Bangkok Bank transfers from London changed

[perthperson]

Just now, perthperson said:

Will post again when I have some more info......

UPDATE

 

Yesterday (20/o7/2017) I initiated a "Faster Payment" transfer of funds from my NatWest(UK) account via the BKB(London) to my Thai account.  I can now confirm this transaction was processed and that the funds are available and in Thailand.

 

My local BKB manager assures me that as a long standing customer I need do nothing in regard to this 'change' UNLESS I wish to instruct my pension providers(s) to pay funds direct into my Thai account via BKB(London) Currently my pension funds are paid direct into my UK bank account.  Apparently registration is also needed if funds originating from the UK are sent to a third party in Thailand from a UK bank account via BKB(London).

 

The local bank-manager was able to access all my transactions (over a decade's worth!) which had originated in London. He also said London has access to a sub-set of my personal BKB security data held by the bank in Thailand.

 

I am now greatly reassured but have written to the bank in London detailing what I have been told and await a response,

 

Of course others may have a different experiences/outcomes.

[surat04]

I just spoke to a very helpful lady at Bangkok bank London who agreed to authorise my monthly transfer this month but going forward everyone will need to register or risk their transfer being stopped.

[perthperson]

10 minutes ago, surat04 said:

I just spoke to a very helpful lady at Bangkok bank London

Did you get her name?

 

[surat04]

Ambar Tahir

[NanLaew]

13 minutes ago, surat04 said:

Ambar Tahir

I wonder if she knows she's got a burgeoning fan club over here?

[chickenslegs]

I have been using the Bangkok Bank service for several years but this topic has caused me to look at the Transferwise option.

 

This is a real time quote from them ...

 

And, this is what it would cost using Bangkok Bank ...

2,000 GBP

 

-20 GBP Charge in UK

 

-5 GBP Charge in Thailand (0.25%)

 

 

 

1,975 @ 43.07750 (TT rate at 17:30hrs 21/7/17)

 

= 85078.0625 THB

 

 

 

 

Edited July 21, 2017 by chickenslegs

[Dionigi]

My Uk. pension is sent here by the gov vitually free of charge. When I set up my pension I told them I was in Thailand and my bank details. Arrives here every month on the dot no problems. Of course you lose the updates to the pension by telling them you live abroad.

[chickenslegs]

1 minute ago, Dionigi said:

My Uk. pension is sent here by the gov vitually free of charge. When I set up my pension I told them I was in Thailand and my bank details. Arrives here every month on the dot no problems. Of course you lose the updates to the pension by telling them you live abroad.

I am interested to know what exchange rate you get?

[CharlieH]

8 minutes ago, chickenslegs said:

I am interested to know what exchange rate you get?

The published exchange rate of that bank on the day its received.

[chickenslegs]

2 minutes ago, CharlieH said:

The published exchange rate of that bank on the day its received.

Thanks. Seems like a good deal then.

[briley]

Chickenslegs

 

I have always wondered - if you use the likes of Transferwise to put Baht into a Bangkok Bank account do they charge the 500 Baht fee for a foreign payment into your account?

 

Currently I use Halifax at £9 a transfer but then the 500 Baht from Bangkok bank makes it more expensive and you do not know the Fx rate until tommorrow

 

Mind I can guarantee the FX rate dips the day I do a transfer and improves the next day ...........................

 

[CharlieH]

The fee at Bangkok bank is upto a max of 500 baht. It depends entirely on how much is transferred.

[briley]

Usually transfer over £3000 at a time so always get the full 500 Baht charge.

Edited July 21, 2017 by briley

[chickenslegs]

27 minutes ago, briley said:

Chickenslegs

 

I have always wondered - if you use the likes of Transferwise to put Baht into a Bangkok Bank account do they charge the 500 Baht fee for a foreign payment into your account?

 

Currently I use Halifax at £9 a transfer but then the 500 Baht from Bangkok bank makes it more expensive and you do not know the Fx rate until tommorrow

 

Mind I can guarantee the FX rate dips the day I do a transfer and improves the next day ...........................

 

Good point. I guess that the Bangkok Bank will charge the same fee on foreign currency payments, regardless of where they originate. I won't know for sure until I transfer some money using Transferwise at the end of this month.

[briley]

Thanks - I'll wait and see. My next transfer is not until around October.

[perthperson]

1 hour ago, chickenslegs said:

Good point. I guess that the Bangkok Bank will charge the same fee on foreign currency payments, regardless of where they originate. I won't know for sure until I transfer some money using Transferwise at the end of this month.

Not if the foreign currency is £ or US$  transferred via the BKB in London or NYC..........

[Eff1n2ret]

10 hours ago, chickenslegs said:

Good point. I guess that the Bangkok Bank will charge the same fee on foreign currency payments, regardless of where they originate. I won't know for sure until I transfer some money using Transferwise at the end of this month.

Within the last year Kasikorn have upped their charge for receiving the Baht transfers that I make via Ozforex from about 250Baht to over 600. For me it's rather tarnished the image of what is otherwise an excellent bank.

[perthperson]

2 minutes ago, Eff1n2ret said:

Ozforex

 

No longer exists !  Maybe you should try using OFX 

[chickenslegs]

11 hours ago, chickenslegs said:

Good point. I guess that the Bangkok Bank will charge the same fee on foreign currency payments, regardless of where they originate. I won't know for sure until I transfer some money using Transferwise at the end of this month.

 

10 hours ago, perthperson said:

Not if the foreign currency is £ or US$  transferred via the BKB in London or NYC..........

 

The fee charged by BKB is min 200THB and max 500THB ...

[perthperson]

Just now, chickenslegs said:

The fee charged by BKB is min 200THB and max 500THB ...

 I am aware of this. I was responding to a post that implied BKB charged 500Bht for ALL transfers. 

[OJAS]

1 hour ago, chickenslegs said:

 

 

The fee charged by BKB is min 200THB and max 500THB ...

I suspect that BBL probably don't add any extra fee to a Transferwise transfer, on the assumption that Transferwise themselves do the GBP-to-THB conversion before passing it on to BBL. After all, as is evident from your table above, BBL don't add any extra fee to transfers which have already been converted to THB by their London branch.

 

But I should be able to confirm (or deny) this on Tuesday when Transferwise have promised that 43,158.56 THB should reach my BBL account on the basis of the inaugural £1,000 transfer I instigated with them earlier today - on the basis of your glowing testimony, by the way!

 

One strong recommendation which I would have for anyone setting up a transfer arrangement with Transferwise for the first time, though, would be to take (or scan) a high-definition image in JPEG format of their passport photopage beforehand, since this will be needed for ID confirmation purposes. Otherwise they will need to hold the photopage in front of their device camera with an extremely steady hand, which can prove hit-and-miss as I discovered this morning! Presumably an ID check is required each time a new transfer is instigated?

 

Other than this slight problem, though, I do have to say that I found my initial experience of Transferwise to be (to paraphase the national airline's strapline) "as smooth as silk". And because of their low fee (mine was £7.46 for my inaugural transfer), it appears ideally suited to transferring relatively small amounts. On the other hand I have had to transfer at least £5,000 each time using the BBL London branch method so as to avoid being disproportionately hit by fixed-rate fees - which, for me, has equated to putting all my eggs into 1 basket and left me feeling nervous as a result.

[chickenslegs]

53 minutes ago, OJAS said:

I suspect that BBL probably don't add any extra fee to a Transferwise transfer, on the assumption that Transferwise themselves do the GBP-to-THB conversion before passing it on to BBL. After all, as is evident from your table above, BBL don't add any extra fee to transfers which have already been converted to THB by their London branch.

 

 

Of course. Stupid of me not to realize that Transferwise do the currency conversion and BKB receive THB.

 

Transferwise fee is proportionate to the amount transferred. For example, a transfer of 25,000GBP would attract a fee of 150GBP. However, the exchange rate offered is around 1THB/GBP better than the Bangkok Bank - thus still a better deal.

[briley]

I've just looked at transferwise, for £25,000 they will give me B1,080,524.97 which they claim is an FX of 43.48294. But do the sums and the Fx is 43.221 due to their £150.60 charges.

 

Now Bangkok bank's Fx is today quoted as 43.0775. If you use Halifax with a charge of £95.0 to Bangkok bank (in £) and Bangkok bank take 500 Baht I will get B1,076,028

 

Which is almost B5,000 more using Transferwise, or B4,500 if Bangkok bank charge their B500 for receiving the Baht.

 

Reworked the calculation for £2,500 and still get a B1,209 profit. Over 2 cases of Chang.

 

 

.

 

[Orton Rd]

On 7/20/2017 at 7:00 PM, observer90210 said:

Why not change and  try Krungsri Bank (Ayudhia Bank)?

 

I have heard good feedback from expats in Thailand.

That's a bit better as it's owned by a Japanese Bank, but they are still staffed by often clue less Thais. They started to debit me a small amount each month for a service I did not ask for and which never worked. Took weeks to get them to stop and in the end they swore I had rang them up and asked them to do it, never got the money back either.

 

I always use transferwise  it works and you know what you will get and when, using swift direct from a Bank ended up with the bank in Thailand hanging onto large amounts until the rate went down and charging me again for the transfer fee. I'd still use transferwise  even if it cost a bit more

Edited July 23, 2017 by Orton Rd

[OJAS]

On 7/22/2017 at 2:59 PM, chickenslegs said:

Transferwise fee is proportionate to the amount transferred. For example, a transfer of 25,000GBP would attract a fee of 150GBP. However, the exchange rate offered is around 1THB/GBP better than the Bangkok Bank - thus still a better deal.

 

21 hours ago, briley said:

I've just looked at transferwise, for £25,000 they will give me B1,080,524.97 which they claim is an FX of 43.48294. But do the sums and the Fx is 43.221 due to their £150.60 charges.

 

Now Bangkok bank's Fx is today quoted as 43.0775. If you use Halifax with a charge of £95.0 to Bangkok bank (in £) and Bangkok bank take 500 Baht I will get B1,076,028

 

Which is almost B5,000 more using Transferwise, or B4,500 if Bangkok bank charge their B500 for receiving the Baht.

 

Reworked the calculation for £2,500 and still get a B1,209 profit. Over 2 cases of Chang.

I suspect that TransferWise's fees are only less than BBL's for transfers up to £5,000. According to a quote for this amount which I have just obtained, their fee would be £31.31, which is roughly equal to the £20 charged by BBL at the London end plus the max 500 THB at the Bangkok end.

 

But, personally speaking, I don't see myself doing any single transfer exceeding £2,000 (unless, of course, I were to win the National Lottery jackpot).

[rickudon]

On 7/21/2017 at 5:37 PM, chickenslegs said:

I have been using the Bangkok Bank service for several years but this topic has caused me to look at the Transferwise option.

 

This is a real time quote from them ...

 

And, this is what it would cost using Bangkok Bank ...

2,000 GBP

 

-20 GBP Charge in UK

 

-5 GBP Charge in Thailand (0.25%)

 

 

 

1,975 @ 43.07750 (TT rate at 17:30hrs 21/7/17)

 

= 85078.0625 THB

 

 

 

 

If i had used my I use my Halifax clarity credit card, on Friday i would have got 86,909 baht, slightly more than Transferwise. Of course would need to go to the ATM 4 times so the ATM fees would make it slightly lower, plus you have to pay off the credit card straight away to avoid interest. But still way better than Bangkok bank, and so much more convenient most of the time - just take out the money you need for the week or fortnight.

[scubascuba3]

1 hour ago, rickudon said:

If i had used my I use my Halifax clarity credit card, on Friday i would have got 86,909 baht, slightly more than Transferwise. Of course would need to go to the ATM 4 times so the ATM fees would make it slightly lower, plus you have to pay off the credit card straight away to avoid interest. But still way better than Bangkok bank, and so much more convenient most of the time - just take out the money you need for the week or fortnight.

You can use your Clarity and withdraw from the counter, I've done a couple of 50,000 withdrawals, a friend has done 150,000 avoiding ATM fees, you just need to find a friendly bank. The max Halifax allows is your available credit limit.

[SunsetT]

3 hours ago, rickudon said:

If i had used my I use my Halifax clarity credit card, on Friday i would have got 86,909 baht, slightly more than Transferwise. Of course would need to go to the ATM 4 times so the ATM fees would make it slightly lower, plus you have to pay off the credit card straight away to avoid interest. But still way better than Bangkok bank, and so much more convenient most of the time - just take out the money you need for the week or fortnight.

I have used the Halifax Clarity card ever since it was issued and their Mastercard rate has been the  best available for 90% of the time. Mind you they are a bit devious in that I believe that Halifax do manipulate the rate that they give you. It is rarely exactly the advertised Mastercard rate. Sometimes more but most often a bit less. I have argued with them about this many times. One year they told me the deviation is because the rate given is not the rate on the day of the ATM withdrawal but the rate on the day that it is 'entered' or debited from your CC account. The following year they told me the opposite was the case. Last year they told me it could be the rate on either day! So I reckon this is how they can offer  a 'so-called' fee free service; by manipulating the rate they give you.Overall,  I have found their rate to be about .5thb below the live rate shown on Xe.com and the rate offered by Transferwise after their charge to be about .3thb less. So now I use Transferwise and also escape the Thai banks rip-off ATM withdrawal charge.

Edited July 24, 2017 by SunsetT

[scubascuba3]

1 hour ago, SunsetT said:

I have used the Halifax Clarity card ever since it was issued and their Mastercard rate has been the  best available for 90% of the time. Mind you they are a bit devious in that I believe that Halifax do manipulate the rate that they give you. It is rarely exactly the advertised Mastercard rate. Sometimes more but most often a bit less. I have argued with them about this many times. One year they told me the deviation is because the rate given is not the rate on the day of the ATM withdrawal but the rate on the day that it is 'entered' or debited from your CC account. The following year they told me the opposite was the case. Last year they told me it could be the rate on either day! So I reckon this is how they can offer  a 'so-called' fee free service; by manipulating the rate they give you.Overall,  I have found their rate to be about .5thb below the live rate shown on Xe.com and the rate offered by Transferwise after their charge to be about .3thb less. So now I use Transferwise and also escape the Thai banks rip-off ATM withdrawal charge.

I've found the exact same thing and had discussions with them also. Yesterday i checked my statement to their published rates and it didn't tie in. I'm pretty sure a year or so ago it tied in all the time.  Whenever i check though its a better rate than TT in Soi Buakhao so better than cash anyway

[OJAS]

On 7/21/2017 at 11:27 PM, briley said:

Chickenslegs

 

I have always wondered - if you use the likes of Transferwise to put Baht into a Bangkok Bank account do they charge the 500 Baht fee for a foreign payment into your account?

 

On 7/22/2017 at 0:02 AM, chickenslegs said:

Good point. I guess that the Bangkok Bank will charge the same fee on foreign currency payments, regardless of where they originate. I won't know for sure until I transfer some money using Transferwise at the end of this month.

 

On 7/22/2017 at 1:56 PM, OJAS said:

I suspect that BBL probably don't add any extra fee to a Transferwise transfer, on the assumption that Transferwise themselves do the GBP-to-THB conversion before passing it on to BBL. After all, as is evident from your table above, BBL don't add any extra fee to transfers which have already been converted to THB by their London branch.

 

But I should be able to confirm (or deny) this on Tuesday when Transferwise have promised that 43,158.56 THB should reach my BBL account on the basis of the inaugural £1,000 transfer I instigated with them earlier today - on the basis of your glowing testimony, by the way!

Can now confirm that no further fee was deducted by BBL to the 43,158.56 THB which ended up in my account with them today - a day earlier than the date advised by TransferWise. 2 days from start to finish is pretty good going by my reckoning, particularly when the lion's share of this period covers a weekend. Well done, TravelWise - BBL and their London branch can now, as far as I am concerned, take a running jump with their petty and pointless bureaucracy!