New USA Social Security Receiptant Needs Advise-Benefit Payment

[dannywla]

I am soon to collect my first SS payment, however, I do not have a permanent US bank and reside full time in Thailand. How do you collect your payments here in Thailand, thru the US Embassy or can they deposit into your Thai Bank.

Any suggestions or feedback is most appreciated.

[CaptHaddock]

You should get a US bank if you possibly can. With a US bank your benefits payments will be deposited each month after which you can transfer as much as you wish to your Thai bank, by SWIFT or ACH transfers depending on the banks involved or you can withdraw at an ATM. The alternative is to open a special account at Bangkok Bank just for the purpose of receiving your SS. Such an account has restrictions: you must go in person to withdraw money, you can't use an ATM card, you can't use online billpay, you can't transfer money online to a less restricted account, etc.

You might investigate the SS Debit Express Card, which is a debit card that you should be able to use in Thailand. I have no experience with this.

http://finance.zacks.com/social-security-benefits-citizens-living-abroad-2527.html

[Langsuan Man]

Bangkok Bank has a remittance system for US Social Security payments via it's New York branch. The biggest downside is that you must physically go to your home branch every month to sign for your payment. Also you will be required to certify your Thai address with US Social Security on an annual basis. Failure to do so will result in your payments being held up

see: http://www.bangkokbank.com/BangkokBank/PersonalBanking/DailyBanking/TransferingFunds/TransferringIntoThailand/ReceivingFundsfromUSA/Pages/ReceivingFundsfromUSA.aspx

I find it hard to believe that you have applied for Social Security without knowing this information. If you had applied via the Manila Social Security office they would have advised you about getting payments in Thailand. If you applied on line, once again you would have had to declare your address to register. My only conclusion is that you have not applied yet and if you contact the US Embassy in Bangkok they will only direct you to the Social Security office in Manila

[thrilled]

I have A Schwab account.I have my Soc Security direct deposit in their bank.Then use their ATM card to get money.

The thing about a Schwab is they reimburse ATM fees from whatever bank you use to get money from an ATM.

It works great.

[Suradit69]

Bangkok Bank has a remittance system for US Social Security payments via it's New York branch. The biggest downside is that you must physically go to your home branch every month to sign for your payment. Also you will be required to certify your Thai address with US Social Security on an annual basis. Failure to do so will result in your payments being held up

see: http://www.bangkokbank.com/BangkokBank/PersonalBanking/DailyBanking/TransferingFunds/TransferringIntoThailand/ReceivingFundsfromUSA/Pages/ReceivingFundsfromUSA.aspx

I find it hard to believe that you have applied for Social Security without knowing this information. If you had applied via the Manila Social Security office they would have advised you about getting payments in Thailand. If you applied on line, once again you would have had to declare your address to register. My only conclusion is that you have not applied yet and if you contact the US Embassy in Bangkok they will only direct you to the Social Security office in Manila

"Also you will be required to certify your Thai address with US Social Security on an annual basis. Failure to do so will result in your payments being held up"

My Social Security payments are deposited into my Bank American account in Chicago but still need to certify my Thai address and other information annually.

Despite what information they claim they're checking on, they're really checking to see if you're still alive regardless of which bank the money is being deposited in.

I use the New York branch of Bangkok Bank, but not for direct deposits from pension or SS. I prefer to choose how much and when money is transferred to my account in Thailand.

Edited February 5, 2015 by Suradit69

[keeniau96]

The US Embassy will not do anything at all for you re SS. The SS in USA will not do direct deposit to Thai bank. You may get a check mailed to you but that is a major, major butt-pain in the mailing and even more in getting it deposited in Thai bank. Really, truly, as said by others, you need a USA bank. Many favor the method of direct-deposit from SS to USA bank account, then ACH transfer from that to Bangkok Bank NYC which in turn immediately zips it to your Bangkok Bank account in Thailand. Simple, fast, reliable, cheap. Schwab is also good very good if you want to do the ATM route. Really best to have USA bank, and Thai bank account. Add in the Bangkok Bank transfer and you will be in good shape. Yes, the USA SS will send you an annual form (typically arrives in June) that you need to certify your current being live and existing; very simple one-pager with about six items.

[CaptHaddock]

The SS in USA will not do direct deposit to Thai bank.

Wrong. See above.

[Pib]

OP, Since Thailand is not one of the countries which has a formal agreement with the SSA for direct deposit you would need to have the pension sent to a U.S. bank routing and account number. Well, you said you didn't have a U.S. bank; however, if you had a Bangkok Bank "Direct Deposit" account available at any Bangkok Bank branch in Thailand you could the use the Bangkok Bank NY branch routing number and your in-Thailand Bangkok Bank account number for the monthly direct deposit.

You "do not" need an account with the Bangkok Bank NY branch...you are only using their routing number like explained on the Bangkok Bank weblink already given to you. Bangkok Bank is the only Thai bank with ACH receiving capability. While a Bangkok Bank Direct Deposit account has restrictions as already mentioned by other posters which requires you to do withdrawals/transfers "in person" you could also open a regular Bangkok Bank savings account that comes with debit card,etc., and then periodically just go to the bank and transfer X amount of funds from your Direct Deposit account to your regular Savings account so you could use the funds via debit card, ibanking,etc.

Now there would be fees with the monthly transfer...assuming your SS monthly pension is $2,000 or less Bangkok Bank NY branch would slice off a $5 fee as it flowed through them to your in-Thailand Bangkok Bank account where a 0.25% (Bt200 min, Bt500 max) fee would be applied....both of these fees are applied "before" the final pension amount is posted to your Bangkok Bank account and this fools some folks into thinking no fees were applied but they indeed were. So, say you had a $2,000 monthly pension...that would result in $5 plus Bt200 ($6.15) for a total of $11.15 in monthly transfer/direct deposit fees to your Bankgok Bank Direct Deposit account....or said another way you would end up with approx $1,989 worth of baht (approx Bt64.6K) being deposited to your account when the fee dust settles.

Now you could go the Direct Express debit card route by having your pension direct deposit to that card and then using the Direct Express Debit card to withdraw money in Thailand, however, that going to come at a healthly fee price of the $3 + 3% of each ATM withdawal plus the Thai bank foreign card fee of Bt180 which is not reimbursed. Since you can only withdraw a max of Bt30K from some Thai bank ATMs like Krungsri and TMB (other banks only allow Bt20K to Bt25K), this means you would need to do three withdrawals monthly to get the full Bt64.6K deposited to your account which would be a high fee amount since say a $1,000/Bt32.5K withdrawal would incur fees of $3 + $30 (the 3%) + Bt180 (approx $5.50) Thai bank fee which adds up to around $38.5 in fees for that $1000 withdrawal done overseas. Ouch!!!!...and you still need to do another withdrawal or two to get all your money which repeats all or most of this $38.5 fee. The DriectExpress card is fine for use in the U.S. where the fees applied are much less, but suck for overseas usage due to the high fees incurred. Or you could try a counter withdrawal at the Thai bank using the Direct Express debit card which would bypass the Bt180 ATM fee, but you would still get stung with the Direct Express $3 +3% fee---that 3% foreign transaction fee is the real killer.

Now, you could get an American Express Bluebird debit card which allows direct deposit of pensions which only incurs a $2.50 AmEx flat fee, no foreign transaction percentage fee, and if using a Bangkok Bank ATM only a Bt50 ($1.50) Thai bank fee for for AmEx cards which totals up to $4 (Bt130) per ATM withdrawal....that's a heck of a lot cheaper than using a Direct Express Debit card don't you think.

Now I'm not drawing social security yet, but when I do start I'll just have it sent one of my U.S. bank accounts and then use some of my U.S. no foreign transaction fee cards which also reimburse ATM fees to access the money...or maybe every once in a while just do an ACH transfer to one of my Bangkok Bank accounts if I need to transfer a large amount and don't care about the transfer fee in this case. But I'm going on around 4 years now without needing to do an ACH transfer since my no foreign transaction fee cards allow me to get money instantly in hand from an ATM or via counter withdrawal with no fees or all fees reimbursed.

Yeap, sounds like you may need to visit your local Bangkok Bank branch and setup a Direct Deposit Account and a regular Savings Account. Good luck.

[lopburi3]

As said it would be much better to keep a US bank account available for such deposits if you are an American as having US debit card and checks may be useful at times (on line ordering/tax refunds/check payments) and with that and a Bangkok Bank account here there is no need to visit any bank to move money or collect. Money into US account - ACH transfer online as needed to Bangkok Bank via there New York branch number - use local debit cards for expense/cash here.

[ToddinChonburi]

I deposit check directly into Usbank account. then I can transfer money using Usbanks website. Usbank also works with POP money and can do bigger transfers through them for just $3 . Work great.

[ToddinChonburi]

Open account at Usbank in America, Then open Bangkok bank account, use the New York Branch routing number and Bangkok bank account number on Usbanks website

Transfer away !!!! one transfer a month with max limit of $1250 after that you use POP money and transfer as many time as you want at $3 a transfer up to $40,000 a month.

[IMA_FARANG]

You can get Social Security benefits paid into your Bangkok Bank account here in Thailand by direct deposit.

I am doing that now, and have been since October 2014.

However, it is a process that takes several steps to initiate and get it opearting properly.

First of all you can only use a Bangkok bank account. This is not a Thai rule, it is because the Social Security only recognises Bangkok Bank.

Therefore you need to open a bangkok Bank account first.

Once you have that bank account opened, you will need to change your mailing address with the Social Security to your Thai mailing address.

This is required because the Social Security neds to notify you when the change of direct deposit is made to your thai bank and when you will recieve your first direct deposit to your Bangkok Bank account. They also will send you a form annually, which you must sign and return to the Social Security to verify your Thai address and your continued eligability to recieve benefits.

When your Thai mailing address is correct, you need to download a Social Security form to start the process of switching your direct deposits momthly to your Bangkok Bank account

There are three parts to this form.

The first part is the U.S. bank information on the bank and account number that Social Security is currently sending your direct deposit benefits to. You need to fill in that information and sign that section of the form.

The 2nd section of that form is for the information on the Bangkok Bank account number and address of the Bangkok Bank branch you want to send the direct deposit to in Thailand. The Bangkok Bank can help you fill that section out.

The 3rd section is information that Bangkok bank must fill out itself.

Once that is done the bank submits all the information to the nearest Social Security office.

There is no Social Security office at the U.S. embessy in Bangkok, the nearst one is in Manila.

I highly recommend that you get in touch by email with the Social Security at the U.S. embessy in Manila .... the U.S. embessy in Bangkok has no clue what to do. Do all your Social Security business through Manila.

In my experience the Social Security office is far more co-operative and responsive than most Social Security offices in the U.S.

Manila can provide you all the forms required by email.

it took me about 3 months to get my direct deposit swithed from my U.S. bank to my Bangkok Bank account.

It was a pain in the a_ _ to do, but once it was finally done it works like a charm

One thing you should know , for security reasons the Social Security will NOT allow you to have a Bangkok bank ATM/debit card on the account they send you monthly benefits to by direct deposit. Therefore you will need a second seperate Bangkok Bank account to transfer your monthly befits to with an ATM/debit card for your living expenses.

Again, this is not a Thai bank rule, it is a U.S. Social Security rule.

If you want to do this direct deposit to the Bankok Bank here in Thailand, i STRONGLY recommend you contract the U.S. Social Security office at the U.S. embessy in Manila first.

They will help you to set up a dirst deposit each month to Bangkok.

Once gain, do NOT attempt to get information from the U.S. embessy in Bangkok, go straight to the Social Security in Manila.

All the embessy in Bangkok will do at best is to forward your questions to manila anyway, and at worst the embessy in Bangkok will give you incorrect information that will delay the orocess of setting up your direct deposit to Bangkok.

Once a direct seposit is properly and correctly set up, yur Social Security will appear in your Bangkok bank account on the 4th of each month....transferred by computer direst to your account.

I've been doing it now for 6 months, and i am quite happy with it.

Edited February 7, 2015 by IMA_FARANG

[Pib]

I have a Bangkok Bank Direct Deposit account which I opened years ago and for 3 months or so I had my U.S. military pension flowing to that account before switching back to sending it to my U.S. bank account and then just using no foreign transaction fee cards to access the funds. While I filled out the forms ima-frang mentioned none of those forms flowed back to my military pension agency which was the Defense Finance Accounting Center (DFAS) as I told the Bangkok Bank rep I would call and provide DFAS the Bangkok Bank NY routing number and my new Direct Deposit account number....I called DFAS that night and the next month's pension payment arrived no problem. Bangkok Bank may or may not have mailed off the forms anyway (I told them no need, just keep for their records), but if they did they would have arrived way after I made the phone call to make the change and DFAS would have just filed the paperwork away seeing the change had already been made via my telephone call.

You can also call the SSA to start or change a direct deposit...there are other methods also such as doing it online, providing paperwork to your nearest SS office, or letting your financial institution mail off the forms to SSA. Personally, I would just do it online or call. See the SSA LInk for more info.

The reason the account can only be an individual-only account (i.e., you) and you don't get a debit card or ibanking transfer out capability to the Direct Deposit account is not because the SSA forbids it as such access is allowed at U.S. banks. It's a just Bangkok Bank's policy to help prevent fraudulent receipt of the pension funds like you die, you get barbecued at the local temple, no one like the spouse notifies SSA of your death which would stop the pension payment, the payment continues to flow in, and the spouse continues to withdraw funds monthly. If you die in the States while someone like the spouse is suppose to notify the SSA, if they don't SSA still finds out within a few months from county/city/state/hospital reporting of deaths which include your social security account number. But if you crock overseas and quietly get barbecued the payments continue to flow for quite a while....until they find out someway....or periodically ask for confirmation you are still alive. Plus, since you must personally visit a Bangkok Bank branch to withdraw/transfer fund from the Direct Deposit account, well, unless you show up you just may be dead...the monthly pension continues to flow in and build up...but then one day the SSA finds out somehow that you have passed...once the SSA notifies Bangkok Bank you have passed away and request all payment be returned after your death then Bangkok Bank returns the funds to the SSA and closes the account.

With Bangkok Bank the only Thai bank having "ACH" receiving capability like used to transmit SS/military/civil service/govt pensions in the U.S. and the trying to help prevent fraudulent pension fund receipts, it's pretty much allows them to stay on the good side of the U.S. govt pension agencies such as the SSA and of course get the great majority (maybe all) of the U.S. govt pension payments flowing to Thailand since the direct deposit payments must flow via ACH in Thailand's case.

Edited February 7, 2015 by Pib

[bunnydrops]

Mine is sent to a US bank. My Thai residence is registered with SS. I put down that I had a US contact address. They have never send anything to my Thai address and never sent me a yearly form to fill out. I know they do it randomly in the US.

As said before, I send to my Bangkok Bank account through the NY branch every 3 months. My back charges $3, Bangkok bank 5 and then there is a small fee to send it to your local bank.

[Pib]

Here's the Bangkok Bank "New York" branch sliding scale fee based on the amount you send via their routing number....five possible fees depending on amount sent...please note there is a fee change at $2,000.01 when it jumps to $10 but at $2,000 it's only $5. One penny can make all the difference on their sliding scale fee structure. And don't forget at your in-Thailand Bangkok Bank receiving branch there will be a fee of 0.25% (Bt200 min, Bt500 max). Both of these Bangkok Bank fees are applied before posting to your account which means they do not appear on your account statement which fools some people into thinking no Bangkok Bank fees were applied while indeed they were.

Bangkok Bank New York branch funds transfer fee schedule (i.e., funds flowing through them via ACH).

Edited February 7, 2015 by Pib

[Rhys]

Thanks very insightful...