Kasikorn Bank – rule change for inward transfers to joint accounts

[Filer]

 

This month I was hit with a surprise when I did a foreign currency transfer from abroad into my Kasikorn savings account (joint account with wife; either can operate account). Kasikorn seems now to have changed policy and requires the SWIFT instruction to specify full names of both joint holders. If you show the payee to be just one of the joint names, then – regardless of how correct the destination bank account number and all other details are  – Kasikorn will not execute the transfer.

 

I have been transferring to just one of the joint holder names as payee for quite a few years (without any problem) up to December last. I did another transfer this July but it didn't show up in my account here (although clearly documented as done and charged out of my foreign bank). I gave it a week then checked personally with a Kasikorn branch, where the staff were initially as mystified as I was as to the non-arrival in my Thai account, when I showed them the documentation of the transaction from my foreign bank. However, after much telephoning around they found that the transaction had been blocked somewhere in the system since the stated payee name (one of the two account holders) did not correspond to the full two names of the account holders. This is a change in policy by Kasikorn, I am told, in the interests of security, anti-money laundering etc. Maybe other Thai banks have done this. Maybe it's a Thai Central Bank directive.

 

Kasikorn told me that the SWIFT instructions from my foreign bank therefore needed to be amended from abroad to show the full account name of the Thai account before the instruction could be acted on. My foreign bank advised that they could not do this and that the original instruction needed to be recalled and cancelled, following which I could launch a fresh transfer in the way required by Kasikorn. My foreign bank has now credited everything back to my account and I am about to start again. However, before I do restart, I'm curious as to whether anyone else has experienced this problem with Kasikorn or with other banks and whether the explanation from Kasikorn rings true and is not just a cover-up for a one-off system problem on their side.

[gamini]

so whats your problem? If the account is in both your names then you should use both when transferring money. This is standard practice everywhere.

[Thanyaburi Mac]

"Maybe other Thai banks have done this. "

 

Not SCB, at least not as of late last month.

 

Mac

[billd766]

I have 3 pensions transferred into our joint account from the UK for years and have not had a problem yet, other than late payments due to bank holidays.

[Stefanix]

OP : Did you get 2 ATM cards and did you get them recently?

I do have a Kasikorn savings account for many years and always had 2 ATM cards ("Priviledged Member" as name on them). When I recently had to renew one of them, they refused and told me that there is now only one card per account allowed.

Maybe that would be possible with a "joint accounct", adding my wife's name. Thanks!

Edited August 20, 2017 by Stefanix
Typo

[dotpoom]

1 hour ago, billd766 said:

I have 3 pensions transferred into our joint account from the UK for years and have not had a problem yet, other than late payments due to bank holidays.

I think the OP is asking about both names now being required.  Do you need both names or just yours alone?

[Jip99]

3 hours ago, gamini said:

so whats your problem? If the account is in both your names then you should use both when transferring money. This is standard practice everywhere.

 

 

I am am not sure that is correct; a beneficiary is still a beneficiary whether the account is in sole name or joint names (consider a U.K. salary payment going into a U.K. bank joint account... not an exact analogy, but pretty close).

 

I will check.

 

I would imagine that it would also be unusual for a single bank to change their 'rules'...... such things as compliance are usually dictated by the Bank of Thailand.

[Jip99]

Having thought about this a bit more, the SWIFT instruction should have the full (joint names) on the beneficiary account details.

 

As another analogy, under international banking rules, there was never a problem if Mr A Smith had a cheque payable to him and he paid it into a joint account Mr A Smith & Mrs B Smith.

[Filer]

2 hours ago, Stefanix said:

OP : Did you get 2 ATM cards and did you get them recently?

I do have a Kasikorn savings account for many years and always had 2 ATM cards ("Priviledged Member" as name on them). When I recently had to renew one of them, they refused and told me that there is now only one card per account allowed.

Maybe that would be possible with a "joint accounct", adding my wife's name. Thanks!

Sorry but I don't have anything helpful to say. Originally had 2 separate ATM cards but cancelled them 5 or 6 yrs ago due to bad experiences at ATMs and security concerns. Since then have operated this account simply with passbook/over the counter with one or other of the 2 passport/IDs.

[Filer]

4 hours ago, gamini said:

so whats your problem? If the account is in both your names then you should use both when transferring money. This is standard practice everywhere.

Thanks. I don't have a problem. You are right and clearly I need to state both names and I shall do so from now on -- on all transfers in to our several joint accounts in different countries. I'm just surprised that this issue has never hit me before in the course of a large number of transfers-in to the Kasikorn account -- nor ever with similar transfers-in to similar accounts in other countries. I've probably been lucky up to now or banks have waved the transfers through because they had no reason for concern, whereas now compliance is becoming much stricter.

[David in the north]

 I had exactly the same problem this last week. No money showed up. Sender said everything in order as per previous payments, got no sense out of local branch so rang Call Centre. The chap who I spoke to spoke excellent English & rang back as soon as he found out the problem. No payment to a joint account unless both names on payment. Nobody bothered to write or phone & tell me of this change -

I had to find out the hard way. Opened a new account in my name only. I have to say after 11 years with Kasikorn & with no problems - this carry on has not impressed me at all. 

Edited August 20, 2017 by David in the north

[billd766]

8 hours ago, dotpoom said:

I think the OP is asking about both names now being required.  Do you need both names or just yours alone?

 

Just mine and AFAIK nothing has changed.

 

I am a little concerned about what happens when I die and whether the pension providers will still send the pension to a joint account. Also will KBank still honour the joint account and the debit cards?

 

I suppose that I could get them to send it to my wife's account but if she died before me then I would have the same problem.

[Jip99]

11 minutes ago, billd766 said:

 

Just mine and AFAIK nothing has changed.

 

I am a little concerned about what happens when I die and whether the pension providers will still send the pension to a joint account. Also will KBank still honour the joint account and the debit cards?

 

I suppose that I could get them to send it to my wife's account but if she died before me then I would have the same problem.

You can't have a joint account after death.

 

your pension provider will have to send the widows pension to a sole account..... no problem with that, suggest you advise sole account details in advance..... they will probably still need a new mandate after your passing.

[billd766]

13 minutes ago, Jip99 said:

You can't have a joint account after death.

 

your pension provider will have to send the widows pension to a sole account..... no problem with that, suggest you advise sole account details in advance..... they will probably still need a new mandate after your passing.

 

Thank you for that information.

 

I wasn't too sure about that which is why I brought it up