U.S. Social Security Notify Address Rules

[Boon Mee]

So if you have a direct deposit in Bangkok Bank in NYC you must sign a form in Thailand each month? Presume its reciept that its both you and you are not dead. Is that correct? Wow, that's tedious. I think US govt really trying to discourage living abroad.

Thanks

Should have married a Pinay

You do not have to sign anything at any specific time (other than the yearly I'm alive) AFAIK But to withdraw funds from your account will require OTC and signature in bank presence to move/receive (to protect bank - there agreement with USG would require payback of any cash received after account holders death).

Yes, this poster has been receiving his SS funds thru Bangkok Bank w/out signing for anything. Just transfer the incoming monies from your Direct Deposti account to an ATM account and off you go.

[Boon Mee]

Bangkok Bank is the only bank in Thailand which is approved by the SSA for direct deposit. You must open an account at Bkk Bank if you wish to draw your entitlements locally.

Bangkok Bank will NOT issue you an ATM card with this type of account.

Right.

You don't get an ATM card with the Direct Deposit book.

Just open a separate ATM account to access your funds upon transfer from the the DD Account.

Edited May 13, 2016 by Boon Mee

[Gary A]

I don't know about Bangkok Bank other than that Social Security will not do direct deposits to Thai banks. I did email Bangkok Bank in New York and was told that they do not do individual accounts. Social Security direct deposits into Citibank US and I do wire transfers a couple times a year to my Siam Commercial Bank. I also know that many expats go the Bangkok Bank route and have no problems. Apparently I asked them the wrong questions when trying to apply.

I think my basic wire transfer fee is a flat $30 regardless of the amount of the transfer. The last few wire transfers cost me an extra $15 for an intermediary bank. Guess who the intermediary bank is? YES, Citibank. I have been trying for several years to find another US bank but have had no luck. Usually the main problem was with the wire transfers. I can do them with Citibank completely online. No phone calls, faxes or other crap required. The money is in my Thai bank within hours, not days.

[IMA_FARANG]

As i have said before I DO have a direct deposit account with Bangkok Bank.

i live in Bangkok..within a 5 minute walk of the nearest Bangkok Bank branch.

It is true that the U.S. Social Security will not allow you to have an ATM/debit card on the account your direct deposit is paid to.

That is not a Bangkok Bank rule that is a Social Security rule.....supposedly for the your security....in case your ATM card is lost or stolen.

However you CAN open a 2nd account in your name and have an ATM debit card on that account.

That is what I do....I walk to my nearby Bangkok Bank Branch once a month, verify my direct depoit, and then transfer what i need for my monthly living expenses to my 2nd account where i can have an ATM card

Then i use my ATM card as i need to the rest of the month.
O.k. may not be for everyone....but it works fine for me.

For me it is the simplest and fastest way....been doing it since November 2014.

Social security direct deposits are paid at Midnight on the 3Rd of each month from the SSI International services in Baltimore.

With the 12 hour time diference beteeen Baltimore and Bangkok that means my pension arrives in Bangkok Bank at noon each 4th of the month.

no problem.

[Gary A]

I have not received my 6 month status question letter from the USA SS. Have they stopped sending these letters every 6 months?

Now that you mention that, I have not received a letter for a LONG time. Maybe they decided to save the money.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

Agreed and I don't really think that it would be any more since most US banks will do a EFTS for free and BB has a standard fee for inbound transfers:

USD 100.01 - 2,000.00

$5.00

USD 2,000.01 - 50,000.00

$10.00

AFAIR, re the New York branch transfer method, you also need to factor in BKK Bank's receiving charge of 0.25% based on the amount received, minimum 200 baht and maximum 500 baht.

I don't know, does BKK Bank charge that same commission against direct deposited Social Security funds???

[ubonjoe]

I have not received my 6 month status question letter from the USA SS. Have they stopped sending these letters every 6 months?

Now that you mention that, I have not received a letter for a LONG time. Maybe they decided to save the money.

The only send the report form once a year if that is what you are writing about. Next month is when they send them out.

I just looked a copy (scan) of last years that I signed on July 5th.

[Pib]

Agreed and I don't really think that it would be any more since most US banks will do a EFTS for free and BB has a standard fee for inbound transfers:

USD 100.01 - 2,000.00

$5.00

USD 2,000.01 - 50,000.00

$10.00

AFAIR, re the New York branch transfer method, you also need to factor in BKK Bank's receiving charge of 0.25% based on the amount received, minimum 200 baht and maximum 500 baht.

I don't know, does BKK Bank charge that same commission against direct deposited Social Security funds???

They sure do...they charge the NY branch fee and the in-Thailand branch receiving fee just like for any ACH transfer. Both fees are applied/deducted "before" posting to your account and the fees do not appear anywhere on your account which fools a lot of U.S. govt pensioners into thinking no fees were applied like if it went to their U.S. bank...that's another reason pensioners can never get the exchange rate for their Direct Deposit to Bangkok Bank to match any of the TT Buying Rates used for incoming wire transfers such as ACH, SWIFT, etc...it's because they didn't take into account the fees. And they sure applied the fees when I had my military pension going via Direct Deposit to Bangkok Bank for a few months. Applicable fees show below. And don't confuse the Bangkok Bank Direct Deposit program being part of the Social Security International Direct Deposit (IDD) program as Thailand is not one of the authorized countries on the IDD program...therefore U.S. govt benefit/pension payments to Bangkok Bank are handled and charged just as a typical ACH transfer.

[Scotwight]

...That statement is kinda true. Cannot say that I know why, or understand it, but with a US SS direct deposit to BKK Bank you cannot have an ATM with the account. (Same is true of any US gov direct deposit.) .....

Can you link to an article or pamphlet that addresses this? That a US gov direct deposit cannot occur on an account with ATM access? Or cannot occur with a retirement benefit payout to a bank account with ATM access? Or cannot occur with [xxxx] benefit payout to a foreign bank account with ATM access?

I think it was a specific deal with Bangkok Bank and maybe other foreign banks with a similar direct deposit capability to minimize social security payouts after death fraud. I could imagine how many Thai spouses would be less than expedient to report a death immediately.

It is simply not true ... I can't imagine how a rumor goes around saying a S.S. Direct Deposit cannot go to an account with ATM access... total baloney. Every person I know who is has S.S. benefits has ATM access on their S.S. Direct Deposit Account. In fact ... if a person does not have a bank account and direct deposit cannot be made ... The S.S. Administration makes it mandatory for the person to accept the S.S. Admin's Debit/ATM card for direct deposit. I hear there is an exception on this for people who live overseas ... makes no sense to me but that I what I have seen posted here on TVF.

For direct deposit of SS each month in Thailand you open a direct deposit account with Bank of Bangkok and cannot get an atm card with that account. You must withdraw the funds in person from a Bangkok Bank with a bank book. Anyone who says anything else is wrong.

Edited May 26, 2016 by Scotwight

[4evermaat]

For direct deposit of SS each month in Thailand you open a direct deposit account with Bank of Bangkok and cannot get an atm card with that account. You must withdraw the funds in person from a Bangkok Bank with a bank book. Anyone who says anything else is wrong.

That's why you have SS deposited first to USA bank acct or the SSA debit card. If you usa a USA bank acct, you can then use ACH to BkB New York branch, swift wire transfer to BkB Thailand, or use your bank account ATM card.

SSA debit card is another option...but only if you cannot get a bank account on your own.

only if you try to setup SS ACH payment directly with BkB do you need the additional forms and have to come in and sign for your benefit every month (no atm card is allowed) I see no benefit to doing it this way other than possibly saving a day or two wait time.

[WaywardWind]

......

Secondly the Social Security will send you each January your income tax statement of how much you earned in the past year from your Social Security benefits. You will need this info for your income tax. No, you can NOT get away from filing an income tax form every year just because you are retired and living in Thailand, no matter what somebody tells you.

Note that I am not saying you must pay income tax every year, but you must file even if you owe no tax for that year.

........

That portion of your post is not accurate.

There are income thresholds below which filing is not required. The thresholds vary depending on filing status and age.

The rules are spelled out in charts set forth in the instructions for filing a 1040 return:

https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/i1040gi.pdf

[ubonjoe]

Agreed and I don't really think that it would be any more since most US banks will do a EFTS for free and BB has a standard fee for inbound transfers:

USD 100.01 - 2,000.00

$5.00

USD 2,000.01 - 50,000.00

$10.00

AFAIR, re the New York branch transfer method, you also need to factor in BKK Bank's receiving charge of 0.25% based on the amount received, minimum 200 baht and maximum 500 baht.

I don't know, does BKK Bank charge that same commission against direct deposited Social Security funds???

They sure do...they charge the NY branch fee and the in-Thailand branch receiving fee just like for any ACH transfer. Both fees are applied/deducted "before" posting to your account and the fees do not appear anywhere on your account which fools a lot of U.S. govt pensioners into thinking no fees were applied like if it went to their U.S. bank...that's another reason pensioners can never get the exchange rate for their Direct Deposit to Bangkok Bank to match any of the TT Buying Rates used for incoming wire transfers such as ACH, SWIFT, etc...it's because they didn't take into account the fees. And they sure applied the fees when I had my military pension going via Direct Deposit to Bangkok Bank for a few months. Applicable fees show below. And don't confuse the Bangkok Bank Direct Deposit program being part of the Social Security International Direct Deposit (IDD) program as Thailand is not one of the authorized countries on the IDD program...therefore U.S. govt benefit/pension payments to Bangkok Bank are handled and charged just as a typical ACH transfer.

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I have no problem knowing what the exchange rate is when my direct deposit arrives into my account here. I signed up for the SMS alert for it being deposited. The SMS has the dollar amount transferred minus the NY fee, the amount in baht deposited with the deducted fee amount shown and the exchange rate.

[Langsuan Man]

ubonjoe you are right the SMS option is great especially useful for the mathematically challenged like myself

Interestingly, Thai language speakers don't get the breakdown like we do, they just get the date and amount of the transfer. For ease of sending money to my girlfriend I transfer funds for house expenses using Bangkok Bank's EFTS system via the New York branch. I have seen her SMS and even though I don't read Thai, the dollar amount, fee and exchange rate numbers are just not there; just her account number, the date, and the amount

I had her go to the bank and ask why and of course the answer was no can

[Boon Mee]

For direct deposit of SS each month in Thailand you open a direct deposit account with Bank of Bangkok and cannot get an atm card with that account. You must withdraw the funds in person from a Bangkok Bank with a bank book. Anyone who says anything else is wrong.

That's not quite the way it works my friend.

When at the bank just transfer the incoming funds from your DD account to an ATM account and away you go!

No monies need to be physically withdrawn from the DD account.

[Pib]

But the friend still had to go to the bank to do the transfer (prove he was still alive and kicking)....transfer it from account to account before he could withdraw the transferred money to another account via ATM.

Don't get me wrong the Bangkok Bank DD acct is a good thing for many but it does have certain restrictions.

[Boon Mee]

But the friend still had to go to the bank to do the transfer (prove he was still alive and kicking)....transfer it from account to account before he could withdraw the transferred money to another account via ATM.

Don't get me wrong the Bangkok Bank DD acct is a good thing for many but it does have certain restrictions.

Yes, of course. The point I'm making is you don't need to withdraw the funds from the DD account. Just transfer what you want to your ATM account.

Heh...when I'm 90 years or so (hopefully I'll make it there) that Bangkok Bank i do business with better have installed a wheelchair ramp by then!

[ubonjoe]

But the friend still had to go to the bank to do the transfer (prove he was still alive and kicking)....transfer it from account to account before he could withdraw the transferred money to another account via ATM.

Don't get me wrong the Bangkok Bank DD acct is a good thing for many but it does have certain restrictions.

Going to the bank in person is a requirement for the account. Going to the bank once a month is not that big a problem for most people.

I go to a branch at Tesco here and it take about 5 minutes to do it on average. Doing it there makes a dual purpose trip of bank and shopping. I keep a supply of the forms needed so I can fill them out before leaving the house.

[Boon Mee]

^

My Bangkok Bank branch is so low-keyed + I'm the only Farang who has an account there, the girls fill out all the forms for me. I just have to sign the bottom lines!

[Scotwight]

For direct deposit of SS each month in Thailand you open a direct deposit account with Bank of Bangkok and cannot get an atm card with that account. You must withdraw the funds in person from a Bangkok Bank with a bank book. Anyone who says anything else is wrong.

That's not quite the way it works my friend.

When at the bank just transfer the incoming funds from your DD account to an ATM account and away you go!

No monies need to be physically withdrawn from the DD account.

What I described is exactly the way it works. You have to withdraw the money from the direct deposit account and deposit it into another account. It requires a withdrawal form and a deposit form because you can't have an ATM card for the direct deposit account. You may withdraw the money in cash or you may withdraw the money on paper but you have to withdraw it in person with a bank book because you can't get an ATM card with a direct deposit account. The money arrives for most before the 5th of every month depending on weekends and holidays.

If you fail to submit a proof of life form in July or August SS will stop payments in Feb or March (if I remember correctly) and it takes a few weeks of sending another proof of life form to Manila to get them started again.