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

[Skeptic7]

20 hours ago, LammyTS1 said:

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

It's been a few years, but I was able to do the same with a US debit card @ Bangkok Bank currency exchange window. Some US credit cards have no foreign transaction fees for good and services purchased abroad, but not for cash advances. Actually, there may be no "fee" for the cash advance transaction, but the grace period does not apply to cash advances and they start charging interest on the cash advance immediately. 

[LammyTS1]

It's been a few years, but I was able to do the same with a US debit card @ Bangkok Bank currency exchange window. Some US credit cards have no foreign transaction fees for good and services purchased abroad, but not for cash advances. Actually, there may be no "fee" for the cash advance transaction, but the grace period does not apply to cash advances and they start charging interest on the cash advance immediately. 

Yes correct, no grace period. You need to pay the balance as soon as it appears on your online statement. Next day usually or else you incur interest charges but still minimal as opposed to bank transfer fee's.

My credit card allows cash advances as well as goods/services. I can use it at currency exchange Windows as well free of charge.


Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect

[sandyf]

On 2/28/2017 at 8:50 AM, jobwolf said:

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.

I was charged about the same by TMB to transfer a relatively small amount back to the UK.

I must say it was extremely quick. the funds were in my UK account in about an hour.

[sandyf]

13 hours ago, LammyTS1 said:

 

Yes correct, no grace period. You need to pay the balance as soon as it appears on your online statement. Next day usually or else you incur interest charges but still minimal as opposed to bank transfer fee's.

My credit card allows cash advances as well as goods/services. I can use it at currency exchange Windows as well free of charge.


Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect

 

"still minimal as opposed to bank transfer fee's. "

 

HSBC banks in the UK charge £4 for international transfers, any more minimal would be free.

 

The real cost of transfer is in the exchange rate and where that occurs. When I do a transfer I always choose to send GBP but HSBC still display the exchange rate, the rate they would use had I sent Thai baht. Having sent GBP the exchange is done in Thailand and the rate is always significantly higher than that used by HSBC.

[Pib]

 

On 3/1/2017 at 10:14 AM, Langsuan Man said:

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

 

 

 

 

 

LSM,

   Lord knows I've harped on "not" doing an ACH transfer for so long (like around since 2011) since I use my no foreign transaction fee cards which reimburse ATM fees and I also use the cards for counter withdrawals.   But I just did a USAA to Bangkok Bank ACH transfer just to ensure my ACH transfer setup it still worked....wanted to do a 100% test.

 

   A person can never really know if it works "100%" until you do a 100% check.   Like when using your foreign card in an ATM....you have entered you PIN, entered the amount you want within allowed limits by the ATM and your card issuing bank, and not until you press the last button where money is suppose to spit-out next you instead get an error message along the lines of call your card issuing bank.  If a person had only went to the point of inserting card, entering PIN, entering amount, and they pushing cancel because he felt that was a good enough check, he might have been sadly disappointed when doing a 100% check (pushing that final button) and really needing the money.

 

   Anyway, I decided to do a 100% ACH transfer check.   I initiated an ACH transfer from USAA of a healthy sum of money on 28 Mar/Tuesday at 10:11am Thailand time and just a few minutes ago on 29 Mar/Wednesday at 9:36am I got the Bangkok Bank SMS saying the transfer had posted to my account.  SMS like yours and got the initial/opening 0830hrs rate since the transfer was waiting in their inbox for final check this morning.   Less than 24 hours for the low cost ACH transfer.   

 

   And in fact I expect I could have waited to yesterday evening to initiate the transfer since it would have still be before 8:30am in USAA's time zone to meet their morning transfer cut off time.....if I had waited it would have probably only taken around 15 hours from initiate transfer to money received.    I may ask USAA what their daily cut off times are to see if you initiate a transfer say 1pm their time do it still go out same day.  

 

   Anyway, my curiosity and desire to do a 100% ACH transfer check have been satisfied....back to using my cards.  

 

[wotsdermatter]

As a retiree, I am fortunate because my bank in Canada allows me to make two ATM withdrawals each month while I am out of the country.  However, it is 5:08 pm on 29 March, 2017 and 10 minutes ago I went to withdraw money from a TMB ATM.  All went well until I was asked if I agreed to pay the 220 Baht fee for the transaction. CANCELLED immediately as this fee increase is nothing but another Thai banking scam.

 

Beware, look before pushing those buttons.

[Langsuan Man]

16 hours ago, wotsdermatter said:

All went well until I was asked if I agreed to pay the 220 Baht fee for the transaction. CANCELLED immediately

Well your next task is to find a Canadian bank that will reimburse you for the fee,  since they all now charge it 

[LammyTS1]

As a retiree, I am fortunate because my bank in Canada allows me to make two ATM withdrawals each month while I am out of the country.  However, it is 5:08 pm on 29 March, 2017 and 10 minutes ago I went to withdraw money from a TMB ATM.  All went well until I was asked if I agreed to pay the 220 Baht fee for the transaction. CANCELLED immediately as this fee increase is nothing but another Thai banking scam.
 
Beware, look before pushing those buttons.

Walk into a bank and withdraw money using the machine inside with your card & showing your passport.

You can withdraw anything up to your cards limit free of charge ie I withdrew 100,000 baht. No charges as your not using the ATM.


Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect

[Pib]

On 3/29/2017 at 10:10 AM, Pib said:

   Anyway, I decided to do a 100% ACH transfer check.   I initiated an ACH transfer from USAA of a healthy sum of money on 28 Mar/Tuesday at 10:11am Thailand time and just a few minutes ago on 29 Mar/Wednesday at 9:36am I got the Bangkok Bank SMS saying the transfer had posted to my account.  SMS like yours and got the initial/opening 0830hrs rate since the transfer was waiting in their inbox for final check this morning.   Less than 24 hours for the low cost ACH transfer.   

 

   And in fact I expect I could have waited to yesterday evening to initiate the transfer since it would have still be before 8:30am in USAA's time zone to meet their morning transfer cut off time.....if I had waited it would have probably only taken around 15 hours from initiate transfer to money received.    I may ask USAA what their daily cut off times are to see if you initiate a transfer say 1pm their time do it still go out same day.  

 

 

For you USAA members, I did ask USAA about their ACH transfer cutoff time(s) and their answer was:

 

Quote

Please be advised the funds transfer out cutoff time is 8 pm CT.   It a transfer is made after the cut off time it will be processed the following business day.

 

Where I said 8:30am in my earlier post it should have been 8:00am.  My bad on not remembering exactly what cutoff time was stated  when I initiated the transfer transaction.   

 

Now 8am Central Time when on U.S. Daylight savings time currently in effect is 12 hours behind Thailand; 13 hours behind when not on daylight savings time. 

 

So, on my  ACH transfer which took a little less than 24 hours I could have initiated this transfer from Thailand just before 8pm Thailand time to meet USAA's 8am CT cutoff time and hopefully got the funds next morning Thailand time just like my transfer I talked about in my earlier post.  Instead of taking a little less than 24 hours it would have taken a little less than 14 hours.  

 

Assuming all USAA ACH transfers to Bangkok Bank go this fast and considering it's a low cost ACH transfer versus a more pricey SWIFT/Wire transfer which might take just as long due to Bangkok Bank processing/posting protocol and sending/intermediary bank processing/cutoff times,   I can't complain.   More than fast enough to get money.

 

 

[JimmyJ]

On 3/1/2017 at 4:12 AM, LammyTS1 said:

 

Yes correct, no grace period. You need to pay the balance as soon as it appears on your online statement. Next day usually or else you incur interest charges but still minimal as opposed to bank transfer fee's.

My credit card allows cash advances as well as goods/services. I can use it at currency exchange Windows as well free of charge.


Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect

 

 

I thought all credit card cash advances charge a fee plus interest beginning at once.

Your credit card has no fee for a cash advance (including  a cash advance abroad), just interest charges?

 

A good deal if that's the case. What credit card is that?

Edited March 31, 2017 by JimmyJ

[JimmyJ]

On 2/27/2017 at 5:50 PM, 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.

Capital One 360 online checking accounts charge no ATM fees anywhere in the world, but do not refund whatever fees the foreign ATM may charge.

So far that's the only bank I've found that does this which is available to me.

 

Someone in a thread here has a US bank that refunds the foreign ATM fee as well with a (monthly or annual - don't recall) limit on the amount they will refund.

 

I went to their site but unfortunately that bank only opens accounts for people in a few states, not mine.

 

Does anyone have a US bank that refunds foreign ATM charges (as well as not charging themselves for using an ATM abroad)?

[mogandave]

Fidelity has no foreign transaction fees and refunds the foreign bank's fee.

They should be available in all states.


Live, love, laugh

[JimmyJ]

20 minutes ago, mogandave said:

Fidelity has no foreign transaction fees and refunds the foreign bank's fee.

They should be available in all states.


Live, love, laugh

Thanks for the suggestion.

 

I went to /www.fidelitybankonline.com.

Live chat mentioned there are many banks named Fidelity which are not connected and a search found several with Fidelity in the name.

This one is only in MA and not taking online accounts.

You were probably referring to a different one?

Could you post a url please.

 

(Incidentally - odd that fidelitybankonline does not take online accounts)!

Edited March 31, 2017 by JimmyJ

[suzannegoh]

3 hours ago, JimmyJ said:

Thanks for the suggestion.

 

I went to /www.fidelitybankonline.com.

Live chat mentioned there are many banks named Fidelity which are not connected and a search found several with Fidelity in the name.

This one is only in MA and not taking online accounts.

You were probably referring to a different one?

Could you post a url please.

 

(Incidentally - odd that fidelitybankonline does not take online accounts)!

 I think that you looked up the wrong Fidelity.  I have an account with Fidelity Investments (www.fidelity.com) that has an ATM card and they refund the ATM fees that Thai banks charge.  Schwab has a similar deal.  However you might have trouble opening an account with Fidelity if they know that you live outside of the United States.

Edited April 1, 2017 by suzannegoh

[Pib]

5 hours ago, JimmyJ said:

 

I thought all credit card cash advances charge a fee plus interest beginning at once.

Your credit card has no fee for a cash advance (including  a cash advance abroad), just interest charges?

 

A good deal if that's the case. What credit card is that?

Most credit cards do charge an upfront fee for the cash advance; a few don't.  And all charge interest on a cash advance.    

 

The upfront fee for the cash advance is usually 3% and that is charged immediately even if you pay the cash advance off same day.  Get a $1000 cash advance....be hit with a $30 fee....and even if you pay off the $1000 cash advance same day to avoid any interest you will still owe $30 of cash advance which came from the upfront fee.

 

The interest begins to accumulate from day 1 of the cash advance.  But for purchases you get a grace period of X-days to pay it off and if you pay the entire card balance off within the grace period for the purchases no interest is charged.

 

And beware of your card's policy on how payments are applied when you have both cash advances and purchases on your account. Say you had a $1000 worth of cash advances and $1000 of purchases on your card for the month for a total of $2,000.  You decided to make a payment of $1000 towards that $2,000 balance.  Some banks may apply that entire $1000 payment towards the cash advance portion only; other banks may apply the payment evenly....that is, $500 towards the cash advance balance and $500 towards the purchase balance.   That leaves you with a $500 cash advance balance and $500 purchase....both of which continue to accumulate interest and the cash advance balance may have a higher interest rate than the purchase balance.  Just know the rules as to how your card-issuing bank applies credit card payments when you are not paying off the amount in full each month.

 

If you are a U.S. person and qualify for a Pentagon Federal Credit Union account, their credit cards do not charge any cash advance fee nor foreign transaction fee.

Edited April 1, 2017 by Pib

[mogandave]

 I think that you looked up the wrong Fidelity.  I have an account with Fidelity Investments (www.fidelity.com) that has an ATM card and they refund the ATM fees that Thai banks charge.  Schwab has a similar deal.  However you might have trouble opening an account with Fidelity if they know that you live outside of the United States.

Yes

[Langsuan Man]

1 hour ago, suzannegoh said:

 I think that you looked up the wrong Fidelity.  I have an account with Fidelity Investments (www.fidelity.com) that has an ATM card and they refund the ATM fees that Thai banks charge.  Schwab has a similar deal.  However you might have trouble opening an account with Fidelity if they know that you live outside of the United States.

Fidelity customers have to learn to read the fine print.  Yes, they do reimburse the ATM fees charged by foreign banks but they tack on a foreign transaction fee 

 

Quote

1. All Fidelity ATM withdrawal fees will be waived for your Fidelity^® Cash Management Account. In addition, your account will automatically be reimbursed for all ATM fees charged by other institutions while using a Fidelity^® Visa^® Gold Check Card linked to your account at any ATM displaying the Visa^®, Plus^®, or Star^® logos. ATM reimbursements will be credited to the account when the transaction posts. Please note, there is a foreign transaction fee of one percent that is not waived, which will be included in the amount charged to your account.

source: https://www.fidelity.com/cash-management/atm-debit-card

 

P.S. Schwab does not charge the foreign transaction fee

Edited April 1, 2017 by Langsuan Man

[suzannegoh]

7 minutes ago, Langsuan Man said:

Fidelity customers have to learn to read the fine print.  Yes, they do reimburse the ATM fees charged by foreign banks but they tack on a foreign transaction fee 

 

source: https://www.fidelity.com/cash-management/atm-debit-card

 Yes, I read that before. 

Do you have a Fidelity account and do they charge you that 1%?  I do and they have never charged me that 1% on ATM withdrawals.  And yes I have carefully checked the exchange rates on my ATM withdrawals.  I have no idea why, I can only guess that if you have more than a certain amount of money in their brokerage accounts they waive that 1% and that my 401k and IRAs being with them put me over that limit.

 

Edited April 1, 2017 by suzannegoh

[Langsuan Man]

10 minutes ago, Langsuan Man said:

there is a foreign transaction fee of one percent that is not waived

Go to the url I posted and see for yourself

 

They state it again in the FAQ section (Fidelity Visa Gold Check card)

 

I have never used the card to obtain funds from a foreign ATM card because of the warning,  just like I don't use my USAA ATM card who have the same warning

 

And at onlly 1% that amount can easlily be lost in the conversion because you will never know exactly when the conversion was applied  

[suzannegoh]

13 minutes ago, Langsuan Man said:

Go to the url I posted and see for yourself

 

They state it again in the FAQ section (Fidelity Visa Gold Check card)

 

I have never used the card to obtain funds from a foreign ATM card because of the warning,  just like I don't use my USAA ATM card who have the same warning

 

And at onlly 1% that amount can easlily be lost in the conversion because you will never know exactly when the conversion was applied  

 

I know what the URL say but that conflicts with my experience using that card internationally since 2010.  The net rate that I get on ATM withdrawals with that card is typically withing about 0.5% of what Oanda is shows as being the midpoint (average of the buy & sell rates) Interbank rate for that day.  Is your experience with Fidelity different than that?

I haven't used that card in a few months but if you want I'd be willing to test it with a small withdrawal later today and give you some current data. 

Edited April 1, 2017 by suzannegoh

[Langsuan Man]

5 minutes ago, suzannegoh said:

 

I know what the URL say but that conflicts with my experience using that card internationally since 2010.  The net rate that I get on ATM withdrawals with that card is typically withing about 0.5% of what Oanda is shows as being the midpoint (average of the buy & sell rates) Interbank rate for that day.  Is your experience with Fidelity different than that?

I haven't used that card in a few months but if you want I'd be willing to test it with a small withdrawal later today and give you some current data. 

Don't do it for me, I don't really care.   I have other bank cards that I am positive don't charge anything because they say they don't  

[suzannegoh]

Don't do it for me, I don't really care.   I have other bank cards that I am positive don't charge anything because they say they don't  

Agreed that if signing up for a new account it would make more sense to seek one out that guarantees that they won't charge a foreign transaction fee. I didn't originally open that Fidelity account for the purposes of making ATM withdrawals, rather I was a customer of Fidelity since the 90's and at some point they started sending out ATM cards to holders of certain types of accounts.

[JimmyJ]

1 hour ago, suzannegoh said:

 
Do you have a Fidelity account and do they charge you that 1%?  I do and they have never charged me that 1% on ATM withdrawals.  And yes I have carefully checked the exchange rates on my ATM withdrawals.  I have no idea why...

 

Researching this I've found several comments around the net that Fidelity charges the 1% for purchases but not for ATM use (even though the terms mention a 1% FTF without listing the exception).

Edited April 1, 2017 by JimmyJ

[JimmyJ]

Capital One 360 online checking officially does not charge ATM fees on their part anywhere in the world.

 

I've found multiple comments that if one contests a foreign ATM charge by the foreign bank (simply by mentioning it to them), Capital One 360 will refund it with no argument.

 

They have no fees for the account itself (no minimum balance).

They receive bank wires (for no charge) but do not send them.

They do ACH's in and out though (for no charge).

 

If you are into bonuses (why not?), interested in this account but not in a hurry, you may wish to wait and monitor it - they've been sending out targeted offers of $200 - $400 for opening the account (I opened mine a few months ago without a bonus unfortunately).

Edited April 1, 2017 by JimmyJ

[suzannegoh]

21 minutes ago, JimmyJ said:

Researching this I've found several comments around the net that Fidelity charges the 1% for purchases but not for ATM use (even though the terms mention a 1% FTF without listing the exception).

I think that's correct, though a mitigating factor on their Visa card is that the rewards program on the current version of the Fidelity Visa amounts to a 2% kickback.

Edited April 1, 2017 by suzannegoh

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

58 minutes ago, JimmyJ said:

Researching this I've found several comments around the net that Fidelity charges the 1% for purchases but not for ATM use (even though the terms mention a 1% FTF without listing the exception).

That's my understanding of Fidelity's actual practice, despite what the policy on their website says.

 

Which may be part of the reason that there's a lot of confusion in people's posting on Fidelity, with some saying they do and others saying they don't.

 

In fact, they do (for purchases), but they don't (for ATM withdrawals).

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

54 minutes ago, JimmyJ said:

Capital One 360 online checking officially does not charge ATM fees on their part anywhere in the world.

 

I've found multiple comments that if one contests a foreign ATM charge by the foreign bank (simply by mentioning it to them), Capital One 360 will refund it with no argument.

 

They have no fees for the account itself (no minimum balance).

They receive bank wires (for no charge) but do not send them.

They do ACH's in and out though (for no charge).

 

If you are into bonuses (why not?), interested in this account but not in a hurry, you may wish to wait and monitor it - they've been sending out targeted offers of $200 - $400 for opening the account (I opened mine a few months ago without a bonus unfortunately).

You have to be careful about Cap One 360 and the language they use.

 

They may say THEY don't charge a fee. But last time I checked, they do in fact "pass along" MasterCard's foreign currency conversion fee.

 

Also, AFAIK, Cap One 360's debit cards don't reimburse the foreign ATM fees charged by banks in other countries.

 

There are two different things in all of these discussions:-

 

--does the card issuing bank itself charge a foreign currency fee on purchases or ATM withdrawals made abroad, and

--does the card issuing bank reimburse you for ATM withdrawal fees charged by other banks, including those outside the U.S.

 

That's what someone needs to focus on in considering potential bank accounts.

 

 

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

1 hour ago, suzannegoh said:

 

I know what the URL say but that conflicts with my experience using that card internationally since 2010.  The net rate that I get on ATM withdrawals with that card is typically withing about 0.5% of what Oanda is shows as being the midpoint (average of the buy & sell rates) Interbank rate for that day.  Is your experience with Fidelity different than that?

I haven't used that card in a few months but if you want I'd be willing to test it with a small withdrawal later today and give you some current data. 

 

You don't need to use Oanda as your basis for comparison.

 

VISA has its own website that lists their daily exchange rates for all currencies. And in my experience, when I have a no foreign currency fee debit card, the rate I get on my transactions is usually the exact VISA rate down to the 100th of a baht.

 

https://usa.visa.com/support/consumer/travel-support/exchange-rate-calculator.html/

 

 

 

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

8 hours ago, JimmyJ said:

 

Does anyone have a US bank that refunds foreign ATM charges (as well as not charging themselves for using an ATM abroad)?

 

Charles Schwab, with a brokerage account.

 

Fidelity, with a brokerage account

 

State Farm Bank, with limits in some cases on the amount of the ATM fee reimbursements.

 

Service Credit Union, if you're related to the U.S. military or live in certain areas of New England.

 

State Department Federal Credit Union, as best as I recall.

 

and then various local/regional/state accounts that aren't nationally available. 

 

There may also be some others that I'm not recalling off the top of my head.

 

[JimmyJ]

4 hours ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

You have to be careful about Cap One 360 and the language they use.

 

They may say THEY don't charge a fee. But last time I checked, they do in fact "pass along" MasterCard's foreign currency conversion fee.

 

Also, AFAIK, Cap One 360's debit cards don't reimburse the foreign ATM fees charged by banks in other countries.

 

There are two different things in all of these discussions:-

 

--does the card issuing bank itself charge a foreign currency fee on purchases or ATM withdrawals made abroad, and

--does the card issuing bank reimburse you for ATM withdrawal fees charged by other banks, including those outside the U.S.

 

That's what someone needs to focus on in considering potential bank accounts.

 

 

 

"Also, AFAIK, Cap One 360's debit cards don't reimburse the foreign ATM fees charged by banks in other countries"

 

"-does the card issuing bank reimburse you for ATM withdrawal fees charged by other banks, including those outside the U.S."

 

 

As I stated above - "I've found multiple comments [EDIT -  from those who used the card abroad] that if one contests a foreign ATM charge by the foreign bank (simply by mentioning it to them), Capital One 360 will refund it with no argument."

 

 

 

Edited April 1, 2017 by JimmyJ