International transfer of money - my experience today

[DoctorB]

I think many of you guys here do get a very good deal.

I transfer funds from Smile, the internet only arm of the UK Co-operative Bank. It typically takes 48 - 72 hours for the money to reach my TMB account.

The cost is always either £21 or £30 depending on the intermediary bank's take, regardless of the amount sent.

I'm not concerned about the time frame but the cost does seem high. Unfortunately UK banks rarely compete with each other to the benefit of the customer, and I suspect that any other bank will just charge the same.

Incidentally, the exchange rate is always spot on. I suspect that these "no fee" outfits that advertise on here (eg Western Union) skim off the exchange rate instead of charging up-front, transparent fees.

Any cost saving advise will be gratefully received.

Edited December 26, 2014 by DoctorB

[federico]

Every month I make a wire transfer in Euro from my bank in France, it is credited the next morning to my bank In Bangkok in baht and the change rate is very correct.

Cost?????

16 Euros

Hi, which bank ? My bank is BNP

[drbill]

or weeks

No-one waits weeks for the proceeds of a normal international transfer. Funds arrive in my Bangkok Bank account, cleared and available, every month from an Australian company within minutes of it being sent. If the transfer clashes with closing hours here I get an SMS from BBL without fail at 8.30am the next day to let me know the funds arrived overnight.

Mate, can I ask you what the Australian Company is that you get your money from? Is it your superannuation company? Reason I'm asking is, I'm soon to start receiving a regular pension from my self funded super and I was trying to work out the best way to receive it. I am currently using OzForex to transfer money to my Kasikorn Bank and pay no fees on amounts over $10,000.00. My super company tell me that they can transfer my pension to my bank account in Thailand but I am worried that I will not get a good exchange rate. Thanks.

I send a swift transfer in USD to my Thai bank. The process takes seconds. Thai banks are not paperless but I still receive in a few hours at most. Remember not to transfer Baht . Transfer your major currency to be converted in Thailand to Baht by your Thai bank for a better exchange rate.

[rotary]

1 to 2 days from the Middle East.

[Cloggie]

What about the total cost of your transaction, every transaction cost me about TB 2.700 - a lot of money in my opinion!!

[pmarlin]

1300 baht

What about the total cost of your transaction, every transaction cost me about TB 2.700 - a lot of money in my opinion!!

In my case Bank of America charges $3.00 for a 3 day normal ACH transfer or $10.00 for next day or $25.00 for same day transfer. Bangkok Bank takes $10.00 at the new York branch. and no more than 200 baht at the Bangkok Bank in Thailand. For a same day transfer 1300 baht, 3 day transfer 616 baht. Using 32 baht to the dollar. I only make one large transfer a month. and bank of America is cost wise more expensive than other US Banks. A SWIFT transfer From BofA to Thailand is $45. plus the 200 baht the thai bank takes. 1640 baht'

Edited December 27, 2014 by pmarlin

[MiclB]

I used this process a couple of weeks ago when the exchange rate was 32.7 I called USAA bank in San Antonio TX with a Skype call to a free 800 number. I told them to send me $xxxx via domestic wire transfer to BB bank and gave them the address in New York AND I gave them my Cha Am BB bank account nbr here. They charged me $20.00. No charge by the New York branch nor my local Thai branch (on incoming funds transfers are free). Short delay of hours for banks to open here and all done.

[pmarlin]

I used this process a couple of weeks ago when the exchange rate was 32.7 I called USAA bank in San Antonio TX with a Skype call to a free 800 number. I told them to send me $xxxx via domestic wire transfer to BB bank and gave them the address in New York AND I gave them my Cha Am BB bank account nbr here. They charged me $20.00. No charge by the New York branch nor my local Thai branch (on incoming funds transfers are free). Short delay of hours for banks to open here and all done.

The $10charge comes off the amount you send. You send $10,000. $9.990 gets to Thailand to be converted to baht. This is on ACH transfers to Bangkok bank. Their website explains the charge. here is a list of the fees. Bangkok banks doesn't do this for free http://www.bangkokbank.com/BangkokBank/PersonalBanking/DailyBanking/TransferingFunds/TransferringIntoThailand/ReceivingFundsfromUSA/Pages/ReceivingFundsfromUSA.aspx

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

[hawker9000]

In the US, as of OCT 2013, there's been a "Dodd-Frank Act" rule in effect which requires any US financial institution executing a foreign transfer to inform the customer of ALL fees, end-to-end, involved in the funds transfer. If they can't identify all the fees on the far end of the transaction, they can get away with just telling you specifically what they were unable to find out.

[jcnbkk]

My regular transfers from the US happen like clockwork now. Around 8-9pm at night I make the transfer by calling an 800 number in the US via Skype so free. It is all automated and takes about 6 minutes. This had to be setup in person before I moved to Thailand. The cost is $45 for a wire transfer regardless of the amount transferred so I transfer a large amount making the $45 fee negligible. By the afternoon of the following day the money has arrived in my account at BKK bank. The money comes in anywhere from 2-6pm. Only once did it come in as late as 6pm. It's usually in by 3pm. The fees on this end of the transfer are very minimal.

The effective exchange rate ends up being about equal to a Traveler Check; better than exchanging cash on the street. I can usually guess my exchange rate by looking at XE.COM and subtracting .17 and I'm almost always within .01 baht of the effective exchange rate.

Just thought I'd mention to you oneday, If you're transferring from a US bank to BB, You can do it with ACH transfer through the BB branch office using their routing # and your account #. The info on how to set it up is on the BB website. Cost is only $3. Once set up you can do it online in minutes, funds take a couple of days to post.

[Pib]

My regular transfers from the US happen like clockwork now. Around 8-9pm at night I make the transfer by calling an 800 number in the US via Skype so free. It is all automated and takes about 6 minutes. This had to be setup in person before I moved to Thailand. The cost is $45 for a wire transfer regardless of the amount transferred so I transfer a large amount making the $45 fee negligible. By the afternoon of the following day the money has arrived in my account at BKK bank. The money comes in anywhere from 2-6pm. Only once did it come in as late as 6pm. It's usually in by 3pm. The fees on this end of the transfer are very minimal.

The effective exchange rate ends up being about equal to a Traveler Check; better than exchanging cash on the street. I can usually guess my exchange rate by looking at XE.COM and subtracting .17 and I'm almost always within .01 baht of the effective exchange rate.

Just thought I'd mention to you oneday, If you're transferring from a US bank to BB, You can do it with ACH transfer through the BB branch office using their routing # and your account #. The info on how to set it up is on the BB website. Cost is only $3. Once set up you can do it online in minutes, funds take a couple of days to post.

Full details on how to use the Bangkok Bank New York routing number are at this Bangkok Bank webpage. Note: you need a in-Thailand Bangkok Bank account to use the NY ACH routing.....won't work if you want to send to another Thai bank like Kbank, SCB, etc.

As the funds flow through the NY branch they will apply a fee...the fee is sliced off the amount. The $3 mentioned above is only for amounts $50.01 to $100. See below fee table.

I expect most people send more than $100 and will either incur a $5 or $10 fee as the funds flow through the NY branch. And then when the funds arrive you in-Thailand Bangkok Bank there will be a 0.25% (Bt200 min, Bt500 max) currency receipt/conversion fee applied....exchange rate received is the bank's TT Buying Rate. Add those two fees to whatever Sending fee your home country bank may charge for sending the money via the Bangkok Bank NY routing method and you'll have the total amount of fees.

[Kf6vci]

No surprise here - but when you wire funds out, things might get tricky.

Here in Vietnam, they have only Western Union and thenone needs proof of funds and there's a $ 1,000 a month limit!

[MiclB]

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I used this process a couple of weeks ago when the exchange rate was 32.7 I called USAA bank in San Antonio TX with a Skype call to a free 800 number. I told them to send me $xxxx via domestic wire transfer to BB bank and gave them the address in New York AND I gave them my Cha Am BB bank account nbr here. They charged me $20.00. No charge by the New York branch nor my local Thai branch (on incoming funds transfers are free). Short delay of hours for banks to open here and all done.

The $10charge comes off the amount you send. You send $10,000. $9.990 gets to Thailand to be converted to baht. This is on ACH transfers to Bangkok bank. Their website explains the charge. here is a list of the fees. Bangkok banks doesn't do this for free http://www.bangkokbank.com/BangkokBank/PersonalBanking/DailyBanking/TransferingFunds/TransferringIntoThailand/ReceivingFundsfromUSA/Pages/ReceivingFundsfromUSA.aspx

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

Thanks for the $10 clarification; still a token amount. BTW I would not send increments over $9999.99 and it requires additional IRS forms from sender.

[Pib]

I used this process a couple of weeks ago when the exchange rate was 32.7 I called USAA bank in San Antonio TX with a Skype call to a free 800 number. I told them to send me $xxxx via domestic wire transfer to BB bank and gave them the address in New York AND I gave them my Cha Am BB bank account nbr here. They charged me $20.00. No charge by the New York branch nor my local Thai branch (on incoming funds transfers are free). Short delay of hours for banks to open here and all done.

Oh, you did indeed have Bangkok Bank fees...two of them. A $10 fee/slice-off as the funds flowed through the Bangkok Bank NY branch resulting in $7,990 arriving your in-Thailand Bangkok Bank branch. The branch then applies their TT Buying Rate in effect at that time, applies the 0.25% (Bt200 min, Bt500 max) fee which would have resulted in the max Bt500 fee (approx $15) being applied in this case, and "then" the remaining funds are posted to your account.

Both the NY branch fee and your local branch fee where applied before posting and they are also "not" reflected on your Bangkok Bank account statement, thereby, making some folks think no fees were applied. This is why some folks can never get their their exchange rate math to match one of the bank's daily TT Buying Rates used for incoming transfers.

End result is you paid a USAA $20 fee + a Bangkok Bank NY branch $10 fee + a local Bangkok Bank branch fee of $15 for total in $45 in fees. You can eliminate that $20 USAA telephone initiated transfer fee by using your USAA ibanking account to initiate the ACH transfer for fee....total fees in that case would have been $25.

[Stocky]

My experience with HSBC Singapore and Kasikorn Bank is equally positive.

Today from pushing the button on-line at 11:20am, I received an sms notification at 11:22am from HSBC to say that SGD15,000 had left my account, and Kasikorn sent me an sms at 12:13pm to say my account had been credited with Thb369,382.50. That's just 53 minutes from pushing the button to having the money available.

HSBC charge a total of SGD50 for the transaction, that's regardless of the amount, so it pays to send as much as possible, whilst Kasikorn usually give you the market rate less 1% on exchange. I can live with that.

[Maestro]

Where is The "market rate" published?

[Stocky]

There are many sites that will give you the current spot price, these are two I use:

X-Rates

Finance Yahoo

You can also check and see what rate are being offered by the various Thai Banks here:

Day to Day Bank Rates

[Maestro]

As far as I know, Kasikorn Bank does not charge 1% of the published rate.

[Stocky]

Kasikorn's rates are approximately 1% off the spot price.

If you don't like the word 'charge' call it profit margin then.

Edited January 1, 2015 by Stocky

[Maestro]

Thank you, Stocky. I have savings accounts with two banks in Thailand and when making a SWIFT remittance of GBP to Thailand I usually compare the rates published by these banks directly with each other. I have a feeling this is a little easier than comparing each bank's rate with the "spot rate" and then figuring out which bank's rate deviates less from the spot rate.

The actual fee of both Thai banks I use is 0.25% of the remitted amount, but minimum THB 200 and maximum THB 500 (which I find exorbitant and unjustified). It seems that most, if not all all banks in Thailand use the same fee structure and it makes me wonder why, with the large number of banks, none is undercutting the other in an attempt to get a bigger market share.

[HooHaa]

or weeks

No-one waits weeks for the proceeds of a normal international transfer. Funds arrive in my Bangkok Bank account, cleared and available, every month from an Australian company within minutes of it being sent. If the transfer clashes with closing hours here I get an SMS from BBL without fail at 8.30am the next day to let me know the funds arrived overnight.

not necessarily true, some banks are dire when it comes to transfers, some hold funds, delay sending or even delay crediting accounts.

you have been lucky, or are dealing with 2 good banks. that said, in my experience a week to 10 days is the max.

[cashlamb99]

Every month I make a wire transfer in Euro from my bank in France, it is credited the next morning to my bank In Bangkok in baht and the change rate is very correct.

Cost?????

It always take days at least to transfer from US to Thailand...

No it doesn't. It depends upon how you send the funds.

When I send via wire transfer, I get an SMS from BBL the next morning confirming the receipt of funds in my account, provided I initiated the wire transfer request prior to the daily cutoff time.

If you use BBL's New York branch (via the US ACH system), then there are 2 delays - one from your US bank in sending the ACH transaction, and one from BBL transferring the funds internally to your account in Thailand. For example, if the source bank in the US is BofA, the "normal" processing time for an ACH transaction is 3 business days. You have to pay extra if you want them to send it any sooner. On the BBL side, I think the delay is only about 1 business day.

I use the same process. My bank in America transfers to BKK NY in 3 business days and charges me $1.50. BKK Bank NY charges me $5.00 about B150 . BKK Bank Thailand charges me B200 and I have the cash in my account on the 3rd business day from the date it was sent from my US Bank.. Excluding weekends and holidays.

the horror story is not of bringing it in, but an in: taking it out ... let's say you have a million dollars here and you get 3% annualy ... and you don't spend that much money

and off course, your wife is a chinese hiso, so she does not come to beg you for money everytime she wants or need something...

so how do you take out that intrest money ?

Sent from my LG-P880 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[meltingpot2015]

Are you guys all doing it via your bank or a 3rd party?

I usually do an online search for "international money transfer reviews" and go from there. The last time I did this found a new provider that uses a completely niche way of transferring money so the money dosen't actually have to be transferred via swift or TT.