Tell Me If I've Been Hoodwinked On Transfer Fee?

[thaimee]

hi folks, tell me if this is correct banking procedure? is it correct to have an amount changed TWICE on transfer total. having collected a modest amount of money through Moneygram i noticed to my dismay they changed sterling pounds into DOLLAR before finally into the baht currency. unfortunately not being a regular visitor to the bank i was caught unawares.

this week i expect to collect the same amount and want to know what my rights are. i've noticed the banks in thailand try to get away with murder charging what they think they can get away with. cometh my next visit should i call the manager and explain that i wish the total to be changed only from sterling to baht. my best bet would be to refuse the amount until it sorts itself out, right? well thanx i guess.

[Sick Boy]

I haven't had any experience with Moneygram but that does sound just a liitle bit dodgy to me. You would certainly get a far better rate from sterling to baht. I can't immediately see why it would be necessary to convert into dollars first.

Mind you, this is Toyland.

Which bank did this to you, my friend?

[peteypie]

Be aware, I recently had a large amount of money transfered from the UK to my Thai bank account. My sister, in the UK, had this money Direct Wire Transfered to the said account. The UK bank said that it should clear into my account within two days. However, It didn't arrive for 8 days!! My Thai bank said that they didn't have it when I enquired. My UK bank said that it was in Thailand and should be in that bank. It transpired that it had sat for 6 days in Standard Chartered's office in Bangkok! Standard Chartered deals with most transfers from the UK. They had refused to release this money until they'd scooped some interest on it?! They then charged my Thai account for the pleasure! It wasn't my Thai banks fault and I'd been 'riding' them for a week. I had to take in a box of cakes to make amends.

[mrmnp]

"Moneygram" surely isn't a bank term!!

Wire transfers are routine, and as has been mentioned, whether its your bank or a transfer agent (bank) they do delay to make overnight profits.

Western Union does have a money wire service that is expensive and may use the term "Moneygram". Since it is a U.S. company, they may convert to dollars and then to baht.

One of our members has alerted me to the debit card method. I haven't tried it yet but apparently if you have a debit card, you just go into the bank and make a debit card (point of sale) transaction and voila the money is in your account the same day or next day. You have some control on the exchange rate as you pick the day for the transfer from your account via the debit card.

I asked Bangkok Bank if I could do it and they assured me they could.

[Jeepz]

Just for your info:

Travelers Express/MoneyGram, the largest processor of money orders in the U.S. (Maybe, I am not so sure about that, but that is their statement at their website)

And as a commercial funds transfer, they are dinging you for every penny they can get. Sometimes you have to read the fine print. You can complain to them about the euro/dollar/baht or pound/dollar/baht shuffle. It probably won't do any good, but down the road someone may do a class action suit and you should keep the record someplace you could find it if necessary.

Jeepz

[Guest IT Manager]

I regualrly have money transferred into my Bank of Asia Accounts. Last month it took 9 days for the money to clear.

Within an hour of my complaining to Bank of Asia, the money was in my account.

Perhaps a lack of transparency and basically unethical banking practices, is part of BoA losing ABN AMRO as a foreign partner?

Remember banks here, for the most part, are run by families with extra money, and are not really overseen by the Bank of Thailand which is also quite noisome in their banking practice.

Maybe it's time to seek something out of the control of the family, to do money transfers.

[thaimee]

anyway, there are a lot more quibbles. i've had many bad experiences but i'm sure you don't want to know. for personal reference the bank that shortchanged [and or money gram] was SCB. good luck i guess.

[SeaVisionBurma]

to my dismay they changed sterling pounds into DOLLAR before finally into the baht currency

Normal. 'moneygram's are not strictly speaking a recognized bank TT system, and they are obliged to convert to USD$ at a clearing bank, before then converting to THB at the receiving end.

I must be lucky - my Australian bank allows me to send AUD$ which arrives in Baht in Thailand directly, within 72 hours - most times my transfers arrive within 48! And all via my internet banking service.

The trick is to have a banking system which allows you to send via the SWIFT system (each bank has a recognized SWIFT code which is a standard for international TTs)

Ask your bank in U.K. about using a TT through the SWIFT system, you will be charged a fee to send, and the receiving party also - but the process is fast and painless and you don't lose on any double exchanges.

Hope this helps... be thankful you're not in Myanmar!!! describing banking transfers here would take several bottles of good Aussie plonk and a new forum....

[KevinN]

mrmnp said,,One of our members has alerted me to the debit card method. I haven't tried it yet but apparently if you have a debit card, you just go into the bank and make a debit card (point of sale) transaction and voila the money is in your account the same day or next day. You have some control on the exchange rate as you pick the day for the transfer from your account via the debit card.

That is correct,I go into SCB and give them my USA bank's VISA ATM/Check Card and my passbook..tell them how much to transfer and it is done that very moment at a cost of 6o baht fee for the transfer,my passbook is stamped and the money is there if I want to go down to the ATM and get some.NO FEE except the transfer of 60 baht.

[mrmnp]

KevinN -Please translate SCB for future reference if I have any trouble with Bkk Bank. Thanks

[SeaVisionBurma]

That'd be SIAM COMMERCIAL BANK

http://www.scb.co.th/

[Basher]

yes SCB, I get my wages sent eveymonth nd it is $12 per TT regular as clock work....

[Pink Mist]

I used to transfer money using westpac bank in Oz to BKK bank in KhonKaen, wespac charged $30 for the service and Bkk bank took about 300 baht their end.

I enquired at Bkk bank and they said it was because Westpac was not linked or something along those lines, there was only one bank and branch according to them and that is the ANZ in Swanston st, Melbourne.

The easiest way we found in the end is to set up another account get another card and send it to LOS and you can use internet banking to transfer funds between accounts.

[KevinN]

It would be so easy to do the deposits if Thailand would get with the rest of the world and use electronic routing numbers and then your deposits could be made very easy.

social security and pension checks could be deposited directly into your Thai account.

[Guest IT Manager]

And how would the Thai Banks manage to gouge you, if they did that.

Money market is quite a big game in banking I believe, KevinN. In a perfect world, it's very fast, and almost painless. I pay a bill in Hong Kong with some regularity. I deposit it at BoA, they give me a transfer number, I email that to the receiver when I get back to my office, and it's there already. Getting it in here, is quite a different deal however.

[dr_Pat_Pong]

I used to transfer money using westpac bank in Oz to BKK bank in KhonKaen, wespac charged $30 for the service and Bkk bank took about 300 baht their end.

I enquired at Bkk bank and they said it was because Westpac was not linked or something along those lines, there was only one bank and branch according to them and that is the ANZ in Swanston st, Melbourne.

The easiest way we found in the end is to set up another account get another card and send it to LOS and you can use internet banking to transfer funds between accounts.

Westpac is or was the correspondent bank in Australia for Bangkok Bank. I get money from NAB to SCB in less than 2 days.

[thaimee]

the other grumble i've with the bank industry is ATM withdrawal. more than a couple of times i was the victim of ATM line communication error. in fact six times. how? using the card in bangkok withdrawing 20,000 baht the message on the screen told me please contact your issuing bank. the long and short of it is i didn't and the money i didn't receive at the Thai end meant monies had been debited from my account in UK. even my mums account. you must be wonderinh how six times. well it's true. this happened with a couple of bank ATM's here and for reference I bank with Barclays. i followed these little snags up by nagging the local banks in thailand for five weeks as the UK is costly and this sort of endeavour is stressing as explaining such short comings could run into the hours and days. anyway one thai bank said they couldn't get the exact ATM evidence to prove to my UK friends, but then they changed they're minds and invited me back to the bank and i spent the whole day in just about every office that should have been restricted and we pin pointed the errors. a two page document was drafted up and shipped to our UK friends for they're viewing pleasure. after receiving this info they said i was to late! really there is much more to this story that acts out a scenario where i don't know who to trust. even using the visa card in front of the bank managers assistant the ATM machine cocked up again and we spent another week trying to sort out that mess! really the bottom line is i'm sucker for leaving my money with banks and so are you for trusting the co-founders who don't benefit man. they defraud us! so remember if ever the ATM tells you to contact the issuing bank go and check quickly as every mistake could be the maximum withdrawal. this post is purely for reference to save face and money. good luck i guess

[Pink Mist]

I used to transfer money using westpac bank in Oz to BKK bank in KhonKaen, wespac charged $30 for the service and Bkk bank took about 300 baht their end.

I enquired at Bkk bank and they said it was because Westpac was not linked or something along those lines, there was only one bank and branch according to them and that is the ANZ in Swanston st, Melbourne.

The easiest way we found in the end is to set up another account get another card and send it to LOS and you can use internet banking to transfer funds between accounts.

Westpac is or was the correspondent bank in Australia for Bangkok Bank. I get money from NAB to SCB in less than 2 days.

Doc we had some money go missing, transferred from westpac king william st to BKK bank Shrichipan rd KK, for about 2 months. After a stint at the bank they finally found it and at the same time I questioned them about the discrepancy in the sent and recieved monies and that was the bank jonnies explanation. He even looked up the bank in Oz and said ANZ swanston st.

I can only go on what he said.

I still think sending a card over is the cheapest alternative as westpac fees are $5 per transaction overseas.

[Boon Mee]

taimee~

After it's all said and done - you've been hoodwinked...