Bangkok Bank transfers...a cautionary tale

[Seligne2]

On Wednesday 15 June 2016, I logged onto Bangkok Bank's iBanking website.

My goal was to transfer 3k baht to a mate in Phuket. He does not have a Thai bank account, so I was to forward to his pal's SCB account.

I had to create a new recipient for this transfer, entering the bank, the account owners name, and account number. I did so. Within ten seconds I received an SMS from Bangkok Bank with a code to enter to verify the transaction. I did so. Transferee account created.

I then transferred 3k baht to the account I had just created. Again, I received a code via BB SMS, entered it, and received confirmation that the funds had been transferred.

Next day my friend contacted me: no new funds from me had been deposited in SCB. I checked on BB iBanking. Sure enough, there was no sign of funds transferred.

I went to the BB branch in Ao Nang at the next opportunity. I showed them my account book for the "from" account. I showed them the SMS messages I had received from BB confirming that I had added the "to" account successfully and that 3k baht had been transferred to that account.

I was sure that they would be keenly interesting in taking down all this information to find out what had happened. No way. They told me that this sometime happened. I kept asking why it happened. They had not answers. They took down no information. They treated the incident as if BB iBanking were a totally unrelated company, one in which they had no interest whatsoever.

Be careful: When making an electronic bank transfer, double check to see that the funds are truly sent as indicated by the comfirmation SMSs.

Edited June 22, 2016 by Seligne2

[speedtripler]

check your balance and see if its missing 3k ..........

[Seligne2]

check your balance and see if its missing 3k ..........

As I said, no signs of a transfer. As I did not make clear, no signs of 3k baht debited either.

Edited June 22, 2016 by Seligne2

[camble]

They have options to perform the transfer with a 1 or 2 day delay, are you sure you selected immediate?

[kingalfred]

I can assure you that Bangkok bank branches have absolutely no interest in Ibanking or mbanking transactions . Different dept and will ignore you!

Edited June 22, 2016 by kingalfred

[kingalfred]

check your balance and see if its missing 3k ..........

As I said, no signs of a transfer. As I did not make clear, no signs of 3k baht debited either.

if you had the OTP code and confirmation it may well suddenly happen at some future time

[Seligne2]

They have options to perform the transfer with a 1 or 2 day delay, are you sure you selected immediate?

With Bualuang iBanking (Bangkok Bank) the default timing for transfers is same day. To send a day, week, month, etc., later requires extra effort. In the past my scores of transfers have all gone same day.

[Seligne2]

check your balance and see if its missing 3k ..........

As I said, no signs of a transfer. As I did not make clear, no signs of 3k baht debited either.

if you had the OTP code and confirmation it may well suddenly happen at some future time

Today is 22 June, one week after the initial transfer. There is no sign of 3k baht moving anywhere. The transfer is in limbo?

[stevenl]

check your balance and see if its missing 3k ..........

As I said, no signs of a transfer. As I did not make clear, no signs of 3k baht debited either.

Besides the SMS you also get straight away a confirmation of transfer on screen. Did you get that?

[B1TcoinLife]

If I make a transfer it normally works first time but there were some glitches last week

My friend tried to send me 100k 3 times in the morning, and I eventually recieved it once a few hrs later despite neither of us getting any sms like it usually happens

[Seligne2]

check your balance and see if its missing 3k ..........

As I said, no signs of a transfer. As I did not make clear, no signs of 3k baht debited either.

Besides the SMS you also get straight away a confirmation of transfer on screen. Did you get that?

Yes, all went according to the process I use to make all my transfers. I make maybe 10 transfers a month and never had a problem. There was one thing different about this transaction: I did not enter a phone number of the person with the receiving account so that they would receive a confirmation SMS. Perhaps this caused a glitch.

I made this transfer at about 15:00, so BB's "dead time" 23:00-06:00 was not a factor.

My account shows no pending transfers.

My account shows no completed transfers after 2 June.

My account shows zero activity on 15 June, the day of the transfer.

[Kerryd]

Check the receiving account's details. If you entered something incorrectly it may have let you create the recipient in the system, but when it tried to send the transfer couldn't find the account (i.e. maybe a number entered was 009009 that was supposed to be 090009 or something like that).

You had 2 OTOP messages sent to you, is it possible that perhaps you entered the wrong OTOP when doing the transfer confirmation and the system just cancelled the transfer, which would explain why there is no pending transaction and no balance change ? (I had that happen once as I had also created a new account and then did a transfer. When the 2nd OTOP message arrived I looked at my phone but didn't realize that it was still displaying the first OTOP message until I double checked and noticed I was entering the wrong number.)

Lastly - have you checked the messages on the iBanking page to see if there was a notification of a failed transaction ? (I'm not sure if they send one or not and I don't want to deliberately fail a transfer just to see !) If all else fails, try the transaction again.

[Seligne2]

Check the receiving account's details. If you entered something incorrectly it may have let you create the recipient in the system, but when it tried to send the transfer couldn't find the account (i.e. maybe a number entered was 009009 that was supposed to be 090009 or something like that).

You had 2 OTOP messages sent to you, is it possible that perhaps you entered the wrong OTOP when doing the transfer confirmation and the system just cancelled the transfer, which would explain why there is no pending transaction and no balance change ? (I had that happen once as I had also created a new account and then did a transfer. When the 2nd OTOP message arrived I looked at my phone but didn't realize that it was still displaying the first OTOP message until I double checked and noticed I was entering the wrong number.)

Lastly - have you checked the messages on the iBanking page to see if there was a notification of a failed transaction ? (I'm not sure if they send one or not and I don't want to deliberately fail a transfer just to see !) If all else fails, try the transaction again.

Thank you for the thoughtful reply!

The second BB SMS I received after sending the funds

said, "iBanking transfer to [account number] [account name] OIUSU OTP [OTP code] at 15:44". I interpret this as confirmation of the transfer.

Good idea to check incoming bank emails. I checked at your suggestion, but found nothing related to this transaction.

[scorecard]

I have used K Bank Cyber banking many times to do small transfers with no glitches whatever, including a transfer when I was in Vietnam.

One thing I did learn what that in some cases after getting the OTP message you have to start the whole process again then insert the OTP. (That's K bank, I don't know about BBL.)

On the other hand the OP seems to be very familiar with the BBL internet banking processes.

I wonder if the OP phoned the BBL HO on this.

[wwest5829]

I have used this feature. The only thing that comes to mind is, I believe, I remember reading that there is a delay for transferring to a newly established transfer. The idea is to protect against hackers transferring our funds out before time for confirmation.

[SamuiRes]

I have used Bangkok Bank Bualuang iBanking for personal and Business Banking for the company for years with very few problems and on the very few occasions when there has been a problem it is useless going to the local branch. Call the contact number and speak to the iBanking people direct - that has always solved any issues I have had quickly and efficiently.

[pkspeaker]

imo just keep the banking off the internet and 0 chance of someone coming from the internet and stealing your money.. I just use the ATM/CDM machines to deposit direct to any account cash.. if it's a person enter number and it confirms with the persons name, easy and guaranteed and the machines are everywhere..paybills at any store.. why bother with ibankings and deal with such bullshit and all the while worrying that someone could hack into your account and send the money ouita it via internet.

[Peterw42]

A good rule of thumb in Thailand (or anywhere) setup the account to transfer to, transfer $5-10 as a test. All good, transfer the rest.

I have used BKK bank app for transfers no problems, The same services are always available in the branch. any problems back to the branch.

The branch will charge a fee for everything. I dont know about other banks but BKK bank will charge you to deposit cash into your account, if the bank book is from another branch.

[Seligne2]

I have used K Bank Cyber banking many times to do small transfers with no glitches whatever, including a transfer when I was in Vietnam.

One thing I did learn what that in some cases after getting the OTP message you have to start the whole process again then insert the OTP. (That's K bank, I don't know about BBL.)

On the other hand the OP seems to be very familiar with the BBL internet banking processes.

I wonder if the OP phoned the BBL HO on this.

Yes, I am in touch with their IT staff. I will let you know the outcome.

[al007]

Yes be careful, i did a foreign currency purchase with Bangkok bank selling some of my sterling and buying batt

All on ibanking

It did not appear to go through, I called ibanking no help

I did the transfer about three hours later

Then two transfers appeared, I tried to get them to cancel one, in the end gave up

We live in the third world remember and banking is twenty years behind the UK

[SantiSuk]

I would not go into a bank branch in the UK, let alone Thailand, to question them about an internet banking transaction. That's what banking customer service phone-in help desks are for. It's all supposed to be in the virtual.

I always do my i-banking on my laptop and [printScr] the final confirmation screen of any transfers to a word document which I the file in my 'TEMP Files for deletion after 3 months' folder.

I dump banks that screw me over, unless they take appropriate corrective action. In the UK i write hyper-critical (but polite) letters to the complaints address. I received nearly GBP 1,000 from banks in the UK that way over a 5 year period when I was looking after the affairs of my very old aunt and then settling the estates of my Mum and Dad. UK banks screw up frequently over anything non-standard but they will acknowledge screw-ups and will compensate. Unfortunately I would not bother wasting my time writing a complaining letter or taking similar action in Thailand. Just vote with your feet.

I'm relatively happy with Krungsri and their internet banking over 4 years.

Thanks for the reminders to be on guard Seligne2.

[12DrinkMore]

Yes be careful, i did a foreign currency purchase with Bangkok bank selling some of my sterling and buying batt

All on ibanking

It did not appear to go through, I called ibanking no help

I did the transfer about three hours later

Then two transfers appeared, I tried to get them to cancel one, in the end gave up

We live in the third world remember and banking is twenty years behind the UK

It certainly is not.

Thai banking is a delight to deal with compared to the UK.

[sikishrory]

This is the thing with thai banks.

I lost my card awhile ago and went to get a new one. Apparently the bank was out of cards "mister, you go another branch".

It's handy to have an account but the customer service doesn't really inspire confidence

[B1TcoinLife]

Yes be careful, i did a foreign currency purchase with Bangkok bank selling some of my sterling and buying batt

All on ibanking

It did not appear to go through, I called ibanking no help

I did the transfer about three hours later

Then two transfers appeared, I tried to get them to cancel one, in the end gave up

We live in the third world remember and banking is twenty years behind the UK

It certainly is not.

Thai banking is a delight to deal with compared to the UK.

No, it isn't...

[Shiver]

I have no real assistance to offer since it always worked when I've done the same thing but ... May I ask if you ticked the box that says to send confirmation of transfer to the recipient via SMS, email or both?

When I've done this and I've been on the phone with the recipient at that time, I often hear their phone beep suggesting that they just had confirmation which is at the same time as I get my own confirmation. This happens within a second or so of each other. I've never sent from BB to SCB, but have sent to other non-BB banks from my BB account without issue.

[HerbalEd]

Don't only confirm by the SMS, also confirm by your i-banking site's "Transfer History."

[spambot]

For the last four years I regularly get an sms message from SCB bank every time one of their customers makes a deposit or withdrawal - Obviously its my mobile number that use to belong to this customer and not updated. I visited the bank multiple times and identified the disclosure of confidential information and every visit is the same - disinterested and lack of concern, even on one occasion bank teller looking at the sms messages on my mobile for the transactions - she reassured me "that its OK you have no need to apologies". Geeeze

[HerbalEd]

check your balance and see if its missing 3k ..........

As I said, no signs of a transfer. As I did not make clear, no signs of 3k baht debited either.

if you had the OTP code and confirmation it may well suddenly happen at some future time

If so, then the his i-banking site's "Transfers Pending" would have the transaction and it would say "Pending."

[HerbalEd]

They have options to perform the transfer with a 1 or 2 day delay, are you sure you selected immediate?

With Bualuang iBanking (Bangkok Bank) the default timing for transfers is same day. To send a day, week, month, etc., later requires extra effort. In the past my scores of transfers have all gone same day.

Not always "same day." It depends upon holidays and the time of day you make the transaction.

[LPCustom69]

Just transfer from an ATM