Thais giving out bank account numbers

[Fookhaht]

Bank transfers to pay bills (with bank account info on the bill as to where to send money) very common in the world, such as Thailand, but in the U.S. the check system become dominant.

With a bank transfer to pay a bill/make a payment the sender needs have the actual funds to complete the transfer...no bouncing check(i.e., insufficient funds) days or weeks later to worry about.

Having a person's Thai bank account number doesn't allow anyone to pull money from your account; only send money to it.

I don't know what "U.S." you are talking about but I write a grand total of about 2 checks a year in the United States of America and have been doing that for at least 10 years. One of those checks is to pay my federal income tax as the United States Government lacks the technology to get paid electronically. They can bomb a hospital in Syria from a basement in Virginia though so I guess they will get up to speed eventually.

Really, I pay my annual US tax bill in March and 4 estimated payments quarterly using EFTS from my US bank account

See EFTPS.gov

So do I: tax bill + 4 quarterly payments by electronic transfer (EFTPS).

You can also pay by credit card, if you so choose.

It's actually The Poster who needs to catch up with the technology.

Edited April 23, 2016 by Fookhaht

[Fookhaht]

Whilst the OP doesn't say his wife is Thai, I'll reply on the assumption she is, I can't understand why she hasn't used Western Union (WU)to send/receive monies. I'd never heard of WU before I arrived in LOS many years ago, but noticed it was in general use by some of the Thais I knew. I've sent money to family in Europe and the procedure is very quick and efficient.

Quick, efficient.....and EXPENSIVE.

[Pib]

Bank transfers to pay bills (with bank account info on the bill as to where to send money) very common in the world, such as Thailand, but in the U.S. the check system become dominant.

With a bank transfer to pay a bill/make a payment the sender needs have the actual funds to complete the transfer...no bouncing check(i.e., insufficient funds) days or weeks later to worry about.

Having a person's Thai bank account number doesn't allow anyone to pull money from your account; only send money to it.

I don't know what "U.S." you are talking about but I write a grand total of about 2 checks a year in the United States of America and have been doing that for at least 10 years. One of those checks is to pay my federal income tax as the United States Government lacks the technology to get paid electronically. They can bomb a hospital in Syria from a basement in Virginia though so I guess they will get up to speed eventually.

Please note I was talking pulling of funds from a "Thailand" bank account just because someone knows your bank account number.

[arunsakda]

Thousands of businesses in Thailand post account numbers online in this country. The banking system here looks like it developed from the Japanese model, where ATM transfers are common and personal cheques are not. ATMS have been upgraded but In fact the Passbooks and Passbook update and deposit machines, are EXACTLY the same ones we had in Japan in the early 1990s, I think some of the old machines were imported from Japan to Thailand for local use.

Yes scams involved with "ginkgou furikomi" exist but if you don't send money to somebody/business you don't know one will be fine. That is why the Name of the Account appears when the account number is inputted. I wish in the US one could pay for an air ticket, utilities, concert ticket, etc. you name it at any ATM or convenience store where if one does not travel internationally there is no need for credit cards or online banking really.

As for the USA if anyone is victimized by Check/ACH fraud all losses will be refunded if they report within a certain time frame I think 60 days. The US financial sector has been making huge profits despite fraud and thus have been slow to implement technology upgrades such as chipped credit cards requiring PIN numbers, and intention is to leapfrog to mobile banking with near field chip equipped tech which is supposedly even more secure. Google "Apple Pay". Change will come in stages, not everyone has a smart phone.

Personal cheques are becoming less common and but still convenient in some circumstances. Bank cheques "cashiers check" are still quite common but there are scams with them also. If one sells a cars directly to an individual for example you don't take a personal cheque or expect some random person to show up in a parking lot to count out $14,500. One can go their their bank together with and get a check backed up by the bank. One may also call the bank directly to confirm the validity of a Cashiers' Check before accepting funds.

As for the IRS not accepting electronic payments that is rubbish.

Edited April 24, 2016 by arunsakda