ACH transfers from USA to Bangkok Bank -Alert!

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2lz2p
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Re: ACH transfers from USA to Bangkok Bank -Alert!

Post by 2lz2p »

Up2u wrote:So, it looks like if you don't have a USA bank account you are screwed. Solution is simple, open a USA bank account (or pay ridiculous bank fees for the debit card). When selecting a new bank be sure to get one that doesn't charge to do ACH transfers (usually the big banks).
The problem appears to be ACH transfers, not whether a USA bank will send such transfers. If your USA bank does not offer the IAT format to their retail customers through online banking, then you will not be able to transfer funds using the USA bank's ACH transfer method through Bangkok Bank's NY Branch after April 1, 2019. If just setting up a USA bank account, unless it offers the IAT format, you will not even be able to transfer funds through the NY Branch now - the April 1 deadline is for those already set up for ACH transfers.
windwalker

Re: ACH transfers from USA to Bangkok Bank -Alert!

Post by windwalker »

2lz2p, Thanks for keeping us abreast of the ACH transfers from the USA. Not sure what I now will do. Either use my US ATM card to make withdrawals (limited to $500/withdrawal) or try to get a larger amount at the bank office.
Up2u

Re: ACH transfers from USA to Bangkok Bank -Alert!

Post by Up2u »

mahjongguy wrote:
Up2u wrote:When selecting a new bank be sure to get one that doesn't charge to do ACH transfers (usually the big banks).
Sorry, Up2u, maybe I'm being slow today but I'm not sure I understand that statement. Since none of us will be doing ACH transfers to BKK NY any more, I guess you are referring to making ACH transfers to some U.S. company that makes international transfers. If so, note that fees are not the only issue. The default daily and monthly limits on ACH transfers can be a big obstacle. Fixing this can require a lot of phone calls and submitting signed forms.
Banks like Wells Fargo, Chase, BofA, typically have restrictions on ACH transfers, be it a fee or the number of transfers. I transfer money from my credit union back and forth to Charles Schwab Bank, there is no fee at either end. I transfer money from Schwab to BB free using ACH. In the future, I will look at alternatives as Schwab has no provision to do international ACH transfers. Cost of ACH transfers should be part of any cost analysis, for example, if I use TransferWise, it costs me nothing to send money from Schwab Bank.
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Re: ACH transfers from USA to Bangkok Bank -Alert!

Post by mahjongguy »

Up2u wrote:Banks like Wells Fargo, Chase, BofA, typically have restrictions on ACH transfers, be it a fee or the number of transfers.
I didn't write clearly. The problem I had with my U.S. bank was their limit on the dollar amount. Something like $3k per transfer and $6k total per month. Not suitable for me. Spent a lot of time getting the limits raised. After April I will have no reason to do ACH and will need to rely on SWIFT.
Up2u

Re: ACH transfers from USA to Bangkok Bank -Alert!

Post by Up2u »

mahjongguy wrote:
Up2u wrote:Banks like Wells Fargo, Chase, BofA, typically have restrictions on ACH transfers, be it a fee or the number of transfers.
I didn't write clearly. The problem I had with my U.S. bank was their limit on the dollar amount. Something like $3k per transfer and $6k total per month. Not suitable for me. Spent a lot of time getting the limits raised. After April I will have no reason to do ACH and will need to rely on SWIFT.
Understood. I have three different bank accounts/credit unions and if there were dollar restrictions I could bypass them by sending between them and finally to BB. As you said, by April this will all be a moot point.
windwalker

Re: ACH transfers from USA to Bangkok Bank -Alert!

Post by windwalker »

Moot point. ;)
Jun

Re: ACH transfers from USA to Bangkok Bank -Alert!

Post by Jun »

Christian PFC recommended Transferwise for moving money to Thailand.

I've not used it for sending cash to Thailand, but do send money to a certain ASEAN financial centre. The money is in my overseas account within 30 minutes and my total loss on fees & forex spread is just a fraction under 0.5%.
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Re: ACH transfers from USA to Bangkok Bank -Alert!

Post by 2lz2p »

Jun wrote:Christian PFC recommended Transferwise for moving money to Thailand.

I've not used it for sending cash to Thailand, but do send money to a certain ASEAN financial centre. The money is in my overseas account within 30 minutes and my total loss on fees & forex spread is just a fraction under 0.5%.
Are saying you use Transferwise to send funds to the ASEAN financial centre? If another means, could you elaborate, e.g., is this something those of us in Thailand set up and use to replace our transfers through Bangkok Bank NY branch? If we can, how should we go about it?

I have had a few people recommend Transferwise and as previously mentioned tried it for myself. I signed up with Transferwise (VPN on this time, just in case) and sent a few hundred dollars last Friday to test it. The money was received in baht on Monday - Bangkok Bank did send me an SMS or a foreign source deposit even though it was in baht and there was no charge by Bangkok Bank. Transferwise will send the funds once they receive them from your source, which can be bank account (after you set up ACH protocol so they can pull funds), debit to bank account, debit card, or credit card. Had I sent the funds on Monday, they probably would have arrived the next business day.

A different fee is charged for the source used to fund the transfer with ACH pull the lowest and credit card the highest then there is the fee itself for conversion to and transmission of baht (exchange rate is slightly less than Bangkok Bank's rate) which depends on the amount sent (can be quite high if sending a large amount, so depending on your expected transfer amount, you may be able to find a lower cost service or may even find your bank's International Wire Transfer fee to be less - likewise, using a debit card in ATMs, especially if you have one of those brokerage/bank account that doesn't charge a fee and reimburses for the Thai ATM charge).
Jun

Re: ACH transfers from USA to Bangkok Bank -Alert!

Post by Jun »

1 Go to Transferwise.com
2 Type in how much you want to transfer & select baht as the destination currency. This then shows how much will hit your account. This excludes any fees the receiving bank may charge, but as Transferwise send the money in local currency, in my case the receiving bank charges nothing [unlike direct transfers from my UK bank which DO incurr a receiving charge]. So probably no other losses.
3 Compare with your existing TOTAL transaction cost (fees & spread etc).
4 IF OK, set up a Transferwise account. This is very easy.
5 Make a transfer. You then need to pay the money to Transferwise. In the UK, for small amounts, a debit card is OK. However, I usually logon to my bank website and transfer it to the account no specified by Transferwise (same no & reference every time).

The money goes from my UK account to transferwise to my ASEAN account in <30 minutes. This also beats my bank.

Details might be slightly different for US banks, but you will know how to deal with them. I just checked the GBP~THB rate and the total loss on a £5000 transaction would be 0.58%, compared with a lossless mid-market transaction.

If you are really interested, they do a referral scheme where you get a "free" transfer of up to £500, which might be interesting if you want to test it with a modest sum.
PM me.
windwalker

Re: ACH transfers from USA to Bangkok Bank -Alert!

Post by windwalker »

I did check out Transferwise, with an assumed amount of $2,000 USD. The fee was about $19 which is $7 more than the current method using Bangkok Bank NYC. The cost of using my ATM card would be $27 so cheaper in the long run. (My ATM card limits my withdrawals to $500/withdrawal and my bank won't change that).

I don't know if there are any fees for transferring funds from my bank to Transferwise?

Whether I can make a larger "counter withdrawal" on my ATM card is unknown at this point.
And the fees associated with that are also unknown.
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