SWIFT transfers

[adv008]

Hi.

Hope someone can give me some advice. For the last couple of years I have been sending SWIFT transfers to an account in my name with Bangkok bank in Chiang Rai. This is from a UK Bank account. I have never had any problems just pay the twenty pounds fee to the bank and loose a little the other end. I did my last transfer in March 2015.

Today I got a letter from my bank telling me that the receiving bank has placed an additional 35 Pound fee that will be deducted from my account. They dont have to give a reason for this. My question is There is a branch of Bangkok bank in London, could I somehow use the London branch to get mt money to Thailand without all these costs. My bank tell me that a charge can be made up to 6 months after the transfer and once I have signed the form there is nothing I can do.

Any advice about Bangkok bank in London would be great thanks.

[Rooo]

Moved to Banking.

[The Fat Controller]

Check your SWIFT form, most likely you ticked the wrong box asking which bank should pay any additional fees !

I did exactly the same once when I was in a rush doing a form online with Nationwide, the charge letter came a month or so later.

Thai banks do not charge-back like this unless you have asked for their fees to be claimed from the sending bank !

[Crossy]

Yes, there is a Bangkok Bank in London, you can transfer to your Thai account via the London branch.

Instructions here http://www.bangkokbank.com/BangkokBank/PersonalBanking/DailyBanking/TransferingFunds/TransferringIntoThailand/ReceivingFundsfromUK/Pages/ReceivingFundsfromUK.aspx

[Pib]

Bangkok Bank's receiving fee is 0.25% (Bt200 min, Bt500 max)....been that way for many years....still is.

What may be happening is your Sending bank is saying a "correspondent/intermediary" bank (i.e, a middle man bank) they must use to get money to Thailand has increased their fee or they have switched to a new middle man bank which happens to charge a fee. To your Sending bank their middle man bank could probably be classified as a receiving bank although it's really a pass-thru bank on the way to the receiving bank.

Or like The Fat Controller said you ticked the wrong box which basically saying "you" want all the fees paid by the Sender (i..e, you) and that fee is flowing back to your account from Bangkok Bank for payment...and when Bangkok Bank must initiate this charge back fee its higher than their standard receiving fee mentioned above.

[meatboy]

if you did tick the wrong box saying you will pay the additional charges [ukbank] i was charged 12bgp.

[wooloomooloo]

There's so many options now to send money abroad and avoid hefty fees.

First port of call is an f/x account. Take a look at what's out there and weigh it all up.

A few hours scouring the net for your best options always pays dividends. Even then, don't settle on one option longterm as they'll be something along that's more competitive in the near future.

[billbenbob]

At present I use HSBC they charge £4 for a transfer to my Bangkok bank I transfer £1100 a month Bangkok bank charge me 200bhat a total of £8 can't be bad anybody know a cheaper method by internet I would like to know.

[meatboy]

At present I use HSBC they charge £4 for a transfer to my Bangkok bank I transfer £1100 a month Bangkok bank charge me 200bhat a total of £8 can't be bad anybody know a cheaper method by internet I would like to know.

never mind how much it costs,at the end of the day its the rate of exchange you get.

[billbenbob]

Pardon never mind what it costs what you talking about ,you get the exchange rate at the BBank on the day you do the transaction silly boy.The thread is about swift transfer is it not?

[meatboy]

Pardon never mind what it costs what you talking about ,you get the exchange rate at the BBank on the day you do the transaction silly boy.The thread is about swift transfer is it not?

so your saying that you transfer every month and the total cost is 8 QUID and you get the T.T.RATE.

as i have been transfering to thailand for over 30yrs.meatboy you should know that, YOU SILLY BOY.

[billbenbob]

Yes the first sentence is what I'm saying ok.

[billbenbob]

I am only29

[seajae]

I transfer from Australia each month to Bangkok Bank, my aussie bank charges me $30 there is also a middleman fee that varies depending on the amount transferred plus the BB fee which is bugger all, the last 2 come out of the final amount. Last month I actually had a transfer fee credited to my aussie account from the middle man, go figure and I always transfer in aussie dollars as Bangkok Banks rates are far better exchange rate than the aussie bank

Edited May 2, 2015 by seajae

[keeniau96]

I do USA domestic bank transfer to Bangkok Bank in New York which immediately transfers the funds to my account at the Bangkok Bank here. Total cost is far less than other means I have tried (Swift many times) and the transfer time is about 2-3 days. Think you should be able to do same in the UK.

[Dmaxdan]

OP, I have just had the same problem. I bank with Siam Commercial (SCB), and have been doing SWIFT transfers from my UK bank every six months for about five years. I did a transfer in February, and since then SCB have taken two charges from my UK account, amounting to about £30. I have spoken to both banks,and all I get is 'this is normal'. I am beginning to think that I did tick the wrong box......its the only explanation I can come up with

[topt]

OP, I have just had the same problem. I bank with Siam Commercial (SCB), and have been doing SWIFT transfers from my UK bank every six months for about five years. I did a transfer in February, and since then SCB have taken two charges from my UK account, amounting to about £30. I have spoken to both banks,and all I get is 'this is normal'. I am beginning to think that I did tick the wrong box......its the only explanation I can come up with

Which UK bank is that?

As Pib mentions this could also be an intermediary bank charge which is often very difficult to discover unless you get the sending bank to send you the routing details.

[meatboy]

i use my banks express service[roy world transfer] this service takes 1hr.from the time you do it online to the time it reaches head office scb.bank as i found this out the other week.for some reason they held it for over 30hrs.my guess there was an interest cut that day.see scb.bank customer service.

cost for the same day transfer 30gbp.plus scb's.charge which they never tell you.

[billbenbob]

Meatboy As you told me it does not matter how much it costs at the end of the day it's the rate of exchange you get your words squire.My question was I transfer £1100 a month by HSBC to Bangkok bank at a total cost of £8 and I asked if anybody does it cheaper then that on the Internet as I am a real cheap Charlie when it comes to banks .I do this transaction on a Monday morning at say 8am and I get a text from Bangkok bank one hour latter money in the account.No I have not been doing this for thirty years I am only 29.

[Pib]

Does the SMS reflect the exchange rate?

[billbenbob]

No the SMS does not reflect the exchange rate

[meatboy]

Meatboy As you told me it does not matter how much it costs at the end of the day it's the rate of exchange you get your words squire.My question was I transfer £1100 a month by HSBC to Bangkok bank at a total cost of £8 and I asked if anybody does it cheaper then that on the Internet as I am a real cheap Charlie when it comes to banks .I do this transaction on a Monday morning at say 8am and I get a text from Bangkok bank one hour latter money in the account.No I have not been doing this for thirty years I am only 29.

i think you are missunderstanding me as i asked what rate do you get when you are informed it is in your acc.IS IT T.T.RATE.?

8quide in total is the best that i can remember expecially now that hsbc.no longer operate in thailand.

so the uk.bank must be trans.to london branch of bkkb.and they to thailand.

it is chirpy,chirpy cheap cheap.

[Pib]

No the SMS does not reflect the exchange rate

Which means the exchange happened somewhere upstream of Bangkok Bank. If the home country sending bank did not have to use a correspondent bank in Thailand then the home country Sending bank accomplished the exchange at an exchange rate which no doubt will be lower than the Thai bank TT Buying Rate. Basically, never let the Sending bank convert to baht because you'll get a lower rate outside of Thailand, several percent lower usually. Many times a bank will offer a lower direct sending fee if choosing this option...they more than make up that lower fee by the profit/indirect fee in the lower exchange rate.

However, if the Sending bank is using a correspondent bank in Thailand...like first sending it to say Citibank Thailand just for example, Citibank accomplishes the exchange and then does a domestic transfer of the baht over to Bangkok Bank. If that occurred, hopefully that correspondent bank in Thailand provided their TT Buying Rate which will be very similar to all other Thai bank TT Buying Rates. Once again, no exchange rate given in the Bangkok Bank SMS if this occurred.

When I use to do regular wire transfers to Bangkok Bank up until about 4 years ago I had the SMS setup also. When the funds arrived the SMS identified the amount of foreign funds rec'd, the exchange rate, amount of baht posting to my account, and date. It may have also included the receiving fee of 0.25% (Bt200 min, Bt500 max) which applies to incoming international transfers. But I guess there is a possibility Bangkok Bank SMS no longer includes the exchange rate given when they accomplished the conversion. STOP...STOP...I just went to the Bangkok Bank webpage that gives details on the their SMS Remittance alert and it still includes all the things I mentioned...see below.

[DocTom]

I can confirm part of what BillBenBob says about transfers from HSBC UK.

I have made transfers every month for years using HSBC Internet banking. In my case the transfer is to Kasikorn Bank where I have my account.

The HSBC charge is 4 GBP and that is levied when I choose the option that the sender (me) pays all the fees for the complete transfer.

I choose to send the funds in GBP, and they are converted to Thai Baht somewhere along the route at Telex Transfer exchange rate.

I am not knowledgeable about intermediary banks. I have always assumed that the route is HSBC UK --> HSBC Thailand --> Kasikorn, but this may be incorrect.

At Kasikorn there are no charges, or at least there have been none so far (more than 5 years.)

I have become a bit annoyed with Kasikorn recently (for other reasons), so I was searching this forum for opinions on other banks. In view of the charges levied by Bangkok Bank and others, I think that maybe I will remain with Kasikorn!

I hope that this is of interest, even though the thread is months old.

DocTom.

[meatboy]

I can confirm part of what BillBenBob says about transfers from HSBC UK.

I have made transfers every month for years using HSBC Internet banking. In my case the transfer is to Kasikorn Bank where I have my account.

The HSBC charge is 4 GBP and that is levied when I choose the option that the sender (me) pays all the fees for the complete transfer.

I choose to send the funds in GBP, and they are converted to Thai Baht somewhere along the route at Telex Transfer exchange rate.

I am not knowledgeable about intermediary banks. I have always assumed that the route is HSBC UK --> HSBC Thailand --> Kasikorn, but this may be incorrect.

At Kasikorn there are no charges, or at least there have been none so far (more than 5 years.)

I have become a bit annoyed with Kasikorn recently (for other reasons), so I was searching this forum for opinions on other banks. In view of the charges levied by Bangkok Bank and others, I think that maybe I will remain with Kasikorn!

I hope that this is of interest, even though the thread is months old.

DocTom.

never mind how much you transfer your thai bank never reveal their charge,which by right should be shown on your pass book,its your money they are taking.

[lopburi3]

Thai bank change for SWIFT is the same .25% in range 200-500 baht as for ACH transfers as would be clearly shown if you take advantage of SMS service for foreign transfers (unless option to pay at destination is taken when you make the SWIFT transfer request - in that case have no idea how it would be reported). That would also show the amount in foreign currency received and the exact exchange rate used.

[DocTom]

Well Meatboy, it appears that your knowledge has no bounds - even to the extent of asserting that charges are being made to my bank account when I can see that no such deductions are being made!

[Pib]

Keep in mind that fees for incoming international transfers, such as the typical 0.25% (Bt200 min, Bt500 max), are deducted "before the funds are posted to you account." You will not see the fee on your Thai bank passbook/ibanking which can fool a person into thinking no Thai bank incoming fee was applied.