Americans with Direct Deposits Bangkok Bank

Post by **Peter USNR** » November 15, 2014, 6:11 pm

The New York branch is a Federal chartered branch which functions as a wholesale bank.

There are many services available including;

Trade Finance
Corporate Lending
Remittance/Funds Transfer
Deposit Accounts (restricted)

This is a direct quote from Bangkok Banks web site. Under INTERNATIONAL NETWORK UNITED STATES.

Hopes this answer your question. I have already had everything I state in print verified by an Attorney and or in writing from Bangkok Bank as documented above. The form above is the United States Direct Deposit sign up form as required by the, SSA, VA, Federal Pensions etc., the same as used in America. I would not go to all this trouble either for $20.00 as my claim exceeds $1000.00. Withdrawals no but ATM card use yes.

Post by **merchant seaman** » November 15, 2014, 6:49 pm

Did you get an account agreement from Bangkok Bank N.Y. or an account agreement from the bank here in Thailand? What's on their web site is not a signed agreement and means nothing as even implied by the Attorney's e-mail

Post by **Peter USNR** » November 15, 2014, 8:00 pm

NO............ That's the Point and because of that Bangkok Bank NY violated US Laws. You missed that point from the very beginning. Also if you review Bangkok Banks Web site you will see the reference to ACH. That is the clearing House that the US Treasury uses to transmit funds to Bangkok Bank NY. A clearing house is only a call it go between as the funds are EFT(Electronic Funds Transfer)

Post by **Jello** » November 15, 2014, 10:19 pm

merchant seaman wrote:I can open a Bangkok Bank account in New York and make deposits and withdraws in U.S. dollars while in N.Y.? Or must I have an account at a Bangkok Bank in Thailand?

Nope. As Peter points out, it's a Wholesale Bank (large businesses). Banks that do consumer savings/deposit accounts are called Retail or Commercial Banks.

Here's a link- http://www.bangkokbank.com/BangkokBank/ ... fault.aspx
Click on the different countries. Some offer small accounts, the US branch doesn't.

The US Direct-Deposit deal is a agreement with BKB-US to accept $$ and transfer it to a BKB-Thai account.
It is not a BKB-US account.

Post by **Jello** » November 15, 2014, 10:45 pm

Peter, Thanks for sharing the above info.
I'm not trying to criticize you but I think you may be misunderstanding something.
You do not have a account with BKB-US, your account was set up in Thailand with BKB-Thailand. It is a Thai bank account.

You have a agreement with BKB-US to accept your Direct-Deposit and transfer it (via SWIFT I assume which would explain the 1st fee) to your BKB-Thailand account (which then charges you .25% of the amount per their website. The 2nd fee). That's the extent of your agreement with BKB-US.

Before you applied for Direct-Deposit you had opened a BKB-Thailand bank account. At that time you signed a long document which was the account agreement. An agreement between you and your Thai bank (not subject to US law).

After that's accomplished, you then applied for Direct-Deposit to BKB-US. No further notification needs to be given to you because you already signed a account agreement that listed the fees.

I have Direct-Deposit and I've change it between my existing US banks many times and the new receiving bank never sends me anything.

This is just my opinion and reasoning based on my experiences.
I think it sucks to have to pay out fees to get your own money, but that's the system we're stuck with. If you still think you can recover your fees then I wish you good luck.

Post by **Stantheman** » November 16, 2014, 12:02 am

One thing to remember you are working with 2 separate processes here, one a transfer through a banking system (BKB) in U.S. and a second (BKB) in Thailand converting funds to baht. While the transfer fee charge by BKB in U.S. might be a source of contention on reporting requirements etc. the second fee of .25 percent with a minimum of 200 to maximum of 500 baht (if memory serves me) is not unusual. Most, if not all banks, whether in Thailand, U.S. or some other country charge a currency conversion fee. As to the lawsuit, when lawyers are involved and they get a certain percent of what is recovered I am not surprised you will only hear their side of the suit, whether it is correct or not. I predict if the suit continues it will be settled out of court with the lawyers getting big bucks and the "plaintiffs" getting a small percentage of their money back or a "credit" for future transfers and being charge a fee anyway, just notified differently.

Post by **Peter USNR** » November 16, 2014, 5:58 am

Bangkok Bank NY does in fact offer Savings Accounts as stated on the reference Jello linked to. The United States Govt. as most Americans know will not do A Direct Deposit to any organization that is not a Bank, Credit Union, Savings and Loan Association etc. with an actual account to complete that ACH transfer to. When NY receives those funds the transfer is then completed. I received no agreement when opening my account from Thailand or New York the only document I received was an application form which fails to meet the US requirements.

Further update from the Attorney. The claim or suit to be filed will be for the return of all fees charged by New York
based on the Federal Reserve Act and their failure to disclose or issue a disclosure as required by US Law.

Further to Jello posting and link after clicking United States you will see plainly the wording on Deposit Accounts. Second on the right side is also a remittance transfer form to download which in fact also states Bangkok Bank NY and also confirms bound by US Law.

Post by **Peter USNR** » November 16, 2014, 7:57 am

For all concerned and who question where the actual Direct Deposit goes to. Here it is plainly stated Bangkok Bank NY and signed by Bangkok Bank Rep.

The previous reference on the downloadable remittance transfer form can not be download to Udon Map since it is pdf.

Post by **merchant seaman** » November 16, 2014, 8:23 am

You are not being charged for the Direct Deposit to N.Y. Bank but for Swift transfers from N.Y. to Thailand. How much are they charging you for each transfer, $5.00? Most U.S. banks charge $35.00 for each transfer by accontant holders to Thailand accountants

Post by **Peter USNR** » November 16, 2014, 9:03 am

You are being charged a fee for whatever that was not disclosed in accordance with US Law. Plain and Simple. My fee is $10.00 and before I paid $15.00. Navy Federal credit union charges me no fee at all for transfer to Bangkok Bank and also reimburses me the ATM fee to the tune of $10.00 a month if I use their Visa Check Card. Said fees charged by Bangkok Bank anywhere do not show either in your passbook or online account which is a further requirement of US Law. New York Branch is the one who has violated the US Laws that they have admitted in writing they are bound by. Further so acknowledge on their web site which I referenced on the downloadable remittance transfer form. ALL, Plain and Simple, all fees for whatever are required to be disclosed in a form in accordance with the LAW they agreed to be Bound By.

Post by **merchant seaman** » November 16, 2014, 9:16 am

On page one of this thread Jello posted the fees imposed by Bangkok Bank N.Y., where did he get them? If Bangkok Bank is in violation of U.S. law as you claim, why are you still using them? Or is it just a matter of stirring the pot?

Post by **Peter USNR** » November 16, 2014, 9:52 am

For the interest of all of those you are truly interested in this issue and the Class Action Law Suit I have spent 1 1/2 years on this. I have dealt with Bangkok Bank NY and Thailand via numerous communications and have in writing their acknowledgement of many issues. I don't post my opinions. I post Facts and Truths as substantiated further by the Law Firm who in fact are experts in this field.

I have had contact with the VA, SSA, Federal Reserve, Comptroller of the Currency, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the White House. This has taken this long because of the time to reply and mailing times. Everything I have posted is documented with many added as attachments here.

Bangkok Bank NY blames Thailand, Thailand Blames NY yet neither took any action to correct the problems as mentioned here in this posting. New York it seems can not do anything with Thailand saying so and that is a problem. Thailand signed the agreement to follow US Law or they would not have been given their license to operate in America plain and simple.

Post by **Peter USNR** » November 16, 2014, 9:54 am

merchant seaman wrote:On page one of this thread Jello posted the fees imposed by Bangkok Bank N.Y., where did he get them? If Bangkok Bank is in violation of U.S. law as you claim, why are you still using them? Or is it just a matter of stirring the pot?

No choice for Direct Deposit to Thailand as only Bank is Bangkok Bank

Post by **Peter USNR** » November 23, 2014, 5:41 am

Peter USNR wrote:This posting is for the information of only Americans with Direct Deposits to Bangkok Bank NY.
A New York Law Firm is looking into a class action Law Suit based on this Banks failure to disclose the amount of monies they charged and remove prior to forwarding to your account. 1 Deposit 1 Fee, 2 Deposits 2 Fees. I have only learned of this fee amount this year and have been dealing with them since 2010. They end up taking over $350,000.00 a year and then Thailand charges another fee. New York is in fact bound by our Laws.

This firm has also requested all involved and want action on this to contact the below individual.

[email protected]

Have Heard from the Attorney and everything looks great. Will be sending me the Draft of the complaint to reviewed so the Law Suit is underway.

Post by **merchant seaman** » November 23, 2014, 6:54 am

If a cash settlement is reached will they direct deposit it to your account? That is if they don't cancel your account.

Post by **rjj04** » November 23, 2014, 7:13 am

So, the fees charged by the bank are in line with what any other bank would charge you, so you have not been harmed in any way whatsoever, monetarily. Yet, you see an opportunity to snatch back the fees you properly paid. Nobody enjoys paying fees to banks. Why can't the remedy be that they add a few lines of legalese, that most people will not read, to the bottom of a form? Sue happy America once again.

I have gotten two calls from Bangkok Bank over the years, asking me about transfers from the USA ("what was the reason for the transfer") to conform to prying American government laws. To do all this extra paperwork on ONLY American customer accounts must be a bit of a financial drain and a big headache on these foreign banks.

In this case, if I were Bangkok Bank and I lost a lot of money in this sort of frivilous lawsuit, I'd probably just stop providing accounts for American customers. Or at least cut off Americans from using Bangkok Bank NY for transfers. This service provided by Bangkok Bank is very convenient for Americans. As the OP himself says, services provided by no other bank in Thailand.

I'm sure there will be hundreds of Americans lining up for the opportunity to grab back a few bucks. Why not, everybody is doing it these days!

Post by **merchant seaman** » November 23, 2014, 7:55 am

And raise their fees to off set any costs incurred, add a new line to their agreeent and everyone will be happy. Of course all this won't be settled for years to come.

Post by **Peter USNR** » November 26, 2014, 10:06 am

It is far from a frivolous Law Suit as Bangkok Bank was given many opportunities to correct this and other problems. They took no action at all and just ignored what they had admitted in writing they had to conform to. This point has gone on with them for 1 1/2 years and numerous emails. The point being NY was required to disclose all fees up front and they did not. All means exactly that. Both the Attorney and myself feel that Bangkok Bank will never attempt to close or refuse to accept DD as they do not want to lose that license to operate in America as they do a fairly large business for Thai customers and commercially. This DD is only a very small part of their business but a condition of their license. An ACH transfer from the US Treasury is one transfer covering all on that transfer. All NY does is to sit on it until the evening before the release date and then automatically it transfers to Thailand. They do not do transfer each DD separately but as a batch. The monthly cost to them is minimal but the charge is not. Fees were never properly charges as I was never advised of them for almost 4 years. The application Bangkok Bank has you sign is only an application and is not a disclosure as required. The fees charged in Thailand are not contested nor a part of this. When a Bank chooses to ignore things brought to their attention then suffer the consequences. Had they corrected it there would be no Law Suit. Please do not also quote their Web Site as it is also irrelevant. Instead why don't you ask Bangkok Bank why only Americans with Pensions, Retirement, SS, etc. are the only ones denied an ATM card. Should they site to you it is based on US Regulations that also is a bold face lie as none exists as verified by the US Government. For rjj04 NFCU charges no fees and other I have talked to get them reimbursed.

Post by **Stantheman** » November 27, 2014, 8:30 am

Peter USNR, please provide your source for the statement "Should they site to you it is based on US Regulations that also is a bold face lie as none exists as verified by the US Government" so we may review it.

Post by **BigBubba** » November 27, 2014, 10:10 am

Stantheman wrote:Peter USNR, please provide your source for the statement "Should they site to you it is based on US Regulations that also is a bold face lie as none exists as verified by the US Government" so we may review it.

I'm a little curious about this also. I would think this requirement is part of the SS dept's checks and balances (to make sure you're still alive). An ATM card would allow anyone who possesses it, and the pin, to withdraw funds indefinitely, even long after you bite the dust.