is -- I have no more ATM fees. It feels good... saves me 8,000-10,000 baht/year.

Which completely fee free card do you have?

Wow! You must be some kind of investment banker to understand all this.

I looked up the meaning of ACH, but I have no idea how that relates to automatic monthly Direct Deposit.

Why do you say Direct Deposit is not free? Are you talking about the foreign transfer fee? Do you avoid

the foreign transfer fee by having money sent by ACH?

You suggest that since I already have part of my pension going to my U.S. bank, why not have both pensions

go there -- then ACH whatever amounts I need (and whenever) via Bangkok Bank NY?

Having both pensions going to my state-side bank is what I had before, and exactly what I wanted to avoid.

Why would I want to make more work for myself? Now my one retirement is sent automatically every month

via Bangkok Bank in NY. What can possibly be the advantage of doing the same thing via ACH

Also, I'm curious how you consider going to the bank to get your money such a huge inconvenience when

you don't mind going to the bank each and every month to arrange an ACH transfer?? Or is it automatic?

Not intending to be argumentative, just don't understand the advantage of ACH.

Quote: Which completely fee free ATM card do you have:

I never said I have such a card. I said my bank (which is USAA Savings Bank) reimburses my ATM fees up

to $15 per month.

I'm quite happy with my arrangement. I don't see any advantage to ACH, but I hope you are happy with it.

Edited April 18, 2014 by BradinAsia

[JimGant]

I looked up the meaning of ACH, but I have no idea how that relates to automatic monthly Direct Deposit.

Federal Direct Deposits, whether pensions, social security, monthly payroll, IRS refunds, etc, use the ACH electronic transfer network. When you sign up for a direct deposit or other electronic transfer permission, you provide the 9 digit ABA routing number of your financial institution, plus your account number. Direct Deposit to your Bangkok Bank account uses the BB NY ABA number -- Direct Deposit to you USAA bank account uses USAA's ABA number. Both Direct Deposits are ACH transfers. The big difference is -- Bangkok Bank charges fees for this service. And, per handshake with Treasury, requires in person payout for anti-fraud purposes. Details and fees can be found here:

http://www.bangkokbank.com/bangkokbank/personalbanking/dailybanking/transferingfunds/transferringintothailand/receivingfundsfromusa/pages/receivingfundsfromusa.aspx

Why do you say Direct Deposit is not free? Are you talking about the foreign transfer fee? Do you avoid the foreign transfer fee by having money sent by ACH?

Whether you receive a Federal Direct Deposit, or do a self-initiated ACH transfer, both come with the same fees -- $5 front end fee for amounts between $50.01 and $2,000 -- $10 for amounts above $2,000. The fee schedule in the above link is incomplete, as you do have a back end fee of .25% (minimum 200 baht, maximum 500 baht). Such fees aren't spelled out on printouts, but you can do the figures yourself: For your last Direct Deposit, subtract the front end fee, multiply remainder by the 0830 buying TT rate found on the BB FX site, then subtract the .25% back end fee (200-500 baht). The result should be right on the money.

Also, I'm curious how you consider going to the bank to get your money such a huge inconvenience when you don't mind going to the bank each and every month to arrange an ACH transfer?? Or is it automatic?

My monthly (or whenever I choose) ACH transfers take 30 seconds to implement from my home computer via online banking: From, To, Enter. And it's the wife that goes to the local bank periodically to get our walking around money. With Direct Deposit, I'd have to go in person.

And that's the biggest drawback. What if I couldn't go to the bank in person, for any variety of reasons (sick, out of the country, in a coma --). And you cannot, under the rules, name a proxy to pick up your money for you (However, saw one post on this forum where the guy was in the hospital, and after much back and forth, finally got an exception from the bank manager to have his wife act as a proxy. Why would I want to possibly face that aggravation?)

Anyway, you're in an ideal position to do ACH transfers since you bank with USAA, as I do. You'll need a savings account with Bangkok Bank -- in order to get an ATM card, or other not-in-person access to your money. Then, go online to your USAA account, go to the 'my account tools,' select 'add an account,' add the BB NY ABA routing number, your BB account number, and answer 'no' to the question, "Do you have signature authority on the account?" This will then set up the account without doing the two trial deposits tap dance (since you can't "pull" from Thailand into the ACH system, this option will not affect any future transfer operations). Takes a couple days before you're notified the account is set up. Then, take a trial spin -- do a one time transfer of $50 (no front end fee, but 200 baht back end fee) and see how it works. If you do this, say, Monday night about midnight Thai time (noon San Antonio), then log into your Bangkok Bank online banking Wednesday about 9:30AM. Should be there, using the 0830 TT rate (I've never exceeded two days transit, except when a holiday or weekend was involved).

As far as your USAA Debit/ATM cards, USAA has only the MasterCard/Cirrus variety -- and they charge the 1% foreign transaction fee. And MC has a less favorable FX rate, on average, than a Visa/Plus card (Apr 17: MC=31.97; Visa=32.21). So, use your new Bangkok Bank ATM card in lieu of your USAA card (or get a Schwab card, if you can).

I'm quite happy with my arrangement. I don't see any advantage to ACH, but I hope you are happy with it.

May you remain coma free.....