Best way to transfer money from Overseas

[tingtongtourist]

I transfer money frequently from Australia and UK. I have found it is very important to transfer the money in the local currency so that it gets converted to Baht in Thailand. I use Bangkok bank. Be aware some overseas banks will convert to baht before they send it even though it has been ordered in the local currency. (Australia) and it takes a great deal of pulling strings to overcome this. I discovered this when I opened an Australian dollar account at Bangkok Bank and found that the money was converted baht before it was deposited. Having the overseas currency account here in Thailand means that you can look at the exchange rate and transfer immediately when you like it.

I am waiting for details to be emailed from Virgin company in Australia..apparently if you are a member of the frequent flyer, they do a visa debit card where you can load $AUS into it and use the card in multiple currencies in different countries. You have to nominate the currency upfront but from what i read, you can use in ATM in thailand to draw baht at 80baht per transaction.

when i get more detail i will make post about this as i hate the greedy extortion fees of aussie banks

[chiangrai]

--is there much difference in the rate charged for ATM withdrawals from a foreign bank and internet transfers from a foreign bank to a Thai bank.

Are either of them cheaper in general,I know the transfer charges are cheaper by Atm but do they then stick you with a different exchange rate.

[JB300]

I use Citibank to do fee free international transfers anywhere.

They also utilise exchange rates which are better than the daily average

and

you can elect whether or not you take on the receiver's banks charges, if any.

Having make that election I have not been charged by the receiver's bank.

Free use of their ATMs anywhere. No fees for that in foreign countries.

Are you sure? Citibank charge me a flat rate of s$20SGD when transferring money from Singapore to UK/Philippines (& I have a Citigold account if that makes a difference).

Exchange rate usually is very good & free to withdraw from Citibank machines everywhere (though they are pulling out of a lot of countries, recently sold their Philippine branch network to BDO).

Edit: Just seenTallGuyJohninBKK's reply http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/index.php?/topic/749674-Best-way-to-transfer-money-from-Overseas/page__view__findpost__p__8218432 seems It depends where your Citi account is held

Edited August 9, 2014 by JB300

[mikosan]

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Thanks guys, I over heard a conversation in which this guy was using a FX agent. There are no fees involved and you buy the the thai baht at the current spot price. this is like a trading account for spot currency. This is what I am hoping to find.

I am getting funds from Canada.

Thank you

I use my OzForex account to transfer money from Australia and the UK to my Thai Kasikornbank account. It works exactly as above, effectively spot trading currency and assuming you transfer more than a set amount, AUD 10000 and GBP 3000, there is no fee. They make their money by a very small variation on the spot rate which, in my experience, never costs anything like fees incurred using other methods.

Edited August 9, 2014 by mikosan

[Maggusoil]

I use Citibank to do fee free international transfers anywhere.

They also utilise exchange rates which are better than the daily average

and

you can elect whether or not you take on the receiver's banks charges, if any.

Having make that election I have not been charged by the receiver's bank.

Free use of their ATMs anywhere. No fees for that in foreign countries.

Are you sure? Citibank charge me a flat rate of s$20SGD when transferring money from Singapore to UK/Philippines (& I have a Citigold account if that makes a difference).

Exchange rate usually is very good & free to withdraw from Citibank machines everywhere (though they are pulling out of a lot of countries, recently sold their Philippine branch network to BDO).

Edit: Just seenTallGuyJohninBKK's reply http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/index.php?/topic/749674-Best-way-to-transfer-money-from-Overseas/page__view__findpost__p__8218432 seems It depends where your Citi account is held

TallguyJohn is right. This is fee free from Australia and fee free from ATM's in Bangkok and Indonesia from an Australian or Thai account.

[poweratradio]

Really depends on:

-- How much your bank charges for a wire transfer, my U.S. banks range from $30-$45.

-- How often you want to do this.

-- Same with ATM fees, the local baht 180 charge doesn't "hurt" too much for a baht 30,000 withdrawal.

Mac

canadianforex.ca shops for the best currency exchange from source to destination currency then drops it into your account 2nd day if you have a "swift" code.

[poweratradio]

Western Union is the best. They charge no fees if you send from bank to bank from overseas to here. The only 'fee' is the less exchange rate. This still beats PayPal(the worst) money gram and bank transfers

My Banks western union action is certainly not free at a flat $9. dlrs and 1% plus exchange. Can't believe you regarding anything to do with western union no fees

[poweratradio]

Thanks guys, I over heard a conversation in which this guy was using a FX agent. There are no fees involved and you buy the the thai baht at the current spot price. this is like a trading account for spot currency. This is what I am hoping to find.

I am getting funds from Canada.

Thank you

try canadianforex.ca you can even test it before you fire it so to speak.

[slipperylobster]

If you have an account at Bangkok Bank in Thailand.You should be aware that they have an office in New York. You can transfer whatever you want to the New York Branch and BBK will transfer to your account in Thailand free. The only fee I pay is $3.00 to the BOA for such service. Cheaper than that you will not find anywhere. I have been doing it this way for years and have never encountered any problems.Expect the funds to be transfer to take 5-7 business days to reach your account in Thailand.

Make sure the name matches exactly. I tried this, and the money was returned to the Government. Granted, I was sending it to my wife's account.

I have done something similar elsewhere in Asia.... Direct depost to PCI (over here BBK). It was a dollar account...and after a few months, I discovered there was still a 21 usd fee. It went from the US Government, to Bank of New York then to PCI (Philippines). In Thailand, I was told same fee. That was Direct Deposit to a Foreign Bank, using an US intermediary bank.

[laislica]

XE (free draft on your account and they convert to a baht rate you lock in). Then 21 usd wire from XE TO BBK. I do 100,000 once every two months.... and then no ATM required. My ATM fee is 180 plus an International fee...on every 18,000 baht.....so instead of six visits to the ATM every two months (60 usd in charges) I pay only 21 usd instead. Saving 40 usd every two months, or 240 usd a year.

I mostly use XE-Trade Too.

When I look at the spot price and then get an online quote (to possibly lock into) I notice that the rate I get will be about 70 Satangs lower than the spot rate.

Then I have the 12.50 GBP wire transfer fee. Job done.

If selling over 15k GBP the rate I get improves a little, so I would try to do about 16K GBP in a single shot.

It gets me more than the 800,000 Baht required for the retirement extension.

The UK bank imposes a 25K max transfer limit.

I tried another company which had phone and online facilities.

My first transaction by phone had a super rate and no transfer fee.

Next time the rate was very low so I told them no! They offered a better rate so I sold,

Next time very low rate and I just laughed and dumped them and went back to XE.

Good to check on these things from time to time though.

I must ask Kasikorn about a Sterling account and what rate they would give when the Sterling is converted (at my whim?).

If it´s always better than XE I´ll give it a try.

[Pib]

If you have an account at Bangkok Bank in Thailand.You should be aware that they have an office in New York. You can transfer whatever you want to the New York Branch and BBK will transfer to your account in Thailand free. The only fee I pay is $3.00 to the BOA for such service. Cheaper than that you will not find anywhere. I have been doing it this way for years and have never encountered any problems.Expect the funds to be transfer to take 5-7 business days to reach your account in Thailand.

The $3 fee you mention is your Bank of America sending bank fee for a 3 business day ACH transfer. There are indeed additional fees as discussed below.

As the funds flow throw the Bangkok Bank "New York" branch they slice off a fee based on a sliding scale but it usually $5 up to $2,000 and $10 for amounts over $2,000. And when the funds arrive you in-Thailand Bangkok Bank branch they apply a 0.25% (Bt200 min, Bt500 max) currency receipt/conversion fee. Neither of these Bangkok Bank fees will appear on your Bangkok Bank statement/passbook as they are applied "before final posting to your account"...and of course the fees would not appear on your BoA sending bank account. Since the fees are applied before posting and not recorded on your statement/passbook it fools a lot of people into thinking no fees were applied except maybe any Sending bank fee they paid. This is the main reason a lot of people wonder why they can't never get the exchange rate received to match any of the posted Bangkok Bank exchange rates...that's because fees where not considered. But sending via ACH using the Bangkok Bank NY routing number is definitely cheaper than SWIFT.

[Briggsy]

Use HiFX

if not visiting your home country.

Cash in your cargo pants / undies

if visiting your home country

Both methods will smash the banks and their high fees.

[Pib]

Use HiFX

if not visiting your home country.

Cash in your cargo pants / undies

if visiting your home country

Both methods will smash the banks and their high fees.

How do HiFX rates compare to say the Thai bank TT Buying Rate? When going to the HiFX website they use the typical interbank rate for comparison (the bait) but I couldn't find a page/calculator for what a common/private person would get...maybe you have to sign up for an account before being provided that access? And the fine print below the interbank rate on their display for comparison purposes states:

About This Rate

All figures shown are based on today's Interbank rates. This is the rate at which banks and brokers buy and sell money to each other. Private individuals and small to medium sized businesses cannot access these rates. They are therefore provided for indicative purposes only. For a quote please contact us.

Edited August 10, 2014 by Pib

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

I tend to be very skeptical of these various commercial currency exchange outfits, especially when people claim they're getting great rates or no fee transactions. After all, they are businesses whose business is to make money...off of you. And invariably, they're doing that via lower exchange rates, transaction fees, or a combination of the two.

As has been illustrated above, a fair number of people posting here don't even know the actual details and fees that are being charged for their own international currency transactions. Or they think the Thai banks aren't charging a fee on the receiving end (even though they pretty much always are), just because it's not separately listed in their online banking ledger for the transaction.

At least for Americans and Brits, I'd be surprised if any commercial exchange outfit is offering, all things considered, more economical international exchange deposits to Thailand than those obtained through Bangkok Bank's own internal international transfers service from the U.S. and U.K.

It certainly isn't going to be Western Union, MoneyGram or Paypal offering better deals, as we've already well-documented here in the past. And if any other of the similar businesses are for U.S. or UK senders, I've yet to see anyone here clearly show it with a proven, documented transaction.

Edited August 10, 2014 by TallGuyJohninBKK

[Bountyhuntr]

Western Union is the best. They charge no fees if you send from bank to bank from overseas to here. The only 'fee' is the less exchange rate. This still beats PayPal(the worst) money gram and bank transfers

My Banks western union action is certainly not free at a flat $9. dlrs and 1% plus exchange. Can't believe you regarding anything to do with western union no fees

Western union for me has NO fees (I'm from UK). Though they have a lesser exchange rate. However the lesser exchange rate still beats ATM withdrawals.

Maybe you're doing it wrong

Edited August 10, 2014 by liamstevens111

[poweratradio]

Western Union is the best. They charge no fees if you send from bank to bank from overseas to here. The only 'fee' is the less exchange rate. This still beats PayPal(the worst) money gram and bank transfers

My Banks western union action is certainly not free at a flat $9. dlrs and 1% plus exchange. Can't believe you regarding anything to do with western union no fees

Western union for me has NO fees (I'm from UK). Though they have a lesser exchange rate. However the lesser exchange rate still beats ATM withdrawals.

Maybe you're doing it wrong

Its western union attached to the web site for Scotiabank. It also has a limit of 999.99 per day

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

Western union for me has NO fees (I'm from UK). Though they have a lesser exchange rate. However the lesser exchange rate still beats ATM withdrawals.

I suppose that depends what kind of ATM withdrawals you're doing.

My ATM withdrawals carry no foreign currency fee from the banks that issue my cards. And, the Thai ATM withdrawal fees I incur are reimbursed fully by my card issuing banks. So in effect, the net overhead cost for my ATM withdrawals is ZERO, and the exchange rates are the full VISA or MC network rates with no deductions.

If Western Union really is more economical for you compared to ATM withdrawals, perhaps it's time to consider what kind of home country bank cards you're using abroad, and what kind of fees they're charging you.

[Bountyhuntr]

Western union for me has NO fees (I'm from UK). Though they have a lesser exchange rate. However the lesser exchange rate still beats ATM withdrawals.

I suppose that depends what kind of ATM withdrawals you're doing.

My ATM withdrawals carry no foreign currency fee from the banks that issue my cards. And, the Thai ATM withdrawal fees I incur are reimbursed fully by my card issuing banks. So in effect, the net overhead cost for my ATM withdrawals is ZERO, and the exchange rates are the full VISA or MC network rates with no deductions.

If Western Union really is more economical for you compared to ATM withdrawals, perhaps it's time to consider what kind of home country bank cards you're using abroad, and what kind of fees they're charging you.

ATM machine withdrawals are 150-180 baht standard if you use your bank card from abroad. If your bank back home refunds this money I'll be very surprised. That's why everybody use to withdraw from AEON as it use to be free withdrawals.

Regarding fees charged from your actual bank back home, someone else from UK also confirmed what fees he pays, which are very high. Maybe western union is not good for your country/you, who knows. Most if not all banks abroad especially England will charge you heavy fees for using it abroad. For example, Natwest charge you using it abroad(that fee is capped at £5) and a % fee for converting the money when you withdraw(like 3%). It use to cost me around £18(excluding atm charge) in fees to withdraw about £480. So around 4%. I know moneygram you're going to have to pay a hell of a lot more. I can get the money in my thai bank in 1-2 days with no fees with WU, so the best alternative for sure.

Edited August 11, 2014 by liamstevens111

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

ATM machine withdrawals are 150-180 baht standard if you use your bank card from abroad. If your bank back home refunds this money I'll be very surprised. That's why everybody use to withdraw from AEON as it use to be free withdrawals.

This may be one of MANY times when it's better to be an American than a Brit or European!!!

Truth is, Americans have quite a few different banking providers who will refund international ATM fees, either up to a certain amount per month, or in full. I have two providers who refund in full, and one who refunds up to $20 of such fees per month. I never come anywhere close to those limits, and I never end up paying Thai ATM fees out of my own pocket. And of course, none of those accounts have any foreign currency transaction fees.

So, I guess you need to be very surprised!

Obviously, it was nice when AEON had fee-free ATM withdrawals. But many of us knew that wasn't likely to last forever, and made banking arrangements to cover us when the music stopped.

[Pib]

ATM machine withdrawals are 150-180 baht standard if you use your bank card from abroad. If your bank back home refunds this money I'll be very surprised. That's why everybody use to withdraw from AEON as it use to be free withdrawals.

I have two U.S. debit cards which are no foreign transaction fee cards and they reimburse ATM fees such at the foreign card Bt150-180 fee. I did use AEON before to avoid the Bt150-180 in order to prevent my card-issuing bank from spending too much money on me due to frequent ATM reimbursements...pricey reimbursements (I didn't want to help kill the reimbursement Golden Goose) and just to prevent Thai banksters from making the high Bt150-180 fee.

Now while I occasionally using both of those debit cards now...about once a quarter...I'm still trying to minimize giving Thai banksters high foreign card ATM use fees by primarily using my no cash advance and no foreign transaction fee "credit" card to do bank counter/teller cash advances which allows me to pull up to $2,000 daily. I do the counter cash advance, come back home, logon to my credit card account, and make a payment to pay the cash advance in full to avoid any interest charges. Pretty easy to do and it makes me feel a little better than I'm not making Thai banksters richer and not forcing a reimbursement from my home country bank...kinda the principle of the thing I guess.

But I realize everyone may not be able to easy get no foreign transaction/no cash advance debit or credit cards, as ease of getting such cards varies from country to country. In the U.S., such cards are in the minority and they are probably in the minority in most countries since majority of debit/credit cards do seem to carry foreign transaction fees. People just need to do their research and get an account with the bank/company offering no foreign transaction fee cards...and hopefully offering ATM fee reimbursement also.

[Bountyhuntr]

@TallGuy

For example, if you withdrew 25,000 baht from ATM machine with your US debit card and US bank, you would get the international exchange rate also?

Don't know why banks would lose money for a customer

Edited August 11, 2014 by liamstevens111

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

@TallGuy

For example, if you withdrew 25,000 baht from ATM machine with your US debit card and US bank, you would get the international exchange rate also?

Don't know why banks would lose money for a customer

Yes... any amount I withdraw from an ATM anywhere in the world, I will receive the VISA or MC network rate (no deductions) for the handful of no-fee, fee-reimbursing U.S. debit cards I mentioned having and using above.

And, the banks involved don't necessarily lose money, at least not on all customers. For example, some of those kinds of accounts are checking accounts tied into U.S brokerage houses. So by offering no-fee, fee-reimbursing ATM cards, it's a way for the brokerage houses/banks to attract and keep customers' brokerage business.

Or in other cases, depending on the particular account, sometimes there are paycheck direct deposit requirements (in other words, you agree to have your payroll or pension check automatically deposited into that account each month), or maintain some minimum monthly balance, and/or, in some accounts, the benefit is only offered if you make a certain number of POS (Point of Sale) debit card purchases each month (usually about 10 purchases, of any amount). The banks get a small fee every time you use your ATM card to buy something, so that also generates revenue for them. And so on and so forth. Each of the banks/cards tend to have their own individual policies and requirements.

In my case, in a typical month, I might end up doing only 1 or at most 2 ATM withdrawals, usually for the maximum 30,000b allowed. So in terms of reimbursements, you're talking about $4.50 per month, or at most $9. So out of three of those kinds of accounts, I might have only 1 or at most 2 ATM fee reimbursements per three month period.

But as Pib mentioned above, those of us who deal in such things usually are careful to manage and not abuse the ATM fee reimbursements benefit (such as by usually withdrawing the maximum amount per pull) so as to not end up killing that very nice banking benefit.

And I should mention, at least in the U.S. these days, domestic customers also typically are getting charged ATM withdrawal fees when they use any ATM out of the network of the bank that issued their card, although those domestic fees are a bit lower, say usually in the $2-$3 range. So apart from us, there certainly are a lot of domestic bank card customers with those same kinds of accounts who are utilizing the same benefit.

[GOLDBUGGY]

I guess it sort of depends in how much you want to transfer.

For Money for Life I use my Visa Card. I don't use an ATM as there is a $5-$10 charge for that and you might be limited to $1,000 a day. Just go into the bank with Passport in Hand and tell them you would like to withdraw from your Visa Card.

My Bank gives me 150,000 Baht with no problems and no extra charges. I never asked for more. Mind you your credit has to be good for that amount, but if you don't have a high limit you can prepay your card to increase the limit. Been to other banks who were the same. Was only at one bank out of town who said the max was 50,000 Baht.

The money you receive is very close to the official exchange rate at that time. Perhaps 0.02 % points less which can swing more than that in a day. So if the official rate is 30 Baht to the $ you get 29.8. So on 150,000 Baht that would cost about $34. But I am sure this rate is a good as you get from almost anyone else, ATM, Western Union, but no other fees or hidden charges.

For large sums of money, like buying a Condo, I hear a personal check is pretty cheap to cash here, but I have never tried it. If you don't have them, but have Visa, you can still order Visa Checks. Just prepay them to what ever you want to cash and you should have no problems. Checks take longer, up to 6 weeks I am told (but often much less) but works well for larger sums.

[jo4bates]

Forex are brilliant!

Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect Thailand

[Pib]

Forex are brilliant!

Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect Thailand

So few details...Is Forex a new light bulb?

[laislica]

So what's the real answer?

Open two local bank accounts.

One not linked to your ATM card.

Buy Baht on the foreign exchange market and wire it to the non linked account.

Transfer to the ATM linked account enough for the week/month.

No costs to draw from the local ATMs.

No one can take money from the non linked account.

Reduced risk?

Does a foreign currency account get better rates than this?

I'd love to know, especially since the BoE shot it's mouth off and cost us two baht!

[Jiu-Jitsu]

Western union for me has NO fees (I'm from UK). Though they have a lesser exchange rate. However the lesser exchange rate still beats ATM withdrawals.

I suppose that depends what kind of ATM withdrawals you're doing.

My ATM withdrawals carry no foreign currency fee from the banks that issue my cards. And, the Thai ATM withdrawal fees I incur are reimbursed fully by my card issuing banks. So in effect, the net overhead cost for my ATM withdrawals is ZERO, and the exchange rates are the full VISA or MC network rates with no deductions.

If Western Union really is more economical for you compared to ATM withdrawals, perhaps it's time to consider what kind of home country bank cards you're using abroad, and what kind of fees they're charging you.

ATM machine withdrawals are 150-180 baht standard if you use your bank card from abroad. If your bank back home refunds this money I'll be very surprised. That's why everybody use to withdraw from AEON as it use to be free withdrawals.

Regarding fees charged from your actual bank back home, someone else from UK also confirmed what fees he pays, which are very high. Maybe western union is not good for your country/you, who knows. Most if not all banks abroad especially England will charge you heavy fees for using it abroad. For example, Natwest charge you using it abroad(that fee is capped at £5) and a % fee for converting the money when you withdraw(like 3%). It use to cost me around £18(excluding atm charge) in fees to withdraw about £480. So around 4%. I know moneygram you're going to have to pay a hell of a lot more. I can get the money in my thai bank in 1-2 days with no fees with WU, so the best alternative for sure.

50.7 THB per £ and you claim "no fees"?? Are you missing a part of your brain?

Simple calculation.

Transfer £100 via WU and receive 5070 baht.

Withdraw the equivalent of £100 from an AEON ATM with a fee free card(such as the Halifax Clarity) and receive 5288 baht minus 150 baht. 5138 baht.

Withdraw a larger amount and the ATM rate improves, whilst the WU rate stays the same.

Now all you need is a fee free card

Even if you cannot obtain one from N&P or Cumberland, you can look at the Halifax Clarity.

If for some reason, you cannot obtain a mainstream card, you can get yourself a Prepaid Mastercard, in the form of Kalixa Pay. Using this card for purchases, you get the full Mastercard rate(currently 52.88). For instance, shopping at Tesco Lotus. For ATM withdrawals, there is a flat fee of £2.25(119 baht). With this card, the trick would be to take the max out each time. In this case £300 (15864 baht) minus 150 for AEON and 119 for Kalixa. 15595 baht. Likely you would pull 15000 out, costing you £283.66 + £3 + £2.25. £288.91

WU gets you 15210 baht for your £300.

So you'll get better value from even a simple Prepaid Mastercard.

[Bountyhuntr]

Western union for me has NO fees (I'm from UK). Though they have a lesser exchange rate. However the lesser exchange rate still beats ATM withdrawals.

I suppose that depends what kind of ATM withdrawals you're doing.

My ATM withdrawals carry no foreign currency fee from the banks that issue my cards. And, the Thai ATM withdrawal fees I incur are reimbursed fully by my card issuing banks. So in effect, the net overhead cost for my ATM withdrawals is ZERO, and the exchange rates are the full VISA or MC network rates with no deductions.

If Western Union really is more economical for you compared to ATM withdrawals, perhaps it's time to consider what kind of home country bank cards you're using abroad, and what kind of fees they're charging you.

ATM machine withdrawals are 150-180 baht standard if you use your bank card from abroad. If your bank back home refunds this money I'll be very surprised. That's why everybody use to withdraw from AEON as it use to be free withdrawals.

Regarding fees charged from your actual bank back home, someone else from UK also confirmed what fees he pays, which are very high. Maybe western union is not good for your country/you, who knows. Most if not all banks abroad especially England will charge you heavy fees for using it abroad. For example, Natwest charge you using it abroad(that fee is capped at £5) and a % fee for converting the money when you withdraw(like 3%). It use to cost me around £18(excluding atm charge) in fees to withdraw about £480. So around 4%. I know moneygram you're going to have to pay a hell of a lot more. I can get the money in my thai bank in 1-2 days with no fees with WU, so the best alternative for sure.

50.7 THB per £ and you claim "no fees"?? Are you missing a part of your brain?

Simple calculation.

Transfer £100 via WU and receive 5070 baht.

Withdraw the equivalent of £100 from an AEON ATM with a fee free card(such as the Halifax Clarity) and receive 5288 baht minus 150 baht. 5138 baht.

Withdraw a larger amount and the ATM rate improves, whilst the WU rate stays the same.

Now all you need is a fee free card

Even if you cannot obtain one from N&P or Cumberland, you can look at the Halifax Clarity.

If for some reason, you cannot obtain a mainstream card, you can get yourself a Prepaid Mastercard, in the form of Kalixa Pay. Using this card for purchases, you get the full Mastercard rate(currently 52.88). For instance, shopping at Tesco Lotus. For ATM withdrawals, there is a flat fee of £2.25(119 baht). With this card, the trick would be to take the max out each time. In this case £300 (15864 baht) minus 150 for AEON and 119 for Kalixa. 15595 baht. Likely you would pull 15000 out, costing you £283.66 + £3 + £2.25. £288.91

WU gets you 15210 baht for your £300.

So you'll get better value from even a simple Prepaid Mastercard.

I just looked and the internatonal exchange rate is 52.9, so if it's 51.4 right now then yup works out cheaper. 1-1.5 baht less per £ would not leave you £20 out of pocket compared to an ATM if you withdrew £400-£500 for example. You would still save atleast £5 on that.

Think you have no brain let a lone missing a part of.

p.s paypal exchange rate would be something like 50.

Edited August 20, 2014 by liamstevens111

[Maggusoil]

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I use Citibank to do fee free international transfers anywhere.

They also utilise exchange rates which are better than the daily average

and

you can elect whether or not you take on the receiver's banks charges, if any.

Having make that election I have not been charged by the receiver's bank.

Free use of their ATMs anywhere. No fees for that in foreign countries.

I've only seen there ATMs in Bangkok

The situation with Citibank appears to depend in part of what country is hosting your Citibank account.

For Americans, for example, Citibank international funds transfers are NOT free, and do have foreign currency fees assessed on debit card use, unless you're a CitiGold or higher status account, meaning something like $500,000 or more in deposits/loans, etc.

I've had members here from some other countries, one in particular I can think of (I wanna say Australia???), say they can use the Citibank ATMs in Bangkok without being assessed fees. But that certainly isn't the case for regular U.S. accountholders with Citibank.

This information is basically correct. Citibank have a branch in Bangkok and in Bali, I think its in Denpasar. Although fee free accounts/ transactions/ international transfers are available from Australia, that does apply everywhere.

[Jiu-Jitsu]

Western union for me has NO fees (I'm from UK). Though they have a lesser exchange rate. However the lesser exchange rate still beats ATM withdrawals.

I suppose that depends what kind of ATM withdrawals you're doing.

My ATM withdrawals carry no foreign currency fee from the banks that issue my cards. And, the Thai ATM withdrawal fees I incur are reimbursed fully by my card issuing banks. So in effect, the net overhead cost for my ATM withdrawals is ZERO, and the exchange rates are the full VISA or MC network rates with no deductions.

If Western Union really is more economical for you compared to ATM withdrawals, perhaps it's time to consider what kind of home country bank cards you're using abroad, and what kind of fees they're charging you.

ATM machine withdrawals are 150-180 baht standard if you use your bank card from abroad. If your bank back home refunds this money I'll be very surprised. That's why everybody use to withdraw from AEON as it use to be free withdrawals.

Regarding fees charged from your actual bank back home, someone else from UK also confirmed what fees he pays, which are very high. Maybe western union is not good for your country/you, who knows. Most if not all banks abroad especially England will charge you heavy fees for using it abroad. For example, Natwest charge you using it abroad(that fee is capped at £5) and a % fee for converting the money when you withdraw(like 3%). It use to cost me around £18(excluding atm charge) in fees to withdraw about £480. So around 4%. I know moneygram you're going to have to pay a hell of a lot more. I can get the money in my thai bank in 1-2 days with no fees with WU, so the best alternative for sure.

50.7 THB per £ and you claim "no fees"?? Are you missing a part of your brain?

Simple calculation.

Transfer £100 via WU and receive 5070 baht.

Withdraw the equivalent of £100 from an AEON ATM with a fee free card(such as the Halifax Clarity) and receive 5288 baht minus 150 baht. 5138 baht.

Withdraw a larger amount and the ATM rate improves, whilst the WU rate stays the same.

Now all you need is a fee free card

Even if you cannot obtain one from N&P or Cumberland, you can look at the Halifax Clarity.

If for some reason, you cannot obtain a mainstream card, you can get yourself a Prepaid Mastercard, in the form of Kalixa Pay. Using this card for purchases, you get the full Mastercard rate(currently 52.88). For instance, shopping at Tesco Lotus. For ATM withdrawals, there is a flat fee of £2.25(119 baht). With this card, the trick would be to take the max out each time. In this case £300 (15864 baht) minus 150 for AEON and 119 for Kalixa. 15595 baht. Likely you would pull 15000 out, costing you £283.66 + £3 + £2.25. £288.91

WU gets you 15210 baht for your £300.

So you'll get better value from even a simple Prepaid Mastercard.

I just looked and the internatonal exchange rate is 52.9, so if it's 51.4 right now then yup works out cheaper. 1-1.5 baht less per £ would not leave you £20 out of pocket compared to an ATM if you withdrew £400-£500 for example. You would still save atleast £5 on that.

Think you have no brain let a lone missing a part of.

p.s paypal exchange rate would be something like 50.

Is English not your first language?? I've read through what you have written at least three times...and it still looks like nonsense.

Can you explain it in plain English?

It seems that you have not understood any of what I wrote. So if English is not your first language, then I can understand why you perhaps cannot write nor understand the language.

I think the issue here is that you get different rates online with WU, dependent on how often you use the service.

On your first two transfers, you cannot send more than £400 each time.

Exchange rate: 1 GBP (United Kingdom Pound) = 51.4383584 THB (Thai Baht)

Amount we will send: 400,00 GBP

Transfer fee: 21,00 GBP

Total price: 421,00 GBP

Amount paid to receiver: 20575,34 THB

That gives you a rate of 48.87 baht to the Pound using WU.

Once you have made two such transfers, you can send larger amounts with a lower fee and a better rate:

Exchange rate: 1 GBP (United Kingdom Pound) = 52.4989431 THB (Thai Baht)

Amount we will send: 1000,00 GBP

Transfer fee: 5,00 GBP

Total price: 1005,00 GBP

Amount paid to receiver: 52498,94 THB

Rate of 52.23 baht

So it seems that you have to take a hit twice, after which you can get access to a better rate.

But, you can get a better rate than the best WU can offer by taking your fee free card into a bank and withdrawing over the counter. You should get at least 52.41 currently this way.

If you have a different experience from what I have illustrated here, do let us know. It's all good info.