Best way to transfer money between local Thai banks

[skatewash]

What is the best (least expensive, most convenient) way to transfer money between my accounts at two local Thai banks (different companies)? Is the answer different when the amount in question exceeds 500,000 THB?

My sending bank offers online transfer to 3rd party banks but seems to cap the amount that can be sent at one time (in one day) at 500,000 THB. For this transfer they charge 40 THB, which seems quite reasonable. So, one way to accomplish my goal would be to make multiple online transfers (at 40 THB a transfer) over the course of multiple days.

My sending bank also offers something called BAHTNET, which is intended for high value transfers (over 500,000 THB). The charge for this service in my case would be 1,000 THB total. The charge would consist of a sending bank fee (150), receiving bank fee (100), and an inter-region transfer rate (capped at 750 THB). I'm not sure the reason for the last charge as the money will be transferred within the same province, but outside the the Bangkok metro region.

In this case it would be considerably cheaper to do multiple online transfers rather than a single BAHTNET transfer.

Is there a better way to do this?

I know if I transfer the money in person that the cost would be zero, but I don't relish carrying that kind of money between the banks myself. I am leaning toward the multiple online transfers method but wanted to ask if there's something better I'm overlooking before I do this.

If this question has been answered before I wasn't able to find it. Thanks for any helpful comments.

[sas_cars]

The most convenient and cheaper method to transfer money between accounts in different banks is by cheque. But for that, you'll have to be holding checking accounts in both of your banks. Once you need to transfer money from account in A Bank to B Bank, you just write yourself a cheque of any amount and deposit it to your account in B Bank. Usually takes 2 days to clear and you can transfer any amount of money. Usually a cheque leaf costs 15 THB only.

[Suradit69]

You can go into the sending bank and tell the teller you want to transfer the money to your account at the receiving bank. I've done it with larger amounts when sending money to someone else's account, so I can't see why it would not work similarly if it was your own account. Can't recall what the fee was, but it wasn't much, although it may depend on the amount sent.

For smaller amounts you can do the transfer at an ATM of either bank, using the ATM card from the sending bank. I recall being charged Baht 25 for that, but not sure if that's dependent on the amount transferred and/or the location of the receiving bank.

[TheCruncher]

I think if you put the date of transfer a few days ahead, you can transfer a higher amount in one time, and it may cost less in transfer cost as well.

[salavan]

i just transfered over 2 million by using a cashiers check cost 20 baht i havent got a cheque account

[skatewash]

The most convenient and cheaper method to transfer money between accounts in different banks is by cheque. But for that, you'll have to be holding checking accounts in both of your banks. Once you need to transfer money from account in A Bank to B Bank, you just write yourself a cheque of any amount and deposit it to your account in B Bank. Usually takes 2 days to clear and you can transfer any amount of money. Usually a cheque leaf costs 15 THB only.

Thanks for this suggestion. Might it be enough to have a checking account in the source bank and only a savings account in the destination bank? In other words, is it not possible to deposit a check into a savings account? Can it only be deposited into a current (checking) account?

In any case, it is unlikely I will be able to open a current account since I'm retired and therefore lack the required work permit. However, it seems this would work well enough under other circumstances. Thanks for the response.

Edited October 19, 2014 by skatewash

[skatewash]

You can go into the sending bank and tell the teller you want to transfer the money to your account at the receiving bank. I've done it with larger amounts when sending money to someone else's account, so I can't see why it would not work similarly if it was your own account. Can't recall what the fee was, but it wasn't much, although it may depend on the amount sent.

For smaller amounts you can do the transfer at an ATM of either bank, using the ATM card from the sending bank. I recall being charged Baht 25 for that, but not sure if that's dependent on the amount transferred and/or the location of the receiving bank.

Thanks for the suggestion. Normally, I prefer to use online banking rather than visit the bank, but since I will have to visit the bank for other reasons I will ask what the fee would be for doing my transfer at the counter. I'm hoping it will be a flat fee and not based on the amount sent.

The ATM method at my source bank has the same 500,000 THB limitation per transfer or per day as for online banking transfers. The charge would be 25 Baht at my bank as well. As such it would be cheaper than the online banking transfer (40 Baht per transfer), but slightly less convenient. Both would require multiple transfers based on the amount I wish to transfer. Thanks for your reply.

[skatewash]

I think if you put the date of transfer a few days ahead, you can transfer a higher amount in one time, and it may cost less in transfer cost as well.

Thanks for your suggestion. I will ask if this is the case with my bank. The timing of the transfer is not critical to me, so this might work out for me. Thanks for replying.

[TheCruncher]

You can go into the sending bank and tell the teller you want to transfer the money to your account at the receiving bank. I've done it with larger amounts when sending money to someone else's account, so I can't see why it would not work similarly if it was your own account. Can't recall what the fee was, but it wasn't much, although it may depend on the amount sent.

For smaller amounts you can do the transfer at an ATM of either bank, using the ATM card from the sending bank. I recall being charged Baht 25 for that, but not sure if that's dependent on the amount transferred and/or the location of the receiving bank.

Thanks for the suggestion. Normally, I prefer to use online banking rather than visit the bank, but since I will have to visit the bank for other reasons I will ask what the fee would be for doing my transfer at the counter. I'm hoping it will be a flat fee and not based on the amount sent.

The ATM method at my source bank has the same 500,000 THB limitation per transfer or per day as for online banking transfers. The charge would be 25 Baht at my bank as well. As such it would be cheaper than the online banking transfer (40 Baht per transfer), but slightly less convenient. Both would require multiple transfers based on the amount I wish to transfer. Thanks for your reply.

As I said before, I don't know which is your bank but mine is Kasikorn, and I'm limited to 500.000 Bat if I want the transfer to happen on the same day, but if I choose the date of transfer 2 or 3 days in the future I can transfer my complete account at once.

[skatewash]

i just transfered over 2 million by using a cashiers check cost 20 baht i havent got a cheque account

Thanks for your reply. This might be the cheapest method as the cost for a cashier's check at my bank is also 20 Baht. Perhaps not the most convenient, but certainly the cheapest way I've heard of.

[sas_cars]

The most convenient and cheaper method to transfer money between accounts in different banks is by cheque. But for that, you'll have to be holding checking accounts in both of your banks. Once you need to transfer money from account in A Bank to B Bank, you just write yourself a cheque of any amount and deposit it to your account in B Bank. Usually takes 2 days to clear and you can transfer any amount of money. Usually a cheque leaf costs 15 THB only.

Thanks for this suggestion. Might it be enough to have a checking account in the source bank and only a savings account in the destination bank? In other words, is it not possible to deposit a check into a savings account? Can it only be deposited into a current (checking) account?

In any case, it is unlikely I will be able to open a current account since I'm retired and therefore lack the required work permit. However, it seems this would work well enough under other circumstances. Thanks for the response.

Since you don't have a work permit, thus can't open the current account, then your second best bet is by cashier's cheque from Bank A to Bank B which costs 20 baht for any amount of transfer.