I will, of course, check. But I imagine if state and federal retirement sources are not already using IAT format, I would think at some point they will probably start. It doesn't seem like a difficult thing for them to do and those of us living in Thailand are by no means the only Americans living in foreign countries. If innocent Americans depending on direct deposit into foreign bank accounts find they are going to have serious problems accessing their money, a lot of people will be raising hell.2lz2p wrote:GB and others, you can find out if your direct deposit is coming in IAT format
That's just a guess on my part, but I plan to find out as soon as I can and try to come up with alternate plans if for some reason they won't do it. If there is no other way, in my case I could simply have my sources mail a check to me and deposit the check into my Thai bank account. I don't like that method because it takes 45 days for a foreign check to clear. Still, if there is no other viable way, that's one thing expats in my position can do.
I suppose I also could do it by having them send by wire transfer, but I would hate to have to pay those fees every month.
I'm all for preventing money laundering and other criminal activity, but find some way to do it without causing problems for innocent people, thank you very much.
I don't understand how the regular ACH format and the IAT format are all that different from each other or how the IAT format can prevent money laundering. It would seem to me the first ones to figure out a way around it will be the criminals.