Money Transfer / America to Thailand

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

55 minutes ago, mtls2005 said:

 

He may be too senior to understand the question, or the details?

 

Fidelity reimburses the ATM fee, typically within 24 hours, but this can vary based on weekends, holidays, time difference, etc.

 

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

 

It's also worth noting that while the Fidelity website also talks about them charging a 1% foreign currency conversion fee, TVF members here who have Fidelity accounts have reported that there is no FCF with Fidelity for ATM withdrawals -- but apparently there is for purchases.

 

[Bill Miller]

On 4/29/2017 at 11:52 PM, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

I'm not sure about this, but I think BKKB requires that the names on the sending and the receiving accounts be the same.

 

But I personally have never tried having someone else try to send money to me thru the BKKB New York route.

 

I established a NY Bkk Bank account as well as a Thai based Savings account with them from within Thailand.
None of my US accounts charge for ACH transfers, unless I want express handling... $3 for next business day, and they all offer recurring debit service if desired. As far as I know the only fee involved is a nominal currency exchange fee on these transactions.
I do not know about the "same name" bit. I regularly transfer funds to my girl friend's Bkk account from my US banks. One has something called "POP Money" (Pay Other People). Works well.

[mtls2005]

AFAIK, I have not been charged the 1% fee using my Fidelity ATM card here at an ATM. I've never used it for purchases here. I've always assumed the 1% fee was applicable to purchases rather than ATM usage.

 

Fidelity also does NOT charge the $3 fee, which many 'traditional' banks charge, for external, domestic (ACH) transfers, although I have avoided linking my Fidelity and BBL/BKK via BBL/NYC for concerns this may raise some flags.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

8 minutes ago, Bill Miller said:

I established a NY Bkk Bank account as well as a Thai based Savings account with them from within Thailand.
None of my US accounts charge for ACH transfers, unless I want express handling... $3 for next business day, and they all offer recurring debit service if desired. As far as I know the only fee involved is a nominal currency exchange fee on these transactions.
I do not know about the "same name" bit. I regularly transfer funds to my girl friend's Bkk account from my US banks. One has something called "POP Money" (Pay Other People). Works well.

 

First, you can't "establish a NY BKK Bank account."  You can only use their U.S. ABA bank ID number as the destination for U.S. domestic ACH transfers that get routed to your BKK Bank account in Thailand.

 

As for transferring to your GF's account, are you saying you sent her funds to an account in her name with BKK Bank in Thailand via a transfer from the BKKB New York branch?  Or, are you saying you sent her money using the POP Money transfer network, which is a separate entity and has nothing to do with BKK Bank?

Edited May 1, 2017 by TallGuyJohninBKK

[Bill Miller]

29 minutes ago, mtls2005 said:

AFAIK, I have not been charged the 1% fee using my Fidelity ATM card here at an ATM. I've never used it for purchases here. I've always assumed the 1% fee was applicable to purchases rather than ATM usage.

 

Fidelity also does NOT charge the $3 fee, which many 'traditional' banks charge, for external, domestic (ACH) transfers, although I have avoided linking my Fidelity and BBL/BKK via BBL/NYC for concerns this may raise some flags.

To say it again my banks only charge $3 for express, next business day service. Regular two to three day transfers are no charge.
Bank of the West is the one using POP. Another one I use is a Federal Credit Union, which again charges nothing for regular transfers. 
YMMV.
My US based debit cards did cause various fees to be charged, which is why I use my Bkk Bank debit card exclusively.

I looked into it, and Bkk Bank DOES charge a transfer fee, but before deposit. Why I had not seen it in my statements.

 

Edited May 1, 2017 by Bill Miller
correction

[Bill Miller]

27 minutes ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

 

First, you can't "establish a NY BKK Bank account."  You can only use their U.S. ABA bank ID number as the destination for U.S. domestic ACH transfers that get routed to your BKK Bank account in Thailand.

 

As for transferring to your GF's account, are you saying you sent her funds to an account in her name with BKK Bank in Thailand?  Or, are you saying you sent her money using the POP Money transfer network, which is a separate entity and has nothing to do with BKK Bank?

I am not responding to quibbles. I send funds to, through, or at a NY Bangkok Bank account, which I established to make transfers to my GF before I had my own savings account here. I established the connection on line. 
I lied... I did respond.
I regularly transfer funds to my girlfriend from my US accounts, which are in my name, to her Bkk Bank which is in her name. I also sometimes send money to her from my Bkk account. I have never heard of a bank that requires both accounts be in the same name for transfer of funds, though anything is possible.
I am just concerned with results here, John. Folks ask "How can I...", and if I have done, I give my experience. It does not matter if it is my "personal" account in NY, as I am not warehousing funds there. That IS available, and at good rates with a modest deposit requirement, if anyone is interested.

 

Edited May 1, 2017 by Bill Miller
Clarification

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

51 minutes ago, Bill Miller said:

I regularly transfer funds to my girlfriend from my US accounts, which are in my name, to her Bkk Bank which is in her name. I also sometimes send money to her from my Bkk account. I have never heard of a bank that requires both accounts be in the same name for transfer of funds, though anything is possible.

 

That's interesting. As I said before, I've never tried to send funds from the U.S. thru BKK Bank NY to some other person's BKK Bank account in Thailand. But if you're correct, then apparently it is possible.

 

However, the BKK Bank branch in New York does NOT host any consumer accounts that an American can open there.

 

 

[owl sees all]

We are all on the internet so the best way to go is take a sum - say $1000 - go onto the many money transfer sites, plug in the amount and see how much will be delivered to the destined Thai acc.

 

The sites offer different rates but also different charges so check out the end amount. Make sure the exchange rate is roughly the same when checking.  In other words do the checking within the space of a couple of hours.

 

I personally have used four different methods but for the last 2 years have stuck with the same company. I still do check the others regularly to see if I can get a better deal though.

[Pib]

The Bangkok Bank NY branch is only for corporate accounts; not retail accounts. Just because you are using the NY branch routing number combined with a in-Thailand Bangkok Bank account does not mean you have an account at the NY branch. Anybody can use the NY branch routing number to send money to their in-Thailand Bangkok Bank account.

[Oohwan]

7 hours ago, Bill Miller said:

I regularly transfer funds to my girlfriend from my US accounts, which are in my name, to her Bkk Bank which is in her name. I also sometimes send money to her from my Bkk account. I have never heard of a bank that requires both accounts be in the same name for transfer of funds, though anything is possible.
 

Are you saying saying that it is possible to send ACH from the U.S. thru BKK Bank NY to some other person's BKK Bank account in Thailand?  Are you still doing this now?  This is great if it is 100% percent certain. 

 

When you transfer the funds to BKK Bank NY how do you give them instructions to send it on to the account in Thailand? I assume this has to be done online? 

[rickb]

With all due respect, Jingthing, the bank from which you are sending the money and the BKK Bank account do not have to be the same name.  I send money from my USAA Federal Savings account to my wife's BKK Bank account via BKK Bank NY and never have any problems.  

[Pib]

You can transfer to a third party account (an account other than yours)...it does not have to be an account with your name on it.  However, but, there have been many posts over the years where folks transferring funds to Thai banks, to include Bangkok Bank, have had their transfer rejected for incoming SWIFT and ACH transfers due to name mismatches, misspelling.   Below are a couple of partial quotes from the Bangkok Bank website talking transfers to accounts via SWIFT and U.S. ACH.

 

Using SWIFT from Wherever in the World

http://www.bangkokbank.com/BangkokBank/PersonalBanking/DailyBanking/TransferingFunds/TransferringIntoThailand/Pages/TransferringintoThailand.aspx

Quote

When transferring funds into a Bangkok Bank account from abroad via SWIFT, remember to have the below information on hand:

• The account number
• The account name
• The address of the bank branch (if required by the remitting bank abroad)
• Bangkok Bank’s SWIFT code "BKKBTHBK"

 

•  

 

Using ACH from the U.S.

http://www.bangkokbank.com/BangkokBank/PersonalBanking/DailyBanking/TransferingFunds/TransferringIntoThailand/ReceivingFundsfromUSA/Pages/ReceivingFundsfromUSA.aspx

Quote

Enter the name of the recipient account in Thailand, if required.

If you want to transfer funds into a third party account, you must use the internet banking service of banks in the United States which allow the remitter to specify the beneficiary’s name. Otherwise, the payment instruction Bangkok Bank receives may not carry the correct beneficiary name and Bangkok Bank will have to return funds to the remitter.

You should check with your US bank for the correct transfer menu for ACH payment. The terms and conditions of internet banking services may vary between banks. You should read all related terms and conditions of your account carefully before initiating any transaction. Bangkok Bank is not involved in the provision of internet banking services by banks in the US.

 

[Bill Miller]

3 hours ago, Oohwan said:

Are you saying saying that it is possible to send ACH from the U.S. thru BKK Bank NY to some other person's BKK Bank account in Thailand?  Are you still doing this now?  This is great if it is 100% percent certain. 

 

When you transfer the funds to BKK Bank NY how do you give them instructions to send it on to the account in Thailand? I assume this has to be done online? 

I forget the exact procedure, having set it up about three years ago. It did involve inputting her Bkkb account number at some point. Now I just instruct whichever bank I wish to use to transfer XXXX dollars to Miss YYYY, yes or no to express service, and they do the rest. I have also an automatic monthly deposit set up for her from one bank.
It is also possible to pay utility bills and send rent to my UK expat landlord at a different bank. Bkk bank works pretty well, I think.

People keep hammering "You cannot have a New York BBKB account!" Who gives a rat's patoot?  I act much as if I do, and the money gets where I want it to. It is like the nit pickers who warble "You cannot have a retirement visa!", while all the Thai immigration people I have dealt with talk to me comfortably about my "retirement visa".
Just follow the instructions, and voila!

 

Edited May 1, 2017 by Bill Miller

[Jaybott]

3 hours ago, Oohwan said:

Are you saying saying that it is possible to send ACH from the U.S. thru BKK Bank NY to some other person's BKK Bank account in Thailand?  Are you still doing this now?  This is great if it is 100% percent certain. 

 

When you transfer the funds to BKK Bank NY how do you give them instructions to send it on to the account in Thailand? I assume this has to be done online? 

You will need to open the account in Thailand. Get the account number from them. If its a regular passbook account it will be a 10 digit number. Go to whatever US bank you want to use to send the cash and setup the transfer. BB Banks Routing Transit Number (RTN) is: 026008691. That should be all the information you will need: the persons name on the account, account number, the receiving banks RTN. Some banks may want more info but that is all my FCU needed. If you go to BB Bank web site, click the International tab and you can find the NY address, phone number, emai address, etc. When I first sent money to my wifes account she was my fiance still using her maiden name, completely different from my name.

 

As other people mentioned you should have a backup plan as well. If you just have a Schwab account and your ATM card gets eaten, lost or damaged you' ll be SOL for a couple days until you get a replacement. With a BB account you can go into any branch and withdraw using the passbook if you lose the ATM card.

[Pib]

 

Info, Address, Phone Number, Email, etc for Bangkok Bank NY branch.   As already mentioned you do not need an account with the NY branch to use their routing number for transfer to in-Thailand Bangkok Bank accounts.

 

http://www.bangkokbank.com/BangkokBank/InternationalNetwork/InternationalBranches/USA/pages/index.aspx

 

http://www.bangkokbank.com/BangkokBank/INTERNATIONALNETWORK/INTERNATIONALBRANCHES/USA/Pages/Content2.aspx

 

 

[Langsuan Man]

I have USAA and all I needed to EFTS funds into my Thai girlfriend's Bangkok Bank account was the patience to wait three days, the correct spelling of her name, and her Bangkok Bank account number

 

A nifty way to get around the FBAR requirement by the way