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Does the addition of Thailand to the IDD program mean that ALL banks in Thailand can receive Social Security direct deposits??


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I've noted that Thailand will be a participant in IDD for the first time. Heretofore, Only Bangkok Bank could receive Direct Deposit of SSA payments, ostensibly because they had a branch in New York City. It would certainly be nice to be able to choose your bank. Does anyone have any info on this? I have downloaded all the documents pertaining to it and there was no mention of which banks might be included. Thanks in advance.

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We don't know yet which Thai banks will and which (if any) won't.

Your question is simply premature.

The Bangkok Bank thing is not the same thing. Those are ACH transfers.

Also since you seem to have some document, what will the Thai rules be?

At Bangkok Bank you can't have an ATM attached to the receiving account and you need to show up in person to withdraw cash.

Social Security treats some countries that way, and others not.

Will the same restrictions apply with the new setups?

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jINGTHING is correct, it is premature to wonder.   On 10 December, I received an email from the SSA office in Manila stating:  "As of this moment we can only process Bangkok Bank direct deposit accounts in Thailand."

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5 hours ago, noise said:

jINGTHING is correct, it is premature to wonder.   On 10 December, I received an email from the SSA office in Manila stating:  "As of this moment we can only process Bangkok Bank direct deposit accounts in Thailand."

So what is the difference between IDD and " only process Bangkok Bank direct deposit accounts in Thailand "?

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2 minutes ago, thailand49 said:

So what is the difference between IDD and " only process Bangkok Bank direct deposit accounts in Thailand "?

IDD is done directly from the SSA to a bank here.

The ones to Bangkok Bank are done via their New Your branch by ACH.

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7 hours ago, noise said:

jINGTHING is correct, it is premature to wonder.   On 10 December, I received an email from the SSA office in Manila stating:  "As of this moment we can only process Bangkok Bank direct deposit accounts in Thailand."

Noise, I have been trying to get in touch with Manila SSA to no avail. Do you have a current phone number for them? Some claim SSA has been closed down in Manila. I called SSA in the States and got more ignorant answers. No one seems to know anything. After receiving a warning that my once a year questionnaire from SSA was not received in June, another was sent stating I had 45 days to mail the 2nd one back to Pa. I sent it with tracking. Tracking showed it delivered to of all places, GENERAL DELIVERY, in spite the address on the envelope being correct with zip code and PO Box number. 

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7 minutes ago, featography said:

Noise, I have been trying to get in touch with Manila SSA to no avail. Do you have a current phone number for them? Some claim SSA has been closed down in Manila. I called SSA in the States and got more ignorant answers. No one seems to know anything. After receiving a warning that my once a year questionnaire from SSA was not received in June, another was sent stating I had 45 days to mail the 2nd one back to Pa. I sent it with tracking. Tracking showed it delivered to of all places, GENERAL DELIVERY, in spite the address on the envelope being correct with zip code and PO Box number. 

 

https://ph.usembassy.gov/u-s-citizen-services/social-security/

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2 hours ago, ubonjoe said:

IDD is done directly from the SSA to a bank here.

The ones to Bangkok Bank are done via their New Your branch by ACH.

Thanks, I wrote this on another thread since my brother who is always in the dark a bit?  I found out tonight that his S.S. is currently as you noted being done as an ACH from New York which is what I thought since he said he was paying a small fee?

Through this process he noted to me just last week he checked his account here with Bangkok Bank his S.S. is something like 1550.00 USD, his deposit into his BB account was 48,000 baht. I remember not exactly the rate was something like 32.85, of course, that isn't what I expect but after doing the math he only got something like 31.50 by BB which I considered not a very fair rate even if there is a fee to be paid for the ACH. 

I have my check deposited into my Charles Schwab account and here in Pattaya I removed it via Aeon ATM, the rate I been getting is much better and the ATM fee is 150 which I get all back from Charles Schwab. Another reason I don't plan to make any changes for S.S.  I just hope the IDD method when in place will provide a better or fairer rate.

As noted, in the U.S. Embassy notice for ACS, it notes they are working with S.S. to get the IDD with Bangkok Bank in place sometime in late January?

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3 hours ago, KhunFred said:

 but many of us retired here because our retirement funds go farther, not because we like warm climate.

Is that the complete picture? Surely there are places as cheap or even cheaper to live than Thailand? 

A British person could live more cheaply in the UK on benefits!

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On 12/14/2018 at 11:16 AM, Jingthing said:

We don't know yet which Thai banks will and which (if any) won't.

Your question is simply premature.

The Bangkok Bank thing is not the same thing. Those are ACH transfers.

Also since you seem to have some document, what will the Thai rules be?

At Bangkok Bank you can't have an ATM attached to the receiving account and you need to show up in person to withdraw cash.

Social Security treats some countries that way, and others not.

Will the same restrictions apply with the new setups?

Actually that’s not true regarding an ATM card with a BB acct that receives ACH xfers. When I opened my BB acct I got an ATM card after requesting it and also applied for online banking, which took a little while longer to get. 

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28 minutes ago, jacko45k said:

Is that the complete picture? Surely there are places as cheap or even cheaper to live than Thailand? 

A British person could live more cheaply in the UK on benefits!

Most non-Americans don’t realize the cost of health insurance in the US. This is what drives many of us to retire overseas, especially if you’re married to a local lady or wanted to retire early.

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13 minutes ago, Hank Gunn said:

Actually that’s not true regarding an ATM card with a BB acct that receives ACH xfers. When I opened my BB acct I got an ATM card after requesting it and also applied for online banking, which took a little while longer to get. 

For a normal account that is correct. But for a direct deposit account to have SS or military retirement payments direct deposited no online banking or a ATM card is allowed.

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40 minutes ago, jacko45k said:

Is that the complete picture? Surely there are places as cheap or even cheaper to live than Thailand? 

A British person could live more cheaply in the UK on benefits!

That is certainly an interesting comment. I don't know about your particular case, but ALL of the British people I know who are retired here in Thailand tell quite a different story. I will CERTAINLY agree that the superior British healthcare system is a valid reason to live there. Same deal with Australia and Canada. In order to access Medicare, I would have to fly back to the USA. No problems collecting Social Security here, but healthcare is another kettle of fish.

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3 minutes ago, ubonjoe said:

For a normal account that is correct. But for a direct deposit account to have SS or military retirement payments direct deposited no online banking or a ATM card is allowed.

Yes but I was responding to JingThing’s claim about BB acts that receive ACH transfers.

From his post:

Quote

The Bangkok Bank thing is not the same thing. Those are ACH transfers.

 

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3 minutes ago, ubonjoe said:

For a normal account that is correct. But for a direct deposit account to have SS or military retirement payments direct deposited no online banking or a ATM card is allowed.

It's a simple matter to transfer all or part of your Direct Deposit payment into a separate ATM account. It must be done in person, though. That's a good feature to avoid fraud. Not EVERYTHING done by the US government is stupid. LOL

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40 minutes ago, Hank Gunn said:

Actually that’s not true regarding an ATM card with a BB acct that receives ACH xfers. When I opened my BB acct I got an ATM card after requesting it and also applied for online banking, which took a little while longer to get. 

As Ubonjoe mentioned you're conflating two different things. A BB account that gets regular ACH transfers in via New York (which will soon need to be IAT formatted) and such accounts that receive SOCIAL SECURITY payments. Totally different situations. Social security has demanded no ATM access for such accounts. I also have a regular BB account with ATM that receives ACH transfers but not social security payments. Cheers.

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23 minutes ago, Hank Gunn said:

Yes but I was responding to JingThing’s claim about BB acts that receive ACH transfers.

From his post:

 

I never said you can't get ACH transfers to a BB account that has as ATM card! You took a sentence out of context distorting what I was saying. 

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19 minutes ago, Jingthing said:

I never said you can't get ACH transfers to a BB account that has as ATM card! You took a sentence out of context distorting what I was saying. 

I beg to differ, for it was you that established the context of BB accounts receiving ACH transfers.

Here is the main part of your post with an edit on my part showing how you could have re-established context with regards to direct deposits of SS checks. And before you take offense, this is not meant as a “grammar police “ post, but meant to defend myself from your accusation of taking you out of context and “distorting” what you said.

 

“The Bangkok Bank thing is not the same thing. Those are ACH transfers.

Also since you seem to have some document, what will the Thai rules be?

At Bangkok Bank you can't have an ATM attached to accounts that receive direct Soc Sec depositsthe receiving account and you need to show up in person to withdraw cash.”

 

(I used underline as there is no strikeout option.)

Edited by Hank Gunn
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I beg to differ, for it was you that established the context of BB accounts receiving ACH transfers.
Here is the main part of your post with an edit on my part showing how you could have re-established context with regards to direct deposits of SS checks. And before you take offense, this is not meant as a “grammar police “ post, but meant to defend myself from your accusation of taking you out of context and “distorting” what you said.
 

“The Bangkok Bank thing is not the same thing. Those are ACH transfers.

Also since you seem to have some document, what will the Thai rules be?

At Bangkok Bank you can't have an ATM attached to accounts that receive direct Soc Sec depositsthe receiving account and you need to show up in person to withdraw cash.”

 

(I used underline as there is no strikeout option.)

Sorry but you totally misread my meaning. Give it a rest. I never said you can't get bb accounts with an atm if the account isn't dedicated to SS transfers. Don't bother insisting I said or meant something that I never meant. That is obnoxious.

Change is afoot but we don't yet know if the new SS transfer thing will still require an ATM restricted account or not.

Sent from my Lenovo A7020a48 using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

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1 hour ago, Jingthing said:

Sorry but you totally misread my meaning. Give it a rest. I never said you can't get bb accounts with an atm if the account isn't dedicated to SS transfers. Don't bother insisting I said or meant something that I never meant. That is obnoxious.

Change is afoot but we don't yet know if the new SS transfer thing will still require an ATM restricted account or not.

Sent from my Lenovo A7020a48 using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app
 

I think you need to chill. The OP made a comment about BB receiving electronic deposits from the US and you made the comment that he was confused with ACH transfers to BB which is a different thing. After mentioning BB accts. that receive ACH transfers you ask the OP about some document he has, then made the statement about those BB accounts not being able to have ATM cards. I then made a simple correction about that (BB accts being able to have ATM cards) based on my personal experiences, which is quite normal on this forum.

 

I'm not "insisting" you said or meant something. I quoted you verbatim and showed an edit of your post that would have been more clear and prevented my misunderstanding of it. I merely pointed out the vagueness in your reply to my response, in which you accused me of taking something "out of context" and "distorting" what you said. In fact, taking a minor misunderstanding caused by your poor communication and then calling me "obnoxious" is highly hypocritical.

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As usual, Pib is on-the-mark with info about this type of subject.  When the U.S. Embassy/Consulate had their recent meeting about Income Letters, etc recently here in Chiang Mai this new "enhancement" about how we can have our U.S. SS and VA payments direct deposited into ANY Thai bank sometime next year was mentioned with the news to "stay tuned" more info will come.  Unlike Pib, they didn't go into the technical details about why or how.

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17 minutes ago, Pib said:

When IDD does become available in the first quarter of 2019, keep in mind you will need to have your Thailand address on-file with the SSA.   I expect some have their SS payment going to Bangkok Bank via ACH, however, have kept their U.S. address on-file with the SSA.   A US address on-file when using ACH for  your payment is no problem; however, for IDD you must have your foreign address on file with SSA.  This also means you'll get an annual/biennual (depends on foreign country.....for Thailand its annual) "are you still alive letter."   See below SSA instruction regarding IDD for Thailand....MBR means Master Benefit Record.

 

 

Full instructions at SSA weblink....partial snapshot also below.

https://secure.ssa.gov/poms.nsf/lnx/0202402419

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Excellent information. Thanks.

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38 minutes ago, steven2018 said:

That is really cool info about international direct deposit. Now, if Medicare would allow international benefits to approved hospitals internationally, they could save money by allowing services at a possible lower cost than a service done in the U.S.

I don't think that extending benefits to those retired outside of the USA is a very high priority for the current administration. They are too busy antagonizing other countries, with the exception of Russia and North Korea. During the Obama administration, there was talk of extending Medicare to retirees in Mexico with other countries to be added at a later date. No move was ever made in that direction, since the focus was on passing the Affordable Care Act.

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SSA has been adding more and more countries to their IDD list.  Vietnam in Aug 18;....Thailand in Nov 18 (although not active yet) plus others in Nov 18;...Philippines in Feb 18;....Algeria, Macro, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Sengel in Dec 18, etc...etc...etc.   More the better.   Some of this is probably driven by the US Treasury/National ACH Assn (NACHA) tightening-up on funds transfers that actually leave the US like current payment to Bangkok Bank via ACH.  In other cases, it simply the SSA expanding the countries it feels it safe to send funds to and their are no U.S. polices/laws restricting funds flows to those countries.

 

At this movement in time below weblink will show IDD countries as of "Nov" 18.  Expect come Jan 19 when clicking it, it will also show those countries which were added in December.  The list continues to grow.  https://www.ssa.gov/deposit/foreign.htm

 

When you look at the instructions for the various countries you will see usually in Paragraph D what currency must be used for payment.  Many countries it's only their local currency....many countries it's only US dollars...and for a few it can be in local or US dollar currency.  In Thailand's case the Thailand payment must be to a US dollar account.

 

Have no clue what SSA will only pay in US dollars to some countries and only in local currency for others.  And actually it's not SSA that makes the actual payment.  SSA sends payment instructions to the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City who makes the payment on behalf of the US Treasury/SSA.

 

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