Retirement Visa Extension and Wise (Transferwise)

[Big Boy]

I am actually surprised those rates are so high. I've always said to people send £s and exchange here. Those rates look more like Thai bank exchange rates.

[Big Boy]

As I thought - NatWest are selling Baht at 35.9449 today.

[lomuamart]

I seriously doubt that that Barclays can guarantee funds transferred to Thailand in 1 day on a Saturday, at least TW tells the truth. Meh, for 100 baht or so I,ll stick with TW for now.

I think I mentioned banking hours in my above post. Didn't think to clarify that to include weekends when banks and their machines notoriously don't work.

[HHTel]

I am actually surprised those rates are so high. I've always said to people send £s and exchange here. Those rates look more like Thai bank exchange rates.

I guess those rates are for sending GBP to Thailand. That way you get the rate in Thailand.

[Big Boy]

But if there are no fees at the UK end, why does it differ in Thailand? Surely, a £ should be worth a £, regardless of which bank sent it.

[lomuamart]

Both the sending and receiving banks take their cut. That's just the way it is. If I see a GBP to THB rate of say 40, I know I'll get maybe 39.5, maybe lower, as the banks take theirs'.

In England, the Financial Ombusman came down pretty hard on the banks a few years ago and the outrageous charges of, for instance 33 GBP from Barclays, had to be cut.

So, I pay 8 GBP now but have to wait another day for the international transfer. (Of course, supposing it's not a weekend, a holiday or any day really). Seriously, it does work.

[Big Boy]

On my e-mail from NatWest it stated:

No fee - from 15th December we're removing our fee* for standard international payments made digitally

So are you saying, "their cut" is a stealth fee that we pay, but don't see?

If there is no fee, the rate you get should surely be what you get. After all, you are sending £s.

Barclays have followed NatWest's lead or vice-versa.

[Dannie Boy]

But surely this is Similar to the money exchanges - they all offer a 0.? Baht different rate to each other.

[Big Boy]

Quite clearly I'm missing something.

The UK Banks are not offering the exchange rates Transferwise are quoting - a simple Google check will confirm that. That aside, we'd all be sending £s. So if there's no fee at the UK end, my £ would still be a £ when it arrived in Thailand. Any fluctuation in Thailand would be down to which Thai bank received my £.

I find the Transferwise extract I posted earlier more confusing everytime I look at it.

Can somebody please tell me which bit of the puzzle I'm missing?

[HHTel]

As I thought - NatWest are selling Baht at 35.9449 today.

I don't understand it either. Just looked at the Barclays site and they're quoting 40.67 as at end of yesterday. They then point out that this is the interbank rate which then has an FX margin applied to it.

The foreign exchange rate for a specific transaction amount is calculated by applying an FX margin to the reference exchange rate.If you do not know your FX margin, you can find out by calling us or asking in branch, or for Barclays Bank UK PLC customers the FX Margin will be available to you at the time of completing your payment.

It's more confusing the more I think about it so..... I'll not think too much!

[raphoedon]

I use transferwise to send money from my uk Bank account to my Thai bank account, these are not substantial, I send a little every month to cover my expenses while on holiday.
On December 22nd I sent £500 at the rate that day of 39.28 . I recieved 19,421.7 bht.
The charge was £5.61 or 220 bht. For me this works rather than carry £s and worry about losing it or worse, being robbed. Hotel safes ain't great.
I hope this helps
Sawadee pee mai everyone

[raphoedon]

Todays rate 39.47 from Transferwise

[buksida]

I'd imagine the technology would blow Thai Immigration's brains. Are you thinking logically, or are we talking a reality that Immigration accepts?

Sure, It would - I wasn't referring to immigration, just offering a method of transferring larger sums across borders in a fraction of the time at a fraction of the cost.

Immigration thrives on wads of paper and mindless inefficient processes - not technology and convenience.

[Governor]

Bangkok Bank quoted me a charge of 500 baht if I wanted an entire 12 month report, but 6 months was free.

Did you manage to get the twelve month statement from Bangkok Bank?

I opened an account with them in Bluport for the sole reason of receiving cash via TW, which I then transfer to KK, so far ten credits all with the approriate tag.

I'm intending extending my stay towards the end of March, thirteenth extention where's all that time gone? and I'm assuming I'll just need to ask Bluport to order a statement from Bangkok, how long does that take please?

I'm hoping that they wont insist that the statement is dated the same day as I visit for my extention, but will they also be looking for any kind of covering letter?

Thanks

[Scout]

Bangkok Bank quoted me a charge of 500 baht if I wanted an entire 12 month report, but 6 months was free.

Did you manage to get the twelve month statement from Bangkok Bank?

I'm hoping that they wont insist that the statement is dated the same day as I visit for my extention, but will they also be looking for any kind of covering letter?

I opted to only get 6 months of Credit Advice Receipts as that covered the entire time I’ve started making monthly foreign transfers. I renewed this year using the 800,000 bt method but plan to switch to the 65,000 baht per month method next year. This year I did not submit my Credit Advice Receipts, next year I will submit 12 months worth of Credit Advice Receipts, the Bank Certification Letter stating account number, balance, owner, etc, Bank Certified Statement covering 12 months and copy of my bank book. Of course I will make a minor deposit or withdrawal immediately prior to having the bank prepare these documents so they all have the current date stamp.

I think I read somewhere on the forum that you can print off current Credit Advice Receipts by logging onto your Bangkok Bank online account, but so far I haven’t found that option when I log in. If anyone has experience with this I would appreciate if they can share it so I can do it myself. Otherwise my plan is to visit the bank every 2 or 3 months to request Credit Advice Receipts so that I am compiling 12 months worth over time and don’t have to request the entire 12 months all at once.