Pensions paid into Thai bank questions

[mango124]

1. Do we have a choice what currency government transfers our payments in? NZ especially, where I get heaps less than the actual Thai forex rate. Told that kiwi banks greedy.

2. is the swift charge a set amount per time, if so how much?

3. My Thai bank charges 200 baht per payment received as that is the minimum charge. Clerk told me I would receive much more if I could get pension sent in NZ$

Any info appreciated.Thanks.

Edited July 21, 2016 by mango124

[lopburi3]

1. Believe you would be making transfer and in every case I know of it is better to send foreign amount to Thailand and have converted to baht here for the best exchange rate.

2. SWIFT is a set amount normally set by the sending bank - and you can find different rates at different banks. If direct government have no idea.

3. Normal receive change is 1/4% of the amount in Baht with payment range 200-500 baht (larger amounts would still be 500 baht.

As said almost always best to exchange in Thailand - foreign banks love to make money with bad exchange rates.

[mango124]

Thanks lopburi for prompt answer. TV members have been great so many times.

Currently NZ government transfer into Thai bank as baht, so can someone confirm they will send in NZ$ instead?

Pension department seemed to say if I had it put into NZ account in their currency, there were tax implications so had them credit to here.

Thanks

[seajae]

I was always under the understanding pensions by themselves came in under the tax thresh hold and only if you earned extra money to make it go over the limit you were taxed, never heard of any pensioners being taxed on their pensions alone, at least not in Australia. Even with banks taxing savings accounts, a pension alone shouldnt come into it, especially seeing you have to withdraw it constantly to live, then again maybe they think you have a huge amount in your account.....

[masuk]

I transfer my pension to Thailand every month. The Oz bank charges $30 fees, and it's here overnight.

I once had the money sent up as Thai Baht, and it went missing at this end for some days. I sat in the manager's chair and said I'd stay there until my money was in my account. It took a couple of hours, but better than the 3 days it had taken.

Total fees from Oz and Thailand are around $70.00. I'd rather have that money, but there is only one other alternative.

Centrelink Australia will send the total pension direct to your Thai bank at no cost. The disadvantage in my case is not being able to pay off some credit/debit cards in Oz.

Maybe NZ has a similar arrangement for whole of pension transfer.

[prakhonchai nick]

Why not have your state pension paid direct into a bank account in your own country. Then transfer to Thailand when you want.

There is much competition amongst banks and finance houses to transfer money to Thailand, and some very competitive fees can be obtained.

[Suradit69]

Always transfer money to Thailand in foreign currency and let your Thai bank do the exchange into baht. You should get better exchange rates. If you transfer baht, the bank will probably not indicate the amount was a foreign currency deposit.

I always transfer US$ to my Bangkok Bank account via the Bangkok Bank branch in New York. The charge is between $5 to $10 in NY and around Baht 200 in Thailand depending on the amount transferred and I get the current exchange rate posted on Bangkok Bank website.

Edited July 22, 2016 by Suradit69

[bark]

Better to keep in NZ bank and transfer one time per year. The transfer fee is the same if you transfer 2,000 or 20,000.

70 x 12 = 840 !

[norbra]

I transfer my pension to Thailand every month. The Oz bank charges $30 fees, and it's here overnight.

I once had the money sent up as Thai Baht, and it went missing at this end for some days. I sat in the manager's chair and said I'd stay there until my money was in my account. It took a couple of hours, but better than the 3 days it had taken.

Total fees from Oz and Thailand are around $70.00. I'd rather have that money, but there is only one other alternative.

Centrelink Australia will send the total pension direct to your Thai bank at no cost. The disadvantage in my case is not being able to pay off some credit/debit cards in Oz.

Maybe NZ has a similar arrangement for whole of pension transfer.

Westpac in Oz currently charging A$ 20 per transaction to Thailand and have advised that this will be reduced to A$ 5 shortly. transfer to Philipines is now A$5

Centrelink pensions are indeed sent free of charge but this is managed by Treasury who transfer funds via a four x dealer who hit you with exchange fees,

[English Engineer]

Yes better to transfer larger amounts. If you have sufficient funds it is better to transfer when the rates are good. I keep a reserve of my living expenses in Thailand and select the best time to do the transfer.Transfer in your own currency and do the transfer to baht in Thailand.

[ChrisKC]

I have had my private pension paid from the Norwich Union in UK to Thailand via the SWIFT method for ten years. they charge me about B200. No charges for receiving. It is sent as GBP and I pay little or nothing through the exchange. In other words, I receive the going International exchange rate as published less my. GBP4

My Government pension for five years already, is paid with no charge by the Government or by the receiving bank here and no discernible difference in the published exchange rate. It always arrives on time except on Public holidays either in Thailand or UK.

Both sets of pensions are paid into my account around 9am Thai time on the appointed date. When the appointed date falls on a Saturday or Sunday, I am paid on the Friday prior. At Christmas, I might easily receive my Government pension four or five days early so it is available before the Christmas Holidays in UK.

[Pib]

I have had my private pension paid from the Norwich Union in UK to Thailand via the SWIFT method for ten years. they charge me about B200. No charges for receiving. It is sent as GBP and I pay little or nothing through the exchange. In other words, I receive the going International exchange rate as published less my. GBP4

My Government pension for five years already, is paid with no charge by the Government or by the receiving bank here and no discernible difference in the published exchange rate. It always arrives on time except on Public holidays either in Thailand or UK.

Both sets of pensions are paid into my account around 9am Thai time on the appointed date. When the appointed date falls on a Saturday or Sunday, I am paid on the Friday prior. At Christmas, I might easily receive my Government pension four or five days early so it is available before the Christmas Holidays in UK.

You sure no charge for receiving? The Thai bank typical receiving fee for an international transfer in foreign currency or baht is 0.25% (Bt200 min, Bt500 max)....it varies slightly among Thai banks, but I know of none that do not charge a receiving fee for an incoming international transfer.

And this fee is deducted "before" posting to your account and "does not" appear anywhere on your Thai bank account statement or ibanking. This fools a lot of people into thinking no receiving fee was applied. Call you Thai bank and ask about the receiving fee....you'll find out you have been getting charged the receiving fee all these years.

From the wording of you post it seems you do notice a small difference in the actual exchange rate you got and any of the published exchange rates on your Thai bank website....that's due to the receiving fee not be taken into account.

[topt]

I have had my private pension paid from the Norwich Union in UK to Thailand via the SWIFT method for ten years. they charge me about B200. No charges for receiving. It is sent as GBP and I pay little or nothing through the exchange. In other words, I receive the going International exchange rate as published less my. GBP4

My Government pension for five years already, is paid with no charge by the Government or by the receiving bank here and no discernible difference in the published exchange rate. It always arrives on time except on Public holidays either in Thailand or UK.

Both sets of pensions are paid into my account around 9am Thai time on the appointed date. When the appointed date falls on a Saturday or Sunday, I am paid on the Friday prior. At Christmas, I might easily receive my Government pension four or five days early so it is available before the Christmas Holidays in UK.

You sure no charge for receiving? The Thai bank typical receiving fee for an international transfer in foreign currency or baht is 0.25% (Bt200 min, Bt500 max)....it varies slightly among Thai banks, but I know of none that do not charge a receiving fee for an incoming international transfer.

And this fee is deducted "before" posting to your account and "does not" appear anywhere on your Thai bank account statement or ibanking. This fools a lot of people into thinking no receiving fee was applied. Call you Thai bank and ask about the receiving fee....you'll find out you have been getting charged the receiving fee all these years.

From the wording of you post it seems you do notice a small difference in the actual exchange rate you got and any of the published exchange rates on your Thai bank website....that's due to the receiving fee not be taken into account.

Plus SCB at least charge a further 20 baht on top of the 500 for the transfer from Bangkok to Pattaya........(sorry Pib being pedantic )

I feel sorry for the OP who has asked a fairly specific question re NZ and basically had answers from every country but.........

[dutchdog3000]

I transfer my pension to Thailand every month. The Oz bank charges $30 fees, and it's here overnight.

I once had the money sent up as Thai Baht, and it went missing at this end for some days. I sat in the manager's chair and said I'd stay there until my money was in my account. It took a couple of hours, but better than the 3 days it had taken.

Total fees from Oz and Thailand are around $70.00. I'd rather have that money, but there is only one other alternative.

Centrelink Australia will send the total pension direct to your Thai bank at no cost. The disadvantage in my case is not being able to pay off some credit/debit cards in Oz.

Maybe NZ has a similar arrangement for whole of pension transfer.

Westpac in Oz currently charging A$ 20 per transaction to Thailand and have advised that this will be reduced to A$ 5 shortly. transfer to Philipines is now A$5

Centrelink pensions are indeed sent free of charge but this is managed by Treasury who transfer funds via a four x dealer who hit you with exchange fees,

[dutchdog3000]

I transfer my pension to Thailand every month. The Oz bank charges $30 fees, and it's here overnight.

I once had the money sent up as Thai Baht, and it went missing at this end for some days. I sat in the manager's chair and said I'd stay there until my money was in my account. It took a couple of hours, but better than the 3 days it had taken.

Total fees from Oz and Thailand are around $70.00. I'd rather have that money, but there is only one other alternative.

Centrelink Australia will send the total pension direct to your Thai bank at no cost. The disadvantage in my case is not being able to pay off some credit/debit cards in Oz.

Maybe NZ has a similar arrangement for whole of pension transfer.

Westpac in Oz currently charging A$ 20 per transaction to Thailand and have advised that this will be reduced to A$ 5 shortly. transfer to Philipines is now A$5

Centrelink pensions are indeed sent free of charge but this is managed by Treasury who transfer funds via a four x dealer who hit you with exchange fees,

Yep Norbra seen that option from Westpac but the catch is they will send peso to philipines and maybe baht to Thailand so they will make profit from this way, but I hope not. im currently withdrawing pension with Westpac atm card via Bangkok bank and charges/rates are as follows, rates of the day 27/7/2016 Xe,com 26.2, Bangkok bank 25.9 K bank 25.8, withdrew 20,200 baht including the bank fee of 200baht using the continue with converson option, total A$769.22 (as per Westpac bank statement on 27/7/2016) exchange rate of 26.26, then the fees start, Bangkok bank 200 baht, Westpac ATM fee $5.00, Westpac international withdrawal fee $23.07 as per Westpac bank statement on 28/7/2016, so about A$35.00 total bank fees but the exchange rate was good.I have been looking at direct centrelink to thai bank but no one has been able to tell me the 4 x dealer exchange fees, do you have any idea?

cheers

[masuk]

That's a little better than the $40 it's been costing me per transfer so far. Poor exchange rate, $30 fee at the Oz bank.