Sending money abroad possible online

The recipient can withdraw the money within three days of the transaction being completed and the fee is between Bt300 and Bt500 per transaction.

Normally, when you want to transfer money abroad, the bank will carry out the transfer using a service called SWIFT (Society for Worldwide International Financial Transactions), which is the most common way to transfer funds between countries.

The sender does not need to have a bank account, but the recipient normally does. A fee will be charged from both sides, which differs between banks. For example, Bangkok Bank (BBL) charges the sender Bt400 per transaction, TMB Bank charges Bt450, Kasikornbank, Bank of Ayudhya (BAY) and Siam City Bank (SCIB) charge Bt500, while Siam Commercial Bank (SCB) charges Bt550 per transaction.

Normally, the recipient will be charged 0.25 per cent of the amount transferred but there is a Bt200 minimum and a maximum of Bt500. But the sender can also pay the recipient's fee.

The sender must know the SWIFT code of the receiving bank and specify the recipient's person¬al data, such as name, bank account number, passport number and sometimes even date of birth.

Aside from transactions via SWIFT, which can only be done only by bank branches, an Internet money transfer, which people can do themselves, is a convenient alter¬native.

BBL, SCB and BAY allow cus¬tomers to transfer funds abroad via Internet banking for three specific purposes: educational costs, expa¬triates sending money to their fam¬ily, and Thais sending money to rel¬atives living overseas.

BBL and SCB charge Bt300, which is lower than using the counter service, and BAY charges Bt500.

People wanting to transfer money online must have a bank account, or open one and sign up for Internet banking services. Then, they need to submit documentation to show the transaction is for one of those three purposes. For example, it could be an invoice for school fees.

For expatriates working here, you must have a copy of your work permit and a letter from your com¬pany confirming your income in Thailand.

BBL sets a maximum amount a customer can transfer annually, while SCB and BAY do not set a limit. However, every internation¬al transfer transaction by all banks must be reported daily to the Bank of Thailand.

The central bank specifies that the maximum amount foreigners can repatriate in a year must not exceed their annual earnings, less tax and living expenses in Thailand. Normally, it works out at about 70 per cent of annual income.

If you wish to repatriate a larg¬er amount, you will need to provide documents to support the request.

Regarding security, the person making the transfer must specify the account number of the recipi¬ent when they registered because online transfers only allow funds to be credited to registered accounts. If they want to revise any informa¬tion, they must do so at a bank branch.

BBL allows customers to use this service for one year. Then, they must resubmit the documents to continue the service.

As stated earlier, the maximum amount for online international transfer is $20,000 or equivalent per transaction for BBL and SCB customers, while BAY has a limit of $10,000 and the customer must send a confirmation fax to the bank.

The foreignexchange rate used will be the realtime rate, which means the sender can transfer the money when the rate is most favourable.

In addition to all international fund transfers being reported to the Bank of Thailand, transfers of more than Bt5 million will also be noti¬fied to the AntiMoney Laundering Office.

Meanwhile, there are some other ways for sending funds abroad such as Western Union, MoneyGram, Travelex and international bank draft.

Western Union, MoneyGram and Travelex, which can make money transfers within 15 minutes, have similar approaches for inter¬national money transfers to banks.

People using these service providers do not need to have a bank account but they need to show some form of identification and provide the exact name, identifica¬tion card or passport number of the recipient. They will be given a ref¬erence code to send to the recipi¬ent, who will have to provide it to the paying agent.

The fee charged to the sender depends on the amount of transfer.

For example, the cheapest fee charged by Western Union is Bt350 and the maximum is Bt1,250, while Travelex charges a minimum of Bt440 for transferring funds up to Bt4,000. But if the sum is more than Bt70,000, the fee will be charged at 3 per cent of the amount transferred.

Right now, people can use the Western Union moneytransfer service at any post office in Thailand and at BAY and SCIB branches. BBL will begin providing the serv¬ice from next month, while SCB and TMB Bank use MoneyGram and Krung Thai Bank has Travelex.

An international bank draft is a costeffective way to send money to friends and family overseas, or to make overseas purchases. Buy a draft a bank and post it to the recip¬ient at your convenience.

This option takes longer and most drafts will take time to be cleared before the recipient can take receipt of the funds. The fee is Bt203 per draft.