Reasons of change

[danlr]

My Fiance amd I are currently working on getting her fiance Visa so I can bring her and the daughter to the US. Currently I am using Moneygram to send support for her amd the daughter. I am getting tired of the poor exchange rate and high transfer fees.

I would like to open a bank account that She could also have access to with an ATM card in Thailand. I deally this would be a bank with branches in both the US amd Thailand. We will use the US branches when we are in the US amd the Thai branches when we are in Thailand. Can someone give me some advice of Banks that would be able to accomplish this for us?

Thank you

Danl

[sirineou]

I dont think such thing is available,

Me and my Thai wife live in the US most of the Year, and we often have to send money for the maintenance of our property and some times for her parents, and we always use Moneygram

We looked at other options but no better option is available

What we are planing to do is , when we go to Thailand in a few months, is to open a second account in our bank, in which we keep a small amount , let's say ฿15,000 and give my wife's sister an ATM card,

when the account runs low we can transfer money from our account to the second small account via the internet.

Anyway I am interested to see what others have to say but I am not hopeful.

[Jingthing]

Suggest using Bangkok Bank in Thailand and most any U.S. bank in the U.S. Then set up the very wonderful "domestic" ACH transfer scheme to Bangkok Bank New York (you don't actually open an account there) to transfer money to Bangkok Bank when needed, and very economically. Sorted. This is only possible using Bangkok Bank ... no other Thai bank.

Edited April 30, 2014 by Jingthing

[sirineou]

Suggest using Bangkok Bank in Thailand and most any U.S. bank in the U.S. Then set up the very wonderful "domestic" ACH transfer scheme to Bangkok Bank New York (you don't actually open an account there) to transfer money to Bangkok Bank when needed, and very economically. Sorted. This is only possible using Bangkok Bank ... no other Thai bank.

I dont understand how that would work

As I understand it Bangkok Bank in NY is a commercial bank and you can not open a private account there

So How do you get money there from your bank (let's say BOA) with out paying a transfer fee?

and When the funds are in Bangkok Bank in NY do you need to pay an other fee to have it transferred to the Bangkok Bank in Thailand?

I am not saying that's how it is, simply asking for clarification , perhaps you can walk as through the process

I am also interested as I am also tired of paying the Moneygram fees.

PS: I will be in NYC next week so when I get a chance maybe I can stop over the Bangkok Bank offices and have a talk.

Edited April 30, 2014 by sirineou

[Jingthing]

There have been several threads about this.

There is info on the Bangkok Bank website.

You start the process from your U.S. bank online.

There are test deposits to get the link set up.

You NEVER open a BB New York account.

You just do a domestic ACH transfer to BB New York using your THAI Bangkok Bank account number and are nominally charged the same as any DOMESTIC transfer. The money automatically flows to Thailand. Your U.S. bank is not involved with that ... only the New York part of it.

Many of us do this. It's fantastic.

Should be possible to do from most all U.S. banks online.

Edited April 30, 2014 by Jingthing

[sirineou]

Thank you Jingthing

I looked at their website and found this linkhttp://www.bangkokbank.com/bangkokbank/personalbanking/dailybanking/transferingfunds/transferringintothailand/receivingfundsfromusa/pages/receivingfundsfromusa.aspx

There are instructions at the bottom of the page

You are right their fees are much better and you get a better exchange rate than Moneygram

Transferred Amount

Fee (USD)

Not more than USD 50.00 Free

USD 50.01 - 100.00 3.00

USD 100.01 - 2,000.00 5.00

USD 2,000.01 - 50,000.00 10.00

USD 50,000.01 or more 20.00

Edited April 30, 2014 by sirineou

[KittenKong]

That's a lot cheaper than the same service from Bangkok Bank London, which costs a flat GBP20 (USD33).

In fact the BB London service is barely cheaper than just using your regular UK bank to do the transfer, and some UK banks even undercut it for small transfers.

[Pib]

Thank you Jingthing

I looked at their website and found this linkhttp://www.bangkokbank.com/bangkokbank/personalbanking/dailybanking/transferingfunds/transferringintothailand/receivingfundsfromusa/pages/receivingfundsfromusa.aspx

There are instructions at the bottom of the page

You are right their fees are much better and you get a better exchange rate than Moneygram

Transferred Amount

Fee (USD)

Not more than USD 50.00 Free

USD 50.01 - 100.00 3.00

USD 100.01 - 2,000.00 5.00

USD 2,000.01 - 50,000.00 10.00

USD 50,000.01 or more 20.00

Keep in mind that is the Bangkok Bank "New York" branch fee applies when the funds flow them with an ACH transfer. Additionally, when the funds arrive the local/in-Thailand Bangkok Bank branch another currency receipt/conversion fee of 0.25% (Bt200 min, Bt500 max) will be applied...this local bank fee is pretty standard for all Thai banks.

But even with both the NY and local fees, its still the cheapest way to do an electronic funds transfer in comparison to the pricey SWIFT method (which still has that local currency receipt/conversion fee unless you absorb the fee upfront when sending the SWIFT transfer which ends up actually costing you more than just letting the local bank apply the fee)...or other methods like Moneygram or PayPal that screw you while smiling on their low exchange rate. Bangkok Bank is the only Thai bank with the low cost inbound ACH transfer capability due to their NY branch which has an ACH routing number.

In closing, neither the NY branch or local branch fee will appear on the sender's bank statement or the recipient's bank statement/passbook because the fees are applied after they leave the senders bank account and before final posting to the recipient's account...this is why you see some ThaiVisa posters think there no fees from Bangkok Bank.

[sirineou]

^^^^Thank you

If I send $500 via money gram it costs $9,99 and is available in Thailand immediately

if I understand the above explanation the same transaction via Bangkok Bank in NY will cost $5 ACH plus $6.50 at the Thai end

so for a final cost of $11.50. is that correct?

But I would probably get a better exchange rate than moneygram?

If that's the case then Bangkok bank ACH transfer would only be economically viable for larger amounts of money

How long does it take for the funds to be available in Thailand from the day send in the US via ACH?

[Jingthing]

In my case, a few days.

[Pib]

^^^^Thank you

If I send $500 via money gram it costs $9,99 and is available in Thailand immediately

if I understand the above explanation the same transaction via Bangkok Bank in NY will cost $5 ACH plus $6.50 at the Thai end

so for a final cost of $11.50. is that correct?

But I would probably get a better exchange rate than moneygram?

If that's the case then Bangkok bank ACH transfer would only be economically viable for larger amounts of money

How long does it take for the funds to be available in Thailand from the day send in the US via ACH?

Yes on the fee amount and yes, you'll get a better rate...you get the Thai bank "TT Buying Rate." You can check out the Bangkok Bank exchange rates at their webpage....or by clicking the ThaiVisa MORE menu selection and then THAI BAHT RATES. Unless something has changed the ThaiVisa rates are linked to the Bangkok Bank TT Buying Rate.

Usually 2 to 3 "business" days (weekend and holidays don't count) from my experience, but a lot depends on how fast your home country sending bank "really" initiates the transfer. Just because you click Send online or signed the transfer paper at the bank counter does not necessarily mean the money is on the way within minutes. Banks usually do batch ACH transfers once time or just a few times a day and usually have a cutoff time during a business day...miss that cutoff time and it don't go out before the next day. Miss the cutoff time on Friday and the money probably wouldn't really start its trek to Monday sometimes.

Edited May 1, 2014 by Pib