Is it cheaper to transfer money to Thailand using Wise or a bank wire transfer?

What you are underestimating is the bank margin on the foreign exchange In Thailand with most banks it's a very small % on USD-THB, but that still adds up on $25,000.

Right now KrungSri is 32.42. Midmarket on Google (and Wise) is 32.64. 0.22 difference may not seem like a lot, but 0.22 * 25,000 = 5,500B or $168. That's what you are really paying the bank for the transfer, more than the other fees like the 500B and the $15 US side. Most of the cost is buried in the forex margin, so you just don't see it. With Wise, they itemise this out.

By the way, this is how people should be making the decision about whether to use SWIFT transfer or Wise. Get a spreadsheet or a piece of paper and figure out what your US bank is going to charge you, what your Thai bank is going to charge you, what fees Wise is going to charge you, what exchange rate is going to be used by your Thai bank (the TT rate), and what exchange rate is going to be used by Wise. You'd be amazed at the number of people who don't look at some of those components and make less than optimal decisions.

Wise makes it very easy for you to determine these costs, you have to figure it out for your US bank and Thai bank yourself.

What country

Note for US customers: If you transfer more than 9999.00 it throws up a BIG RED FLAG to the IRS.

I think you are drastically underestimating the difference in the exchange rate you will receive. I think it will be close to .50 of 1 point. 12,500 baht difference vs 1,000 baht difference. If you are correct that the difference is only 1,000 thai baht then you shouldn't even consider Wise.

When I transfer to wise USD to USD account then they send me Thai baht from a Thai baht account. Exchange guaranteed. On $2000 it cost $10 to transfer to them and they charged me $16. No charge on Thai end and guaranteed exchange rate amount from Wise was good

Same wirh uk banks, wise wins to transfer smaller amounts but uk banks charge a flat fee so they win for large amounts

If you are getting SWIFT transfer fees of just $15 for international transfers from your bank for that amount then that is the way to go, but, there is another element you should set up before you do this. Bangkok Bank has what's called a Foreign Currency Deposit account. By having this type of account you can transfer dollars into the account, and they stay as dollars until you decide to convert them into baht, and at the bank TT rate, which is the best rate. The fee to do this by the bank is a minimum of bt200, and a max fee of bt500 no matter how much you transfer. It takes a minimum of US$1000 to set the account up, and there is no fee on the account as long as the balance stays above $250. If there is an immigration concern, for whatever reason, immigration recognizes these accounts, but estimates the value in baht at that days rate. Set up an FCD account as the baht seems to fluctuate, being slightly stronger in the middle of the month than at the beginning when most get their moneys sent.

From my chase it’s a flat $5

Get into crypto currency’s

I use wise all the time the thai bank has never charged me for transfer

My Retirement go now 4 Years to Wise and from there to me or wherever I want never A Problem.

The work all time to be better.

Between without weekend, the need 10 to 20 Second and the Money its from Germany on Krungthai Bank.

The have a higher exchangrate and the Fee is only about 14,28€ of 2.500€ you arive today (25.08) 96.032Baht. Exchangre is 38,63

I think depending on country Wise have different fees / costs.

SGD to THB yesterday with less than 1000 USD gave me following cost in percentage.

1.0073511044 so roughly 0.75% rounded up heavily. I calculate with Google available rate on THB on the SGD amount. So the delta including fees and exchange rate given. so roughly 0.75% rounded up heavily. I calculate with Google available rate on THB on the SGD amount. So the delta including fees and exchange rate given.

You need to transfer quite a big amount to beat this with flat rates. Honestly most banks also take a huge cut on exchange rate so I haven't personally found better whenever I check to compare. If I missed some bank or service let me know. :)

Wise doesn't take any fee locally or in the destination for the transfer since they do local transfers. Meaning you send locally and receive locally from their account.

Myself I love Wise. The costs are minimal but what I like most is the speed. Last month I transferred my money from my Caymans account to my Wise at 9am. It reach my Wise account by 9:12. I then converted the money to THB. I than sent it to my SCB at 9:17 and it arrived confirmed by the SCB app by 9:24. I one very happy Wise customer.

In international money transfer (SWIFT) there are three options about who is paying fees: OUR, BEN and SHARE. OUR means the sender pays all the fees involved. BEN means the recipient pays all transfer fees involved. And SHARE, well, here fees are shared and most fees are covered by the sender, yet some also by the recipient. With Wise, what you see is what you get, i.e. they clearly state the amount you pay and the exact amount the recipient receives - thus applying the aforementioned OUR option. With most normal banks (or the also popular Revolut for example), they use SHARE (which is the more common standard, as it is easier for the banks). Now, may I ask which Thai bank you have your account with? I assume Bangkok Bank, right? At least when I did a test transfer from Revolut once, they deducted 250 THB from the amount I wired. Ever since I used Wise, cause I just wanted to transparently know upfront exactly what I pay from my EU account, what amount I receive on my Thai account and what the exchange rate will be. With regular bank accounts, this is very in-transparent at times. Yes, the going rate seems to be 1.5‰ - but the unknown is the exchange rate (which can be quite disadvantageous compared to Wise) and the fees of the receiving bank - as SHARE is used. But if your numbers are correct, and you only pay a flat fee of USD 15 and only have an exchange rate disadvantage amounting to THB 1,000 and a small receiving fee of just 250 THB.... By all means, cheaper than Wise, then for this rather large transfer.

F

I got a much better rate going through wise than I would have with bangkok bank.

maybe wait 6 mos.? exchange rate for dollar is predicted to skyrocket!!!! could save you alot of money????

Bangkok Bank never charged me anything for „accepting a wire“ from Wise. But the 250 THB you mentioned are negligible anyway. But it does feel like you are missing something. Are you certain your bank would only charge a flat fee of USD 15 for that transfer? No additional percentage of the amount wired. Not an expert on wiring from the US. But something seems odd, since the whole USP of Wise is to allow for cheaper transfers. Following.

I've never had my bank charge me a fee for accepting a transfer from Wise though.

With larger amounts of money, it can indeed benefit you by doing a wire transfer since it's more of a flat fee, except for the margin the bank takes for the conversion (make sure you let the Thai bank do the conversion and not let your home bank convert to baht before sending. They'll really screw you). Wise is more of a tiny base fee and then a %, so the more you transfer, the higher your fee. It can be pretty difficult to compare sometimes though.