direct deposit of Boeing pension

[davidozaus]

I filled out a Boeing pension direct deposit form and also applied for direct deposit on-line, to be deposited in my Krung Thai account. Now the Pension center says, "we are unable to deposit to that account, please consider another option." No reason stated, but could it be that the account has an ATM card?(concern about continued withdrawals after death) Surely there are many Boeing retirees using direct deposit here in Thailand. I would appreciate any feedback from Boeing retirees. Thanks.

[Fookhaht]

I can't answer your question, but I can pose a possibility, as I soon face this same scenario from my own company in Seattle. Is it possible that you need a US dollar funds account established first? I was recently told this by bank staff at here in Thailand, that I would first have to open a US-funds account in order for a direct-deposit relationship to be set up from the States. I have yet to confirm/verify this as I was told to go to a larger branch to get further details.

I'll be watching this thread for hopefully more solid info.!

[gk10002000]

Quite a few pension administrators, and other agencies, US Social Security included will not deposit to some foreign countries. The USA banks and organizations are a bit behind many other countries in that regard. Many people have been able to set things up using Bangkok Bank branch in New York and that seems to facilitate transfers to Thailand. Direct deposit into a US bank will certainly work. Wells Fargo, and Charles Schwaub transfer money to Thai bank accounts pretty easily. It all boils down to cost and convenience.

But, you should put on your patience hat, your BEMS ID and try to communicate with the BORG pension people. I used to work with the BORG but don't have any retirement benefits or current knowledge of what institution maintains and administers their Pension plan.

[Pib]

I expect your company use the Automated Clearing House (ACH) system to transfer the pension funds. ACH is the dominant transfer system used by the U.S. govt, banks, companies, etc., to transfer funds....it was established by the Federal Reserve. To use the ACH an ABA Routing Transit Number and account number is needed. You know, like the routing number and account number on the bottom of your personal checks.

Only one Thai bank has ACH receiving capability and that's Bangkok Bank due to their Bangkok Bank New York Branch since the NY branch has an ABA routing number.

You'll need to use pricey SWIFT system for all other Thai banks which probably mean you would have to have your company first transfer the funds to your U.S. bank account (which they use ACH to do) and then you transfer the funds to your Thai bank. You can not use the Bangkok Bank NY branch routing number in conjunction with another Thai bank account...it would just reject from Bangkok Bank.

You can use the ACH system to transfer funds (like a pension) by using the NY branch routing number (you do not need a bank account with the NY branch...in fact, it don't take retail customers...only commercial customers) and your in-Thailand Bangkok Bank savings account number. See below Bangkok Bank webpage and snapshot. Please note there are fees that will be sliced off by Bangkok Bank during the transfer, they are sliced off before posting to your account, and these fee "will not" appear anywhere like on your Bangkok Bank passbook. This fools some folks in thinking no fee were applied but they were indeed applied/sliced off the amount coming in. You will have the typical "in-Thailand" Thai bank international receipt/conversion of funds fee of 0.25% (Bt200 min, Bt500 max) and a NY branch fee usually of $5 or $10 depending on the amount being transferred...generally $5 up to $2,000, $10 over $2,000...see the website for the fees but I expect the $5 or $10 is what 99% of the folks experience.

Many U.S. citizens living in Thailand use below method to have their social security pension, military/civil service retirement pensions, company pensions, etc., direct deposited to their Bangkok Bank savings account. See below link for full details and please note the restrictions that come with a Bangkok Bank Direct Deposit account such as you must show up in person to withdraw/transfer funds, no ATM access, etc....it's different from a regular savings account in some respects to supposedly help reduce pension fraud.

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

[Fookhaht]

Thanks Pib! Right on the money!

[Pib]

I would like to add that since the OP is having pension payment sent from a "private organization" they may not have to setup a Bangkok Bank "Direct Deposit" account which has certain restrictions; they many be able to just use a regular Bangkok Bank savings accounts that comes with no restrictions. In the Bangkok Bangkok Bank weblink I gave above be sure to look at the wording difference between a U.S. Govt Pension and a Private Organization Pension. When transfers occur like with U.S. Govt Pension they include coding that decribes what they are, who they are coming from, etc....like U.S. Govt Pension usually have U.S. Treasury somewhere in the description.

From my personal experience I do know about 6 years ago when I had my U.S. military retirement pension coming to my regular Bangkok Bank account, after about 3 months of that occurring no problem, one month the deposit didn't show up the first few days of the month. I decided to give it a little time but that same week I got a Bangkok Bank letter saying if I wanted to continue to receive the U.S. govt pension I needed to come in a open a Direct Deposit account which I did. Bangkok Bank released that one month of held-up pension payment to the new account same day, I called my military pension agency (DFAS) that night and gave them the new account number, and the pension continued to flow no problem. But I cancelled that flow after a few more months because I arranged other ways to obtain money from the U.S. like using a couple of no foreign transaction fee debit cards that reimburse ATM fees. I still have the Direct Deposit account just in case I might want to start using it again in the future.

I can't say for sure if a "Private Pension" would need the special Direct Deposit account...personally, I would just open a "regular" Bangkok Bank savings account and if by chance Bangkok Bank don't like that at some point you go in like I did and open the special Direct Deposit account.

And you "do not" have to have Bangkok Bank do all of that special forms mailing to your pension agency...I expect you can just feed that info to your pension agency via a phone call, online, etc, ...I expect Bangkok Bank only does the mailing for "some customers" who don't know exactly who to contact at their pension agency. When I setup my Direct Deposit account I told them "not" to mail the copies (keep for their files only) as I would call in the info that night which I did....whether they still mailed in the forms I couldn't say...if they did when DFAS got the paperwork DFAS would have seen it was already setup and the File 13'ed the mailed forms as a duplicate input.

And one last suggestion, if you still have a U.S. bank account which also offers free/low cost ACH transfer via your ibanking, a person might just want to have the pension flow there first and then periodically transfer funds to your Bangkok Bank account using the NY branch ACH routing number and your Bangkok Bank account. Do adhoc, when needed transfers or setup an automatic monthly transfer. Those two Bangkok Bank fees will still apply as in a direct deposit...but if a person say only did a transfer every few months or so they would experience some fee savings based on how the fee schedule is setup.

[TheAppletons]

Conversely, the OP could simply have his pension deposited in a U.S. bank account then use the Bangkok Bank NY routing number to transfer the money into his local Bangkok Bank account. Many of us do something similar for the same low fee structure.

[Fookhaht]

Conversely, the OP could simply have his pension deposited in a U.S. bank account then use the Bangkok Bank NY routing number to transfer the money into his local Bangkok Bank account. Many of us do something similar for the same low fee structure.

Can you do this transfer online at minimum cost?

Or do you contact your US bank directly (email/phone call)?

Is the fee charged by your US bank only?

As mentioned in Pib's post, do you give them first the NYC Bangkok Bank routing number, and then your local Bangkok Bank account number?

[skatewash]

Conversely, the OP could simply have his pension deposited in a U.S. bank account then use the Bangkok Bank NY routing number to transfer the money into his local Bangkok Bank account. Many of us do something similar for the same low fee structure.

Can you do this transfer online at minimum cost?

Or do you contact your US bank directly (email/phone call)?

Is the fee charged by your US bank only?

As mentioned in Pib's post, do you give them first the NYC Bangkok Bank routing number, and then your local Bangkok Bank account number?

It depends on your financial institution in the US. For example, for Vanguard it's free and can be done completely online. Some banks may want to charge a fee for the ACH transfer to NYC Bangkok Bank, some won't. There's usually a one-time setup process involved. I believe that is explained at the Bangkok Bank website quite well. The directions are remarkably well-written in English for a Thai bank, actually they are written as well as any directions I've see on an American bank.

You ACH transfer your money to the NYC Bangkok Bank routing number. It transfers there and is actually sent by SWIFT to Thailand where it is converted into Baht and deposited in your local Bangkok Bank account (the SWIFT transfer is automatic, you don't have to do anything. You pay for it in the fees paid to BBK, the $5 or $10 you are charged for the transfer). You can set up receiving a SMS on your Thai cell phone when the money reaches your local account in Thailand. The SMS tells you the exchange rate and the BBK fee for converting the money from $ to Baht and receiving it into the local account. You can figure out the BBK fee for yourself, but the exchange rate is nice to know. The SMS is also very useful for doing the one-time setup process since it lets you know what $ have been sent (which is information you do need to know so you can confirm that the setup is successful). It takes about 2-3 business days from when you initiate the ACH transfer to NYC BBK bank to when it is received into your local BBK bank account in Thailand.

I like that it can be done completely online (no phone calls necessary), it's reasonably fast, and the fees are minimal. And being notified by SMS that it is safely in your local BKK bank account is a bonus.

[Fookhaht]

Thanks Skatewash! Great help!

[gk10002000]

Thanks Skatewash! Great help!

Skatewash is the man. I have found his responses and knowledge spot on as the Brits would say. The next time I am in Thailand, beers are on me! More good than bad, but this damn contract I am on just keeps getting extended! I thought I was done on Feb 28 and I had just about bought my ticket when they put me on another project and seem to want to give me money through at least August. And the buggers actually expect me to work too! What's up with that? I was working on the X-47B project. Check the news. You should see the latest automated aerial refueling test that was completed.

[davidozaus]

Thanks to all for offering the good advice and help. I'll give my account at Bangkok Bank a try - sounds like the best way. I did think of using my US bank, but MorganStanley denies online transfers outside of the USA, forcing one to go through their broker. A last resort, I guess.

[TheAppletons]

Thanks to all for offering the good advice and help. I'll give my account at Bangkok Bank a try - sounds like the best way. I did think of using my US bank, but MorganStanley denies online transfers outside of the USA, forcing one to go through their broker. A last resort, I guess.

Except you aren't transferring outside of the USA....you'd be transferring to the New York branch of BKK bank. BKK bank then transfers it from their NY branch out of the U.S. to your local account.

[Pib]

Thanks to all for offering the good advice and help. I'll give my account at Bangkok Bank a try - sounds like the best way. I did think of using my US bank, but MorganStanley denies online transfers outside of the USA, forcing one to go through their broker. A last resort, I guess.

When transferring the funds and "if" asked the address of your bank also, use the New York branch address vs the address of your in-Thailand branch. Some of the older ibanking transfer systems asked you to enter the address also, but now the newer systems look up the address automatically after you enter the routing number and display the bank name and/or address for you as an additional confirmation you didn't make a typo in entering the routing number....all depends on the bank system as to how they do it.

As already mentioned this is treated as a domestic transfer....so be sure to do everything/make all entries as a domestic transfer; not an international transfer. Bangkok Bank has had this ACH receiving capability as long as I can remember....probably been tens of thousands (or much more) of transfers to Thailand via the Bangkok Bank NY branch. All perfectly legal. Based on ThaiVisa posts quite a few folks have their monthly pension social security/military retirement/civil service retirement payments sent that way...I also did for a few months. And over the years I've done it quite a few adhoc/manual transfers and have a funds transfer link setup to my Bangkok Bank account(s) in each one of my U.S. bank ibanking systems. It simply works...and at a much lower cost than the typical SWIFT transfer which averages around $35 just on the Sending bank end.

[JimGant]

I can't say for sure if a "Private Pension" would need the special Direct Deposit account.

No, that's just for US Gov't payments. No "in person only withdrawals" nor "no ATM card" associated with private direct deposits, since there's no special Direct Deposit account involved.