American bank will charge 35.00 transfer fee to Thai bank and says same day wire with no atm fee. Would using wise be better and if so why. I have looked at the wise site. I appreciate all the help this group has given me so far
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TLDR : Answer Summary
The discussion centers around whether using Wise for transferring money from an American bank to a Thai bank is more cost-effective than traditional bank wire transfers. Commenters highlight that while banks charge flat fees (example $35 for transfers), Wise often offers better exchange rates which can lead to significant savings based on the transfer amount. Users are encouraged to compare the fees and exchange rates between their banks and Wise, noting that lower transfer amounts may favor Wise but larger amounts might make bank transfers more economical. Another important factor is the limits imposed by both Wise and banks on the amount that can be transferred.
It depends upon the amount that you're sending. For USD-THB transfers, assuming that you elect for the currency conversion to be done on the receiving end, above a certain size transaction a bank wire will be more economical than usong Wise. You should be able to work out the math - Thai banks have their current exchange rate for income wires on their web sites (it's the TT rate), you know the flat rate that your US bank will charge and Wise shows you the exact amount of Baht that you'd receive. Compare the two on that basis.
A.c. ***********
A couple of years ago before relocating here, I looked into Wise and was instantly scared away by numerous PayPal-style horror stories about account freezes and closures with no answers. I don't know if they were accurate (some were on Trustpilot), but after reading those firsthand accounts I wasn't going to touch it with a 10-foot pole.
Schwab and Fidelity ATM cards refund that 220 Baht fee
Reply to
Kerry *********
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Colin ********
My wise fees, ar 45thb per transfer. I change my $$ & ££ on the app to THB before transfering and the exchange rate is, slightly better than Xoom quotes.
Mary ********
Wise always seems to give me a better conversion rate. Been using them for years between Aus, the US and Thailand and never been disappointed. Check your conversion rates your bank gives and then look at Wise's rates - it can make up the difference or the cost of the transfer depending on the amount you are sending.
The problem with wiring money into the US might have been that US banks offer poor exchange rates. When wiring money from the US it’s important to specify that the wire be denominated in US Dollars, that way the conversion to Baht will be done by the receiving bank.
The best way to use wise is to transfer using the currency of the country you are sending from and convert it within the wise app. Wise gives a far better conversion rate than any bank. If transferring into Wise from the US you should be adding USD - once you are ready to send to your Thai bank you convert it to Baht and then transfer the funds into your Thai bank - you will save heaps in the conversion.
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Mary ********
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Takahashi ********
I remember those days!
Steve *******
What is 35.00?
Susan *********
ORIGINAL POSTER
thank you all for the advice looks like I will go with wise
shows you what you get when you sell/buy your cash to kasikorn, which will give you 329,451.60 baht right now for 10k USD. When sending money you get less.
The screenshot shows you what you get from wise right now.
Robert ********
What I forgot to mention is the wise debit card that I use to pay a lot of goods without any fees in most places like BigC, ptt etc
exactly, this part gets overlooked a lot but saves a lot commission and fee on not having to do ATMs
Reply to
Wolf **********
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Christopher ********
Wise or open a Charles Schwab account ... They refund all international ATM fees each month, which solves a lot of problems as then no need to transfer, just hit the 🏧.
Vystar Credit union has no international ATM fee, and if you are over 55, no wire transfer fee. However, this debit card was used in Malaysia, not sure about Thailand. Worth the try. I send money through Wise offen. They have the best fee and rate. However, as foreigner, are you able to open bank account in Thailand? I have research that, and I don't think so, unless, you are working in Thailand, with employer sponsor. I saw someone above comment about USD bank account in Thailand.
Reply to
Kommaly ********
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BodyMind **************
I just was asked to find this out the other day, great q- thanks. Looks like wise for many reasons.
Glyn **********
Typically Wise has lower fees and better exchange rates than the banks do. Do a side by side comparison before you close the deal. You'll probably find Wise to be a bargin...
Bob *********
For cash, the best way is to open a Schwab checking account which allows you to zelle money into it and allows you to withdraw from ATM machines with no currency conversion fee and all ATM fees refunded. If your charging stuff and want to keep it off your American banks credit/debit card then the wise card or wise virtual card (in GPay or apay on phone) is best way
Phil ******
Wise is cheaper. ATM Withdrawl here in Thailand is ฿220 for all foreign cards
ATM machines use Visa's exchange rate and that's very close to the interbank rate. So if that 220 Baht fee gets refunded that's the best that you're going to do. Credit card purchases get an equally good rate if your credit card issuer doesn't charge a foreign transaction fee.
I usually transfer to my Thai USD account from BOA for $45.00 fee.
And wait for the exchange rate to be better than exchange from Thai USD to Thai Baht account.
Have checked wise before but with the fees i think its about the same as i am doing.
Ralph *******
Wise is far better. Transferring funds from your bank to Wise is free. Conversion to baht is very cheap. Payment into a Thai bank account only ฿44.70. That’s much cheaper!
the limit on the minor banks has recently been lifted, it's now 500,000 per transaction. Some other minor Thai banks are now not in the eligible recipient category.
this is likely a change with your Thai bank, and not Wise.
Reply to
Keith ************
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Andrew ********
Me using wise from US bank to THAI bank for payment on something I get 1 to 33 exchange and use debit card that has a 7$ fee for credit card.
If I use ACH and do it early the receipiant can get it the same day. Ive also had it take 2 days just depends when the ACH process or over weekend.
ACH bank transfer has only charged me 2 to 3$ and I've sent over 1500 with wise.
If I use an atm to pull cash I use the "Continue with out conversion " and it saves money bit i find wise is more convenient and saves more money.
I have yet to see wise fees charge me more based off amount being sent just which mode I use
Debit card or ACH.
If I sent via ach and the merchants sees the pending deposit they take it as paid..
Hope this helps
Jesper *******
Wise have better rates my local bank have zero fees and still I use Wise cos I get more from Wise den my local bank that promise zero fees
Dennis *******
The exchange rate from Wise is better than my Canadian bank. I transfer 3500 Canadian as a debit transfer direct to my Thai bank. Usually less than 1 minute.
James ******
Wise do give excellent exchange rate I've found a lot better then most banks
Todd *********
It's not the transfer fee that really matters. It's the exchange rate where people get burned. Wise all the way
Bob **********
Wise is the way to go
Darren ***********
Wise all day
Jim ********
Wise will give you a better conversion. Wiring from your bank may be cheaper than Wise’s fees but you will get less ฿.
Nongnuch ********
actually WISE also takes a fee, which could be higer than the 35 USD fee your American bank takes. It depends on the amount you wish to transfer. WISE however will use a better exchange rate. You need to compare the Fee-excluded (!) WISE exchange rate to the rate your American bank offers. Check out the WISE website for the payment methods, as they offer several ones, and the one using a bank-to-bank transfer offers the lowest fee
you could be very right, while the Thai bank exchange rate is not so fantastic, yet it would beat any poor rate an American bank will offer
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Nongnuch ********
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Tony **********
Depends on the amount your sending. Break even point with my credit union is about ฿150k. Below that wise is cheaper. But you'll have to do your own calcs. Good luck getting your bank to quote you a rate. Probably just ask what it was the day before.
Reply to
Tony **********
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