What exchange rate should I get for money transfer?

[giddyup]

When I transfer money (Aussie dollars) from my Aussie account to my SCB account in Thailand I never seem to get the current exchange rate. For example if the XE currency converter or the Thai Visa exchange rates are showing 25.5 baht to the $A, I'll get something around the 24.5 baht to the A$ mark, around 1 baht less. If I transfer $10,000 as I usually do, this equates to a loss of 10,000 baht or A$400, which is not to be sneezed at. Am I being cheated by the bank?

[dabhand]

This has the SCB exchange rates and should be an indication of the rate you are likely to get, after adjusting for the bank charge on receipt of the transfer.

http://www.scb.co.th/scb_api/index.jsp

Look for the Bank Buying TT rate.

[meatboy]

you get the TT rate at the time it hits scb.bkk less 500bht.bank charges.

that is if you pay for the transfer your end and send in your currency so its converted thai end,

[giddyup]

Thanks guys.

[Pib]

You get the Thai bank TT Buying Rate minus the receiving fee (using in the Bt200 to Bt500 ballpark) "if" foreign funds arrived such as your AUD. But based on your post you are getting around 4% less than the forex/XE.com rate.

Now, the forex rate shown at sites like XE.com is the wholesale rate for BIG transfers/trading of currency...like in the millions. Banks like SCB get this rate but then for them to make a profit they then apply a spread of usually around 0.25 to 1% depending on the currency....it looks like it's around 1% for AUD since it's not a major world reserve currency. So, 1% of 25.5 is 0.255 which knocks the rate SCB is going to provide to around 25.245...from looking at the SCB website a few minutes ago it shows a TT Buying Rate of 25.168 which is really yesterday's rate....so my 1% math works out pretty close.

But that is still far short of the 24.5 you are getting. My guess is although you "think" you are sending AUD your Oz bank is converting before sending and banks outside of Thailand will give a much lower exchange rate...usually around 3 to 4% lower which gets real close to your 24.5. Me thinks your Oz bank is converting before sending giving you a crappy rate (hundreds of posts on ThaiVisa saying never let your home country sending bank convert to baht for you...they love to because of the healthy indirect fee they make from a lower exchange rate...send in your foreign currency), the funds arrive SCB where there is no conversion to occur and they only apply their receiving fee.

Or maybe you are sending relatively small amounts, your are sending AUD, but they go through a correspondent bank first where another fee is sliced off and maybe even the currency conversion done there resulting in a crappy rate, and then the funds arrived SCB where they apply their fee....a couple of fees can really reduce the effective exchange rate on small amounts.

[seajae]

also there is the cost of the middle man, transfers from my bank are charged to my account then the money is also charged for again by the ones that do the actual transfer, I know it stinks but thats just the price we have to pay. My exchange rates though are always pretty good and are what is shown at the time of transfer

[fish fingers]

If you send large amounts you shd keep it in the currency of origin and negotiate with the bank intermediary. This way you'll get close to the currency rate that day. For example if its 53.5 to sterling you will get around 53.2

[meatboy]

If you send large amounts you shd keep it in the currency of origin and negotiate with the bank intermediary. This way you'll get close to the currency rate that day. For example if its 53.5 to sterling you will get around 53.2

should it be 53.5 sterling large amounts 53.67-53.71 thats what i got on 50k.and 100k.better than the TT.rate.

[mikebell]

Use Transferwise - they give a good rate. They've just started up (again) in Thailand.

[Expattaff1308]

I use Transferwise to transfer GBP takes between 3-5 business days but the rate is better than the TT Buying Rate used by the Thai Banks. Transferwise use the mid market rate and once its converted the rate is locked in...heres a link, check it out..( I did my pension transfer on fri and got 54.8 whereas the TT rate was 54.3)

All done! The money should arrive by Aug 5

The rate was 1 GBP = 54.8070 THB, and the fee charged was £0.00.

Use this link and you can send your first transfer (upto 3000 GBP) for Free https://transferwise.com/u/322106

Edited August 2, 2015 by Expattaff1308