Lost over $300 on a SWIFT transfer with Kasikorn

[edwardandtubs]

I sent 10,000 USD from my Kasikorn Bank account to my USD account in a Euro area country. The baht is first exchanged to dollars and then the dollars should have gone straight through. That's what happened last time anyway, less the intermediary bank fee of $25. This time somewhere along the line the USD got exchanged into EUR and then exchanged back into USD when it arrived, so the amount received was over $300 less than what I sent due to the exchange spread. How could this happen? I can't believe it was necessary for any intermediary bank to exchange the USD into EUR. It wasn't necessary the first time I did it. I thought maybe it was a Kasikorn cock-up but the receipt states that 10,000 USD was sent and mentions nothing of any EUR conversion. I'll contact Kasikorn when they re-open but I expect they'll say it was nothing to do with them. What other avenues of complaint are open to me?

Edited August 12, 2014 by edwardandtubs

[Neeranam]

I used to get ripped off by them as well. I suspected that someone in the bank was 'holding' the money until it favoured them in terms of the exchange rate. 

I found an easier option which involves cashing out from a poker site.

[Cuddlycat]

No idea about what to do. But it seems to me that people prefer Bangkok Bank for this particularly activity.


Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[Senechal]

I found an easier option which involves cashing out from a poker site.

 

Wow.  Does that work?  Using a poker site to xfer funds?

[edwardandtubs]

Is there a banking regulator or consumer protection body that can look into it?

[Langsuan Man]

Don't forget the receiving bank, they share some of the blame,if not all of it,  IMHO 

[AnotherOneAmerican]

I buy Baht from a money exchange company.

When I click on the buy button, the deal is done.

The Thai end takes 300bht off the agreed amount.

[edwardandtubs]

Don't forget the receiving bank, they share some of the blame,if not all of it,  IMHO 

 

I don't think they're at all to blame. They received a EUR transfer to a USD account so automatically converted it to USD at their retail exchange rate. The exchange rate was bad but they should never have had to convert it.

[jacky54]

Good luck, I lost 40k baht on a 2 million transfer a couple of years ago with Tanachart Bank, never even got a proper explanation, just blank looks.

[seabass69]

Is there a banking regulator or consumer protection body that can look into it?

Consumer protection in Thailand?  

[jacko45k]

Good luck, I lost 40k baht on a 2 million transfer a couple of years ago with Tanachart Bank, never even got a proper explanation, just blank looks.

 

Wow! In or out?
 

[Jeffrey346]

I buy Baht from a money exchange company.

When I click on the buy button, the deal is done.

The Thai end takes 300bht off the agreed amount.

Which exchange do you use?

[jacky54]

 

Good luck, I lost 40k baht on a 2 million transfer a couple of years ago with Tanachart Bank, never even got a proper explanation, just blank looks.

 

Wow! In or out?
 

 

 

In. First transfer had a delay, when they put it in my account the x change rate was the lower rate the day they got the money not the higher rate the day when it went in my account, no argument there. However a few weeks later with the 2 mil another delay, but this time they did not give me the rate the day the had the money, but the lower rate the day it went into my account, the exact opposite of the first time.

[BradinAsia]

 

Is there a banking regulator or consumer protection body that can look into it?

Consumer protection in Thailand?  

 

 

Banks all over the world are notorious for ripping people off.

 

I've been ripped off by banks in the U.S., Japan, and the Philippines. I've transferred fairly

large amounts ($40,000) in and out of Thailand over the last 15 years and have never been

ripped. Maybe I'm just lucky?

 

As for your inference about consumer protection in Thailand -- the way I've been treated by

Big C, Home Pro, Global House and a number of other large retail stores in Thailand, I would

much prefer the way these folks here treat me than in any other country I've ever lived.

[Tomtomtom69]

OP, if you sent USD to a USD account, it does sound fishy as to why your money would be converted to EUR and then back to USD. I also have a USD account in Europe, though I don't make much use of it anymore and was thinking about closing it as my CHF and EUR accounts are much more useful and no account keeping fees (unlike the USD account).

 

[shaurene]

This happens quite a lot, so many banks send money through a third party bank namely City Bank ang get good fees from this bank, City change the money into the destination country's currency at a very poor rate then change it to the currency you want and give you a very poor rate again, happened to me. You are best doing it through the likes of Forex not the bank.
The thing is when you are sending us$ or any other currency to another country you must have a bank account in that currency in the destination country.

[scorecard]

<script type='text/javascript'>window.mod_pagespeed_start = Number(new Date());</script>

 

Is there a banking regulator or consumer protection body that can look into it?

 

Perhaps you could try the Bank of Thailand, which is the ultimate banking regulator for Thailand.  My understanding is that they make / control the actual operational rules and regulations which all banks in Thailand must comply with.

[nickcar]

This happens quite a lot, so many banks send money through a third party bank namely City Bank ang get good fees from this bank, City change the money into the destination country's currency at a very poor rate then change it to the currency you want and give you a very poor rate again, happened to me. You are best doing it through the likes of Forex not the bank.
The thing is when you are sending us$ or any other currency to another country you must have a bank account in that currency in the destination country.

Had the same problem with my aussi bank and citibank changing aussi dollars to baht at a bad exchange rate. Discovered by opening a aussi dollar account at bankok bank and transfers arrived in baht. Took a lot of string pulling to get the aussi bank to stop using citibank. So now the money arrives in aussi dollars and i can change it into baht at a time of my choosing via internet.

[Jip99]

 

Don't forget the receiving bank, they share some of the blame,if not all of it,  IMHO 

 

I don't think they're at all to blame. They received a EUR transfer to a USD account so automatically converted it to USD at their retail exchange rate. The exchange rate was bad but they should never have had to convert it.

 

 

i think you are wrong.

 

If Kasikorn did as you instructed (remit Dollars to a specified bank in Europe) they would have converted Baht to Dollars and that is the end of their role.

 

The receiving bank would then apply the Dollars.

 

If a Dollar account number was quoted it should be as simple as then levying a small handling charge.

 

Anything other than that is a cock up on somebody's part - yours if the correct Dollar account was not specified, Kasikorn (unlikely) if they did anything other than remit Dollars as per your instructions or the receiving bank if the erroneously converted the incoming Dollars. Conceivably, there could have been a correspondent bank with its fingers in the pie but I doubt that they would convert anything (unless a Euro denominated account was specified).

 

Fire your bullets at the right bank (start with your own in the Eurozone). As you say, the Kasikorn receipt shows US$ being remitted - they are hardly likely to convert THB-USD-EUR-USD are they ?

 

Not to say that Kasikorn are not at fault somewhere - but the evidence to date suggests otherwise.

 

I think the service issue you are going to have is getting Kasikorn to take any responsibility for something that has, on the face of it, gone wrong at the receiving end. Can't imagine a relieved Thai smugly pointing out that they have done nothing wrong and shrugging their shoulders - can you ?

 

Seriously, ask you question at the receiving end "What happened to my transfer of $10,000 that KBank sent from Thailand" ?

Edited August 13, 2014 by Jip99

[kmj]

I'm wanting to transfersome money out of Thailand, researching bitcoin as a short term real option.

[watcharacters]

 

 

Is there a banking regulator or consumer protection body that can look into it?

Consumer protection in Thailand?  

 

 

Banks all over the world are notorious for ripping people off.

 

I've been ripped off by banks in the U.S., Japan, and the Philippines. I've transferred fairly

large amounts ($40,000) in and out of Thailand over the last 15 years and have never been

ripped. Maybe I'm just lucky?

 

As for your inference about consumer protection in Thailand -- the way I've been treated by

Big C, Home Pro, Global House and a number of other large retail stores in Thailand, I would

much prefer the way these folks here treat me than in any other country I've ever lived.

 

.

 

 

 

 

 

I agree.   You've probably been lucky.

[shirtless]

Banks are crooks but government sanctioned crooks. you can do nothing look at the fine print.

[yimlitnoy]

Simply ask for a tracer from your bank to look at the history of the SWIFT.

[edwardandtubs]

I've spoken to Kasikorn and they're investigating, although their immediate reaction was to blame the correspondent bank.

 

Just to clarify in response to some posts, the receiving account was a USD account and I sent from Kasikorn in USD so there was no need for any currency conversion. The receipt from Kasikorn confirms a conversion into USD but the receipt from the receiving bank states they received EUR and converted it into USD, which all seems to point to someone at Kasikorn or a correspondent bank erroneously converting into EUR.

[SPALAX]

Before complaining about Kasikorn Bank, you should check what happened with your bank in "a" EU country.

 

Did the bank receive 10000 USD?

 

How did it send the money? Did the EU bank send it back for free?  Can't believe it.

 

Did they send the money to another bank in EU or US because this was about USD. Maybe 6/7 banks were involved in these transfers.

 

Did all these banks work for free? Can't believe it. 

 

 

[manarak]

 

This time somewhere along the line the USD got exchanged into EUR and then exchanged back into USD when it arrived

 

You better find out where exactly "along the line" this happened before blaming Kasikorn.

 

Get the SWIFT receipt, it should say in which currency the swift was sent and onto which account.

 

One possible explanation I thought of is the following:

If the receiving account is a EUR account, then the amount gets converted into EUR at the receiving bank, but the error was made on sender's end, i.e. whoever provided the transfer details.

[roquefort]

Why don't you use a currency broker?

Their rates are much better than the banks and there are no intermediaries to take a cut along the way. 

I can recommend a good one if you PM me.

[placebo365]

I recently used Richard Branson's new Monet transfer service called 'Transferwise'. Transferred around £1200 to a Swedish bank account and the fee was approx £5. If my own bank had done the transfer the fee would be about £50, so huge saving and very happy with the service. They don't currently exchange in all currencies but do most of the major ones and are adding more all the time. Definitely worth checking out. https://transferwise.com/


Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect Thailand

[cbluck58]

I have used Kasikorn for a long time, although mainly for bringing money into LOS and have never experienced a problem with them - just lucky I guess  - however there is an excellent money transfer facility available through XE Currency convertor.com.

[Maestro]

Removed a troll post and several off-topic posts. There are several hundred thousand banks in the world and it is not helpful for members to post about their experience with a transaction between their bank outside Thailand with their bank inside Thailand. This topic is about a remittance in USD from a bank account in Thai currency at a Kasikorn bank in Thailand to a bank account in USD at a bank in a European country.