How does your UK pension arrive and what code?

[sunnyboy2018]

8 hours ago, Griffo63 said:

I have my pension paid into my UK bank account and then transferred (when the exchange looks best - difficult at present ) into my Thai Bank Account. 

Me too.  That way you dont lose the benefit of any pension increases.

[Moonlover]

26 minutes ago, DEKARUN said:

I made a direct request to DWP several years ago and my UK pension was paid direct to Siam Commercial Bank and is coded as IFT. I understand it is handled by Citi Bank and from the date due it takes 9 working days sometimes longer if holiday is involved. My Local Council pension takes only 3 days from the date due and that is also handled by Citi Bank and is also coded as IFT. Dwp don't want to know about this and from what I have heard 9 working days is far from normal for other UK pensioners. It used to take the DWP six working days to pay my pension into my UK Bank account from the date due - in this day and age almost unheard of.

When I had my state pension remitted directly to Krungsri it took just 2 days. (except when the were national holidays of course)

[Moonlover]

3 hours ago, trubrit said:

Has anyone else tried to get their UK govt pension paid into a Transferwise acct? What was the answer?

Yes, it can be done. You need to open a Borderless account with T/W. Then you send DWP the account number and sort code.

 

Job done.

Edited September 12, 2019 by Moonlover

[sunnyboy2018]

1 hour ago, Nong Khai Man said:

Easy....I've had my U.K Bank Account since 1985 & Has been in Credit Since.....I Was Told by them that If it Ever had a Negative Balance THEY Would then Close it & I Wouldn't be allowed to open a new one as I'm not a U.K Resident Any Longer....

 

Just to Add,My U.K Bank has NO Problem with me being in Thailand, I Receive a Statement from them each time I Withdraw Any Money on my Visa Debit Card at my THAI Address !!

The IR definition of what is regarded as being resident, has changed in the last few years.  The is a three part test now. I have had a UK address for years except when working abroad  then used the same UK address, after the contract finished. The new system was also about redefining residency to claw back more taxes from people pretending to NR /non domiciled using the old 60/90/ 120 day rule. Having bank acounts and UK addresses etc is a strong indicator of residency. 

[sunnyboy2018]

9 hours ago, crazykopite said:

I don’t do it but many do and that’s pay an agent to sort out your extension of stay I don’t know how they do it but somehow they can get around all this financial requirements.if things get any tougher I might have to look at doing it myself next time . At the moment my U.K. pensions go into my U.K. bank and I live off my 800 k immigration deposit then three months before reapplying I send the amount needed to take it back up to the 800k it’s a merry go-round but it saves me transfer costs by doing it once rather than every month . I just had a friend who has now got issues with his monthly pension due to the incorrect transfer coding he is currently in KL as he’s going to go down the multi entry route like me he is not sure about using an agent 

'I dont know how they do it'....A senior IO OKs your application for an extension, an action within.his remit. The agent is the conduit to the bag man/lady who directs your passport and paperwork to the relevant official

[essox essox]

10 hours ago, Hotrats said:

I receive my UK State Pension directly every 28 days into my Bangkok Bank account in Thailand. It comes into my local account with the reference BAHTNET. My understanding is the UK pension office send the payments for pensioners living in Thailand in bulk to a central clearing bank here, from where it is distributed to all the individual accounts. Hence the receiving account does not register it as an international payment (with FTT) because it has been received from the local clearing bank in Thai Baht.

the clearing bank as I understand is CITI BANK in the STATES

[Suradit69]

2 hours ago, dabhand said:

Or 'sterling'!!

Yes. I caught that late and thought I edited my post, but apparently the edit didn't come through. Probably waited too long.

[MartinL]

10 hours ago, Hotrats said:

I receive my UK State Pension directly every 28 days into my Bangkok Bank account in Thailand. It comes into my local account with the reference BAHTNET. My understanding is the UK pension office send the payments for pensioners living in Thailand in bulk to a central clearing bank here, from where it is distributed to all the individual accounts. Hence the receiving account does not register it as an international payment (with FTT) because it has been received from the local clearing bank in Thai Baht.

 

29 minutes ago, essox essox said:

the clearing bank as I understand is CITI BANK in the STATES

I was on the phone to the UK pension people this week and asked about this. Yes, it's CitiBank in the States - that's why there's a warning on the pensions website that there might be payment delays around US public holidays. Payments are sent there - my next is due on 16th. and was sent to the bank on 6th., so 10 days early. All Thai payments are then sent to Citibank Thailand for distribution.

 

This'll be my first pension payment to Thailand so I've no idea how close to the due date your payment actually arrives in your account.

[rickudon]

Yet more evidence that you should always try and maintain some sort of residency status  in your home country 'Just in case'  (unless you have given up residency for tax reasons).

 

Our stay in Thailand is at the whim of the Thai government. With one stroke of a pen, they could make us all persona non grata. You need to be ready to leave at 24 hours notice. We have seen all the 'minor' changes that have been made to the immigration system over the last 5 years, always to make it a little bit harder. I saw the writing on the wall back in October when the UK embassy decided to stop income letters (which I used to use, providing proof to get them). The monthly income requirement which was mentioned then turned out to be true (For marriage, 40,000 baht transferred EVERY month, whether in Thailand or not), so I went back to the UK (already planned for family reasons), borrowed 7500 GBP at a low rate and gradually transferred here to get my 400,000 baht in the bank for the annual method.

 

I could not have done that if I hadn't maintained a postal address and my UK bank accounts. A lot of people are coming to grief over the monthly international transfer option, who thought they would be OK. Those on retirement extensions, doubly so.

 

And UK banks are introducing yet more security. You have to have a telephone number now (preferably a UK one). That starts this month, yet to see if that causes any issues.

[Max69xl]

11 hours ago, gregsmithy said:

I receive a UK civil service pension which is processed by citibank to my Kasikorn account and this shows as BNT (bahtnet). 

I have also transferred money from HSBC by swift and oddly this also showed as BNT.

 

I tried and failed to resolve the issue of the code with both my bank and immigration both offered sympathy but not much else. I chose to revert to a non o multi entry visa, which I have to say also removed a lot of stress from the whole process. As long as the option is still available it beats the mountain of paperwork and uncomfortable feeling when visiting an immigration office for an extension. 

Do you have to transfer the money from Citibank to K-Bank? Why not use TransferWise instead? Easier,faster and better exchange rate.

[Max69xl]

6 minutes ago, rickudon said:

Yet more evidence that you should always try and maintain some sort of residency status  in your home country 'Just in case'  (unless you have given up residency for tax reasons).

 

Our stay in Thailand is at the whim of the Thai government. With one stroke of a pen, they could make us all persona non grata. You need to be ready to leave at 24 hours notice. We have seen all the 'minor' changes that have been made to the immigration system over the last 5 years, always to make it a little bit harder. I saw the writing on the wall back in October when the UK embassy decided to stop income letters (which I used to use, providing proof to get them). The monthly income requirement which was mentioned then turned out to be true (For marriage, 40,000 baht transferred EVERY month, whether in Thailand or not), so I went back to the UK (already planned for family reasons), borrowed 7500 GBP at a low rate and gradually transferred here to get my 400,000 baht in the bank for the annual method.

 

I could not have done that if I hadn't maintained a postal address and my UK bank accounts. A lot of people are coming to grief over the monthly international transfer option, who thought they would be OK. Those on retirement extensions, doubly so.

 

And UK banks are introducing yet more security. You have to have a telephone number now (preferably a UK one). That starts this month, yet to see if that causes any issues.

Don't blame Immigration for the loss of income letters from the UK Embassy. I guess you don't know the official reason. Other embassies (except the US and Australian) still issues bank letters. If you want the transfers to be shown as international/foreign transfers, transfer the money the correct way. 

[rickudon]

40 minutes ago, Max69xl said:

Don't blame Immigration for the loss of income letters from the UK Embassy. I guess you don't know the official reason. Other embassies (except the US and Australian) still issues bank letters. If you want the transfers to be shown as international/foreign transfers, transfer the money the correct way. 

Unless you have some secret knowledge, I understand that the letters were withdrawn because the embassy's refused to 'authenticate' them. In the UK, and I would assume in most European countries, you cannot easily 'authenticate' many documents due to data protection and privacy laws. The fact that the rest of the European countries still provide embassy letters shows what a joke this is.

As for the transfers, as this thread has shown, many people do transfer money (or have it transferred for them), but not all transfers appear as foreign transfers in your bank account. Surely having the money for your state pension transferred by the government is a more 'correct' way than by using TransferWise? Many assumed their transfers were correct. Not everyone is an avid Thaivisa reader or was aware that their transfers would not be accepted. Even now, some IO's refuse to accept other evidence, and only want ONE code. Of course, many IO's have no idea how International transfers work. After all, they make up their own procedures rather than follow national ones - why? Maybe because they have never actually read the national police orders in the first place?

 

Anyway, the monthly international transfer option for extensions is a mess, as it tries to fit rectangular pegs into round holes - not all fit.

 

As I said, I foresaw this potential problem and decided to change to the lump sum method. And because I maintain an address in the UK (which I visit one or two times a year), I could. Too late now for many people.

[Moonlover]

1 hour ago, Max69xl said:

And UK banks are introducing yet more security. You have to have a telephone number now (preferably a UK one). That starts this month, yet to see if that causes any issues.

This particular aspect of your post has actually been delayed. See

 

https://www.finextra.com/newsarticle/34248/uk-regulator-offers-18-month-delay-for-strong-customer-authentication-rules

[billd766]

11 hours ago, trubrit said:

How do you guy's resident here keep a Uk bank acct?When my bank, Lloyds found out I wasn't in the UK they closed my acct and other banks I asked said the same, must be resident to open an account. Recently I asked for my govt pension to be paid into my Transferwise  acct in UK, got a reply 2 months later they only pay into recognised banks not the likes of Transferwise .So i'm still stuck with receiving it through Citibank with an internal transfer into Bangkok Bank .

I opened a TransferWise Borderless account in the UK last December and I get my State Pension, Armed Forces pension and my company pension paid straight into it. When any pension is paid into it (usually between 2 and 2:15 pm) I get an sms sent to my mobile in Thailand notifying me which pension has been paid and how much in GBP.

Around 4:30 pm Thai time I decide how much I want to transfer. I set up how much in GBP I want to send and TW tells me 

 

How much I want to send

The fee which is taken from that amount

The forex rate that I will get guaranteed for the time of the transfer

The amount in THB that I will receive 

When it will be in my account (usually the next day unless it is paid into my TW account on a Friday or at the weekend when it is paid in on the following Monday). It also applies to Thai Bank Holidays, but the forex rate will not change. The worst time of the year is Songkran and its holidays.

 

When it is paid into my BKK account I get another sms telling me that xx,xxx amount of THB has been paid. It shows on my BKK bankbook and on my monthly statement as an international transfer.

 

If you need some help please PM me and I will do my best for you.

 

 

[Gilltom]

11 hours ago, trubrit said:

How do you guy's resident here keep a Uk bank acct?When my bank, Lloyds found out I wasn't in the UK they closed my acct and other banks I asked said the same, must be resident to open an account. Recently I asked for my govt pension to be paid into my Transferwise  acct in UK, got a reply 2 months later they only pay into recognised banks not the likes of Transferwise .So i'm still stuck with receiving it through Citibank with an internal transfer into Bangkok Bank .

How did they find out.

[billd766]

8 hours ago, john terry1001 said:

I have a Lloyds account and like you transfer using Transferwise to my Bangkok Bank. Always shows as an FTT transfer. I don't have a problem.

 

The problem is for people who don't have a UK bank account and have not maintained a UK address. They can't get a UK bank Account so have to resort to having their pensions directly to their Thai Bank but those UK State and private Pension companies now appear to be using a transfer system which shows up in the Thai bank with a BNT (bahtnet) code. This is not an International transfer code so is not normally acceptable to Thai Immigration.

 

Having an offshore (expat?) bank account that your pension is paid into is one option and most UK banks provide that service, but those accounts usually require a minimum of £4-5,000 held permanently in the account.

I closed all my UK accounts years ago and I ran into this problem last year. I opened a TransferWise account in December and transfer my pensions from there to the BKK Bank.

I am careful to leave a few quid in my TW account every month.

 

5 hours ago, Postmaster said:

I was going to suggest try Transferwise for the Pension transfer but Truebrit already gave us the answer.

No can't do

Yes they can and they do.

 

5 hours ago, Thailand said:

I did, they didn't.

Also Bangkok Bank have their own code for international transfers, it is GPSD and shows on annual statements from BB head office.

.

Bangkok Bank assured me that immigration would accept this (GPSD) for the pension and other overseas income transfers as they had informed the immigration office in question.

I said I bet they don't ,BB said they will, they didn't.

Mine shows up monthly as an International Transfer.

 

 

[billd766]

4 hours ago, Moonlover said:

Yes, it can be done. You need to open a Borderless account with T/W. Then you send DWP the account number and sort code.

 

Job done.

+1

[Nong Khai Man]

5 hours ago, sunnyboy2018 said:

Me too.  That way you dont lose the benefit of any pension increases.

But You MUST Have a U.K Address IF You get the Increases......

[Lancelot01]

17 hours ago, Jeffrey346 said:

It doesn't matter if the transfer is made in Baht or Stirling. They just need to code it properly as an Intl transfer. 

Sounds like a Citibank issue..

Sterling.

[Max69xl]

2 hours ago, billd766 said:

I closed all my UK accounts years ago and I ran into this problem last year. I opened a TransferWise account in December and transfer my pensions from there to the BKK Bank.

I am careful to leave a few quid in my TW account every month.

 

Yes they can and they do.

 

Mine shows up monthly as an International Transfer.

 

 

Of course they do. Bangkok Banks international/foreign transfers shows up as FTT in the bankbook. Just like they should. Same at Kasikorn Bank. 

[Max69xl]

2 hours ago, billd766 said:

I closed all my UK accounts years ago and I ran into this problem last year. I opened a TransferWise account in December and transfer my pensions from there to the BKK Bank.

I am careful to leave a few quid in my TW account every month.

 

Yes they can and they do.

 

Mine shows up monthly as an International Transfer.

 

 

I think there's a misunderstanding about the bank codes. Some people doesn't seem to understand that we are talking about the codes in the bankbook. Those codes are always in 3 letters. 

[Thailand]

4 hours ago, Max69xl said:

Of course they do. Bangkok Banks international/foreign transfers shows up as FTT in the bankbook. Just like they should. Same at Kasikorn Bank. 

Mine do not as with many others who have posted here, they show as Bahtnet & GPSD on head office statements.

[jacko45k]

12 hours ago, Nong Khai Man said:

But...............Don't you're U,K Bank Account charge you a Transfer Fee  for that ???

Some banks do not charge, some do for a SWIFT. There is always the option of using say Transferwise, where the better rate cancels that out. 

[Moonlover]

7 hours ago, Nong Khai Man said:

But You MUST Have a U.K Address IF You get the Increases......

7 hours ago, Nong Khai Man said:

2 hours ago, sunnyboy2018 said:

Me too.  That way you dont lose the benefit of any pension increases.

No! Not only must you HAVE a UK address, you must also live in it. Otherwise it's called fraud.

[Jeffrey346]

6 hours ago, Lancelot01 said:

Sterling.

Thanks for the typo correction.. Most helpful.

[Max69xl]

3 hours ago, Thailand said:

Mine do not as with many others who have posted here, they show as Bahtnet & GPSD on head office statements.

That's not the bank code we're talking about. That's the misunderstanding. The bank code is the one in the bankbook. For every transaction there is a three letter code. Bangkok Bank and for example K-Bank uses FTT showing an international/foreign transfer. That code is very important to Immigration. Get it? 

[a977]

22 hours ago, trubrit said:

How do you guy's resident here keep a Uk bank acct?When my bank, Lloyds found out I wasn't in the UK they closed my acct and other banks I asked said the same, must be resident to open an account. Recently I asked for my govt pension to be paid into my Transferwise  acct in UK, got a reply 2 months later they only pay into recognised banks not the likes of Transferwise .So i'm still stuck with receiving it through Citibank with an internal transfer into Bangkok Bank .

Mum's the word, in other words don't tell anyone where you live comprehendah?

[Moonlover]

6 minutes ago, a977 said:

22 hours ago, trubrit said:

How do you guy's resident here keep a Uk bank acct?When my bank, Lloyds found out I wasn't in the UK they closed my acct and other banks I asked said the same, must be resident to open an account. Recently I asked for my govt pension to be paid into my Transferwise  acct in UK, got a reply 2 months later they only pay into recognised banks not the likes of Transferwise .So i'm still stuck with receiving it through Citibank with an internal transfer into Bangkok Bank .

 

6 minutes ago, a977 said:

Mum's the word, in other words don't tell anyone where you live comprehendah?

Nonsense. I've maintained and used a Nationwide account for at least 30 years. In that time I've lived in Saudi Arabia, China, Egypt and now Thailand.

 

NBS has always known where I was and have had my current overseas address. I've never had a problem with them.

 

However @trubrit is correct in saying that it is difficult to initially open an account unless one is resident in the UK.

[Moonlover]

28 minutes ago, Max69xl said:

That's not the bank code we're talking about. That's the misunderstanding. The bank code is the one in the bankbook. For every transaction there is a three letter code. Bangkok Bank and for example K-Bank uses FTT showing an international/foreign transfer. That code is very important to Immigration. Get it? 

When I recently presented my paperwork for my next extension, I used Krungsri statements, not my bank book, which I never keep up to date anyway.

 

Krungsri do not use this FTT coding that you speak of, but it didn't matter anyway. I presented supporting documents from the bank and from TransferWise that proved, beyond doubt that the transfers were genuine foreign remittances. The IO was quite satisfied and, as far as I could judge he took no notice of the coding at all.

[Max69xl]

11 hours ago, rickudon said:

Unless you have some secret knowledge, I understand that the letters were withdrawn because the embassy's refused to 'authenticate' them. In the UK, and I would assume in most European countries, you cannot easily 'authenticate' many documents due to data protection and privacy laws. The fact that the rest of the European countries still provide embassy letters shows what a joke this is.

As for the transfers, as this thread has shown, many people do transfer money (or have it transferred for them), but not all transfers appear as foreign transfers in your bank account. Surely having the money for your state pension transferred by the government is a more 'correct' way than by using TransferWise? Many assumed their transfers were correct. Not everyone is an avid Thaivisa reader or was aware that their transfers would not be accepted. Even now, some IO's refuse to accept other evidence, and only want ONE code. Of course, many IO's have no idea how International transfers work. After all, they make up their own procedures rather than follow national ones - why? Maybe because they have never actually read the national police orders in the first place?

 

Anyway, the monthly international transfer option for extensions is a mess, as it tries to fit rectangular pegs into round holes - not all fit.

 

As I said, I foresaw this potential problem and decided to change to the lump sum method. And because I maintain an address in the UK (which I visit one or two times a year), I could. Too late now for many people.

One of the reasons were that some "income letters" were not official, stamped and signed statements. They were sworn affidavits. Immigration didn't buy that. They told the UK, US and the Aussie embassies that they required same type of statements that other embassies issued. These three embassies didn't for some reason accept that. So,again, don't blame Immigration for the income letter mess. This is not a secret and has been discussed in several threads here at TVF.