Advise Please- UK Pension & Bangkok Bank

[sunnyjim5]

Why, I wonder, does the OP seem to be the only one with a problem ?

[ignis]

There is a simple way to deal with the matter.

Have your pension paid direct to your bank here in Thailand ,no charge although the receiving bank may charge a movement process fee my bank charges me a fee of 100 b. worth it as I am notified by S.M.S. whenever there is an A/C movement.

No doubt once your connection is established the monies owed will be paid to you.

To be brutally honest, I think that you have created this problem for yourself by the twisting road that you have chosen to take regarding your state pension payments,, the end end result being known as ''A mucking Fuddle..''

In my dealings with the overseas pension payment dept I have found them very helpful both by email and telephone and on the one occasion payments were delayed due to non receipt of mail here, after speaking on the phone and replying to the security questions the money owed was in my account here three days later.

The phone calls from Thailand run at around 18 B a minute if you use the 005 or a similar service offered by A.I.S. and other local telecommunication services, also the overseas pension office office will call you back and update you as to progress.

Politeness always works too..

Love it 'also the overseas pension office office will call you back and update you as to progress' I did get a phone call back in January.. took 3 days before anyone called back..

​I did have 2 missed calls on different days....... I have informed them both on the phone when they say someone will call back + in recorded Air Mail letters NOT to call after 2 pm UK time....... so totally fail to see the point of someone calling in the middle of the night

You wait and wait on the line pre recorded 'all our operators are busy at the moment' please wait, then when you do speak to someone = will look into it and get someone to call you back...... 4 days later must phone again as NO call back.

[ignis]

Why, I wonder, does the OP seem to be the only one with a problem ?

That is why I posted, see if others had a problem, and advise on how they managed to get there state pension..

[sunnyjim5]

Why, I wonder, does the OP seem to be the only one with a problem ?

That is why I posted, see if others had a problem, and advise on how they managed to get there state pension..

They get their pensions paid in Thailand by adhering, strictly, to the very clear instructions provided by the DWP.

[shunter]

Ignis.

You are the catalyst, you seem to be shall I say very critical and somewhat authoritarian, remember that you are dealing with a fellow human being on the other end of that telephone who is probably on a low level salary,Give and take and all is well.My experiences proved to me anyway good manners and politeness works

Advice was and has been given to you, experiences related to you so as to assist you yet you seem unable or unwilling to understand the situation. So why is it I had good service like many other posters and yet you haven't ?,. Is it perhaps that your interpersonal skills could do with a makeover.

Edited March 22, 2016 by shunter

[chiang mai]

Why, I wonder, does the OP seem to be the only one with a problem ?

That is why I posted, see if others had a problem, and advise on how they managed to get there state pension..

They get their pensions paid in Thailand by adhering, strictly, to the very clear instructions provided by the DWP.

And who appointed you the pensions transfer sheriff!

More likely this is part of a recent tightening that goes hand in hand with all the other money laundering regulations the UK has been implementing, will be interesting to see what happens to new pensioners who try to do the same thing from today onwards.

[sunnyjim5]

Why, I wonder, does the OP seem to be the only one with a problem ?

That is why I posted, see if others had a problem, and advise on how they managed to get there state pension..

They get their pensions paid in Thailand by adhering, strictly, to the very clear instructions provided by the DWP.

And who appointed you the pensions transfer sheriff!

More likely this is part of a recent tightening that goes hand in hand with all the other money laundering regulations the UK has been implementing, will be interesting to see what happens to new pensioners who try to do the same thing from today onwards.

"More likely this is part of a recent tightening that goes hand in hand with all the other money laundering regulations the UK has been implementing, will be interesting to see what happens to new pensioners who try to do the same thing from today onwards."

Please list and provide links to these "tightened" regulations !

I do not believe that transferring a meager State Pension amounting to a very few £ will cause any money laundering bells to ring !

Why am I and many others who followed the DWP advice unaffected ?

[chiang mai]

They get their pensions paid in Thailand by adhering, strictly, to the very clear instructions provided by the DWP.

And who appointed you the pensions transfer sheriff!

More likely this is part of a recent tightening that goes hand in hand with all the other money laundering regulations the UK has been implementing, will be interesting to see what happens to new pensioners who try to do the same thing from today onwards.

"More likely this is part of a recent tightening that goes hand in hand with all the other money laundering regulations the UK has been implementing, will be interesting to see what happens to new pensioners who try to do the same thing from today onwards."

Please list and provide links to these "tightened" regulations !

I do not believe that transferring a meager State Pension amounting to a very few £ will cause any money laundering bells to ring !

Why am I and many others who followed the DWP advice unaffected ?

Last first: existing customers probably unaffected at this stage but new ones affected from a cut off date from day one - if correct, expect them to play catch up at some point.

Next: State pension payment itself doesn't cause money laundering bells to ring but expats living overseas and claiming benefits (or residency), of ANY sort does, possibly an alternate answer to the money laundering issue or maybe part of - think, playing join up the dots by gov.

Tightened Regs: HSBC UK and other banks undertook Project Safeguard (ongoing) which required in depth financial interviews to profile the customers source of funds and transfer practices, those involved were/are UK expats with overseas addresses. This, a bi-product of the customer retail review program in 2013 which was tackled by most banks early in the day, HSBC UK, fearing additional fall out from the US government left it until early last year.

http://www.hsbc.co.uk/1/2/contact-and-support/security-centre/hsbcsafeguard

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/856868-hsbc-and-uk-hmrc-hsbc-safeguard/

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/expat-money/11789332/US-threatens-to-close-expats-UK-accounts.html

At around the same time, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in the UK very quietly removed the right of expat Brits living in certain countries overseas from using onshore Independent Financial Advisors (IFA), onshore UK IFA will no longer accept non-resident British expats as customers citing money laundering as the key issue IFA passporting doesn't apply to Thailand.

Thirdly, the right of nonresident expat Brits to open onshore bank accounts was seriously curtailed around the same time, many of the high street banks pushed expats to their Chanel Island branches although in the past twelve months this approach has also failed with CI banks now closing accounts for money laundering reasons.

In summary, as a UK non-resident expat Brit in Thailand you are persona non gratis as far as the onshore financial community is concerned in all but a few areas.

Edited March 22, 2016 by chiang mai

[ignis]

Why, I wonder, does the OP seem to be the only one with a problem ?

That is why I posted, see if others had a problem, and advise on how they managed to get there state pension..

They get their pensions paid in Thailand by adhering, strictly, to the very clear instructions provided by the DWP.

Maybe the very clear instruction provided by DWP, is not clear to everyone ?

Just copied a few moments ago from DWP website

Bank accounts your pension can be paid into

Your State Pension can be paid into:

a bank in the country you’re living in

a bank or building society in the UK + phoned to check in May 2015 if can use London Branch the answer was YES

You can use:

an account in your name Yes is in my Name

a joint account

someone else’s account - if you have their permission and keep to the terms and conditions of the account

You’ll need the international bank account number (IBAN) and bank identification code (BIC) numbers if you have an overseas account.

You’ll be paid in local currency - the amount you get may change due to exchange rates.

When you’ll get paid

You can choose to be paid every 4 or 13 weeks.

As the website from DWP + the Lady at DWP in May 2015 + Bangkok Bank instruction on receiving UK state Pension, to me anyway appears very clear instruction, I provided everything as per instructions. but that was all so say wrong ?

Forget about this London Branch side as they DWP have all the details they asked for from my Bank in Thailand + many many times both on the Phone and in writing + from letter dated 26 January they sent conformation of the Bank Details change.

To be very clear this is what they DWP asked for in January 2016............

The information we require to enable us to pay to your bank is :

• Name of Bank •

• Branch Name •

• Bank Address •

• Acc Name •

• Swift Code •

• Acc No •

Please contact the department by one of the following methods

The Pension Service 11

Mail Handling Site A

Wolverhampton

WV98 1LW

United Kingdom

Telephone: 0044 191 2187777 (Monday - Friday, 8am - 6pm United Kingdom time) WE CANNOT ACCEPT THIS INFORMATION VIA E MAIL

Is there something missing ? over 2 months they have had this information + very clearly asked for, Yes they have send to Bangkok Bank in Thailand 3 payments, so far 2 of these have been returned, the one from the 11th March is not in my account or been returned yet.

I asked for Advise, and I got some from asking, looks like I must change Banks, so will unless some other suggestion phone them DWP again on Friday to see if the last payment has been returned, then go to SCB Bank, Opened this account in May 2009 at Big C branch [order a ATM card never needed one before] and get all the Bank info, so I can again phone DWP next Monday with all this info. + send a recorded Air Mail letter with all these details.

As a P.S. my branch of Bangkok Bank I opened when visiting, before I came here to live, some 110 km round trip = why I never visit.......SCB where I opend the account, is at Big C around 30 km from me.... just to be clear the Banks are not next door

Edited March 22, 2016 by ignis

[chiang mai]

"a bank or building society in the UK + phoned to check in May 2015 if can use London Branch the answer was YES"

BBL does not hold a retail banking license in the UK, it therefore, in the eyes of DWP, is a not a bank.

[shunter]

chiang mai post # 42.

Next: State pension payment itself doesn't cause money laundering bells to ring but expats living overseas and claiming benefits (or residency), of ANY sort does, possibly an alternate answer to the money laundering issue or maybe part of - think, playing join up the dots by gov.

chaing mai post @ 44

BBL does not hold a retail banking license in the UK, it therefore, in the eyes of DWP, is a not a bank.

Now there are a couple of interesting points,it may be that there is some doubt concerning why this course of action is being taken.

Is it to possibly claim extra benefits or to receive the pension upgrade every year (for what it is worth)?

Unfounded comments yes but an eagle eyed employee may have spotted the addresses and the bank(s) concerned let alone the telephone calls etc thus warning bells have been ringing and still are ringing it seems.

Please note this is not a slight on the integrity of Ignis but a comment on what his actions may have contributed to and thus created the situation he now finds himself in..

[ignis]

"a bank or building society in the UK + phoned to check in May 2015 if can use London Branch the answer was YES"

BBL does not hold a retail banking license in the UK, it therefore, in the eyes of DWP, is a not a bank.

Thanks, had no idea..

it was only getting all the Forms ready for Pension day, to send off,........... that I asked in Bangkok Bank here, as one of the items on the DWP form to fill out was a Bank IBAN number, as had no idea what it was I asked, they Bangkok Bank directed me to there website in English and to the part of receiving UK State Pension....

This is the reason I phoned DWP in May 2015 to be 100% sure I could use the London Branch... So had DWP said no even not sure then the mess up of London Branch + 3rd part banking would never have come up.

From Bangkok Bank London.......... re-DWP put wrong account.......... they wrote: xxxxxxxx [detail + numbers have cut out] Hope this helps them understand. Our system need your account number otherwise we cannot process. we have a lot of pensioners in Thailand who use this system and it works, fine.

Regards Customer Service

Bangkok Bank Pcl. 33 St. Mary Axe London EC3A 8BY Tel: +44 (0)207 929 4422 Ext. 2214 Fax: +44 (0)207283 3988 www.bangkokbank.com

Anyway it is long past that stage, as full detail DWP have had since January of all details asked for in Thailand... but still my Pension is not arriving.or is being returned. I ask for Advise, maybe some other person also has/had problems, they DWP have no idea, I have no idea why. the only things that do not match is my 2 middle names, and not used here. notice not even in my Bank book from SCB.

[chiang mai]

Ignis: my best suggestion is that you file a UK police report on the basis of fraud, I THINK you can do that remotely online although am not certain, it would be a starting point for your next steps. Good luck and shout if I can help. In the meantime, take steps to ensure DWP does not make any further payments to you until you can supply new bank account details.

Edited March 22, 2016 by chiang mai

[ignis]

Ignis: my best suggestion is that you file a UK police report on the basis of fraud, I THINK you can do that remotely online although am not certain, it would be a starting point for your next steps. Good luck and shout if I can help. In the meantime, take steps to ensure DWP does not make any further payments to you until you can supply new bank account details.

Many thanks....

Also found this today, maybe the next step ?

Department for Work and Pensions , Pension Complaints Department, PO Box 50101, London. SW1P 2WU. United Kingdom

[chiang mai]

Ignis: my best suggestion is that you file a UK police report on the basis of fraud, I THINK you can do that remotely online although am not certain, it would be a starting point for your next steps. Good luck and shout if I can help. In the meantime, take steps to ensure DWP does not make any further payments to you until you can supply new bank account details.

Many thanks....

Also found this today, maybe the next step ?

Department for Work and Pensions , Pension Complaints Department, PO Box 50101, London. SW1P 2WU. United Kingdom

Definitely, an excellent starting point that will yield results. Please keep us informed as to what happens, if you are able to.

[ignis]

up-date:

been busy getting nowhere or so it would appear...

Drove 110 km into my Branch of Bangkok Bank, spoke with the Manager, No there has been No payment received or returned.. Yes all details are/were correct..

The 3rd missing payment have all been returned.

Then on 23rd March phoned yet again and gave Wolverhampton my SCB account No, Branch, address, Swift code, + phone and Fax numbers.... + also the same day sent this in writing with the SCB Banks Business Card + copy of my Bankbook by Recorded Air Mail.. As always every bit of paper sent has my N.I. number on + my date of birth.

Sent all details of the cock up so far, and asked for help on 24th March, to the Pension Complaints Dept, got a reply by Email that the matter would be looked into and a reply of the outcome would be advised within 14 days......

Received a Email from Newcastle on Thursday this week to say that the normal 4 weekly April payment had been sent Monday + Jan + Feb + March payments had also be re-issued, and sent to Bangkok Bank.................. YES sent to Bangkok Bank yet again !! words fail me.... Payments + re-issued payments have so say been sent now 6 times to Bangkok Bank.. what was the point of me phoning and sending by mail full details of my SCB Bank 3 weeks ago ?

So say the Lady states in the Email, payments sent to Thailand.... 'allow up to 14 days to arrive in your account'

No idea if this is correct ?

Only reference I have is an old UK guy [ know him for many years in his 80's] in the next Village also uses Bangkok Bank, his payment take 4 days for his UK State Pension [he say's]... like me he also uses London Branch for is Private Pension, money is in his account same as me the next day

Will continue to bang my head against the wall. or maybe get lucky next week or year

[ignis]

Up-date

1x state pension 4 weekly payment has arrived to Bangkok Bank [not there yesterday morning]........ wow over 4 months, hope the other 3x 4 weekly payments owed arrive this month and then will continue every month.

So getting the Pension Complaints Department involved = results.

[ignis]

Many thanks to all.......... Need some more advise. or am I calculating wrong ?

So my pension could only be paid via Citibank direct into my Thai bank in Thailand .[bangkok Bank] is now up-to-date... took 21 days to arrive [2 phone calls to the call centre Wolverhampton + 1x letter + 2 emails direct from Newcastle all stating the same day and date], ........

The April 2016 State pension took 12 days !!! from the day they said they sent it and it appearing in my account.

So my UK State Pension = £412,68p every 4 weeks... amount received in updating Passbook April 16,885.05 THB.. is that correct ? [my working out is 3,000 baht short ?]

The Jan + Feb + March which were all sent together as one payment = 50,340.31 THB [my working out is near 9,000 baht short ?]

That is direct from Newcastle via Citibank to Bangkok Bank in Thailand............ I cannot work out what they state 'now at no cost' is the exchange rate so bad in UK ?

Edited May 6, 2016 by ignis

[lopburi3]

Exchange rate in UK would indeed be very bad - you always want UK or US money sent as such and converted to baht in Thailand. For US pensions using ACH transfers that is how it is normally done AFAIK. For my manual transfers I always send USD (and do not have to say that) and money is changed on receipt.

So if you converting UK to Baht in UK you are losing money there (a lot). Then there may be a charge by sending bank for there action as transfer point. Then there will be a charge in Thailand on receipt I suspect (at least with normal accounts there is) of .25% of transfer amount in range 200-500 baht fee. You really need a breakdown - your Thai bank should be able to advise what they received and in what form.

[ignis]

Exchange rate in UK would indeed be very bad - you always want UK or US money sent as such and converted to baht in Thailand. For US pensions using ACH transfers that is how it is normally done AFAIK. For my manual transfers I always send USD (and do not have to say that) and money is changed on receipt.

So if you converting UK to Baht in UK you are losing money there (a lot). Then there may be a charge by sending bank for there action as transfer point. Then there will be a charge in Thailand on receipt I suspect (at least with normal accounts there is) of .25% of transfer amount in range 200-500 baht fee. You really need a breakdown - your Thai bank should be able to advise what they received and in what form.

Appears in UK you have no option, DWP will only send to a Thai Bank in Thailand in your name via Citi Bank Ireland.... So say this changed in November 2015.. and now there is 'No cost' ?

eg: still on both DWP [other payment options] and Bangkok Bank website, State Pension can be paid into the London Branch.[ as stated to me back in May 2015 by DWP].. Bangkok Bank exchange and transfer fees is a total of £ 15 per transaction + in my account next day.. [my private pension is paid this way since August 2015 fuss free

but both the call centre and Newcastle state this option ceased in November 2015.. this has been stated a few time on the phone + in a letter they sent by post + 2 different emails......... still no idea if this is for New claimants only.

[OJAS]

I am soon to sort an ol' guy near me payments into his BKK Bank account, save him all that transfer fee/ATM crap..

Am waiting for him to get back off hols for his details to start, oh, an fix my printer...

If this guy still has a UK account it should be easy-peasy for him to arrange transfers via Bangkok Bank's London branch. No need to involve Citibank or any other expensive intermediaries.

I let my State Pension and other UK-derived income accumulate in my UK account and just make a transfer each month to my Bangkok Bank account via their London branch of the amount which I expect my wife expects to spend during the upcoming month!

[skatewash]

I am soon to sort an ol' guy near me payments into his BKK Bank account, save him all that transfer fee/ATM crap..

Am waiting for him to get back off hols for his details to start, oh, an fix my printer...

If this guy still has a UK account it should be easy-peasy for him to arrange transfers via Bangkok Bank's London branch. No need to involve Citibank or any other expensive intermediaries.

I let my State Pension and other UK-derived income accumulate in my UK account and just make a transfer each month to my Bangkok Bank account via their London branch of the amount which I expect my wife expects to spend during the upcoming month!

But if it were just you state pension in your UK account what does that bank charge you to send it to BKK Bank in LOS...Perhaps your UK BKK bank charges nothing to transfer to BKK bank LOS.

My pal is not going to open a London based BKK bank account cos he lives in LOS.

There's no need to open a Bangkok Bank account in London (indeed, you can't do it, as it's not a regular consumer bank). If you have a Bangkok Bank account in Thailand you can transfer money from a UK bank to Bangkok Bank's London branch and it will be sent to your Bangkok Bank branch in Thailand. How to do this is explained nicely by Bangkok Bank themselves:

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

The reason one may be interested in using this service of Bangkok Bank is that it can be less expensive than the cost of a direct wire transfer from your UK bank to Bangkok Bank in Thailand. It's worth asking what the cost the UK bank would charge to make the transfer to Thailand and compare that with the cost of Bangkok Bank's London branch service. Go with the lesser cost.

Many Americans including myself use Bangkok Bank's New York branch to do a similar thing when transferring money from the US to Thailand. As far as I know this Bangkok Bank service is only available to people with either US or UK banks.

Edited May 8, 2016 by skatewash

[ignis]

UK pension paid into BKK Bank in LOS from the UK gov costs nothing..

Yep also told it cost nothing both by Wolverhampton call centre and Newcastle, so how can my UK State Pension of £412,68p every 4 weeks... amount received in updating Passbook April 16,885.05 THB.. less than 17,000 baht is that correct ? if it cost nothing I would get just over 20,000 baht. [my working out is 3,000+ baht short ?]

As had problems they sent Jan + Feb + March in one lump sum [my working out is over 12,000+ baht short ?] this appear in my Passbook as a single payment of all 3 overdue payments

Edited May 8, 2016 by ignis

[ignis]

UK pension paid into BKK Bank in LOS from the UK gov costs nothing..

Yep also told it cost nothing both by Wolverhampton call centre and Newcastle, so how can my UK State Pension of £412,68p every 4 weeks... amount received in updating Passbook April 16,885.05 THB.. less than 17,000 baht is that correct ? if it cost nothing I would get just over 20,000 baht. [my working out is 3,000+ baht short ?]

As had problems they sent Jan + Feb + March in one lump sum [my working out is over 12,000+ baht short ?] this appear in my Passbook as a single payment of all 3 overdue payments

Dunno, but when l get my pension, the last 3 months, it works out about 50bht to the pound, you figures work out to around 40bht to the pound..Something wrong there.

I get my payment, l hope today or tomorrow, l will let you know what l get to the pound..

Thanks