I was charged 9.58 USD to send $250 through Bangkok Bank New York branch

[Sojuncoke]

$11.7 USD if you include Bangkok Banks rate compared to the market rate. 

 

Is there a cheaper and equally faster way to send money through ACH?

 

I'm thinking one way is to have my friend send me a new debit card from the states and just withdraw the money from the ATM (continue without conversion so I get visa rates which is better) and be charged the 150 baht? 

[Crossy]

The ATM fee is now 200 Baht and I understand set to rise to 220 Baht (about $6.30) and you still have to suffer all those annoying overseas transaction fees your bank adds.

 

$250 is a fairly small transfer (less than 9,000 Baht), could you transfer larger amounts less frequently, most banks cap their fees so once you hit the cap the fees become relatively smaller.

 

If you are stuck with occasional small transfers have a look at PayPal or Western Union, but I suspect the ATM solution will be the cheapest (depending on what the bank in the US charges).

 

 

 

[1sickpuppy]

Do not know what your complaining about, i pay the 200 baht plus fee as well as $30 Australian for taking money out of a branch abroad, you got it easy

[themerg]

All Banks charge for services. It is how they steal money and control economies.

Bank of America wants $35.00 USD for the service you got for $9.58 USD or 350 Thai baht.

You got off cheap. Be happy.

[lavender19]

Use a money transfer company like TransferWise . You get a better rate but you still charged a fee. The banks hate these companies  TransferWise are running a campaign at the moment disclosing how much banks over charge for disgusting exchange rates.The more people who use these companies the better

[jobwolf]

The SIAM COMMERCIAL BANK Patong Beach Branch charged me Bath 1600 which was then 44$ US for transferring 900$ Singapore to Singapore. When I mentioned it to them they told me to transfer somewhere

else if I don't like it.

[bluebluewater]

How is it that people cannot figure out to get an account with a financial institution (bank, brokerage) where all there ATM fees worldwide are refunded?

 

There are many such institutions in North America that offer this and all done online.

[Simons3]

I concur with Lavender19... transferwise is great! you get the published exchange rates on the day you  order the transfer, they can move money straight from your bank to the recipients bank and fees are minimal compared to anywhere else ( I think I paid $8.00 US the last time I transferred $1,000.00 US ). the only drawback is the wait, normally takes 3-5 days to complete the transaction ( the majority of which I suspect is with the Thai bank not processing and releasing the funds promptly)

[KittenKong]

1 minute ago, bluebluewater said:

How is it that people cannot figure out to get an account with a financial institution (bank, brokerage) where all there ATM fees worldwide are refunded?

 

There are many such institutions in North America that offer this and all done online.

 

How receptive are those US institutions to non-US clients without a US address? Not very, I suspect. There may be many such possibilities in the US (though I'm not sure that's true) but certainly elsewhere there are few.

 

For an upcoming trip outside of Thailand I have just obtained two prepaid cards that use the official Visa/Mastercard rate, and one makes no charge for ATM withdrawals either. They will save me about 3% on each transaction so worth doing, but getting these cards involved also getting a UK SIM, the use of a UK address and quite a lot of inconvenience. When used in the US I will still have to pay the ATM charge imposed by the ATM operator (if any).

 

For my expenditure here I just have large sums sent by my UK bank which charges nothing for that service. Here I only pay the standard 0.25% (capped at 500B) for incoming transfers, and I negotiate the exchange rate with my Thai bank.

[Searat7]

I spend $10 at USA bank to send up to $10,000 by ACH and the receipt fees at BB for this maximum amount are only $16.33. I use a FX dollar account to receive funds at BB. I stopped using BB- New York years ago. This transfer is done online.

[Pib]

43 minutes ago, lavender19 said:

Use a money transfer company like TransferWise . You get a better rate but you still charged a fee. The banks hate these companies  TransferWise are running a campaign at the moment disclosing how much banks over charge for disgusting exchange rates.The more people who use these companies the better

Transferwise general fee structure for USD to THB transfers is 1.5%.   Where a $2,000 transfer would cost approx $10.72 little under $11 total via an ACH Bangkok Bank NY routing, a $2,000 transfer via transferwise would cost $29.56.    See transferwise snapshots below.

 

A $250 transfer via Bangkok Bank ACH method would cost the same $10.72 due to the sliding scale fee structure using by Bangkok Bank.   Sending small amounts via electronic transfers is generally more expensive than larger amount when converting the total fees to a percentage of amount sent.   Even sending less that $50 will incur a Bt200 minimum (approx $5.71) fee.   See Bangkok Bank ACH transfer fee structure below.  And keep in mind if your Sending bank adds on a fee, like how Bank of America adds on a $3 ACH transfer fee for a 3 day transfer, don't blame that on Bangkok Bank.  Many U.S. banks do not charge any ACH sending fee; but many do such as the more fee-evil ones and smaller credit unions.

 

 

 

While transferwise is surely cheaper than the most fee-evil banks that charge high sending fees and give low exchange rates, transferwise and similar money transfer services are not the best/cheapest transfer method of USD from the U.S. to Thailand.   Usually funds transfer service advertise they save big amounts in transfer fees but they are using comparisons to the "most fee-evil banks; not the less fee-evil banks." 

 

Just simply hard to beat the Bangkok Bank ACH transfer method for transfers from the U.S....but a person needs a Bangkok Bank account  in Thailand to use this ACH transfer method.   ACH is the primary funds transfer system in the U.S.  Bangkok Bank is the only Thai bank with ACH receiving capability.

 

 

https://transferwise.com/pricing#?from=USD&to=THB

 

 

https://transferwise.com/

[suzannegoh]

1 hour ago, KittenKong said:

 

How receptive are those US institutions to non-US clients without a US address? Not very, I suspect. There may be many such possibilities in the US (though I'm not sure that's true) but certainly elsewhere there are few.

 

For an upcoming trip outside of Thailand I have just obtained two prepaid cards that use the official Visa/Mastercard rate, and one makes no charge for ATM withdrawals either. They will save me about 3% on each transaction so worth doing, but getting these cards involved also getting a UK SIM, the use of a UK address and quite a lot of inconvenience. When used in the US I will still have to pay the ATM charge imposed by the ATM operator (if any).

 

For my expenditure here I just have large sums sent by my UK bank which charges nothing for that service. Here I only pay the standard 0.25% (capped at 500B) for incoming transfers, and I negotiate the exchange rate with my Thai bank.

True enough that they are not very receptive to non-US clients without a US address but the OP seemed to be talking about transferring money from the US, implying that he is (or was) able to open accounts in the US.  However it is also true that for US citizens who do have a US mailing address there are a number of options for ATM cards that refund fees and for credit cards that do not charge a foreign transaction fee.

[Pib]

As nice to know, here's how the Bangkok Bank fee calculations occur when using an ACH transfer...whether it's you doing the transfer from your bank or a govt agency is sending you a monthly pension like social security, military retirement, etc.  The fees are applied in a specific order at a specific time.  For this example I assuming the Sending bank do not charge a Sending fee and the Bangkok Bank TT Buying Exchange Rate is Bt35/USD.  

 

In that earlier example I gave, let's say $2,000 is being sent.  The $2,000 leaves your bank or pension paying agency, flows through Bangkok Bank New York branch where they apply their sliding scale fee as shown in the chart in my post above.  The fee is $5 for a $2,000 amount...that $5 is sliced off and $1,995 continues on to your "in-Thailand" Bangkok Bank branch.  

 

When that $1,995 arrives Bangkok Bank in Thailand they use their TT Buying Rate in affect at the time to convert to baht.  1,995 times 35 =   Bt69,825.

 

Now those funds are still not posted to  your account yet....before doing that they apply their international receiving fee of 0.25%(Bt200 min, Bt500 max).   69,825 times 0.25% = Bt174.56 which is below the Bt200 minimum which results in the Bt200 being charged/deducted from the Bt69,825 which leaves Bt69,625.

 

With all fees now applied the Bt69,625 is posted to your account.  

 

There will "not" be any entry in your ibanking or passbook that the two fees mentioned above were applied as they were applied "before" posting to your account.   Just as clearly stated in the Bangkok Bank fee table in my above post.   This lack of fee entries fools a lot of people into thinking Bangkok Bank did not charge in fee on the transfer, pension payment, etc., and is also why some people can never get their personal math to match any of the Bangkok Bank TT Buying Rates for the day.  

 

But if  you setup Free SMS Remittance that Bangkok Bank SMS will basically show the amount arriving from Bangkok Bank NY (will reflect a lower amount than the original starting amount due to the NY branch fee already applied), the  TT Buying Rate used, the local receiving fee, and the final amount posting to your account at X-time of day.

 

 

 

 

 

[phkauf]

I've been using Bangkok Bank's NY ACH transfer for well over a year and have no complaints at all. The fees they charge are quite reasonable for this service - compared with the other options. Both my US Banks don't charge a fee to transfer to BKK Bank NY. I usually have the funds in Thailand in 2 to 3 days (BKK Bank will actually show the funds on the weekend unlike US Banks).

For those crying about Evil Banks and their fees, recognize they are in business to make a profit and they are providing a service to you. In case of BKK Bank, they've been doing it quite well so I'm happy to pay a modest fee for that. 

If you are only dealing with relatively small amounts, maybe look into PayPal. 

[Pib]

Lord no, not PayPal or Western Union, for transferring money to Thailand.  While their sending fee may be low or zero, their exchange rate sucks...the low exchange rate is basically an indirect fee and is where they make their killing.

[masuk]

3 hours ago, 1sickpuppy said:

Do not know what your complaining about, i pay the 200 baht plus fee as well as $30 Australian for taking money out of a branch abroad, you got it easy

Same here.  Some banks in Aussie charge $30, others $20.00.    Costs me $30 for a transfer fee for my pension, and at the Thai end. BKK bank charges around AU$40.00.    Some months it works out cheaper to use the ATM if I don't need the full pension.

[phkauf]

20 minutes ago, Pib said:

Lord no, not PayPal or Western Union, for transferring money to Thailand.  While their sending fee may be low or zero, their exchange rate sucks...the low exchange rate is basically an indirect fee and is where they make their killing.

Thanks for that. I've only used PayPal in the US so I haven't dealt with their exchange rate nonsense. 

[Pib]

29 minutes ago, phkauf said:

Thanks for that. I've only used PayPal in the US so I haven't dealt with their exchange rate nonsense. 

Yea, sending money within the states is free/cheap....I do it occasionally with some U.S. relatives.  But that is USD to USD transfer.

 

Do a USD to THB transfer and he's what would occur for a $250 transfer like the OP did via Bangkok Bank.  Compared to this the Bangkok Bank TT Buying Rate used for incoming international transfers which is Bt34.75 at time of this post, PayPal would have only give an exchange rate of 33.81 or a whooping 2.7% lower than the Bangkok Bank rate.  And then there would be an additional 0.5% sending fee....we are now up to 3.2% in fees.  And there still may be a receiving fee for the receiver, like if you were sending the money to your Thai PayPal account or a friend with a Thai PayPal account.   Fees...fees...fees...PayPal slides them in left and right on some types of transfers, especially for international transfers/payments.    However, but, PayPal is a great, cheap, and fast way to send money "within" the U.S. when sending money to family/friends.

 

Some snaphots/quotes from PayPal regarding international funds transfers.  (Note:  Now, there is another set of fees (not reflected below) for those folks receiving payments of goods which they sell on PayPal....those exchange rate fees are even more scary.)

 

 

 

 

Quote

What are the fees for PayPal accounts?

Opening an account: 

PayPal doesn't charge a fee to open a PayPal account.

Sending money – Personal payments: 

It's free within the U.S. to send money to family and friends when you use only your PayPal balance or bank account, or a combination of their PayPal balance and bank account.

There is a fee to send money as a personal payment using a debit card or credit card. The fee in the U.S. is 2.9% plus $0.30 USD of the amount you send. For example, if you send $100.00 USD by credit card, the fee would be $3.20 USD ($2.90 + $0.30). For personal payments, the sender can pay the fee or pass it on to the recipient. If the recipient doesn't want to pay the fee, they can choose not to accept the payment.

Receiving money – Personal payments: 

It's free to receive money from friends or family in the U.S. when they send the money from the PayPal website using only their PayPal balance or their bank account, or a combination of their PayPal balance and bank account.

If you receive a personal payment made from a debit card or credit card, the sender has the option to pay the fee or pass it on to you. If you don't want to pay the fee, you can choose not to accept the payment.

If the fee is passed to you, it is 2.9% plus $0.30 USD of the amount you receive. For example, if you are sent $100.00 USD by credit card, the fee would be $3.20 USD ($2.90 + $0.30).

This fee also applies if you click Request Money on the PayPal website and request money from friends and family.

Goods and services – Purchase payments:

There’s no fee to use PayPal to purchase goods or services. However, if you receive money for goods or services (such as from selling an item on eBay), the fee for each transaction is 2.9% plus $0.30 USD of the amount you receive.

International payments: 

There is a fee when you send a payment to someone in another country or if you receive a payment from someone in another country. Please note that exchange rate fees also apply if there is a currency conversion. The Fees section of the PayPal User Agreement has specific information. You can find the User Agreement by clicking Legal Agreements at the bottom of any PayPal page.

Note: It is currently not possible to send or receive a personal payment to and from India using PayPal. If you’re sending money for a personal payment to India, we ask that you find another way, we currently recommend Xoom.com.

Withdrawing money: 

You can withdraw money from your PayPal account to your bank account at no cost. If you prefer to receive a check, there is a $1.50 fee.

 

 

[elgordo38]

3 hours ago, themerg said:

All Banks charge for services. It is how they steal money and control economies.

This is the truth just check their annual and quarterly statements. 

[Suradit69]

2 hours ago, Pib said:

But if  you setup Free SMS Remittance that Bangkok Bank SMS will basically show the amount arriving from Bangkok Bank NY (will reflect a lower amount than the original starting amount due to the NY branch fee already applied), the  TT Buying Rate used, the local receiving fee, and the final amount posting to your account at X-time of day.

Yes, for relatively small monthly transfers i.e. in the region of $2000, I'm charged $5 in NY and Baht 200 in Thailand and that information is itemized in the SMS I get, along with the exchange rate used, the total Baht deposited to my account and the resulting balance.

 

Seems quite reasonable to me. My US bank charges me nothing for the domestic transfer to Bangkok Bank branch in NY.

 

As shown in the charts you supplied, both the NY and Thai charges can be higher for larger amounts, but that also means the charges as a percent of the amount transferred is actually lower.

 

Never had a problem with the service. Been using this method for around 15 years. Reliable and cheap.

 

 

[little mary sunshine]

You pay Thai and US fees...that's about what they charge.

[georgemandm]

5 hours ago, 1sickpuppy said:

Do not know what your complaining about, i pay the 200 baht plus fee as well as $30 Australian for taking money out of a branch abroad, you got it easy

I pay $22 to send it to thailand no fees when it lands in thailand.

but has to be over $400 

[hatewaitin]

6 hours ago, lavender19 said:

Use a money transfer company like TransferWise . You get a better rate but you still charged a fee. The banks hate these companies  TransferWise are running a campaign at the moment disclosing how much banks over charge for disgusting exchange rates.The more people who use these companies the better

Yep the only way to go.. Transfer wise not only a very competitive rate but reasonable fees too. When I did my first transfers ANZ were having a big feed on my bank account in AU. $30 just for arranging a swift transfer. Then a piss weak rate in the bargain.

[jgold]

I can give you cash if you are in BKK and you transfer your dollars to my account in the US. I exchange at the official exchange rate. Send me a private message if you are interested.

[DSJPC]

sounds about right...try sending it via FEDEX for $68 next time!!!

[connda]

If you want to transfer pocket money, then use a debit card. 
If you are transferring a lump sum used for monthly expenses, than ACH is the least expensive option if you're home country is the US.  $250 ACH transfer?  That's not really a cost effective way to use ACH.  You'll need to check BKK Banks ACH rates vs bank ATM rates and then do your own cost benefit breakdown.  It's not rocket science.  Best of luck,

[LammyTS1]

Are there not any credit card companies in USA that charge no fee's for cash transactions abroad? I thought there was?

I have a UK credit card through my UK bank. I walk into any Thai bank with my passport and can withdraw anything up to 250,000 baht without any fee's.

The Thai bank doesn't charge me anything and my credit card doesn't charge me any fee's. The exchange rate is the MasterCard rate, meaning they take no cut of the exchange rate. The rate is also better than all exchange kiosks here.

I simply then transfer the cash from my bank a/c to my credit card next day and have no interest to pay.

Ps. Be careful with SCB in Big C extra Pattaya. They charged me 180 baht last week without notifying me but got the money back from them when I told them I would call head office and report the girl!

I opened a Bangkok bank GBP a/c when i got here to transfer money from UK but have never used it cause they charge me 0.25% and my UK bank charges me £9. I just use my credit card for free.
Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect

[BEVUP]

20 hours ago, masuk said:

Same here.  Some banks in Aussie charge $30, others $20.00.    Costs me $30 for a transfer fee for my pension, and at the Thai end. BKK bank charges around AU$40.00.    Some months it works out cheaper to use the ATM if I don't need the full pension.

Yep they have it cheap in America - Aussie fees Anz $18 for $0 to  any amount & as mentioned $30 for Australia's own bank (Commonwealth) + the usual Thai end which can ad up as well EG 500 bht ($20) for a $2000 (always tranfer Aud)

Also the $30 charge for using your Atm overseas for purchase of goods or cash + the Thai end (I only use if have to since I transfer to my Bkk account from Auss )

[Langsuan Man]

14 hours ago, connda said:

If you want to transfer pocket money, then use a debit card. 
If you are transferring a lump sum used for monthly expenses, than ACH is the least expensive option if you're home country is the US.  $250 ACH transfer?  That's not really a cost effective way to use ACH.  You'll need to check BKK Banks ACH rates vs bank ATM rates and then do your own cost benefit breakdown.  It's not rocket science.  Best of luck,

I requested my US bank to transfer $2000 to the Bangkok Bank New York Branch yesterday morning at 8:30 AM Thai time and received notification from Bangkok Bank today at 8:33 AM that money had been transferred and is available

 

 

 

 

[Pib]

Above is a great real world example of the SMS you can get from Bangkok Bank showing key funds transfer details as talked about earlier in this thread and shows the two fees were are talking about.  

 

LSM transferred $2,000, as it flowed through the Bangkok Bank NY branch they sliced off their fee of $5 for the amount flowing through them.  When it arrived Thailand to Bangkok Bank the TT Buying Rate was given which many times will be their opening rate (a.k.a., Update 1 at 8;30am) since the funds were waiting in the Bangkok Bank inbox so to speak when they came to work this morning.   The 0.25% (Bt200 min, Bt500 max) receiving fee was applied which was the Bt200 minimum in this case.  And then the funds were posted to his account.  

 

So, a person was informed of the two fees in a direct or indirect fashion, exchange rate given, and amount posting to your account. The date/time of the SMS is the posting time to your account.  No need for personal math in trying to figure out the exchange rate given and fees, have the funds arrived, etc.

 

Now if LSM had transferred  say $2,000.01, just one penny more that $2,000, he would incurred a $10 Bangkok Bank NY branch fee as above $2,000 (even by one penny) put the transfer in a different fee area on the bank's sliding scale fee structure....the sliding scale shown earlier in this thread.  LSM knows this and I expect that's why he picked exactly $2,000 instead of slightly higher amount to top-up his Bangkok Bank account with a little more day-to-day living money.

 

So when picking amount to transfer, especially if right around the $2,000 amount, also give thought to the NY branch sliding scale fee structure.  Say for some reason you normally do say a monthly transfer of say $2,005 per month, well, you will not get any more money than a person who sent $2,000 because your transfer incurred a $10 NY fee where the other person only incurred a $5 NY fee. All you did is give Bangkok Bank $5 extra dollars in fee and you didn't get a baht more in your Bangkok Bank account than the other guy since you sent $5 extra dollars.  And if you had sent $2,000.01 you would actually get approx $5 less than the guy who only sent $2,000.  

 

Just bringing this up since it seems an approx $2,000 amount, give or take a little, seem to be an amount a lot of people like to send monthly.  Or your arriving monthly pension payment may be right around $2,000...and sure hope it's not barely over $2,000 incurring the $10 fee amount vs $5.  If that arriving monthly pension is barely over $2,000 by a few dollars you might want to figure out a way to drop it to at least $2,000 like maybe increasing tax withholdings a few dollars, increasing an allotment, etc....just something to the drop the payment amount flowing through the NY branch to at least $2,000.   

 

And for anyone who say had a $2000 monthly pension payment for social security, military retirement, etc., being sent via the Bangkok Bank ACH routing method, the exact same fees as LSM incurred for his self-generated bank transfer would have occurred. But remember, whether a self-generated transfer or a govt agency benefit payment, those two fees occur "before" posting to your account and will not be reflected in your ibanking/passbook which fools a lot of people in thinking no fees were applied...but those fees were indeed applied.  If you are signed up for the Free SMS Remittance from Bangkok Bank their SMS will show the fees as in LSM's post.