Transferring $$$ to Thailand

[dingdongrb]

While it seems a recent post has somewhat gotten hijacked and the topic appears to have turned about transferring funds to Thailand I would like to ask this question, has anyone used 'TransferWise' to send and receive money here in Thailand?

 

If so what is your opinion of using it? 

[JohnC]

I used them to transfer £ from UK , very happy with the service, took one day from leaving my UK bank to arrive in my Thai bank with reasonable charges. 

[dingdongrb]

Just now, JohnC said:

I used them to transfer £ from UK , very happy with the service, took one day from leaving my UK bank to arrive in my Thai bank with reasonable charges. 

Thanks for the reply.

 

I just found out about them yesterday and was wondering if anyone else has tried them and what they thought.

 

The charges do seem reasonable but the best thing I like is the exchange rate they give you. They use the current exchange rate unlike the banks ripping you off.

 

I think I'll give them a go this upcoming month.

 

Cheers....

[Saan]

I think Transferwise is an excellent service. My modest stipend from Australia has  increased by several thousand baht since I stopped the bank to bank method and used Transferwise.

[orientalist]

I use Transferwise to transfer funds from the UK to Thailand and have been very happy with the service. They allow you to lock in the current (real http://www.xe.com/currencycharts/?from=GBP&to=THB&view=1D ) exchange rate for 24 hours. My bank in the UK uses the Faster Payments system, so the money gets to Transferwise in 1-2 hours. Then it takes 2.5 days to get to my Thai bank account.

 

The normal fee for many currencies is 0.5%, but for Thai baht it is 1.5% - presumably because you can't transfer baht out of Thailand, so their normal P2P system doesn't work. On any amount above £3000 they use 1% (i.e. only on the amount above 3K).

[SaintLouisBlues]

2 minutes ago, orientalist said:

My bank in the UK uses the Faster Payments system, so the money gets to Transferwise in 1-2 hours

My bank links my debit card to Apple Pay, and Transferwise take payments via Apple Pay so I can do it all on my iPhone and it's instantaneous. There's a small flat fee for using a debit card

[orientalist]

I thought of using my debit card but I was transferring amounts over 2K GBP and didn't want to risk having the card blocked. I normally only use the card for small, online purchases.

[SaintLouisBlues]

2 minutes ago, orientalist said:

I thought of using my debit card but I was transferring amounts over 2K GBP and didn't want to risk having the card blocked. I normally only use the card for small, online purchases.

I had that problem the first time I used it but a quick phone call to my bank soon sorted that out and it's never happened again. The bank's fraud-checking algorithms very soon learn your frequent behavior

Edited January 31, 2017 by SaintLouisBlues

[Chicog]

I've used Transferwise for a while and I'm very happy with it.

 

 

[philcon]

Citibank Plus Transaction Account debit card available in Australia is an option for Australians.

No ATM fees, (only ATM is 4th Flour Central World Bangkok)
no Account keeping fees, no international transaction fees and it also works as a debit credit card for online purchases. 

[mamborobert]

15 minutes ago, philcon said:

Citibank Plus Transaction Account debit card available in Australia is an option for Australians.

No ATM fees, (only ATM is 4th Flour Central World Bangkok)
no Account keeping fees, no international transaction fees and it also works as a debit credit card for online purchases. 

 

Transferwise also works for Australian Banks as Australia is one of their supported countries......I transfer from CBA and Bankwest to Bangkok Bank, they have a few more ATM's available and cheaper than going to Central World Bangkok ATM from CM.

Edited January 31, 2017 by mamborobert

[philcon]

Thanks for the info. I usually draw money out in cash from CItibank Bangkok then go to Chaing Mai. But I will defo, check out Transferwise cause I bank with Bankwest also. I have an account with Bangkok bank now so maybe a direct transfer to them is also an option. Cheers 

[orientalist]

I did some comparisons between Transferwise and direct transfer via Bangkok Bank London to Thailand and Transferwise was always cheaper.

[dingdongrb]

1 hour ago, orientalist said:

I did some comparisons between Transferwise and direct transfer via Bangkok Bank London to Thailand and Transferwise was always cheaper.

Again, I think that is mostly due to the exchange rate that Transferwise gives. They don't seem to rip you off like the banks do.