Dear readers,
This week I received a letter from ABN AMRO, dated January 13, 2022, that they will stop "services" to customers living in Thailand. In 6 months after January 13, the products will be automatically canceled (but we can also arrange it earlier). In short, as of July 2022, as a Dutch person who lives permanently in Thailand, you can no longer have an ABN AMRO bank account (or other products).
Very unfortunate, because a NL bank account makes the nice life in Thailand quite a bit easier for those few things that occasionally need to be done in or with NL.
My situation is: Dutch passport, deregistered as a resident of NL, registered as a resident of Thailand, "permanent resident" of Thailand, not entitled to state pension or pension for another 15 years and no taxable income from NL.
Question to the readers: are there any Dutch banks that would like to receive accounts from Dutch people who live permanently in Thailand, also taking into account my specific situation?
Thanks in advance for the responses!
Regards,
MarkL
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I bank with the RABO bank, many years before I moved to Thailand. Even after the move I could just stay there and so far no problem. No sudden increase in costs or the like.
Hope it stays that way.
Try the ASN, which is part of de Volksbank just like SNS.
I already banked there before I left for Thailand and they didn't make a problem of it.
Ls,
Asn does a good job, is also a bit 'greener', in short, you still have some service there.
Gr Rob
Dear MarkL, try to open an account with ING abroad. Costs 1.55 euros extra per month. Burt.
That's right Burt. But you do have to go to the Netherlands, be physically present.
I was kicked out after 50 years as a loyal customer.
What a strange policy; see https://www.thailandblog.nl/expats-en-pensionado/kifid-abn-amro-bank-mag-buitenlandtoeslag-voor-betaalrekening-vragen/
The comments show that ING and Rabo, among others, are available.
But then you have to be in the Netherlands to be able to open an account.
Look here: https://www.ing.nl/particulier/klantenservice/gegevens-wijzigen/verhuizen-naar-het-buitenland/index.html
I will, Marcel, thanks!
Normally I would say use an internet bank like Wise or N24. But then they do ask for an address in the Netherlands to send the bank card. If you have an address (family, friends or something), you can try that. Theoretically it could be a problem that you are not a tax resident of the EU, but I don't think that matters very much. That is more the obligation that Wise and N24 have to pass on your bank balance to the tax authorities.
Incidentally, there are numerous internet banks that also fall under the European deposit scheme; Revolut, Openbank, N24, Wise and more. Just try and see who bites; signing up is free and ID verification is done remotely.
TransferWise is a financial company based in the United Kingdom. TranserWise is supervised by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA): the British regulator. TransferWise is not covered by the Deposit Guarantee Scheme, as it is an electronic money institution and does not have a banking license.
Source: Consumer Association.
N24 or do you mean N26? As far as I know, that online bank only opens accounts for people who do not live outside the EU.
Wise does work, but if you live outside the EU you cannot get a EUR debit card or other currency card from them, nor make auto debit (collection) payments. Most useful for many other things IMO.
Note: We were also kicked out of our 3-year-old account at ABN-AMRO 45 years ago (much about this in this blog at the time). So we let that go and shut it down. Persistence turned out to be too much hassle. Rabo also refused to accept us as expats in Indonesia in their AMS offices, as well as online Bunq, N26 and others. In the end, only ING succeeded through a NL office with us on site.
same story here, my ex could still open an account with ING via her father's address, but she had to arrange that personally in the Netherlands.
I now only have a Thai account and because I no longer have a work permit, I do not have a credit card.
I do understand that the ABN is not officially allowed to do this, but yes, what can you do about it.
Well at N26 is not the best option I have been there too they have blocked my account without mercy. Lost my money didn't get it back. No not N26
Or maybe BUNQ BANK
Is bunq a real bank?
Bunq is a fully licensed European bank and your money is protected by the Dutch Deposit Guarantee (up to €100.000 for all accounts combined). Bunq also uses advanced security measures such as two-factor authentication to keep your money and personal information safe.
Some people really should do some research before posting.
You cannot open an account from Thailand at the bank you quote and let that be the problem.
And perhaps reading it carefully could also be an advice. The gentleman can no longer maintain a bank account with ABNAMRO because he lives in Thailand. That is very different from the fact that he would not be able to open an ING account from Thailand, where he apparently is now. In a similar situation when ABNAMRO closed all accounts of holders outside the EU, I opened an ING account in the Netherlands at my Thai address. I pay from that account with my ING app and my AOW also runs through that account.
And we were kicked out precisely because we no longer had a band in the Netherlands. Strange
Right Nicky, strange that some can do more than others.
I absolutely do not believe that you can open an ING account remotely.
The ABNAMRO never had the intention to evict all customers outside Europe, only those people who did not have enough money in the eyes of the ABNAMRO.
For the rich there is a special department at the bank and there you can bank worldwide.
It is possible that the introduction of 15 euros was only conceived to encourage small customers to leave – at ABNAMRO.
I have been living in Thailand for over 20 years, and I still have my ABN AMRO.
I have also been deregistered in Holland, but I keep my brother's address as the address for the ABN.
My AOW comes into that account, and I do internet banking from here, so I can transfer here if that is useful/necessary. No written communication with the bank, everything is digital after all. So there is no mail from ABN for me, with family...
Unfortunately I don't have that option of using a family address, Dick. And I don't want to bother friends in NL with it
That is why I reported myself neatly to ABN prior to my emigration and put everything on my Thai address, which was and is my only possible address after my deregistration from NL. And less than a year later they cancel the account. Well. Fortunately, I can continue with all the tips!
I have an account with Triodosbank with a correspondence address in NL. No problem for 5 years now.
A bank with principles is therefore also on the list. Thank you!
Open a euro account with WISE. Let all your income come to wise and collect it to transfer a large sum of euros to Thailand whenever you want. You can transfer to a euro or a baht account in Thailand. There is a maar bij wise is transfer to a collective iban (BE79967040785533) and you must ensure that the person who pays you states your account number. Otherwise, the amount will be returned to the sender. Pension payers such as SVB also cooperate, although stating your account number is quite a problem.
NB; in the Netherlands your account number is processed in the Dutch IBAN)
What do you mean by collect IBAN?
Everyone from NL (and BE I assume) will soon get their own IBAN. So mine is different from the one you mention (in BE, by the way, even though I'm NLer).
In fact: If you are dealing with multiple currencies, you can even get your own USD account in the US (officially via ACH or ABA) or, for example, your own AUD account in Australia (officially via BSB).
But as I have already stated somewhere above: Although you can make and receive “domestic” payments via these personal accounts (e.g. free AUD to another AUD account, just like IBAN with EUR), you cannot use debit/credit cards. for getting, nor arranging autodebit payments. So only for one-off or manually repeated online transactions. But isn't that great already?
PS. I don't know if Wise also provides domestic TH accounts yet. Unfortunately not yet in my country of residence Indonesia. But that would of course be the easiest for you in TH and me in ID. Singapore already, but Malaysia not yet either. So check for TH yourself, or curious if anyone on this blog already knows?
When I still lived in NL, now 16 years ago I was with Rabo and just passed on a change of address when I went to Indonesia ... a buddy of mine here was with Abn Amro and despite being quite wealthy he was kicked out
by the bank, but Rabo didn't want him either... has been with ING for several years now
My sister who lives in Australia opened an account online with Bank N26. She had placed a NL SIM card in her smartphone with a duo SIM (KPN) and used my address in NL. I sent the N26 credit card and Maestro bank card to Australia by registered mail after receipt. During the application procedure, she had to provide a BSN number to N26 and a copy of her Dutch passport, so if you have one, there is still a problem.