Personal Checks

[m_right 0]

Has anyone cashed a personal check at a Thai bank? I have a U.S. bank checking account and it would sure be easier then using an ATM or making a wire transfer.

[JohnnyK 28]

!!!!!

Is this a real question?

Why would they do this?

They don't know you.

Your bank is thousands of miles away.

In a foreign country.

WTF can be easier than using an ATM?

[joekicker 53]

A personal cheque has to clear. It takes weeks to clear. That is IF the bank you walk into wants to cash it at all without knowing anything about you, with the odds slim to none against you.

 

Even a certified cheque or similar from a totally unknown person is going to take a lot of time and much trouble.

 

EDIT: Also the "charges" for the "service" of cashing cheques will shell-shock you.

Edited October 30, 2008 by joekicker

[Gary 4,118]

When I first officially retired, I had some checks come from the US, utility deposit returns and things like that. after finding out what a hassle it was to try to deposit them into my Thai bank, I sent them EMS to my US bank endorsed for deposit only to my account. If you want to deposit them to a Thai account, as Joe said, the fee is quite high and it will take from 30 to 45 days for the check to clear.

[CheshireTom 1,377]

You used to (in the 80s/90s) be able to cash the now defunct eurocheques at places like the old Thai Farmers Bank ....... they had a limit of four (DM300) cheques per visit and wrote the cheque numbers on the back of your departure card.

[Eneukman 1]

It's many years (30) since I worked in branch banking but the procedure then was something along the lines of -

 

1. Present the cheque to your bank in this country and sign your name on the reverse in exactly the same way as it is written on the front, spelling errors and all.

 

2. Your bank in town sends the cheque to their International Division.

 

3. Your bank's International Division here checks to see whether they have any agreement with your bank in your home country.

 

4. If it does, it sends it direct to their International Division.

 

5. If not, it will send it to a bank in your home country with which they do have an agreement

 

6. Assuming 5 above applies, that bank will send the cheque you your home country's bank's Head Office for payment. In countries that have a large number of banks, there may be a further step or two before your home country's bank receives the cheque.

 

7. Your home country's bank's Head Office sends the cheque to your actual branch for payment.

 

8. If the cheque is otherwise in order and you have funds to cover it, the cheque will be paid and the whole process will be repeated in reverse.

 

The process today will be somewhat similar but should be a lot quicker than the 6 weeks plus it used to take (or maybe not!).

 

Incidentally, one of the worst countries in the world to deal with when trying to deal with the sale of small shareholdings etc is the USA. It is a bureaucratic nightmare. I've seen a few US tax returns and they are a fucking nightmare to deal with.

 

Alan

 

You used to (in the 80s/90s) be able to cash the now defunct eurocheques at places like the old Thai Farmers Bank ....... they had a limit of four (DM300) cheques per visit and wrote the cheque numbers on the back of your departure card.

 

I remember these when I worked in branch banking back in the 70's. We saw so few of them that we had to look up the Eurocheque manual to find out how to deal with them as the rules varied from country to country.

 

Alan

[m_right 0]

!!!!!

Is this a real question?

Why would they do this?

They don't know you.

Your bank is thousands of miles away.

In a foreign country.

WTF can be easier than using an ATM?

 

 

!!!

Is that a real answer to the question?

[jacko 8,813]

I once deposited a UK cheque into my Bangkok Bank branch account. It took about 3 weeks to clear via the London branch and the costs were the same as an international 'telex' transfer. (In fact that appeared to be what the London branch did!)

I concluded it wasn't a good way to transfer my money to Thailand. I have a relative deposit sterling cheques into my UK account and get at the money by international transfer or ATM card.

Edited October 31, 2008 by jacko

[JohnnyK 28]

!!!

Is that a real answer to the question?

yes.

[m_right 0]

I once deposited a UK cheque into my Bangkok Bank branch account. It took about 3 weeks to clear via the London branch and the costs were the same as an international 'telex' transfer. (In fact that appeared to be what the London branch did!)

I concluded it wasn't a good way to transfer my money to Thailand. I have a relative deposit sterling cheques into my UK account and get at the money by international transfer or ATM card.

 

 

Thanks for the info.

[Evil Penevil 7,628]

If you are an American Express cardholder, you can cash a personal check at the Amex office in Bangkok. There are no extra fees or charges. How much you can cash depends on whether you have a green, gold or platinum card. That's actually one of the most efficient ways to change money in Thailand because the exchange rate Amex gives you is more favorable than Thai banks. Downside is the hassle of getting to the Amex office, which isn't conveniently located if you're staying near Sukhumvit Road.

 

All Amex offices around the world will cash personal checks for you, but there are monthly limits.

 

Evil

 

[jacko 8,813]

If you are an American Express cardholder, you can cash a personal check at the Amex office in Bangkok. There are no extra fees or charges. How much you can cash depends on whether you have a green, gold or platinum card. That's actually one of the most efficient ways to change money in Thailand because the exchange rate Amex gives you is more favorable than Thai banks. Downside is the hassle of getting to the Amex office, which isn't conveniently located if you're staying near Sukhumvit Road.

 

All Amex offices around the world will cash personal checks for you, but there are monthly limits.

 

Evil

 

This is also great infomation... another 'string to the bow'. Do you hapen to know whether this feature is available to the Amex credit card, or is is restricted to their original no-limit 'charge card'?

[joekicker 53]

If you are an American Express cardholder, you can cash a personal check at the Amex office in Bangkok.

 

This is undoubtedly true, but it's my WTF moment of the day.

 

If you have an Amex card, you can get cash from an Amex machine. You can go to the Amex office in Bangkok to do that, but you don't have to. I'm trying to think why I would want to cash a cheque if I had a valid Amex card. And I can't.

[jacko 8,813]

This is undoubtedly true, but it's my WTF moment of the day.

 

If you have an Amex card, you can get cash from an Amex machine. You can go to the Amex office in Bangkok to do that, but you don't have to. I'm trying to think why I would want to cash a cheque if I had a valid Amex card. And I can't.

Joe, I think I recall from my travelling days that getting cash from my Amex Charge card was expensive, you would be charged interest from that day onward.... at usuary rates. Perhaps a cheque does not. Edited November 2, 2008 by jacko

[joekicker 53]

jacko "perhaps" is the operative word there, perhaps? In my experience, foreign-based cheques (personal or not) are THE most "service-charged" occurrence in Thailand. I just simply don't know but you didn't fully convince me and I'm still in WTF mood.

 

I *do* agree that Amex interest rates are, um, interesting once you regain consciousness.

[Evil Penevil 7,628]

This is undoubtedly true, but it's my WTF moment of the day.

 

If you have an Amex card, you can get cash from an Amex machine. You can go to the Amex office in Bangkok to do that, but you don't have to. I'm trying to think why I would want to cash a cheque if I had a valid Amex card. And I can't.

There are four reasons I can think of:

 

1) A cash advance via an ATM is a loan from Amex and there are some fairly hefty fees involved. Amex doesn't have it's own dedicated ATMs in Thailand, but you can use Bangkok Bank's network. It's at least 5% of the withdrawal in fees before you count in any interest that accrues over time. Amex does not charge its customers any fees for cashing a personal check (it has to be a personal check, written by the customer on his own checking account. Amex won't cash a check written by a third party to a customer.)

 

The last personal check I cashed at Amex in Bangkok was for $3,000 to cover an unexpected expense that had to be settled in cash. It's not possible to withdraw that much as a cash advance from an ATM and even if I could have, it would have involved at least $150 in fees that I avoided through a personal check.

 

I have to emphasize that Amex does not charge the fees that a commercial bank would for cashing a foreign personal check. Nor is there any delay. Amex considers personal check cashing a perk of its card membership.

 

2) The limits on withdrawals from an ATM are lower than cashing a personal check in the office. I can cash a personal check or checks up to $5,0000 a month with the Amex card I carry. There are other limits for other types of Amex cards.

 

3) To use your card in an ATM, you must have enrolled your Amex card in the cash withdrawal program and requested a PIN (this isn't "automatic" with Amex). If you haven't, or you forget your PIN, you can still cash a personal check at the office. Many corporate Amex cards aren't assigned a PIN, but can be used to cash a personal check.

 

4) In some countries, there may be Amex offices which will cash a personal check but don't offer ATM access. That was the situation when I worked in China in the 1990's.

 

Evil

Edited November 2, 2008 by Evil Penevil