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Home » Reader question » Reader question: Have AOW directly paid into my Thai bank account?
Dear readers,
I get my AOW and pension paid into the ING bank in the Netherlands and transfer it monthly via Transferwise.
I wonder whether, for example, having the SVB pay AOW directly into my Thai bank account makes much difference with transferring it yourself via Transferwise?
Regards,
He
I understand that you now transfer AOW + pension at the same time, but Thailand and that means one time costs in the EU and one time costs Thai bank. If you are going to split that, costs will be incurred twice on both sides.
Another advantage of your current system is that you can now save your (entire) AOW in NL and only transfer it in January, so that AOW is seen as savings in Thailand and Thailand is not allowed to levy Personal Income Tax on it.
If you have a Transferwise account, your own account number is also linked to it.
An account with IBAN.
You could also consider having your AOW deposited directly to it.
That is a safe option and you can also decide for yourself when Transferwise gives a favorable rate to transfer the money to Thailand.
So that means only one action for you
Yes, that's possible. The SVB can send your state pension in euros directly to Thailand. Such a deposit costs Max €0,48. (see website). If you also arrange this with your pension provider, you can close your ING account. That compensates for the deposit costs.
On the other hand, you can ask what advantage you have to close a Dutch bank account. Crazy things can happen in Thailand. Just look at all those who with a long stay permit, even in a Thai marriage and with family responsibilities, plus housing paid in full, happen to be unable to properly return outside Thailand for months, unless incurring huge expenses. I wouldn't just break ties with the Netherlands for the few euros that an ING account costs. Burning ships behind you makes returning very difficult.
I don't want to close my account, I just want to avoid problems if, for example, I have problems logging in to ing. I send about half of my pension/aow to thailand every month, the rest remains on the ing account and I send it here once a year to. This is to avoid double taxation in Thailand.
So if my state pension is transferred directly, I only have to send the rest once a year. Just have no idea about exchange rates or costs. 1 cents is cheaper than transferwise, but there are also costs from the Thai bank account.
If you consider only ING to be a risk, check the IBAN that you probably received with your TransferWise account. Is also usually a Belgian (BE) account for NLers as far as I know. Then see answer John above.
If you also think that only TW is a risk, you can spread between ING and TW. IBAN transfers in EUR between those 2 are free of charge, just like for us to other EU IBAN accounts.
Hello Hans,
If I understand you correctly, you want to reduce the risk that ING cannot be reached online for whatever reason.
You can do this cheaply in the following ways:
1) regularly transfer money that you have saved from your state pension via Transferwise. You already do this to avoid double taxation. I would do this from a separate [second] current account than the [ING] account where you receive your state pension
2) the 2nd account could, for example, be a free KNAB basic account. Why should I not recommend Transferwise as a 2nd account. Because this is a foreign bank and falls under the Belgian deposit guarantee scheme. If TW goes bankrupt, getting your money back is less easy than via the DNB mi Think of Icesafe.
KNAB base also has Ideal, so it's easy to transfer money to TW. For example, I now have a KNAB basis next to an ABN Amro account.
I also have 2 foreign IBAN accounts [TW and N26], but I only use these for debit card payments at the cash register in PTT, Big C and Tesco Lotus. So another way to spread risk. If you don't have enough baht on your account, while you still want to do your shopping or refuel.
Hi Eddy, so you were able to keep your ABN-AMRO (AA) account? I assume that you are still a formal resident of NL (or another EU country). And paid taxes there too. This is because AA NL no longer wants to hold accounts for non-EU residents, let alone open new ones.
Incidentally, during the cancellation procedure by AA, I myself also tried to open an alternative EUR account within the NL/EU at KNAB, N26 and Bunq. But that too all came up against residency problems, if that is outside the EU. (I live in Indonesia.)
See also comment Jert below.
So EITHER you're still an EU resident, OR you've been lucky so far, haven't you?
That makes it particularly relevant to me to know where Han is formally resident. If that is Thailand, it will now be difficult to register with the said banks. Then it is most convenient to use the IBAN of TW (next to the ING); and/or transfer directly to Thailand, I think.
Hello Ton, I have indeed maintained my residence in NL. Even after reaching my state pension age, I would not want to change for any reason of their own.
What strikes me here is that I don't read any response about Dutch banks kicking their customers out, even if they have been an account holder for more than 25 years, because they live in an official foreign country.
I myself experienced that the ABNAMRO forced me, despite the fact that my AOW was paid monthly into that account, to cancel the account because I did not have a Dutch address.
Incidentally, I had and still have a correspondence address in the Netherlands
I don't remember all the details anymore, I should look it up in my email box, but every Dutch bank is legally entitled to do so.
I am currently having trouble with the KNAB bank because they demand, due to the new legislation, to log in via a different way. (double verification method)
Through a chat with the KNAB I was told that an SMS containing a verification code is not guaranteed to work with a foreign telephone number.
Have yet to check this.
Perhaps other readers have a different experience with the KNAB.
I'd like to hear that.
If a Dutch 06 number is required to receive such an SMS, you could consider taking the prepaid SIM card from KPN subsidiary Simyo: https://simyo.nl/prepaid/
You will then pay € 5 for your 06 number, but you will then receive € 7,50 call credit. If you will not use the latter in Thailand. That call credit is retained if you send at least 1 text message (or make a short phone call) every six months.
You put that card in an old phone, unless you have a dual SIM phone, which you then use to receive messages from your bank
There are more and cheaper alternatives to a bank account with IBAN. Free are Revolut, the aforementioned N26 and OpenBank.nl. Soon there will be C24.de. All are covered by a European guarantee system. Each bank has its own cards and benefits. It wouldn't hurt to have them all in the closet, I think.
In all cases (for Simyo and banks) a contact address in the Netherlands will be useful (read required). Just like someone who forwards the different cards to you. Some hassle once, but then years of convenience (at the banks as long as their cards are valid).
Hi Jert,
it is indeed difficult to have a NL bank account if you do not live in NL.
About KNAB, the double verification is done via the KNAB app on your smartphone, whether it is Apple or Android. And your smartphone must have internet access, via WiFi or mobile.
And with every NL bank account except ING, you must first activate it once with a reader and the bank card that is only sent to your NL address. And finally, some banks like ING still use the insecure SMS method for double verification. As far as I know this is not the case at KNAB.
Eddie,
My simple Samsung Galaxy J2 that I bought in Thailand I do not know QR or passport scanning.
Despite downloading the Knab app, I can't do it
According to the conversation via chat with a KNAB employee, this is because I have a foreign mobile.
He did not comment on it, but I could see that, just like the other Dutch banks, they prefer not to have expats as customers.
Hi Jert,
I work in IT. It is more likely that your Samsung phone runs on an old Android version [5.1], which is why the scan function of the Knab app does not work properly. Knab does say their app works from version 5.0, but unfortunately they don't test all features with all old versions of Android and Apple. Testing costs a lot of money, so the focus is on the more recent models.
If you know a friend or acquaintance with an Android phone not older than 3 years [like mine], try opening an account on that phone. If it works, then there is no other way to buy a new phone if you want to use online banking. For example, for 4000 baht you already have a new Samsung A30 that can last another 2-3 years.
Thank you for your helpful tips, Prawo