Is Wise a better option than Revolut for transferring money to Thailand?

Jun 3, 2023
a year ago
Jack *********
ORIGINAL POSTER
Transferred some money using Revolut (US based account) to Bangkok Bank.

It was more of a test, I transferred 20,000 baht.

I received 19800 baht in Bangkok Bank. It took 2/3 days.

Exchange rate:$1 = 34.714

Intermediary bank fees: 200 baht

Revolut fee: $1.73

Does this sound good to everyone? Is wise better? Are there better options than this?
4,900
views
8
likes
118
all likes
52
replies
5
images
28
users
TLDR : Answer Summary
This post discusses experiences with money transfers to Bangkok Bank using Revolut, with many commenting that Wise offers a quicker and often cheaper alternative. Users shared various experiences, noting that Wise can transform funds into a recognizable foreign source necessary for retirement visa extensions. While some mentioned other options like Moneygram and DeeMoney, the consensus leans toward Wise for its efficiency and competitive rates.
NON-O RETIREMENT VISA RESOURCES / SERVICES
  • Go to the Retirement Visa Section for information on requirements, including age restrictions, financial requirements, and necessary documentation.
  • For immediate assistance, contact Thai Visa Centre directly via LINE at @ThaiVisaCentre or Email them.
  • Explore recent discussions by using the Non-O Retirement Visa tag in the search box at the top of the page.
  • Join the Thai Visa Advice Facebook Group to ask your questions, and get advice from others.
Mark *******
I use wise to BB as classed as local transfer.
Phil ******
@Jack ********
xe and other fx take from intermediatry banks. NOT WISE. If you send 20k youget20k.
Chris *****
Slightly jumbled notes to say the same - use Wise.

Auto convert within Wise - £10.94 on £2000

Spend THB with Wise card: free

Transfer Wise THB balance to Bangkok Bank: 31.70 Baht (79p) per trx, any amount

Convert and transfer: sum of above (eg £2000 => ie, 10.94 + 0.79)

So rarely any reason to just convert - you may as well set up an automated transaction a percent or two better than the current rate, depending on how much of a rush you're in, turn your phone off and forget about it, and Wise will snipe the better rate whenever a peak comes along.

Global Reach (a dedicated broker) just gave me a quote, £20k 6th Dec 5pm gmt+7, 42.59 no fees, so 851,800 (haven't clarified but assume 500 Baht receiving fee would also apply when they SWIFT THB to Bangkok Bank)

Interbank rate, at time 42.7467 (I miss this rate!)

Bangkok bank TT buy at time 42.
*****
, net 845,950 Baht

Wise at time 42.7570, £110 fee (0.5%), net 850,430 Baht

Currency club 849,867

Currency fair 851,923 (assume receiving charge of 500 Baht to come off too)

Remitly is good if you're American.

Looked into a few others, including moneygram and XE, nothing comes close to these. monito.com gives you some quotes.

Alternative currency brokers much like Global Reach are Currencies Direct, TorFX and Moneycorp (but they refused to give me a spot rate without passing all the 'know your client' checks).

So Global Reach better than Wise but only by 900 Baht / 0.1%. They could probably push things though - this was just a spot rate reluctantly shared.

Currency Fair was better than Wise by 1,100 Baht / 0.13%. EDIT: Checked again a few weeks later, amid a sinking market, and on both occasions CurrencyFair was worse than Wise. I also tried CurrencyFair and had a week of paperwork proving source of funds before they'd release my converted funds, by which time I'd lost a fair bit on the rate. My money was from savings, so I couldn't provide a wage slip etc. They threatened to keep the money. Wise always easy.

On CurrencyFair and Wise, you can put a limit order, or automated transaction, that triggers if a rate reaches a given level. These need time and care, but are great for grabbing a rate that is only available briefly due to a momentary spike. With Wise, they leave a THB balance in Wise, which can be spent on the card absolutely free, or transferred to a Thai bank for 32 Baht (fixed charge, regardless of amount).

*****************************************


If you use this to open your Wise account, you get fee free transfers for your first £500. If I get three people to transfer £200+ in one go, I get £50.
Don *********
Transfer USD to Binance. Buy USDT and send to Bitkup. Buy THB and transfer to Bangkok Bank.

Can all be done in a few minutes and I pretty much always beat the Wise quote
Martin ***********
@Don ********
had foreign friends not able to get accepted by Bitkub in thailand
Don *********
@Martin **********
also I read that Binance has had a Thai license approved so hopefully they will setup on / off ramps with Thai banks this year
Don *********
@Martin **********
wasn’t a problem for me - I do have a tabian ban and Thai ID, maybe that’s why
Myles *******
Wise better for the transfer as instant and fees lower but can fund it from Revolut
David ********
Wise, 100%
Phil ********
Wise arrives in 2 to 3 seconds.

It also gives you a comparison before sending. Wise is usually the 2nd cheapest but I use Wise for quality not quantity.
Kim *********
@Phil *******
yeah or several days depending on holidays etc
Phil ********
@Kim ********
Been using Wise for many years and never experienced it taking days ever.
Kim *********
Phil ********
@Kim ********
Are you sending DKK to Thailand? Looks like your not changing it to THB beforehand on Wise.
Kim *********
@Phil *******
don't remember but I will look out for that the next time
Kim *********
@Phil *******
don't know if that was the problem - I was expecting wise to convert before sending - but that could be the problem 👍
Phil ********
Kim Nielsen Does it say International at the top before you send?
Kim *********
@Phil *******
lucky you
Us *****
I transferred 50k baht to my Thia gf bank account and she was very happy that she received it within 2 minutes. Surprisingly, she gave it to me so I have money to spend it on her. Poetic justice. 🙄
Vitico ********
Give the “moneygram” app a try. I used to use wise but it started giving me issues and transfers getting cancelled after waiting for days so i started using moneygram. Moneygram sometimes is slow it might take a week sometimes it takes 2 days to get your money. But in general it gave me a much better exchange than wise. (From USD to baht).
Steve *******
@Vitico *******
Moneygram is instant. You'll be about 2 points down in the exchange rate, but it's quick and the fees are cheap.
Jack *********
ORIGINAL POSTER
@Todd ********
Thank you sir.
Todd *********
@Vitico *******
would love to see evidence of this…. Better rate from

Moneygram than Wise?!?! Doubtful
Alistair **********
@Todd ********
from AUD to Baht moneygram is sometimes slightly better than wise. But it's often only a hundred baht or so difference on a 23,000B transfer. Wise is generally better through
Jack *********
ORIGINAL POSTER
@Todd ********
Uh oh it's a challenge
@Vitico *******
😆 Show us the money!
Todd *********
Jack Tripper i’m always keen to see the next best option. But generally speaking, Wise is strongly beating the competition. I use them several times a month. But if someone starts to beat them… great. I will follow the $$. However, Moneygram is not likely to come close in this transaction. Let’s see the evidence though 🙂
Jack *********
ORIGINAL POSTER
@Todd ********
I'm kind of new to the game but I have revolut and wise, I have five different bank accounts in the US and only some of them transfer money easily. So I started with revolute because it was easier to use. I'm going to do the same experiment with wise later.
Todd *********
@Jack ********
for me, that’s the smart way. Test it. Don’t believe what I’m saying or anyone else. Actually test it. If using your bank or Revolut, do a real time comparison with wise at same time and look to see how much money will actually land in your accounts. Exchange rate matters more than the fee.
Brian **********
Wise-every time for me.
Tony *******
Wise is the go, I transfer 20,000 baht. Takes a few minutes
Brian *******
@Tony ******
Same here. Did it today. $2000 AU to my UOB acct in a few minutes with Wise.
Justin ***********
What about other way round? What's best way of transferring paper bath to foreign account?
Richard *********
@Justin **********
Dee money from thailand
Justin ***********
@Richard ********
dee money bounced back from my USD and 2 GPB accounts. Every time mofos charged me 1200B for 100k transfer attempt. Pretty useless
Todd *********
@Richard ********
I believe it’s still the only way to move baht out
Kim *********
@Todd ********
no you can make an international transfer from Bangkok bank and Krungsri to banks outside Thailand but you depend on the banks approval of the transfer (which I got with my 2 test transfers) DeeMoney is good because it generates a qr code so you don't need approval from the Thai bank (depending on your limits etc of course). I mention these 2 banks because I have accounts there - of course other Thai banks also allow it.
Todd *********
@Kim ********
this is true, you can easily make an international transfer via your bank. At great cost to you, but it can easily be done. I was more referring to being unable to do so with apps like Wise.
Kim *********
@Todd ********
ahh yes of course - sorry
Todd *********
@Kim ********
your point was bette though! Thx. I did not factor that in!
Peter *******
How would we know, you have to compare with Wise when you are about to do the transfer to see which is best
Jack *********
ORIGINAL POSTER
@Peter ******
Read the comments 🙄
Jackie ***********
There's remitly in addition to the others listed above, but wise is the only one that can make it appear in your thai bank account as a foreign transfer
Sean *********
Wise is better. But Revolt is not a bad option.
Alistair **********
You can just go to the wise site and it will tell you how much it costs
Todd *********
Wise is the clear cut leader. Use revolut, world remit, XE and heaven forbid, your bank or western union only if you are angry with your own money
Tom ********
Wise
Mark ********
Wise👍👍👍
Norman **********
👍👍Wise👍👍
Peter *********
Wise
Richard *********
agree with above Wise> transferred US $1,000 4 days ago from us bank 34.81 rate, took 7 seconds and $7.81 service fee

no fee from SCB.
Kool *******
Wise is simply quicker, not cheaper. Just make sure the deposit shows as coming from an overseas source. This becomes critical for the retirement visa extension, if that is your plan for the future.
Todd *********
@Kool ******
wise is always cheaper than revolut. Quicker depends on the currencies and nations involved.
Thai Visa Advice and Everything Else
... members · 60% approval rate
The Thai Visa Advice And Everything Else group allows for a broad range of discussions on life in Thailand, beyond just visa inquiries.
Join the Group
Thai Visa Advice and Everything Else
View the Conversation
Thai Visa Advice and Everything Else