Transferwise Now Available For Baht Transactions

[CFC]

There are hundred's of Forex Exchange companies. If I was exchanging 10,000GBP I wouldnt be just looking for the best exchange rate, I would be looking for the best exchange rate from an established company. You dont want any problems when sending 10,000GBP.

[Dario]

There are hundred's of Forex Exchange companies. If I was exchanging 10,000GBP I wouldnt be just looking for the best exchange rate, I would be looking for the best exchange rate from an established company. You dont want any problems when sending 10,000GBP.

Well then, could you give us some examples?

[meatboy]

Now if a funds transfer company like Transferwise actually sends the money to their own Thai bank account and then does a domestic transfer to complete the transfer then above Bt200-500 fee would not apply, but I expect the funds transfer company has already worked that into their pricing.

I understood their system to work that way, hence my comment. It isn't exactly clear on their website.

Probably the only way to know for certain will be to try it, and perhaps mikebell will report back when he has received his transfer?

The World waits with bated breath. Just got an email from Transferwise to say they've received my 5K UKP (sent last night) & I should have my money by Wednesday by noon GMT. They quote 246,045.16 as the likely sum. When it's in, I will check if there's any BKK fee & spread the word. For the same transfer (4992 + 8 UKP fee) Moneycorp are saying 241,246.89.

I get 4798.28 more with Transferwise.

Hey, CurrencyFair would send you right now 247,153.50 Baht NET. What are you waiting for? I'll go ahead with them, once my money is back from Transferwise.

cf GBP THB.PNG

They are definitely cheaper for transferring larger amounts. If you send 10'000 GBP, all you get deducted is 7.00 GBP! Good deal I'd say!

that is not too bad but still 4,000bht less than the tt.rate at 1.15pm.today.[49.51] scb.bank.

[CFC]

There are hundred's of Forex Exchange companies. If I was exchanging 10,000GBP I wouldnt be just looking for the best exchange rate, I would be looking for the best exchange rate from an established company. You dont want any problems when sending 10,000GBP.

Well then, could you give us some examples?

Hifx.co.uk is a company that provides a good service but if you read other threads you can often get better exchange rates by sending GBP,USD,EUR from your bank account to your Thai Bank and let the thai bank do the forex deal for you. I worked it out the other day and if I sent 3,000GBP I would get an extra 3500BHT by not sending it with a foreign exchange company and sendng via my bank.

Edited January 13, 2015 by CFC

[Dario]

Thanks, Dario for tip about 'azimo' - it looks better than my Moneycorp deal. I will wait to see if/when I get my money back from Transferwise.

Well Mike, I have bad news, unfortunately. I just received at 18:07 a very disturbing email message from Transferwise:

Jan 13 1:06pm

Hello Dario,

Thanks for getting back to us so soon!

Really appreciate your understanding and cooperation.

I will forward this to our payment colleagues right away and they will issue the refund for you. It should arrive in your account within 1-2 business days

Unfortunately, no, it won't be possible. We don't have any estimated date for the fix, but it will be weeks most likely.

I have just put you on a mailing list, so when the currency is back, we will let you know straight away!

Should you have any questions, please don't hesitate to write back!

Have a great week ahead and take care,

Aleks Zivotov ⁞ TransferWise Customer Support

For weeks????? This sounds VERY fishy. This is very disturbing! I wonder what we can do?

I wonder what Sir Richard Branson would say if he read about this? I will see from my side what can be done.

[Pib]

I expect Transferwise has ran afoul of some Thai financial regulation or their in-Thailand source of baht doesn't want to be involved anymore. Then again it could be some regulatory hickup on the UK end. Hopefully they will get it fixed soon.

[KittenKong]

Nothing in what Transferwise has done sounds fishy to me. Unfortunate, yes, but they appear to have acted correctly to inform people and refund money in a secure fashion.

For what it's worth, as far as I know once you have sent your money to any currency broker you become an unsecured creditor of that broker. And if the unlikely happens and it goes belly-up before transferring your cash then you may well lose the lot.

This is one reason why I prefer to deal with EU registered banks for larger sums.

[Dario]

Nothing in what Transferwise has done sounds fishy to me. Unfortunate, yes, but they appear to have acted correctly to inform people and refund money in a secure fashion.

For what it's worth, as far as I know once you have sent your money to any currency broker you become an unsecured creditor of that broker. And if the unlikely happens and it goes belly-up before transferring your cash then you may well lose the lot.

This is one reason why I prefer to deal with EU registered banks for larger sums.

Nothing sounds fishy to you?

Well, I have put a lot of pressure on the TW support team which resulted in just getting a Notification of Refund. TW confirmed that they have sent a refund to my Swiss bank account. Without pressure it would have been weeks. I had sent a message to Sir Richard Branson, which was acknowledged by Virgin. He has funded TW as a start-up. All kudos to Rich, one of the greatest Brits I have ever come across!

Well, for my part, I will never, ever transfer with TW, that is a sure thing. I will report back when I have received my money back in my account. Should be Thursday or Friday.

Edited January 13, 2015 by Dario

[Pib]

It states on their website that Thai baht transfers are local transfers, so no receiving fee.

https://transferwise.com/support/customer/en/portal/articles/1569835

So it does. Didn't see that when I looked.

That makes it very suitable indeed for the sort of small transfers that are often very expensive to make (condo common fees etc.).

And now the website don't since Transferwise announced they have at least temporary suspended baht transfers as talked about over the previous few posts. The THB line entry has been removed. At least this shows Transferwise is keeping their website up to date.

Edited January 13, 2015 by Pib

[mikebell]

Just got another email written in strangely cheerful style - see below. Dario, have you a link to Richard Branson? I tried & failed to contact one of his reps this morning.

Burhan

Jan 13 2:05pm

Hello Mike,

Thanks for getting in touch with us and I hope you're having a nice day so far!

As explained earlier by my colleague, we're currently having technical issues with THB payments and that's why we currently disabled that currency until further notice.

We're working hard on it and try to get out of this unfortunate situation and endeavor our customers not to get affected (or minimize the negative effect as much as we can) from this situation.

We've sent out your funds for your transfer #1507440 yesterday and the money should arrive to your THB bank account by tomorrow. For any reason, if the transfer doesn't go through and be deposited to your THB account, then your funds will bounce back to our bank account in the worst case scenario and thereon we'll refund the money back to your UK bank account asap!

We're extremely sorry for all the inconvenience this issue might have caused and I would like to repeat that we've added 3 payments up to 3,000 GBP (and equivalent in other currencies) on your TransferWise account as a token of our apology. Rest assured, we'll keep you updated with any emerging issue regarding this payment until it's fully sorted out.

I'd be happy to help you more should you have any questions in the meantime.

All the best,

Burhan Sayili ⁞ TransferWise Customer Support

Yesterday they were asking for my UK bank details AGAIN! Now they're going to bounce it back without me sending my details! Or I will receive as promised the Thai baht watch out a flying pig!

[Dario]

To mike:

strange story, strange business tactics. We both had sent our transfers yesterday afternoon in time before the midday cut-off. Now the say they have sent your payment already yesterday (???) without having received your funds My-oh-my!

Yes, I have Richard Branson's email address, I wouldn't publish it on a website, though. I don't hink you need it as TW confirmed that you will get your money, either in TH or in GB. Richard Branson is too busy reading our emails, it does happen for the lucky ones, but surely someone reads them in his place.

I received another message from TW support confirming again that my refund had bee sent to the bank today and that I should recive it in 1 or 2 days. The girl who wrote to me said she can't find any trace that someone told me that I would have to wait for weeks, but that email exists, here:

Well, we're lucky that we get - or will get - hold of our funds.

Edited January 13, 2015 by Dario

[meatboy]

Nothing in what Transferwise has done sounds fishy to me. Unfortunate, yes, but they appear to have acted correctly to inform people and refund money in a secure fashion.

For what it's worth, as far as I know once you have sent your money to any currency broker you become an unsecured creditor of that broker. And if the unlikely happens and it goes belly-up before transferring your cash then you may well lose the lot.

This is one reason why I prefer to deal with EU registered banks for larger sums.

not sure if you are right,but moneycorpe are regulated by the FSA.

[meatboy]

THESE MIGHT BE ABLE TO GIVE YOU SOME INFO.

UK.FINANCIAL CONDUCT AUTHORITY.

GOOGLE F.C.A. NOT F.S.A.

[KittenKong]

To mike:

strange story, strange business tactics. We both had sent our transfers yesterday afternoon in time before the midday cut-off. Now the say they have sent your payment already yesterday (???) without having received your funds My-oh-my!

Yes, I have Richard Branson's email address, I wouldn't publish it on a website, though. I don't hink you need it as TW confirmed that you will get your money, either in TH or in GB. Richard Branson is too busy reading our emails, it does happen for the lucky ones, but surely someone reads them in his place.

I received another message from TW support confirming again that my refund had bee sent to the bank today and that I should recive it in 1 or 2 days. The girl who wrote to me said she can't find any trace that someone told me that I would have to wait for weeks, but that email exists, here:

tw aleks zivotov 130115 1807.PNG

Well, we're lucky that we get - or will get - hold of our funds.

I think that you have misunderstood their messages.

Resolving the problem with making transfers to Thailand may take them weeks. Refunding your money will take a maximum of two days.

As far as I can see Transferwise are acting entirely correctly and responsibly, so it seems unreasonable to be talking about emailing Richard Branson.

[meatboy]

once again i have to inform members,nobody can beat the onshore rate by offshore dealers.

this was told to me by one of the uk currency dealers whom i had an account with,and was able to buy thai baht in advance at a very good rate.

but since 2010 they cannot match the onshore anymore as thailand has clamped down on this.

i tried to by at a good rate for a substancial amount 2012 and i couldnt get within 40satang of the tt.rate.

why i have always been carefull,not sur whenit was early 2000 that an indian currency dealer giving good trans.rates for gbp.ent belly up with alt of people loosing a ot of money.

quite a few i worked with.so when money is involved trust no one.

[KittenKong]

Nothing in what Transferwise has done sounds fishy to me. Unfortunate, yes, but they appear to have acted correctly to inform people and refund money in a secure fashion.

For what it's worth, as far as I know once you have sent your money to any currency broker you become an unsecured creditor of that broker. And if the unlikely happens and it goes belly-up before transferring your cash then you may well lose the lot.

This is one reason why I prefer to deal with EU registered banks for larger sums.

not sure if you are right,but moneycorpe are regulated by the FSA.

They may be regulated by the FSA but as far as I know, unlike banks, there is no form of deposit protection for money sent via FX brokers, regardless of who they are regulated by. I may be wrong and would welcome proof that I am.

[meatboy]

I expect Transferwise has ran afoul of some Thai financial regulation or their in-Thailand source of baht doesn't want to be involved anymore. Then again it could be some regulatory hickup on the UK end. Hopefully they will get it fixed soon.

to be able to offer a good exchange rate someone here has to be buying baht onshore.

trans.it to clients accs.here.

you might ask how do they get the money in and out IN A SUIT CASE.

[KittenKong]

once again i have to inform members,nobody can beat the onshore rate by offshore dealers.

this was told to me by one of the uk currency dealers whom i had an account with,and was able to buy thai baht in advance at a very good rate.

but since 2010 they cannot match the onshore anymore as thailand has clamped down on this.

I think that in all these threads relating to FX brokers it has been made clear that the possible saving to be made comes from the small sending fee charged by brokers compared to the cost of a SWIFT transfer by some banks, and the lack of a currency receiving charge of 200-500B made by the receiving Thai bank.

[Pib]

To mike:

strange story, strange business tactics. We both had sent our transfers yesterday afternoon in time before the midday cut-off. Now the say they have sent your payment already yesterday (???) without having received your funds My-oh-my!

Yes, I have Richard Branson's email address, I wouldn't publish it on a website, though. I don't hink you need it as TW confirmed that you will get your money, either in TH or in GB. Richard Branson is too busy reading our emails, it does happen for the lucky ones, but surely someone reads them in his place.

I received another message from TW support confirming again that my refund had bee sent to the bank today and that I should recive it in 1 or 2 days. The girl who wrote to me said she can't find any trace that someone told me that I would have to wait for weeks, but that email exists, here:

tw aleks zivotov 130115 1807.PNG

Well, we're lucky that we get - or will get - hold of our funds.

I expect their above message was in response to the latest message you had sent them and they were just answering whatever questions you asked.

First they say they will refund your money and probably answering your question on when will you get the refund and they answered in 1 to 2 days.

Then I'm assuming they are answering a separate question you asked maybe along the lines of, Since you need the money in Thailand by X-date will their baht transfer capability be back online by X-date which happened to be very near term....and their answer was no it's not possible as they expect it to take weeks to fix the issue.

If that's the case I can understand why they are saying they have no record of telling you it would take weeks for the refund because they never were talking weeks to give a refund; instead, just at least weeks to get their baht transfer issue resolved.

[meatboy]

once again i have to inform members,nobody can beat the onshore rate by offshore dealers.

this was told to me by one of the uk currency dealers whom i had an account with,and was able to buy thai baht in advance at a very good rate.

but since 2010 they cannot match the onshore anymore as thailand has clamped down on this.

I think that in all these threads relating to FX brokers it has been made clear that the possible saving to be made comes from the small sending fee charged by brokers compared to the cost of a SWIFT transfer by some banks, and the lack of a currency receiving charge of 200-500B made by the receiving Thai bank.

your right kk.those who are not in the position to have their pensions sent say twice a yr.to cut down on costs should realise

that they wont get rates as good as TT if they are looking at the cheapest way of receiving them.nevermind how much you save one end the tuther will get you.i send once a yr.express 30gbp.one end and thai banks fee the other end,but over the yr.it will work out a lot cheaper and get the rate you expect.but it takes a lot of thought before moving here.

nothing is cheap today.just hope the boys get their money back.

so guys as the saying goes "LOOK BEFORE YOU LEAP"

[CFC]

I wouldnt use Transferwise after reading about these problems.

[Dario]

To mike:

strange story, strange business tactics. We both had sent our transfers yesterday afternoon in time before the midday cut-off. Now the say they have sent your payment already yesterday (???) without having received your funds My-oh-my!

Yes, I have Richard Branson's email address, I wouldn't publish it on a website, though. I don't hink you need it as TW confirmed that you will get your money, either in TH or in GB. Richard Branson is too busy reading our emails, it does happen for the lucky ones, but surely someone reads them in his place.

I received another message from TW support confirming again that my refund had bee sent to the bank today and that I should recive it in 1 or 2 days. The girl who wrote to me said she can't find any trace that someone told me that I would have to wait for weeks, but that email exists, here:

tw aleks zivotov 130115 1807.PNG

Well, we're lucky that we get - or will get - hold of our funds.

I expect their above message was in response to the latest message you had sent them and they were just answering whatever questions you asked.

First they say they will refund your money and probably answering your question on when will you get the refund and they answered in 1 to 2 days.

Then I'm assuming they are answering a separate question you asked maybe along the lines of, Since you need the money in Thailand by X-date will their baht transfer capability be back online by X-date which happened to be very near term....and their answer was no it's not possible as they expect it to take weeks to fix the issue.

If that's the case I can understand why they are saying they have no record of telling you it would take weeks for the refund because they never were talking weeks to give a refund; instead, just at least weeks to get their baht transfer issue resolved.

Spot on, pib! That is exactly what happened. You analyzed it perfectly. I now remember having asked that question. I misinterpreted his answer cuz I didn't have my question in my mindwhen I red his mail. He should have marked: regarding your question: no, bla,bla. Therefore the confusion.

So, to set the record straight: Transferwise didn't do anything wrong, except that they cancelled the THB option right after I had initiated my transfer. For TW it was most probably a force majeure.

[Dario]

I have received my money back from Transferwise on my Swiss account. Actually, it arrived already yesterday.

[Dario]

I have received my money back from Transferwise on my Swiss account. Actually, it arrived already yesterday.

[meatboy]

once more please.

drinks all round sigh of relief.

[mikebell]

It's OK for some! I'm still waiting. Checked my BKK bank & UK bank 2 minutes ago. Good news for Dario; I think he was a few hours ahead of me on the initial transaction.

[Dario]

Mike, I don't think there should be a problem. You reported at 13:46 that you have made your transfer. I transferred around 17:15, so I was later. You will probably get it tomorrow. Good luck!

Or probably you will receive it in your UK bank after they tried o wire it to BKK, that will, of course, take longer.

Edited January 15, 2015 by Dario

[Dario]

Over the years I have learned that there is a good side in every bad happening. Hope you understand what I mean. For example:

I made that transfer of CHF to THB and Transferwise cancelled it. In itself I saw it as a sad decision. But now listen to this: about two hours ago, in a shock move the SNB (Swiss National Bank) announced that it is discontinuing its currency ceiling of CHF 1.20 to the Euro which it introduced about 3 years ago. Immediately the CHF jumped up from 31.85 to over 43 Baht (for a few minutes only) and has now settled around 36.51 at 18:17 according to SCB. That's an increase of 14.6%! Good new for Swiss pensioners around the world.

[Pib]

Over the years I have learned that there is a good side in every bad happening. Hope you understand what I mean. For example:

I made that transfer of CHF to THB and Transferwise cancelled it. In itself I saw it as a sad decision. But now listen to this: about two hours ago, in a shock move the SNB (Swiss National Bank) announced that it is discontinuing its currency ceiling of CHF 1.20 to the Euro which it introduced about 3 years ago. Immediately the CHF jumped up from 31.85 to over 43 Baht (for a few minutes only) and has now settled around 36.51 at 18:17 according to SCB. That's an increase of 14.6%! Good new for Swiss pensioners around the world.

A blessing in disguise.

[mikebell]

Meanwhile

Silver

Jan 15 4:37pm

Hey Mike!

I'm terribly sorry about the situation you're in. I can confirm that the payment was sent out from our account and it's on the way to you. The delivery estimator offered the arrival time to be today, but it looks like the money has not arrived yet. Our delivery estimator predicts the time of arrival based on past transfers and it is not 100% accurate, as different banks have different transfer speeds.

I do hope that the fund will arrive on your account very soon now.

Please accept my apologies again for the confusion and again, I sincerely hope the money will arrive to your account soon.
All the best,

Silver Jaanus ⁞ TransferWise Customer Support