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I think this is a US-specific problem, “over there” credit card companies don’t like to have ways for consumers to get their credit converted into cash, because the consumer gets cashback for each transaction, so if the consumer finds a way to spend money and convert the “product” back into the same amount that was spent (e.g. buying dollar coins from the mint with credit card, buying gift cards, etc.) then they can do an arbitrage scheme where they are getting money from nothing. I looked at one credit card company in Europe, and one of the advantages was free currency exchange and unlimited ATM withdrawals. So clearly this company is not concerned about this arbitrage scheme, as they do not give cashback. I have a few banking services (e.g. Revolut) where I can add a card (from another bank) and then simply “top up” my account with the card that was added. I don’t know if this is just because we have much lower interchange fees in Europe, so Revolut (and others) are willing to pay the fee, or if there actually is a way to get money from a card without a transaction fee. For example, if I use my card to buy groceries, my card issuer earns a transaction fee (from the grocery shop). But if I withdraw cash from an ATM, my card issuer pays a fee to the ATM operator. So there are different transaction types with different fee structures.

The law is there because the market was unfair for the merchants. The merchant is not allowed to charge the fee to the consumer, so most consumers do not know about the payment card fee that the merchant has to pay, and definitely do not care. On the contrary, if the consumer can pick between paying with a card that has 0% cashback or 3% cashback, guess what card they will use? But this cashback is taken directly from the merchant, which probably has to pay >5% for this transaction, compared to 0% had the consumer paid with cash, but VISA/MasterCard have crafted their agreements so that merchant must sell at same price, regardless of payment method. And now that payment cards are ubiquitous, VISA and MasterCard can just raise their interchange fees as they like, because there is effectively no competition, and the consumer won’t care. Only merchants gets squeezed. So that is why we had to pass this law. Personally though, I think it would have been better if the interchange fee was paid by the consumer, because then the consumer would suddenly have an interest in finding the card with the lowest (total) fees, and there would then be real competition between the various payment card providers in lowering their fees. That is how capitalism is supposed to work!

Using wallet app in other countries for public transport works fine, see e.g. Transport for London. I think it is just yet another stupid policy move, like 7-Eleven not accepting PromptPay or Thai debit cards (except UOB).

It makes it simpler, because you can have most of your cards always with you on the phone (a shame that Thai banks do not support ApplePay, likewise with Rabbit or the MRT card). You can often also add your boarding pass, tickets, and other things to your “wallet app”, for example in Japan you can also add a travel card to your wallet app, top it up via the wallet app, and then just tap your phone when using public transport. They even have an “express mode” so you won’t have to activate your phone first, just put it near the sensor, and you’re done. For payment cards though, the main advantage, apart from not having to bring the proper physical card with you is, that it never asks for PIN. A regular contactless payment card will ask for PIN either when amount is above a certain threshold, or if you haven’t used the PIN in a while.

They do accept debit cards, just not from Thai banks, with the exception of UOB.

The problem is not cashless per se, it’s how they go about it. There is nothing preventing BOT / TAT from doing a “Thai payment app” where you add your debit/credit card, and then it allows you to scan QR codes with the funds being taken from your payment card. The problem is that if you are American, there will be a 3-5% fee for taking the funds from your payment card, and I believe to get a payment agreement with VISA/MasterCard, they have made it so that this fee must not be charged to the owner of the card. This is of course what is f’ed up — in Europe we have introduced legislation that cap the payment card interchange fees to 0.11% for debit cards and 0.13% for credit cards. This means that in many European countries you can use your payment card everywhere, and I really mean everywhere!

I am from a country with such law, we introduced it forty years ago or so, after the introduction of the first payment card which made some people worry they would soon be unable to pay with their cash. But today we have amended the law, because cash can be a problem in many situations, for example self-service kiosks etc. do not need to accept cash, nor do businesses after (I think) around 22:00, and businesses in “remote areas” (for example a gas station) can apply for an exemption. Furthermore, today it is actually illegal for a business to accept payment in cash if it is above a certain threshold (about 100,000 baht), though this has to do with AML and therefore not really comparable to the other amendments (which is more about security or practicality). Though my point simply is, some countries do have these laws, but they are from another time, and are likely to change, so I don’t see such law being introduced today (in Thailand, or anywhere else).

They have a minimum purchase requirement when paying with card (wallet app). They waived the fee during COVID, but unfortunately re-instated it about a year ago. But Family Mart, BigC / BigC Mini, TOPS, etc. all take cards / NFC / wallet apps w/o minimum payments. So does most shops at the mall, Central Department Store, Robinson, and larger restaurants. You can almost assume that if the place take VISA/MasterCard, they have a reader that does NFC and thus also support GooglePay and the other wallet apps.

I was asked whether it was a requirement that funds only be sent to accounts abroad bearing the sender’s name, i.e. repatriating funds rather than paying a 3rd party abroad. Though having now looked again at their interface and terms, I see no requirement that funds only be sent to yourself, and it might also be difficult for them to enforce. Anyway, for your case, sending money to yourself, as long as it is less than 1.5M baht and in one of their 38 supported currencies, it should work fine.

It is in my name, and the process (adding it via iBanking) did require manual approval, so it wouldn’t surprise me, if they only allow accounts in your own name by default. I btw noticed while checking my iBanking that the 1.5M baht limit is explicitly mentioned. I can’t get to the “Add New Account” screen at the moment (to see if there are any requirements mentioned), as apparently this functionality is only available within office hours on bank days.

You need a phone with a selfie camera. I think you are conflating the phone’s biometrics with the new face scan requirements. For the bank’s face scan, you need to have previously visited the branch, where they will take your photo, and when you use the app, they compare the live video from your selfie camera with the photo on record. It may even give you instructions such as “smile and show teeth” or “blink 3 times”. How easily the recognition can be fooled, I do not know, but it should prevent someone who obtains your phone + passcode to empty your accounts.

Kasikorn does not require it (for foreigners). I don’t like the face scan either, nor the daily limits, or limits per transaction. But presumably they have introduced all this stuff because a lot of citizens are just not very literate and just give their phone + passcode to strangers that can then steal their money (without this face scan requirement). I recently asked a Thai how they managed to log into LINE from their friend’s phone, and the reply was that there’s a guy that help them with all their phone issues. Probably this is quite normal, and probably these “computer wizards” get a lot of sensitive data that would allow them to steal a lot of funds…

They will convert on-the-fly, so you can keep your balance in GBP but still use it for THB purchases or in ATMs.

Right, China is hardly doing this covertly. And even without plans to invade Taiwan (and risk getting all their USD frozen, as we saw with Russia after their invasion of Ukraine), there is increasing tension between the U.S. and China, so it’s not really that surprising, that China wants less exposure to USD, and for them, gold is probably the second best thing.