Wise – Save money on International Money Transfers

You are in Thailand and you have already opened a Thai bank account but now how can you transfer money from abroad without paying high fees and loosing out on bad currency exchange rates?

Meet Wise (previously TransferWise). Wise is a regulated international money remittance service that helps you save money on your international money transfers to Thailand and other countries. Often Wise is even faster than conventional bank transfers.

Difference between Wise and conventional bank transfers

Unlike banks, Wise is transparent and uses the “real exchange rate” without a mark-up. They charge a relatively small and transparent percentage fee. They also guarantee the exchange rate, so you’ll know exactly how much will be deposited into your account. Banks may advertise cheap transfer fees but often have hidden mark-ups on the exchange rate, costing you money without you noticing.

With the calculator below you can check how much you would receive when using Wise for an international money transfer:

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How does a transfer with Wise work?

Instead of transferring the money directly to your bank account abroad, you will make a local and usually free transfer to a bank account in the name of Wise.

Wise will then convert your money with the guaranteed rate and they will deposit the equivalent amount in the foreign currency into the bank account in the destination country.

Transfer Limits

If you are using Wise to transfer money to Thailand please note that there is a limit of 2 Million Baht per transfer. Additionally, only the following three banks allow transfers of 50,000 THB and more:

– Bangkok Bank
– Kasikorn Bank
– Siam Commercial Bank

You can still send money to recipient accounts of other banks, but you will be limited to 49,999 THB per transfer. There is no limit on how many transfers you can create.

When not to use Wise?

In certain cases you have to prove, that money was transferred from abroad. In Thailand this is the case when e.g.:

• Buying a condominium
• Applying for certain visas within the country
• Using the income method when applying for an extension of stay

In these cases you might want to transfer the money using the conventional method as it cannot always be guaranteed that the money transferred with Wise will show as an international transfer (Foreign Telegraphic Transfer (FTT)).

Alternatives to Wise

There are alternatives to Wise that offer a similar service. Sometimes those are faster or even cheaper. However, from our experience in the past 7 years, we value the constant reliability and the streamlined process that Wise offers. Family members and friends have collectively transferred well over 20,000,000 THB Baht or 500,000 USD and there have not been any issues.