Main thing is one receives the exchange rate and amount transferred offerred and accepted, without any add on costs from the Thai receiving bank.
I am currently helping 2 widows who both receive very small widow's pensions from their late husbands former employer. By the time UK bank transfer charges have been applied, then the Thai banks commission using a TT rate somewhat lower than the Wise rate, they have lost some 25/30% of their monthly pension paid in £ sterling. Opening a Wise account and using it is likely beyond them!
These widows may not have the technical knowhow to set up a transfer system using Wise, but from what I can see, if some kind person did that on their behalf (free of charge or for a modest sum
) then the conversion from Sterling to Baht, and a subsequent transfer on the same date every month can be done automatically.
I've looked at using £200 as a small transfer to be converted to Baht and sent to a Thai bank on the last day of every month: here is the result obtained from the Wise website membership account just now...
The widow (or anyone else that wanted a permanent and automatic transfer) should review the system every once in a while of course, but it ought to run like clockwork - unless I'm missing something.
Changes to accommodate pensions that escalate with inflation would need to be made when notified of course. Am I missing something?
The rate charged for the process in the above example is just 0.9% which seems like a very good deal compared with PN's 25% to 30%, and the percentage quoted seems to reduce as the sum converted and transferred increases, e.g. the charge for £1,000 is 0.725% today.
The charge doesn't include the amount lost because of the exchange rate, but as Wise provides what is possibly the best exchange rate around, the sum transferred is probably as good as it can possibly be.
I hope this helps someone.
