hi, just got riped off :dontknow:
I bank with santander in spain, went today to send my friend a birthday present of 200 euros
to his bank account in SCB bank ( Siam Commercial Bank )
They charged me 25 euros for the transaction :violent1:
wow wow, thats a lot, but i really wanted him to have a nice day for his birthday so
i payed it like a fool, is there another cheaper way to send money to Thailand
thanks
There's no cheap way of making small transfers like this via your bank. Probably the best way is to get your friend a pre-paid visa card, which you can top up if you want to send him money. I don't know what prepaid cards are available in Spain - you'll have to do your own research on that, I'm afraid.
No its not cheep to send....Western union charge fee acording to exchange rate and amount sent...its about just under 500 baht to send 4000 baht
Didn't you know that banks can gauge you when you sent money abroad?
Paypal might be an alternative. I am strongly opposed to paypal because ebay Germany wants to press it into the market by trying to force it onto their customers to earn even more and squeeze other methods of payment (that are free and as safe and fast as paypal) out of the market. [/rant over] But for sending money from one currency to another it might be the fastest and cheapest way.
Try this next time..........
http://www.hifx.co.uk/affiliates.aspx
Last year I twice sent a man in Thailand 5000 baht as a transfer to his bank account. I used a uk current bank account and paid a fee -I recall ┬г8. After the second transfer the man thanked me for the 4000 baht. Both times he had only received 4000 baht. He said that happened all the time to his friends who received bank transfers. He viewed it as normal.
I was angry that the bank was taking money from someone who was poor without me as the the sender being told this. I rang my bank which explained that a 'correspondent' bank was needed to arrange the transfer to the bank in Thailand, so three banks were involved in all. The Thai bank took off 1000 baht from the recipient. So the total charge each time was something like ┬г28. I told my bank that my father was a solicitor (true, though I forget to mention he died a long time ago) and said that he thought their actions were conspiracy to defraud. After a long conversation I asked for and got a full refund of the 2000 baht plus extra for my phone calls, stress, upset, time. I piled it on with a trowel in that phone call. I took great pleasure in using Western Union to send the man the 2000 baht that the banks had taken from him.
I don't think it is possible to say what is the best way to send money, because it is different from country to country.
I can only say that in my country the cheapest way to send money via my bank, is to use the internet and my homebanking, and to part the costs between you (your bank) and the receiver (his bank).
My experience is that the amount he can take out, is better than if I pay all the costs, but maybe it does not look so nice.
I regularly send money - I use Caxton FX Currency Card which is a pre-paid Visa - I load it at this end and get ┬г1 = $1.57 with no loading fee, and he withdraws it from the nearest ATM with only the local ATM fee if applicable.
In my view it's an excellent way to do it - easily beats Bank Transfers and costs less than Western Union by a mile.
Any chance you could send some this way SG? I may not be as cute as your BF but I'd be just as grateful. :notworthy:
Hitchhiking's more of a challenge on the road less travelled.
One charity case is quite enough Joe.
:sign5:
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