Etrade Bank For Wire Transfers To Siam Commercial

[Thaiquila]

As some of you know, I have been checking out various banks in the US to setup wire agreements for the purpose of wiring money from the US to my Thai bank account for visa qualification purposes.

Let me tell you, there are minefields galore.

One bank which I did setup an agreement, Suntrust, is pretty darned good, but here is the rub.

If you change your US address of record on the account (very likely in my case and I would think very common), you cannot just change it on a website. You have to PHYSICALLY walk into one of their US branches. You might get away with this working for awhile if your US mailing address did change and you didn't bother to come back to the US to fill out a one page form that takes 2 minutes, but if they ever sent a piece of vital correspondence, or something got returned, you would be SOL.

Another paranoid thought I had was that in a worst case scenario I had to fly back to the US just to do a wire, if I no longer had a US driver's license, I think it is possible (likely) that banks would not do a wire using a US passport as an ID. It does seem prudent to keep a valid US drivers license, and that can be a hassle for sure.

So, I am still looking for a more expat friendly alternative. I am now hopefully looking at ETRADE BANK. So far, so good! They are a brokerage firm but they are also a bank, and contrary to what a previous poster has said here, they offer a US bank bank account that is a REAL US bank account, ABA routing number and all. But here is the kicker. They do wires ONLINE! On first setup, they do an email verification action, but after that, once your target account info is in there, according to their rep, its as simple as pie! Sound too good to be true?

However, here is the caveat. They will take a SWIFT code but the rep also mentioning adding information for their intermediary bank in the US if available. My Thai bank is Siam Commercial Bank. The only wiring instructions they gave me is the SWIFT code. I wouldn't know what to put down for their inermediary bank and I wonder if I just give them the SWIFT code, whether they can figure it out.

So, any chance there is anywhere here doing transfers from Etrade to Siam Commericial? Or from anywhere to Siam Commercial using an ONLINE wire system? Did you have to enter the ABA number etc for the US intermediary bank, or not?

BTW, with Etrade bank checking, you do need to keep a 1000 minimum balance going to avoid a monthly service fee. Oh well.

Edited August 24, 2006 by Thaiquila

[Phil Conners]

You only need to list an intermediary bank if one is necessary. These days most banks do direct SWIFT transfers.

SCB:

SWIFT: SICOTHBK

Routing: 021000089

[Thaiquila]

You only need to list an intermediary bank if one is necessary. These days most banks do direct SWIFT transfers.

SCB:

SWIFT: SICOTHBK

Routing: 021000089

Thanks, but I am still confused.

On my suntrust information, they do use an intermediary which I seriously doubt is the one always used for SCB. It is American Express.

What is that routing number?

Looks like a US ABA routing number.

Where did you find it, was it supplied by Siam Commericial Bank?

Do you mean you can get by just supplying the Swift code for an online transfer, or you also need this routing number?

[Thaiquila]

My error, Etrade does not offer ONLINE SWIFT transfers from their Etrade BANK accounts. For bank account transfers, they require their form sent by phone or fax. They do offer online SWIFT transfers from their brokerage accounts though.

Edited August 25, 2006 by Thaiquila

[Maestro]

My error, Etrade does not offer ONLINE SWIFT transfers from their Etrade BANK accounts. For bank account transfers, they require their form sent by phone or fax. They do offer online SWIFT transfers from their brokerage accounts though.

Have you already this E*Trade page?

https://us.etrade.com/e/t/estation/help?id=1903000000#Wire

I live in Switzerland, opened my E*Trade account and had funds transferred from it to my Swiss account without ever going to the US. I guess somebody living in Thailand can do the same.

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Maestro

[Maestro]

They will take a SWIFT code but the rep also mentioning adding information for their intermediary bank in the US if available. My Thai bank is Siam Commercial Bank. The only wiring instructions they gave me is the SWIFT code. I wouldn't know what to put down for their inermediary bank and I wonder if I just give them the SWIFT code, whether they can figure it out.

I attach E*Trade’s international wire form.

Only if the receiving bank is not a correspondent bank of the sending bank does the wire have to go through a third bank, and this is likely to be the case for remittances from E*Trade to Siam Commercial Bank (SCB). In such case, the sending bank takes care of all details of routing through the third-party bank; you only need give to details of the receiving bank.

It is possible that the intermediary bank may deduct its fee from the amount being remitted. Ask your Thai bank to print out the details of the incoming remittance and it should show there.

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Maestro

ETB_international_wire.pdf

[Thaiquila]

Thanks much, Maestro! I couldn't view that form without being an account holder so I really appreciate having a look at it, but I did view the link you cited.

Based on the link, it sounds quite clear that ONLINE transfers are restricted to their brokerage account holders, while bank account holders must phone or fax the form you included. Ideally, I would like an online system, but this other method looks pretty good.

And yes, you are correct, there is no need to step into a branch for ANYTHING using etrade bank.

Thanks again.

Edited August 25, 2006 by Thaiquila

[Thaiquila]

I have a question about that etrade wiring form.

What do they mean by Bank Identification Code (BIC)?

They have a blank for SWIFT code (no problem), but what are they asking for with Bank Identification Code?

Also, there is no problem calling/faxing an 866 number (which is like an 800 number) from Thailand, correct?

[Maestro]

What do they mean by Bank Identification Code (BIC)?

Also, there is no problem calling/faxing an 866 number (which is like an 800 number) from Thailand, correct?

For my Swiss bank, and also for Thai banks, SWIFT and BIC numbers are the same. In fact, in Europe, bank forms have “SWIFT/BIC” on one line, with only one blank to fill in. When I last made a wire transfer from my E*Trade account to my Swiss bank account I put the same SWIFT code in both fields. Fax out to E*Trade on 16 April 2005, money credited to my Swiss account on 20 April 2005.

For a US bank, The ABA# is probably the equivalent of BIC, but the ABA# does not enter into the picture for an wire transfer from a US bank to a Thai bank.

For phone calls, if the 866 number does not work, I have also the regular number +1 916 636 2510 to call E*Trade.

Edited to add last paragraph.

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Maestro

Edited August 25, 2006 by maestro

[Maestro]

Based on the link, it sounds quite clear that ONLINE transfers are restricted to their brokerage account holders, while bank account holders must phone or fax the form you included. Ideally, I would like an online system, but this other method looks pretty good.

Although having made only one application with E*Trade, I have both a bank account and a brokerage account, the latter sometimes also called a securities account on the E*Trade web site. I can’t remember if this was done automatically, but I believe so. What happens is that money gets shuffled from the brokerage account to the bank account as necessary when buying and selling securities, meaning that the brokerage account always has a zero cash balance. All non-invested funds reside in the bank account, where interest is earned.

My wire transfers were always from the bank account and I don’t know how this would work if wired from the brokerage/securities account. Perhaps in the latter case the securities would serve as collateral for the money being transferred, i.e. if I have insufficient cash in the bank account I do not necessarily have to sell securities before making a wire transfer.

I attach another two pages, accessible only after login, regarding the online wire transfer order from the brokerage/securities account. Two additional security features are built in for these online wire orders:

1. E*Trade emails you a security code, which you then have to enter online (...01.jpg)

2. Before you can wire out to an account, you must set it up on the E*Trade site, after you log in. If I remember correctly, you can only set up accounts that are in your name. Then, for the wire order, you can select from a drop-down list of accounts that you set up earlier (...02.jpg)

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Maestro

[MaiTai]

So, any chance there is anywhere here doing transfers from Etrade to Siam Commericial? Or from anywhere to Siam Commercial using an ONLINE wire system? Did you have to enter the ABA number etc for the US intermediary bank, or not?

Hey,

I recently wired from Ameritrade to Siam Commercial Bank (SCB). Had to FAX the wire request for International wires. And provided them with SCB's corresponding bank, which is Bank Of New York (and also CittiBank, as far as I can remember) Just gooogle it for the ABA#, easy to find. Everything went smooth, 4 days later the money was on my SCB account.

Good luck,

MaiTai