Bangkok Bank New York

[las vegas hobo]

Received letter from Bangkok bank new york. Did not know Bangkok Bank New York charged a transfer fee to forward social security to Thailand. Citi bank international wire is 35$ and Bangkok bank 5%.

[lopburi3]

Bangkok Bank New York has a normal transfer fee based on amount of transfer. For under $2k it will be $5 or less and for most transfers above 2k the fee will be $10 - which is subtracted from the amount sent onward to Bangkok. There is also a fee in Thailand of 1/4% in the range 200-500 baht taken from the exchanged baht amount before deposit into account here. I do not receive Social Security so can not confirm same applies - this is there standard ACH USA domestic transfer charge but I am very sure you are not being charged 5% fee!

Edit to add missing "not" receive SS.

Edited July 9, 2016 by lopburi3

[ubonjoe]

Not sure where you got the info you posted. The fees for a transfer from NY to your bank account here are shown here on their website: http://www.bangkokbank.com/BangkokBank/PersonalBanking/DailyBanking/TransferingFunds/TransferringIntoThailand/ReceivingFundsfromUSA/Pages/ReceivingFundsfromUSA.aspx

[las vegas hobo]

The reason for the letter a law suit was filled in new york and the bank will waive the transfer fee for three months.

[lopburi3]

But did the letter actually say 5%? I do not believe so. Most SS recipients would probably only pay $5 for the transfer fee and the fee should be known as is openly listed on web sites for that bank and is known as one of the best methods for transfers from US for its low cost.

[wpcoe]

The reason for the letter a law suit was filled in new york and the bank will waive the transfer fee for three months.

Can you quote a source for that? Is it just for direct deposit of government checks via the NYC branch, or is it for all transfers made via the NYC branch, or ... ? Is the law suit settled, or only recently just filed, or ... ?

[Utley]

We all got the same letter. This is a classic class action lawsuit under U.S. laws where the lawyers get a hefty fee (in this case $5 million) and the plaintiffs get relatively nothing. That is why Bangkok Bank settled so quickly.

Several years ago I was included in a class action lawsuit against Northwest Airlines for price fixing. The outcome was similar to the above; the lawyers received a ton of cash for their "hard work" and the plaintiffs received basically - nothing. We received discount coupons to be used towards purchasing full fare coach airline tickets; something no one in their right mind does. Needless to say Northwest was happy to settle.

[Pib]

This is the second TV thread I've seen on this...but it seems beyond everyone who has got the letter to post a redacted copy. Never mind me if a copy has been posted somewhere and I just haven't seen it...just give a link to that post/webpage where a copy of the letter rec'd is shown. Thanks.

[daboyz1]

I use this transfer method about 5 times a month. I still haven't seen a letter. That said I'm in the US. Do they send the notice to the thai address where the account is registered?

[Pib]

I use this transfer method about 5 times a month. I still haven't seen a letter. That said I'm in the US. Do they send the notice to the thai address where the account is registered?

Case appears to related to "Direct Deposit" use...like a monthly govt pension payment; not manual/ad hoc transfers like the 5 or so you do per month.

Don't know what method "someone" is using to determine who gets a letter. Maybe it's a name list provided by Bangkok Bank to the court, maybe it's a list of names the plaintiff's lawyers came up with, etc.

I too have a Bangkok Bank Direct Deposit account which I used for a few months back in 2009 for my month govt military retirement pension playments. I still have that Bangkok Bank Direct Deposit account and use it to keep some money, but I haven't used it for incoming transfers like a pension payment for many years.

I haven't got a letter yet either. Expect it all depends on exactly who the case covers and the specific conditions of the settlement.

Now it would be nice if the settlement would eliminate the Bangkok Bank NY fees for any Direct Deposit transfers from the U.S. govt like a social security, military retirement, etc., monthly pension payment. That would make their current fee structure which is already low compared to SWIFT fees even lower. But the settlement conditions may just provide some compensation for select folks and Bangkok Bank just making it even clearer on their website or during signup for a Direct Deposit account what fees will be involved. We just don't have specifics.

[JimGant]

"There is the potential for a class action Law Suit against Bangkok Bank New York for all fees charged that were not disclosed in accordance with US Law that Bangkok Bank NY had to follow."

http://www.udonmap.com/udonthaniforum/all-direct-deposits-bank-transfers-using-bangkok-bank-ny-t35505.html

Well, as Pib has pointed out, we've seen a lot of folks getting Direct Deposits believing they were paying no fees. Apparently US law requires exact precision in pointing out what fees banks charge, in whatever circumstance. Bangkok Bank, at least historically, apparently didn't 'dumb it down' enough to protect our citizens who slept through math class. Anyway, I doubt they intentionally hid those up front ($5/$10) fees most pay. Now, some ambulance chasers saw an opportunity to nail someone who didn't exactly follow US law when it came to crossing all the t's. Bangkok Bank would probably win under a frivolous ruling -- but settling now would probably be cheaper than doing a full court press, so to speak.