transfer money uk to thailand

[chang50]

Apologies if this is the incorrect sub forum but here goes.Every year I transfer money from my UK bank Nationwide to Kasikorn here in Thailand to meet the financial requirements for my retirement visa extension.This costs 20 quid or so I thought,talking to a friend it appears I lose out substantially on the exchange rate given by Nationwide.How does this work given I always transfer sterling which is presumably converted to baht by Kasikorn.Also is it a good idea to use a money transfer company instead,I've never tried one does anyone have experience with these?

Thanks guys and gals.

[Lite Beer]

Transfering from Nationwide will cost you more like £50 than £20 by the time other banks add their bit.

Last time I used them I paid the £20 .

A few months later another £30 disappeared from my account.

After contacting Nationwide they said that they use another bank (HSBC I think) to transfer and the £30 will be their fee.

 

I now use TransferWise. Much cheaper. Plus you know the amount you will receive before you push the button.

There are other options also. 

 

http://luckyattitude.co.uk/transferwise-review-cheapest/?gclid=CIOu5viPhM8CFUyVaAod0-EJpA

 

Read this:  http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/869880-transfer-money-from-uk/#comment-10068322

 

Edited September 10, 2016 by Lite Beer

[Pib]

Don't let your Sending bank convert to baht as you'll get a significantly lower exchange rate than the TT Buying Rate provided by Thai banks. It's like how PayPal/Western Union offers free/low fee foreign transfers but their exchange rate sucks....they make their killing on the exchange rate.  Sending banks often offer a lower or even fee "direct/upfront" sending fee if you allow them to convert the funds....but that conversion acts like an "indirect fee" due to the lower exchange rate given where they more than make up for the lower upfront/direct fee.

 

Your goal is the maximize how much ends up posting to your Thai bank account so you must consider Sending, Intermediary, and Receiving Fees plus the Exchange Rate.   

 

[chang50]

Thanks for the replies thinking about Transferwise I see they require proof of identity before accepting you,passport page ok I think.Somehow I didn't pay any extra on my last Nationwide transfer Aug 2015 just the initial 20 quid.Always send sterling.Maybe I'm missing something obvious but still confused by how Nationwide can give a lower exchange rate if you send sterling and Kasikorn convert it into baht in Thailand?

[chiang mai]

Always send Pounds from UK to Thailand, never send Baht. On the return leg, Thailand to UK, if there is one, always send Pounds, you can't send Baht. HSBC UK charges four Pounds per transfer and the Thai receiving bank will charge circa 400/500 baht to receive the funds.

Edited September 10, 2016 by chiang mai

[chang50]

Just realized proof of address is not going to be easy,I have a cable tv bill with my name on it but the address is in Thai.

[chiang mai]

Get a residence certificate from Immigration, alternatively a lease or rental agreement will suffice.

[Pib]

49 minutes ago, chang50 said:

Thanks for the replies thinking about Transferwise I see they require proof of identity before accepting you,passport page ok I think.Somehow I didn't pay any extra on my last Nationwide transfer Aug 2015 just the initial 20 quid.Always send sterling.Maybe I'm missing something obvious but still confused by how Nationwide can give a lower exchange rate if you send sterling and Kasikorn convert it into baht in Thailand?

If you send in sterling then Nationwide is not converting the funds....no exchange rate occurs.  It's when the sterling arrives Thailand that the receiving Thai bank converts the funds and the Thai banks conversion/exchange rate will be significantly higher (several percent) than your western bank's exchange rate.

 

Remember, outside of Thailand the Thai baht is just an exotic currency...it's not a major currency...it a minor currency...of little use to settle bills outside of Thailand....therefore the exchange rate is lower outside of Thailand.  Plus, all banks make money (even Thai banks) by letting them do the conversion  of any currency when "sending out" funds...even Thai banks make money by converting your baht to sterling if you were "sending back to the UK."  Just remember, transfer the funds in your home country currency; don't let the sending bank accomplish the exchange rate.

 

Now money transfer services like Transferwise are somewhat different....their business model is based on exchanging the funds using their exchange rate and transferring to partners/peers they have setup in other countries.  But keep in mind the savings they estimate/advertise is based on the exchange rate of western banks who as we have talked about give a lower exchange rate because banks make a nice little profit whenever they get you to allow them to exchange the funds.   So, the Transferwise exchange rate will be higher than western banks...but maybe not higher than the Thai bank TT Buying Rate.  This is where you have to evaluate which service puts the most baht into your Thai bank account after the exchange rate, sending fee, intermediary fee, and receiving fee are cranked in.  It's just not as simple as looking at only the direct/upfront sending fee and/or exchange rate.

[chiang mai]

Transferwise is inbound to Thailand only, there is no outbound service.

[chang50]

19 minutes ago, Pib said:

If you send in sterling then Nationwide is not converting the funds....no exchange rate occurs.  It's when the sterling arrives Thailand that the receiving Thai bank converts the funds and the Thai banks conversion/exchange rate will be significantly higher (several percent) than your western bank's exchange rate.

 

Remember, outside of Thailand the Thai baht is just an exotic currency...it's not a major currency...it a minor currency...of little use to settle bills outside of Thailand....therefore the exchange rate is lower outside of Thailand.  Plus, all banks make money (even Thai banks) by letting them do the conversion  of any currency when "sending out" funds...even Thai banks make money by converting your baht to sterling if you were "sending back to the UK."  Just remember, transfer the funds in your home country currency; don't let the sending bank accomplish the exchange rate.

 

Now money transfer services like Transferwise are somewhat different....their business model is based on exchanging the funds using their exchange rate and transferring to partners/peers they have setup in other countries.  But keep in mind the savings they estimate/advertise is based on the exchange rate of western banks who as we have talked about give a lower exchange rate because banks make a nice little profit whenever they get you to allow them to exchange the funds.   So, the Transferwise exchange rate will be higher than western banks...but maybe not higher than the Thai bank TT Buying Rate.  This is where you have to evaluate which service puts the most baht into your Thai bank account after the exchange rate, sending fee, intermediary fee, and receiving fee are cranked in.  It's just not as simple as looking at only the direct/upfront sending fee and/or exchange rate.

 

 Thanks that's much clearer now,so I wouldn't lose as much as I first thought( if at all ) sticking with a tried and trusted method,and not have the hassle of verifying my identity and address.Wont be rushing into signing up just yet.

[Pib]

Where you say "tried and trusted" method if you are allowing Nationwide to convert/exchange the funds when sending you really need to change that method to "not converting/sending sterling"  if you want to have more baht end up in your Thai bank account.  Let the Thai bank accomplish the exchange at their higher rate.  

[chang50]

1 minute ago, Pib said:

Where you say "tried and trusted" method if you are allowing Nationwide to convert/exchange the funds when sending you really need to change that method to "not converting/sending sterling"  if you want to have more baht end up in your Thai bank account.  Let the Thai bank accomplish the exchange at their higher rate.  

I always send sterling for many years now.

[Eclipse]

Using Nationwide will result in you being charged around £50 fee.
Not a great option.

[Kwasaki]

On 9/10/2016 at 1:01 PM, Lite Beer said:

Transfering from Nationwide will cost you more like £50 than £20 by the time other banks add their bit.

Last time I used them I paid the £20 .

A few months later another £30 disappeared from my account.

After contacting Nationwide they said that they use another bank (HSBC I think) to transfer and the £30 will be their fee.

 

I now use TransferWise. Much cheaper. Plus you know the amount you will receive before you push the button.

There are other options also. 

 

http://luckyattitude.co.uk/transferwise-review-cheapest/?gclid=CIOu5viPhM8CFUyVaAod0-EJpA

 

Read this:  http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/869880-transfer-money-from-uk/#comment-10068322

 

 

Interesting on http://luckyattitude. l just did a calculation for 660 squid and get 30,097 bht  + 9 poundish charge so is that it,  or are my UK bank going add some charges 

[Lite Beer]

Transfer from UK bank to transferwise is free.

[Briggsy]

Transferring money from UK bank to Thai bank will incur 4 fees. Some will be a percentage, some will be a fixed fee. Some will have a minimum and some a maximum.

 

I will assume that the money is sent in sterling. It would be much more expensive if the conversion was done in the UK.

 

1. Fee from UK bank. Typically a fixed fee, something like £15 - £30. Depends on bank and amount.

2. Intermediary bank fees. Typicallly a fixed fee of £5 or £10 but can vary considerably. You will not know about these unless you get the printout from the receiving bank and calculate them.

3. Receiving bank fee. Typically a fixed minimum fee or a percentage whichever is higher. 150 Baht would not be unusual. Some Thai banks do not charge this fee.

4. The exchange rate loss. Some posters may say this should not be included as there will always be an exchange rate loss. I insist it must be included as exchange rates vary between financial institutions. Typically a Thai bank exchange rate loss on £ to Baht will be 1-1.5%. Specialist money changers considerably less.

 

So adding all these up, will basically give a loss of around 2% on transfers of several thousand pounds. The less you transfer means the more the fixed fees force up the percentage loss on the transaction. Transferring as little as £1000 can see a loss of over 5%.

 

I hope this helps. It is not a straightforward issue but playing around with the arithmetical calculations should answer some of your questions.

[chang50]

Thanks everyone,weighing up my options.

[wooloomooloo]

I have been using XendPay for a while now.  Funds usually take three days but they do offer excellent rates and you can pay what you want for a transfer fee, i.e. any amount or nothing.

 

XendPay rate this weekend is 46.11, Bangkok Bank 45.64.  Not even BB's TT rates compares to 46.11. 

[Chivas]

On 10/09/2016 at 0:02 PM, chiang mai said:

Always send Pounds from UK to Thailand, never send Baht. On the return leg, Thailand to UK, if there is one, always send Pounds, you can't send Baht. HSBC UK charges four Pounds per transfer and the Thai receiving bank will charge circa 400/500 baht to receive the funds.

 

Yep if you use HSBC at £4 or even Halifax at £9.50 and allow the monies to hit the receiving account at TT rates the bottom line on the account will always beat all these "sending money firms" every single time.

I have done multiple dummy transfers using every one of these firms to my SCB account and the Halifax came out higher 10/10, I'm totally bemused how some are taken in by these firms and their rates.

Christ using HSBC at £4 even better

[chang50]

13 hours ago, Chivas said:

 

Yep if you use HSBC at £4 or even Halifax at £9.50 and allow the monies to hit the receiving account at TT rates the bottom line on the account will always beat all these "sending money firms" every single time.

I have done multiple dummy transfers using every one of these firms to my SCB account and the Halifax came out higher 10/10, I'm totally bemused how some are taken in by these firms and their rates.

Christ using HSBC at £4 even better

 

Wow you are the first to say this,interesting!

[Chivas]

1 hour ago, chang50 said:

 

Wow you are the first to say this,interesting!

 

I'm not but am not surprised you may say that.....How do you think these transfer companies make money.   Do a dummy transfer yourself say for £10,000 say from HSBC and assume its going to SCB in Thailand.......Now with a dummy you have to rely on the TT receiving rate being similar or same 48 hours later when it arrives as it was on the SCB website at the moment you sent it......Now the transfer companies also have that same movement risk so its no different in reality

 

£4 for HSBC plus 300 Baht with SCB (in my experience although 500 maximum) do the experiment today on the bottom line that hits your account....Transferwise  UK forex choose anyone you like etc

 

If you get one bottom line transfer that is better than the HSBC I'll donate £500 to Father Ray Foundation

 

Edited......use your own Thai Banks website as SCB if far from the best anyway

Edited September 12, 2016 by Chivas

[Lite Beer]

All very well if you have a HSBC account.

If you have Nationwide it will set you back around £50.

Much cheaper to use a FX company.

[Chivas]

1 hour ago, Lite Beer said:

All very well if you have a HSBC account.

If you have Nationwide it will set you back around £50.

Much cheaper to use a FX company.

 

Who on earth pays £50....??  Even the good old Halifax hardly the bastion of world banking will do it instantly for £9.50.

Edited September 12, 2016 by Chivas

[Lite Beer]

1 hour ago, Chivas said:

 

Who on earth pays £50....??  Even the good old Halifax hardly the bastion of world banking will do it instantly for £9.50.

 

Nationwide customers do although they are not informed of this at the time.

 

Read this topic from this post onwards.

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/869880-transfer-money-from-uk/#comment-10068322

 

And this one.

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/878665-swift-transfer-to-bangkok-bank-from-uk-extra-charge/#comment-10192458

 

Edited September 12, 2016 by Lite Beer

[The Fat Controller]

I transferred Sterling from Nationwide in April 2016 and the ONLY fee charged was the £20 SWIFT fee, no intermediary fees charged back to NW or at the SCB end where the fee was the usual 0.25% (min 200, max 500 Baht)

 

The FOREX companies are fine, but they can be a pain in the arse regarding proof of ID, limits on transfer amounts and the necessity of transferring money to them by BACS which also has limits from my NW accounts.

Edited September 13, 2016 by The Fat Controller

[chiang mai]

1 minute ago, The Fat Controller said:

I transferred Sterling from Nationwide in April 2016 and the ONLY fee charged was the £20 SWIFT fee, no intermediary fees charged back to NW or at the SCB end where the fee was the usual 0.25% (min 200, max 500 Baht)

 

The FOREX companies are fine, but they can be a pain in the arse regarding proof of ID, limits on transfer amounts and the necessity of transferring money to them by BACS which also has limits from my NW accounts.

 

So you paid roughly 23 Pounds Sterling. HSBC charges 4 Pounds for that service and the SCB fees would be the same, about 300 baht, say 7 Pounds in total!

[The Fat Controller]

2 minutes ago, chiang mai said:

 

So you paid roughly 23 Pounds Sterling. HSBC charges 4 Pounds for that service and the SCB fees would be the same, about 300 baht, say 7 Pounds in total!

 

The benefits I have on my Nationwide and Santander accounts far outweigh the hassle of opening a HSBC account just to save a few quid a year, thanks.

[chang50]

12 minutes ago, The Fat Controller said:

I transferred Sterling from Nationwide in April 2016 and the ONLY fee charged was the £20 SWIFT fee, no intermediary fees charged back to NW or at the SCB end where the fee was the usual 0.25% (min 200, max 500 Baht)

 

The FOREX companies are fine, but they can be a pain in the arse regarding proof of ID, limits on transfer amounts and the necessity of transferring money to them by BACS which also has limits from my NW accounts.

 

 I too only paid 20 quid August 2015,I wonder what criteria they use to decide who pays the extra?

 For proof of address I only have a cable TV bill in thai which I had translated recently,not sure they would accept that.

[Chivas]

On 12/09/2016 at 11:14 AM, Lite Beer said:

 

Nationwide customers do although they are not informed of this at the time.

 

Read this topic from this post onwards.

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/869880-transfer-money-from-uk/#comment-10068322

 

And this one.

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/878665-swift-transfer-to-bangkok-bank-from-uk-extra-charge/#comment-10192458

 

 

lol so open one with Halifax or HSBC  !!

[Pib]

19 hours ago, The Fat Controller said:

I transferred Sterling from Nationwide in April 2016 and the ONLY fee charged was the £20 SWIFT fee, no intermediary fees charged back to NW or at the SCB end where the fee was the usual 0.25% (min 200, max 500 Baht)

 

The FOREX companies are fine, but they can be a pain in the arse regarding proof of ID, limits on transfer amounts and the necessity of transferring money to them by BACS which also has limits from my NW accounts.

Whether an additional fee flows back to the Sending bank later for payment, are you sure you didn't pay an intermediary bank fee that is sliced off "before the funds are exchanged and posted to your Thai bank account?"  Unless you know how much arrives the Thai bank "before" the exchange the funds it can be hard to be sure.  You can always ask the bank how much foreign currency arrived before posting...if it's missing X-amount from what you sent, the there was an intermediary bank fee sliced off as the funds flowed through them on to the receiving bank.

 

Now with Bangkok Bank you can sign up for their free SMS Remittance which when an international transfer arrives it tells you how much arrived (foreign currency or baht)  their inbox so to speak, the exchange rate they used to exchange the funds, their receiving fee of 0.25% (Bt200 min, Bt500 max), and the final amount & date of funds posting to your account.

 

  

Edited September 14, 2016 by Pib