USAA Bank

[JimBuckToo]

I currently have my pensions directly deposited into my USAA Bank account in the US. I created this USAA bank account online and in Thailand. Which is substantially above the 65,000 Baht per month requirement for retirees. I set up with USAA an automatic and in perpetuity a monthly withdrawal equal to the Thai monthly requirement deposited directly into my Bangkok Bank ATM account. I never look. I never care. It’s seamless.

 

 

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[Sheryl]

The transfer fees at USAA are pretty high, though, aren't they?

 

Also you must keep on top of the exchange rates to be sure it always arrives at 65K or over. Under the new rules even a tiny dip in one month could result in denied extension even though the average was over 85k per month.

 

 

[NCC1701A]

45 minutes ago, JimBuckToo said:

I never care.

just wondering could you post your transfer fees? it would be helpful for others.

 

i am an American also. i have 800k in the bank. I like not having to worry about it at all and having some cash in country for big emergencies. 

 

like moving to Cambodia.

[Pib]

OP, 

   If USAA is sending that monthly payment via ACH which I expect is the case, come 1 April 19, your seamless transfers from USSA to Bankgok Bank come to squeaking halt as the Bangkok Bank policy that goes into full effect 1 Apr 19 will reject all ACH transfers not in International ACH Transaction (IAT) format. 

 

  USAA, nor any other known US bank or credit union for retail accounts. uses ACH IAT format....they only use the ACH Domestic format and Wire (SWIFT) transfers. 

 

   Now if those monthly USAA transfers you have been talking about are via Wire (SWIFT) transfers at $45 per pop then SWIFT transfers which is the USAA direct sending fee for an International Wire then your transfers will continue to arrive seamlessly.   

 

  Once again I fully expect your transfers are via ACH and you are another one which has not got the memo about the Bangkok Bank policy change that came out around a year ago to give every plenty of notice.

[Sheryl]

I don't think USAA does ACH transfers, at least not to foreign banks.

 

I do soem banking with htem and $45 SWIFT has been the only option.

[Pib]

3 minutes ago, Sheryl said:

I don't think USAA does ACH transfers, at least not to foreign banks.

 

I do soem banking with htem and $45 SWIFT has been the only option.

Sure they use ACH....I have done quite a few from USAA to Bangkok Bank for years.  

 

In fact, you could log onto your USAA ibanking right now, setup a ACH transfer link to Bangkok Bank selecting the method that does "not" use the trial deposit method and approx 2 days later the link would be approved.  USAA allow two methods to setup ACH transfer links...one uses the trial deposit method; the other one does not.  You could then do ACH transfers from your USAA account to your Bangkok Bank account until 1 Apr 19.  But when trying a transfer on 1 Apr or later it would be rejected back by Bangkok Bank NY as not being in ACH IAT format.

[kokesaat]

Pentagon Federal Credit Union charges $30 for a SWIFT transfer:

From their website:

 

The fee for domestic wire transfers is $20.00. The fee for international wire
transfers is $30.00.

To request a wire transfer, please contact a Member Service Representative at
800-247-5626, 541-225-6700, or 510 376-7328 from a Class A DSN phone line.
Representatives are available 7 days a week during the following hours:

Please note that American banks use their routing/ABA number as the SWIFT/IBAN
code for receipt of international wire transfers. PenFed uses Wells Fargo as the
corresponding bank for all international wires.

 

 

 

[JimBuckToo]

No fees. $5,000 transfer limit per month.


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[TallGuyJohninBKK]

6 minutes ago, JimBuckToo said:

No fees. $5,000 transfer limit per month.


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I think you need to hear the advice Pib is giving you above...

 

If your USAA transfers are the free ACH method to BKKB NY, that method is going to die effective this coming April. BKKB is killing it, for USAA and every other sending bank.

 

If your USAA transfers are international wires, they're not going to be free.

 

[JimBuckToo]

It’s not SWIFT or IWT. It’s direct bank routing number (USAA) to bank routing number (Bangkok Bank New York).


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[TallGuyJohninBKK]

1 minute ago, JimBuckToo said:

It’s not SWIFT or IWT. It’s direct bank routing number (USAA) to bank routing number (Bangkok Bank New York).
 

 

That's what's going to die, permanently, starting this April.

 

You'd better start scoping out some other transfer method.

 

[Pib]

5 minutes ago, JimBuckToo said:

It’s not SWIFT or IWT. It’s direct bank routing number (USAA) to bank routing number (Bangkok Bank New York).

OK....it's an ACH transfer as thought.   Come 1 Apr 19 the transfer will be rejected.   Here's the memo you didn't get.  Actually the same info has been on the Bangkok Bank website since around Apr 2018 (eighteen).

 

[JimBuckToo]

It’s not ending in April. My Immigration Officer, USAA and Bangkok Bank contacts support my comments. So I am not panicked by your dire predictions. I am not scoping now or ever. Have a nice day.

 

 

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[asiaexpat]

23 minutes ago, JimBuckToo said:

No fees. $5,000 transfer limit per month.


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If this is your current transfer method then you get a big surprise come 1 April. I have discussed international transfer directly with USAA customer service and was assured SWIFT transfer at a cost of $45 is the only option once BBL stops domestic ACH.

[Pib]

11 minutes ago, JimBuckToo said:

It’s not ending in April. My Immigration Officer, USAA and Bangkok Bank contacts support my comments. So I am not panicked by your dire predictions. I am not scoping now or ever. Have a nice day.

 

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No, your Bangkok Bank nor USAA contacts support your comments.  I expect whoever you talked to at USAA didn't have a clue about IAT format and was confused with whatever you asked them...gave you  wrong answer.  Now USAA can "receive" IAT format....all US banks can; but USAA does not send in IAT format. And I guarantee you if you contact the Bangkok Bank contact on the letter (or at their NY branch) they will tell you the same as on their letter---not in IAT format it will be rejected.

 

You sound like a guy in front of a firing squad but confident they are not really going to shoot you. 

 

And by the way, did your hear about the Social Security Agency beginning International Direct Deposit (IDD) for Thailand?  IDD uses SWIFT instead of ACH.   Well, IDD for Thailand came about solely because all SSA beneficiaries in Thailand are not receiving their monthly pension payment in ACH IAT format (most are but not all).  This IDD is to fix the problem for the folks who are not receiving their pension in IAT format.

 

All I can say is you have been warned.  April will not be a good month for you.

 

 

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

14 minutes ago, JimBuckToo said:

It’s not ending in April. My Immigration Officer, USAA and Bangkok Bank contacts support my comments. So I am not panicked by your dire predictions. I am not scoping now or ever. Have a nice day.

 

 

You can lead a donkey to water... But you can't make them drink.... 

[amexpat]

Transferwise.

 

[Sheryl]

54 minutes ago, Pib said:

Sure they use ACH....I have done quite a few from USAA to Bangkok Bank for years.  

 

In fact, you could log onto your USAA ibanking right now, setup a ACH transfer link to Bangkok Bank selecting the method that does "not" use the trial deposit method and approx 2 days later the link would be approved.  USAA allow two methods to setup ACH transfer links...one uses the trial deposit method; the other one does not.  You could then do ACH transfers from your USAA account to your Bangkok Bank account until 1 Apr 19.  But when trying a transfer on 1 Apr or later it would be rejected back by Bangkok Bank NY as not being in ACH IAT format.

That is to Bangkok Bank in USA. (Where I do not have an account nor plan to open one).

 

I was referring to ACH to banks in Thailand.

 

AFAIK the only bank which does that is Bangkok Bank in NY.

 

But I suppose it is possible that this is what the poster meant, that he has account at both USAA AND Bangkok Bank in the US as well as with Bangkok Bank in Thailand and does monthly transfers that way. If so, as you note, it will stop working soon.

 

Personally I'm waiting for this new SS IDD to come into play and see how that works.

[JimBuckToo]

I comply with the IAT standards listed. 1. Your name and physical address in Thailand. 2. Your bank account number and the name and address of your Bangkok Bank branch in Thailand. 3. The 9-digit routing number of Bangkok Bank New York branch, which acts as the intermediary in the transaction, which is 026008691. This donkey does not drink water from a bucket, thank you very much.


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[55Jay]

32 minutes ago, JimBuckToo said:

No fees. $5,000 transfer limit per month.
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Yes, there's an equally seamless fee, probably more than one. 

But you wouldn't know that because, as you said, you never look.

 

"Captain JimBuck, is that an iceberg up ahead?"

 

[Pib]

4 minutes ago, Sheryl said:

That is to Bangkok Bank in USA. (Where I do not have an account nor plan to open one).

 

I was referring to ACH to banks in Thailand.

 

AFAIK the only bank which does that is Bangkok Bank in NY.

 

But I suppose it is possible that this is what the poster meant, that he has account at both USAA AND Bangkok Bank in the US as well as with Bangkok Bank in Thailand and does monthly transfers that way. If so, as you note, it will stop working soon.

 

Personally I'm waiting for this new SS IDD to come into play and see how that works.

To use ACH to transfer "from any US bank/CU such as USAA" to your "in-Thailand" Bangkok Bank account you use the Bangkok Bank New York branch routing number (you do not need an account with the NY branch to use their routing number) and your in-Thailand Bangkok Bank account number.  

 

You can not use the NY branch routing number to send to any other Thai bank......only to Bangkok Bank.  Bangkok Bank is the only Thai bank with ACH receiving capability.

[SpokaneAl]

Once a year I manually request a wire transfer of money from my bank to the New York branch of Bangkok Bank, where it is available to us, which funds our stay when we return each year to Thailand. With all these discussions, will I still be able to perform this transfer?

 

Thank you.

 

 

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[Pib]

2 minutes ago, JimBuckToo said:

I comply with the IAT standards listed. 1. Your name and physical address in Thailand. 2. Your bank account number and the name and address of your Bangkok Bank branch in Thailand. 3. The 9-digit routing number of Bangkok Bank New York branch, which acts as the intermediary in the transaction, which is 026008691. This donkey does not drink water from a bucket, thank you very much.

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You don't even enter the name and address in Thailand when doing an ACH transfer.   You just enter a routing number and account number.   

 

And here's one thing you definitely don't setup...it's the Standard Entry Class (SEC) code which one of the many underlying data fields/codes in an ACH transfer, domestic or international.  The SEC code for an IAT transfer must be IAT....that's something your bank handles. It talked about on the Bangkok Bank memo....that's what the Bangkok Bank computers will key on the block transfers not in the IAT format.  For your current transfers the SEC code being used is PPD which stands for Prearranged Payment & Deposit....the Bangkok Bank NY computers will see that PPD code and reject it back to USAA.

[Pib]

2 minutes ago, SpokaneAl said:

Once a year I manually request a wire transfer of money from my bank to the New York branch of Bangkok Bank, where it is available to us, which funds our stay when we return each year to Thailand. With all these discussions, will I still be able to perform this transfer?

 

Thank you.

If you are doing an International Wire transfer using the Bangkok Bank SWIFT code of BKKBTHBK, yes, it will transfer no problem.  You are using the SWIFT system to do the transfer and not the ACH system. 

 

But if you are talking doing a domestic Wire using the NY branch ACH routing number it will probably reject.  I say probably because with a Wire you usually have to fill in additional info like the receivers name, address, phone number which is similar to an ACH IAT transfer.  However, the domestic Wire is as it said meant to be a "domestic" transfer....money staying within the US which you money is not doing; so come 1 Apr it will probably reject also.

 

 

[JimBuckToo]

My USAA and Bangkok Bank statements match. Tell me where the fee is. Hidden fees, malarkey or hogwash if you prefer.


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[Pib]

3 minutes ago, JimBuckToo said:

My USAA and Bangkok Bank statements match. Tell me where the fee is. Hidden fees, malarkey or hogwash if you prefer.


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The USAA ACH sending Fee is zero.  The Bangkok Bank fees consist of two fees: (1) the NY branch flow thru sliding scale fee and (2) your in-Thailand Bangkok Bank "receiving" fees. 

 

Both fees are applied before final posting to your in-Thailand Bangkok Bank account which means they appear nowhere on your Bangkok Bank ibanking or passbook which fools some people into thinking no fees were applied but indeed they were.  That is also why some folks can never get their personal exchange rate math to match any of the exchange rates on the Bangkok Bank exchange rate page.

 

But if you setup the Bangkok bank free SMS Remittance Alert you will can see both of these fees.  The SMS will show the funds arriving from the NY branch to your in-Thailand branch have already had the NY branch fee sliced-off....like if sending $1900 only $1895 arrives...if sending $2500 only $2490 arrives.  And then the other fee circled below is also shown.   After both fees have been applied the remaining amount is posted to your Bangkok Bank account.   

 

[JimBuckToo]

Seems like a pittance.


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[how241]

1 hour ago, Pib said:

OK....it's an ACH transfer as thought.   Come 1 Apr 19 the transfer will be rejected.   Here's the memo you didn't get.  Actually the same info has been on the Bangkok Bank website since around Apr 2018 (eighteen).

 

I have been doing the US bank to Bangkok bank in NY, then on to Thailand for years.  I see nothing new in this letter as the banks involved have my address and acct # . Nothing new in those 3 requirements listed in this letter. 

[Pib]

26 minutes ago, how241 said:

I have been doing the US bank to Bangkok bank in NY, then on to Thailand for years.  I see nothing new in this letter as the banks involved have my address and acct # . Nothing new in those 3 requirements listed in this letter. 

Yes....of course your US bank has your address and phone number....they get that when you open your account/update your residential/mailing address.  But since they do not use ACH IAT format the "receiver's" name, address and phone number nor SEC of IAT is included in the ACH transfer format. 

 

ACH IAT format is basically an expanded format over the ACH Domestic (PPD) format and along with a different SEC code to signify an international ACH transfer vs a domestic ACH transfer.

 

 

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

1 hour ago, JimBuckToo said:

Seems like a pittance.
 

 

Re BKKB New York and their ACH fee, don't worry, you won't have to be paying it for much longer anyway!