Swiss1960

I also have a serious mid level national security type job..well have had them and am waiting on a call for the next one...and if you were a nut and posted my info it would not bode well for me to leave such an obnoxious cyber trail behind....the gun toter security folk get people for much less than this if they want to.

So please tell me again... as I am genuinly confused... what is it again why we should admire you? for not being man enough to keep your girl happy???

ONLY your Issuing bank decides and can tell you what rates they use! These can be but must not be the VISA / MC rates

Swiss, you're right for Switzerland (and maybe other European countries), but John is right for US banks.

Thanks for that update, I thought it might have to do with the consumer protection in the US

So, Swiss 1960 -- if a Swiss bank offers a better exchange rate to the cardholder than the rates provided by Visa and MC -- but has to settle up with Visa and MC at their provided rates -- presumably this is some kind of marketing 'loss leader,' made whole by hefty fees? What am I missing?

Not really sure they are loosing money... a bank like UBS has such huge tradings in Euro or US$ (or GB£ as the third main currency with regards to credit card transactions), that they probably can offer better rates out of their overall trading and set their used daily rate below VISA but still make gains. And yes, the 0.9 to 2.5% foreign exchange fee that are charged by the different Swiss Issuers make up for any possible loss.

Also, on the Visa Europe site, where daily Visa rates are provided, there is this quote:

Your issuer may also refer you to this site as part of their compliance with the Payment Services Directive.

What is the Payment Services Directive? Something like the full disclosure of rates (and rate differences) now required in the US?

European Union Directive to provide a legal foundation for the SEPA (Single European Payments Area). Contains rules to make market entry easier for new competitors (at least that's what the EU commission thinks...) and regulates - just one example - that their may be no cross-border fees within EU / EURO countries. Also regulates HOW the transaction must be presented on the statement to the customer, outlining in detail rate used, where the rate came from and all the fees added on top.

As Switzerland is neither EU nor SEPA, we don't have to follow all that stuff.

We are getting off topic;it's not about me..it's about my gf.

We are NOT off topic... it IS about you... because you seem to be the main problem for your gf... cause if you would be so top notch as you claim, you would make enough money to keep her happy in a loft in NYC... so... you seem to be the problem and not her....

The problem with the OP is that he hasn't yet mastered the art of boasting-without-appearing-to-be-boasting. It's really a fine line and if you don't get it right, you come across as being a pretentious, pompous, egotistical nitwit. Sorry OP, but you've got to do better. And I mean that in the most sincere way.

between you and me: i'm turning up the volume a bit:)

My bonafides will be established today.

You are either too stupid to get the message or to arrogant... once again, nobody gives a shit about your bonafides... but you piss a lot of people off by bragging about them...

- when I tell you that my degree is from a top-10 wordwide tech university -does it make me a better person?

- when I tell you that my EMBA is from a top-5 worldwide University - does it make me a better person?

- when I tell you that my income is higher than $200K - does it make me a better person?

- when I tell you about my alumnies and other charters I join - does it make me a better person?

And when it comes to friends... my true friends come from Kindergarden to High School to University to Business to Alumnies... some are bluecoat, some whitecoat, some CEO, some government workers (including government heads in Switzerland) - now that says something about me, because it says that I am not such a bragging fool, otherwise my friends would not accept me their friend... so I must be a pretty nice and decent person, completely independant from all degrees and alumnies I might or might not have...

Now... who did you say are your friends???

I don't believe you....establish bonafides. I think you are taking a PI&&

Why should I? First, they are irrelevant to my posts here on TV, second they don't make me a better / differnt person than I am now and third, I am self-confident enough without having to brag about what I have...

And even more, I did NOT claim that I have them, I asked you whether it would make me a better person if I would have them...

Yeah, that frame is actually very beautiful. Should see it in the day time (it's night time for me). Yes the frame was definately extra. They mail the diploma in an envelope. It was the top of the line frame that the school sells for extra $$. (They make some extra cash selling the sweatshirts, the mugs, the watches with the emblem on it.) I didn't actually care what frame I put it in. But my mom wanted it.

Now we know... you are an elite bastard... are we still allowed to talk to you???

I can't speak for whatever occurs with Swiss banks, but I definitely know the U.S. banks setup...

VISA and MC do the exchange rates... and the banks either do or don't add on fees.... like the foreign currency fee.

In the end, adding fees of course reduces a person's NET exchange rate in terms of funds received.

But when I make an ATM withdrawal in Thailand using an VISA card from some local bank in Texas or Michigan, it's NOT my local bank figuring out what exchange rate they want to give for the Thai baht that day...

Your local US bank might not use their own exchange rate and they might even not be allowed under some strange US consumer protection article... but from a global VISA / MC perspective they COULD do it and within Europe, many banks use their own rates.

Fees are just on top of it.. and you are correct that those fees make the difference (i.e. UBS adding 1.75% handling fee on foreign exchange transactions), not the few tens of a cent that the exchange rate might differ.

Just to reinforce what's been said above, when someone is using a regular VISA logo debit card at most any of the Thai bank ATMs, the EXCHANGE RATE you'll get will be set by VISA as the handler of an international currency transaction -- not by either the Thai bank or your home country bank.

WRONG! Visa sets the rate to handle the international settlement of the transaction (including exchange rates) between the Acquiring bank (who is setting up the ATM) and the Issuing Bank (who sells the credit or debitr cards to the cardholders).

VISA (as well as MasterCard) do NOT interfere with what ever exchange rate (and additional fees) the Issuing bank will use towards the cardholder. That is called the free market... ONLY your Issuing bank decides and can tell you what rates they use! These can be but must not be the VISA / MC rates.

Sorry, guys... I am in that business for years...

It's all very clear on visa.com. Choose the country your card was issued in and look for the details. Watch out for the little notes about banks making their own charges, etc.

Yes... and that's exactly where you will find the small notes that say that the issuing banks may use the Visa rates or may not... and as I clearly outlined, there are banks - i..e UBS in Switzerland - that use their own foreign exchange sells exchange rates instead of the Visa or MC rates.

....................

Fact is that the exchange rate used to charge the cardholder is set by the card issuing bank (your home bank) and they are completely free to use whatever exchange rate they want. They can use the Visa / MC / Amex etc. exchange rates, but they can choose their own rates.

Example Switzerland: Big banks use the same exchange rate for all card brands, so if you do transactions (cash advance or retail) with Visa and MC on the same day, the same exchange rate will be used for all transactions, no matter whether their are differences between Visa and MC. It's the banks risk to choose the right exchange rate in order not to loose money when doing the reconciliation with Visa / MC.

...................

Subject of this toppic is: VISA-rates and ATM

If all the big Swiss banks give you the same exchange rate, why ??? This would be a monopoly and not usual for competing banks.

The reason for applying the same rate for the card withdrawels is their (contract-) connection with VISA (or MC) !!! Read the contract of your card issuing bank. It's up to the banks to add or change some fees or details. But the currency rate is fixed by VISA/MC. The VISA-card clauses of my bank say: the exchange rate is fixed by VISA. And your contract?

If I'm not right, please give me the relevant (not private) details of your card withdrawels.

BTW, for my last ATM withdrawel here in Thailand my account was exactly debited by an amount with the before mentioned rate, .... and always the same before.

I am sorry, Sir, but you are completely wrong about that! I am working for a credit card Issuer and I know all the contracts and all the details of card transactions and payments in all details. UBS as one example of the big Swiss banks tells their customers, that they use the standard UBS foreign exchange rate for credit cards (and use the same rate for VISA and MC) and those are published daily on their website - and they DO deviate from the VISA and MC rates (wich themselves are different).

To clarify: I was unclear with my statement about big banks using the same rate... I meant that within each of the banks, they use the same rate for all their card products independent of the brand of card. Of course the rates differ from bank to bank as do the fees.

So the rate I get from UBS for a VISA card cash advance at what ever ATM worldwide is set by UBS and can (and mostly will) deviate from the T/T rate that VISA Europe Inc. will use to charge UBS for the cash advance.

Still not sure I understand... from what I know (and I am SCB customer also), they have a so-called "co-branding" credit card which is issued by SCB (issuer and owner of your card) but giving you wide priviledges with King Power...

But if you receive the invoice of your credit card, it should come and be paid to SCB, right?

The problem with the OP is that he hasn't yet mastered the art of boasting-without-appearing-to-be-boasting. It's really a fine line and if you don't get it right, you come across as being a pretentious, pompous, egotistical nitwit. Sorry OP, but you've got to do better. And I mean that in the most sincere way.

between you and me: i'm turning up the volume a bit:)

My bonafides will be established today.

You are either too stupid to get the message or to arrogant... once again, nobody gives a shit about your bonafides... but you piss a lot of people off by bragging about them...

- when I tell you that my degree is from a top-10 wordwide tech university -does it make me a better person?

- when I tell you that my EMBA is from a top-5 worldwide University - does it make me a better person?

- when I tell you that my income is higher than $200K - does it make me a better person?

- when I tell you about my alumnies and other charters I join - does it make me a better person?

And when it comes to friends... my true friends come from Kindergarden to High School to University to Business to Alumnies... some are bluecoat, some whitecoat, some CEO, some government workers (including government heads in Switzerland) - now that says something about me, because it says that I am not such a bragging fool, otherwise my friends would not accept me their friend... so I must be a pretty nice and decent person, completely independant from all degrees and alumnies I might or might not have...

Now... who did you say are your friends???

You put a lot of effort in that thread... and in general it is useful to find the approximate exchange rates that you might face... but fact is that your information is not correct...

Fact is that the exchange rate used to charge the cardholder is set by the card issuing bank (your home bank) and they are completely free to use whatever exchange rate they want. They can use the Visa / MC / Amex etc. exchange rates, but they can choose their own rates.

Example Switzerland: Big banks use the same exchange rate for all card brands, so if you do transactions (cash advance or retail) with Visa and MC on the same day, the same exchange rate will be used for all transactions, no matter whether their are differences between Visa and MC. It's the banks risk to choose the right exchange rate in order not to loose money when doing the reconciliation with Visa / MC.

Most big banks in Switzerland offer their customer better rates for USD and EURO than VISA and MC offer to them (as they are trading heavily in these currencies in the money market) and still gain money, but the add pretty heavy foreign exchange percentages to the transactions.

That is fact. The information you gave might be true for some banks, but not for all and if you REALLY need to know the exact exchange rates that you will be charged, you need to talk with your issuing bank and most banks will publish the exchange rates (and the various fees) on their websites.

Same thing here... never heard of King Power or Shinawatre being "credit card providers". The banks in Thailand are credit card issuers and if you have a problem with your card, that's where you call to report a stolen credit card...

So I would also need more information... do you have a business where you accept credit cards as payments and use services of King Power to process the transactions? That would be a different issue...

Please be more precise about the kind of credit card business / issue you have... so far, your thread is more about bad customer service than credit cards...

So what do you think? Is he from India or Romania? For the poll of course.

Nigeria although he hasnt "blessed" me yet in his ramblings

You could well be right there! We've had the hard luck story....Just wait for the begging emails

You are so going to have egg on your face

You don't get it, do you? It is absolutely irrelevant whether the things you told us about yourself and your girl are true or not... it's about the way you are bragging and behaving... it's the way you talk about your girl, not a single word about whether you love her or not, it's all about her 5'9 and her boobs and her top notch looks... it's your way asking about advice but at the same time telling everybody "if you're not in my league then don't talk to me"...

I am sure, there are dozends of members on this forum who also have a top notch university degree, who are better connected in the top tier society than you are, who have higher and steadier income for more years than you have and who are highly successful business people... so far in the year that I am member here on Thaivisa, with the exception of you, I have not seen anybody bragging about himself the way you do...

Irrelevant... you said it... you bragged about yourself... that's fact, whether in this post or another one...

lol, I could see how some could say that's being a braggart--the part about being a 1 percenter (or 3.4) with an ivy league degree. But i meant it more as a statement of fact.

I will grant you this victory though.

I have never questioned the accuracy of what you told everybody about yourself... the fact that you feel such a necessity to let everybody know about how top you are is what I call bragging... and ask myself what psychological issues might be behind that bragging...

I never mentioned my the size of my gf's bust in this thread...

That's what you said: "I prefer 5’8 (and above) surgically enhanced females. ...(my GF) works as a FA for a GCC airline "

I am not a braggart.

That's what you said: "i am exactly who i say I am...of that one if ten thousand chance. The guy does have a smoking hot model gf, the guy is an ivy league graduate, the guy is a former diplomat (3161), and the guy is a one per center (or 3.4 percenter)."

I rest my case...

not in this post dude...dont be sly...that was from my other post four months back.

Irrelevant... you said it... you bragged about yourself... that's fact, whether in this post or another one...

I never mentioned my the size of my gf's bust in this thread...

That's what you said: "I prefer 5’8 (and above) surgically enhanced females. ...(my GF) works as a FA for a GCC airline "

I am not a braggart.

That's what you said: "i am exactly who i say I am...of that one if ten thousand chance. The guy does have a smoking hot model gf, the guy is an ivy league graduate, the guy is a former diplomat (3161), and the guy is a one per center (or 3.4 percenter)."

I rest my case...

I have a taker.!!!

An established poster has tentatively agreed to meet me at Koi for sushi and report back on the following: (1) Is my girl Victoria secrets model quality? the prettiest farang one will see for days at a time here. A true head turner. (2) Am I an Ivy League educated former diplomat? (3) Am I a 3% er.

I am sure someone will add is this guy (me) an idiot? Well, he can answer that too:)

No, I have no question to add... but am wondering where your insecurity comes from... all the time pointing out how perfect and above the rest of us you are... all the time pointing to your degrees, jobs, salary, big-boobs-girfriend... now even feel the need to prove it through the meeting you organized (assume you will take the tab...) ... could it be that your daddy is / was pretty successful and pretty authoritarian and not too happy with your achievements so far???

Just asking...

I reckon i'd much rather have a beer with him than you.

Aahhhh... now you have driven me in deeeeeep distress..... happy I can afford to pay for my beer myself....

I agree that the sleeping gas stories are urban legends, but a staff member on chartered busses going through people's luggage when they were asleep used to be pretty common.

Well, in Europe (Italy, Poland), there have been some pretty well documented cases (documented in some normally reliable newspapers) where people were robbed while sleeping in the train and whatever kind of anesthetic gas was suspected... train companies did later change all locks on those sleeping wagons and those stories disappeared soon after...

I bet our experiences are comparable...perhaps mine even a bit superior..

I have a local id, I have a military bearing , I ... tip well.., my hot girl has other hot girls . In Vegas we will normally get comped. I punch above my weight. I can suspect that you are a connoisseur of the libertine as i am. True friendship is only between peers after college. There are very few women of my lady's quality (looks). The problem is that I cant find peers.

The problem seems to be... that you are such a showoff and arrogant as hell, that any peer you might ever meet will find out in the first 30 seconds of your conversation... he would neither finish his single malt (and I am sure you have no idea what a good single malt means and probably will mix it with ice...) nor eat the sushi you so kindly offer in your desperate try to find somebody you can impress with all your shit...

, wheres JT to sort this out.

Why JT? Don't you have the confidence in yourself to handle such an issue??? I think I could with my 6 feet Too bad I will only arrive in one week and thus, can not go out with Dorothy tonight...

Nooooooo, and l have only two feet. How many dicks have you got ? WOW, Six feet.

She only asked me how tall I am

Thanks darlings.

I must admit I am a little shy of hospitals though after my last experience in one.

I was hoping for just a lab or something of such nature where i could just go and give a deposit of whatever they need to get the job done.

If I may, I would strongly oppose the tox lab for your health testing (blood, liver etc.). They would take whatever they need (actually... what you will give them...), but most probably not take your general condition into consideration... and you would have to bring them everything open in your flat, from toothpaste to cosmetics to food to perfumes to... and even if they find something (could well be insecticides or weedkiller or what ever else), you still don't get any cure from them...

So the hospital is by far the best option, as they might also be able to give you some preventive stuff to ease your pain and keep you under control if things would get worse...

, wheres JT to sort this out.

Why JT? Don't you have the confidence in yourself to handle such an issue??? I think I could with my 6 feet Too bad I will only arrive in one week and thus, can not go out with Dorothy tonight...

I do like a good schmack.

In fact that is what I am going to do, go out tonight and get roaring drunk. Then find me a man to schmack me silly.

Anyone here on TV would like to volunteer?

Big hands get preference.

Would you be wearing your thigh high white leather boots???