jgm005

I use the S/F Visa Debit card exclusively now. Ever since I first talked about it here. There has been 'no' tag on 1% fee of any sort in any of many ATM pulls. I just hope it continues that way.

Coincidentally I just got my credit reports (27/June) from all three major credit reporting agencies. Only TransUnion showed up and it was as an 'inquiry'.jgm

Snipped

And in looking at that site for that, I noticed they're saying that the State Farm Bank accounts charge a 1% FCF on both ATM and POS transactions abroad.... But clearly, you guys are saying they don't...

So, in this instance, is the FlyerGuide site either wrong or out of date on this???

The web site also is saying State Farm does a hard credit pull on new account openings with all three major credit agencies....

JF,

Wrong direction. Khon Kaen Central Festival has a AEON branch inside with two ATM's outside. In Udon Thani, if we go that way, has an AEON ATM in the Old Tesco past the airport. Either one is out of the way unless we have a reason to do some 'real' shopping. :-)

Interesting.. indeed...

When I check the AEON web site for locating branches and their ATMs, it shows no locations anywhere in Nong Bua Lamphu province or even in the adjoining Loei province... It does show a branch in adjoining Udon Thani province, in the main city, on the other side of NBL province...

http://www.aeonthailand.com/aeon/web.do?chp=Service_Location〈=en

The wife, up in Nongbulamphu, has been using the Schwab VISA Debit card twice or so a month at the local Kasikorn ATM for about three months now. Thus incurring the 150bt fee each time (Closest AEON ATM is a solid two hour R/T drive from the home). It has always been automatically reimbursed within the first couple of business days in the next month.

Jim, I'm assuming you're talking about the Schwab VISA debit card associated with their "high yield" checking account.

Yes. No refund showing yet for my 12 Jul withdrawal. Will see what happens at the end of the month.

Thanx.

Snipped

Re Cap One's ATM debit cards (NO VISA or MC logo), I've never yet had a block on their debit card in terms of using it at ATMs abroad, and I've never done a travel notification re my Cap One bank account that's associated with the ATM card.

In a call I had with a Cap One CSR I was told with the new ATM cards one does not have to call ahead to alert them it will be used overseas. ON the old ATM cards I had it blocked more then one time when I did not remember to call ahead.

Your below comment says it all for me. I am back to the States in a few days and have been plowing money into my Kasikorn account for the wife does not go back until end of July. Maybe a hassle to some to do it this way but as you said 'sure beats paying associated ACH/SWIFT/WIRE Fees'

Snipped ....

P.S. Then took about 20 steps around the corner to deposit the 2000 baht in a Bangkok Bank cash deposit machine...sure beats paying associated ACH/SWIFT/Wire fees plus I got the money transferred & deposited in a few minutes versus a few business days. I can withdraw up to $1000 per day with each card ($2000 total) wilth ATM fee reimbursement if needed. It's good to have 0% foreign transaction fee cards. I feel somewhat lucky/blessed to have gotten the accounts/cards...it sure makes banking in Thailand more like I'm still banking in the U.S. Cheers.

Today

AEON ATM Paragon

14:34

15,000bt using Schwab Visa Debit card

$494.38 usd

30.34103

Citibank

14:54

15,000bt using Schwab Visa Debit card

$494.38

30.34103

PS: Created a separate thread by mistake prior to this post

Created in error

State Farm Debit Visa Withdrawal

Citibank ATM at Asoke

23 May at 15:42

14,900BT pulled

$493.20USD

30.21806 Exchange Rate

PIB,

I saw that figure you mentioned in S/F's literature but also saw, somewhere, about being able to pull $1,000.

On 16/May I pulled 24,000bt from an AEON ATM with no problem. Below is the SF activity for same

05/16/2011 > NATIONAL CASH WITHDR CASH WITHDRAWAL TERMINAL 00002910 AS CENTRAL KHONKHE N (1)(BANGKOK 05-15-11 11:12 PM XXXXXXXXXXXXYYYY 795.99

Just a FYI

I just got my State Farm Visa Debit card in the mail today; unfortunately, the PIN number did not arrive yet which arrives in a separate mailing. I'll be doing another APO mail run late next week...hopefully the PIN mailing will arrive by then. But as jgm005 mentioned I expect the Schwab and SF Visa debit card exchange rates to be exactly the same using the rate that Visa provides, which is usually just a little better than the TT Buying Rate.

Regarding the daily withdrawal limit, Page 15, Para 2 of the disclosure statement states a $750 daily withdrawal limit (that equates to 22,500 baht @ the current approx 30 baht/USD exchange rate). The disclosure statement also says you can write SF and ask for that daily limit to be increased.

JFC, will do as asked. Will be using it this coming Monday. I can tell you that the exchange rate was exactly the same between Schwab Savings Account and S/F account via an AEON machine in Khon Kaen. I did back to back pulls from the same machine within two minutes. 1st using the Schwab VISA debit card then followed up with the S/F Visa Debit card. Also the daily limit appears to be $1000usd for I have pulled more then 20,000bt from an AEON machine using S/F

Update to my Post #232 above. My SF account is now activated and I have online banking.

JGM and Pib, when you guys get a chance, it would be good for you to post some details of ATM w/ds using the SF card, so we can see how the details of the exchange rates fare...

We already have a good and known track record of that with Schwab.... But no such established record of info here that I've seen from State Farm transactions.

I believe I can help you on queries one and two. I am a State Farm ATM user but do have a Schwab Checking, Savings and Brokerage account for back up.

Go to this link (was active as of this post)and you can find a list of AEON ATMS and a picture of one. They are few and far between. Specially outside of BKK. I personally use the one in the basement of Paragon. And do not forget Citi Bank ATMS at Asoke do not charge a fee either.

http://www.aeon.co.th/aeon/af/aeon/customsrvc/service/locationchannel.do?channelId=-8765&selectedChannels=-8568,-8765〈=en

As for your question 6. Since I have several accounts at Kasikorn and I like their online banking plus they have ATMS everywhere I stick with them.

As with most things everyone has a different opinion on matters so you may get different suggestions from others!

Hi, I'm moving to Bangkok soon from the States and just read all 10 pages of this topic. Great information and very glad to have come across it. I have a couple of questions I'm hoping the Schwab experts can answer, because if I'm going to set this up I really need to get the process started so I can send in the paperwork, link accounts, and receive checks and the ATM card before I leave. I don't think answers to these specific questions were answered already, but if they were I apologize for asking again. I'd be very grateful for any help you can offer. Thanks!

1.) What are AEON ATMs, and how do I tell them apart from regular ATMs?

2.) How can I find out where all AEON ATMs are located in Bangkok?

3.) With the Schwab Visa Debit/ATM card, can I make a debit purchase at a store and opt to receive cash back as well that will be debited from my account? If so, are any fees incurred to me or Schwab because of this?

4.) Can my employer in Thailand direct deposit all of my paychecks into my Schwab checking account and is this easy to do? If not, will I need to open a checking account with a Thai bank and then transfer funds from that checking account to my Schwab account? Will doing so incur any fees to me or Schwab?

5.) If I need to link a Thai bank account to my Schwab checking account I take it that means I need to mail the paperwork from Thailand. Will that pose a problem?

6.) If I have to use a non AEON ATM to make a transaction, are the certain bank branch ATMs I should avoid and are there any which are best to use? I saw in one post that Bank of Ayudha and SCB may sometimes have lower rates, so I want to make sure I'd be going to the best ATMs.

You are welcome. You are right on about their (State Farm) web site lacking information and/or confusing. In the end, so far, I am pleased with them and they are my primary funding source. I'll be adding the wife onto the account once we 'both' get back to the states.

jgm,

Thanks to you for providing the additional info regarding SF, as their web site is lacking somewhat in some details/somewhat unclear (at least to me) on some of their products, especially where their disclosures for Individual accounts seemed to be written for their Business accounts. If you hadn't given crossfeed/first hand experience to help clear some things up, I probably wouldn't have applied for an account.

Cheers,

Pib

Update to my Post #232 above. My SF account is now activated and I have online banking.

Snipped ....

Glad to hear you are up and nearly running on State Farm. I have made the S/F Visa debit card my primary funding card with Schwab as a backup. So far, it is as good as I had hoped it would be (State Farm Bank)

I thought I'd update on the use of State Farm Banks Visa Debit Checking Card. With NO Citibank ATM or AEON ATM in an hours vicinity of where we live I used said card, twice, via the villages Kasikorn ATM. When the transaction posted it posted with the total amount withdrawn including the 150bt ATM fee. Within about 24 hours the transaction became two transactions. One reflecting the money withdrawn and a separate transaction for the 150 bt fee (one at $5.01 and the other at $5.03).

When checking my online State Farm account (30/April) the $10.04 showed up as a 'credit ATM fee rebate' with a posting date of 01 May.

Personally I can not be more pleased with the use of this ATM card. With ATM fees showing up as a separate line item, being rebated and money moved into the account and available within less than two days.

Thanks for the Info Pib. In our case my Thai wife is Green Card, Social # but no D/L or GA State ID. If I remember correctly the online application for State Farm Banking needed either the D/L # or State ID which I left blank. The letter of 'on hold' they wanted further proof she was whom she was like bank account info, utility bills, etc. I just canned it and went with just myself. Good Luck on yours.

Pib,

I'll be interested in hearing how your S/F joint account application goes. My wife is Thai and prior to going back to the States end of February I applied online for a joint account. After a few days my online account with S/F changed to indicate a banking account but no account number (I have a life insurance policy through them).

Up on return to the States there was a letter from S/F where our application was more or less put on hold for they wanted more information on my wife. With her being back in Thailand and my lack of patience I scrubbed the application and went for a single account. I'll add her when she and I return later on this year.

I could not find anywhere in the disclosure agreement that came with the State Farm Visa Debit Check card as to the number of external accounts one may have. SO I asked a question back to them.

The question was:

Is there a limit to the number of external accounts one can have to fund the S/F

account? Thank You

Their answer was:

You can fund an account only one external account. You can however set

up multiple external accounts after the account is activated to initiate

transfers to and from.

Personally I find the answer less than clear. But maybe it is just me.

I also asked the daily limit that one can withdraw for the disclosure agreement, to me, was not clear.

The answer was:

The ATM withdrawal limit is set to $500.00.

Yet I withdrew 20,000 bt the first time I used the Check Card which was $600+. So go figure. In the online disclosure it indicates a daily limit of 1,000usd but under the Business ATM Visa Check Card heading.

I have not found State Farms' Customer Support to be all that informative, to date.

Duplicate Post. Site went down

Yes, that is correct. I went into my SF account and scheduled an external transfer on 07/April and the funds where available the next day, 08/April, around 7pm. I have only done two external transfers, so far, and both fell into the same time frame. The first one was on a Friday and availability was the following Monday around 7pm. SF's disclosures indicate next day availability.

JGM, do you mean you used SF's ACH system to pull funds from an outside bank into your SF account... And that the funds arrived into your SF account the next day and were immediately available, meaning no hold time applied by SF?

One other point to mention about State Farm Banking is the external ACH transfer time.

The ACH transfer time is just one day. I scheduled an external transfer for 07/April. The funds where deposited and are now available on 08/ April (seems to always be around 7pm EDT).

One other point to mention about State Farm Banking is the external ACH transfer time.

The ACH transfer time is just one day. I scheduled an external transfer for 07/April. The funds where deposited and are now available on 08/ April (seems to always be around 7pm EDT).

Just saw your post JFC.

I know I have pulled 20,000bt in a single ATM pull. I do not know the answers to your 3rd and 4th questions. I'll see if I can get answers.

Back in February I had mentioned that State Farm Bank (in USA) indicated that they reimburse all ATM fees** and that there was no other exchange or transactional fee. Upon getting back to the States I did sign up for both State Farm (Checking Only)and Charles Schwab (Brokerage, Checking, Saving). We know that Schwab does reimburse the ATM fee at month end. Which I learned first hand while back in the States.

With State Farm Bank their literature indicated no transactional/exchange fees but seeing is believing to me. Now that I am back in Thailand I have now used the State Farm Visa Debit Card twice. Each time in doing so I also used the Schwab Visa Debit card. Once at Citibank at Asoke and again at the AEON ATM in the basement of Paragon. In both instances the amount deducted, in USD, out of my State Farm Bank account was spot on with the same amount deducted out of my Schwab Checking account and with no other line items. Both transactions had cleared without any changes to the exchange rate nor additional fees. I will do a Thai bank ATM withdrawal, one time, using the State Farm Visa Debit card to verify the re-imburse of the 150 bt Thai fee and will report same back in May. The one thing I like about S/F over Schwab is you do not have to do download and print out a form and mail same in to add an external account. Not that is a big deal for once you have them added (speaking of Schwab) you will not have to mess with same again. With S/F it was done online (adding an external account). One thing I really did not like about S/F is that when I did the verification of deposits there website bit the dust leaving my account in a half ass state. And it took a number of calls to them to rectify same. Though that probably is not a normal event (their website hiccuping at verification of deposit time). The use of the S/F website to schedule money transfers is straight forward and you can set up alerts to be notified, via email, when the money is deposited into one's S/F Checking account.

** I believe, from memory, that State Farm will re-imburse up to $10 in fees in any given month if you do "not" have a ACH deposit within the month of the ATM fees. If you do have an ACH deposit than ALL ATM fees are re-imbursed, regardless of the total of same for a specific month. In fairness to S/F and Schwab I shall concentrate on using AEON and Citibank (Asoke) ATM's when ever possible.

The insert with the ATM said "will no longer work after one week of receiving your new card".

Within one week of Cap One mailing the new card, or within one week of the person receiving it, assuming they're getting their mail in the U.S. without any forwarding delay?... Before, Cap One was saying one week after they mailed the new card.

4)

Old ATM card is dead after one week of receiving new card

Good Luck All!

capone.pdf

Capital One ...

I am back in the States for family business for a few weeks. I had previously posted about Cap One sending out a new ATM card and that the old one becomes inactive. I have scanned and attached the insert that came with the new Cap One ATM.

1)

Withdrawal limit has increased to $600 per day

2)

ATM number has changed

3)

NO activation required

4)

Old ATM card is dead after one week of receiving new card

Good Luck All!

capone.pdf

I got my information from two sources:

1)

My internal message to them:

Date: 2/28/2011 5:00:00 a.m.

Account: High Yield MM XXXXXX

Subject: ATM/Debit Card

Message: I received an email saying I will receive a new ATM card between 01/March and 14/May. I am overseas on 04/April for 2 months. If the new ATM card does not arrive by then will the existing one still work? Thank You

======================

Received Message Response

Date: 3/1/2011 2:08:53 p.m.

From: Customer Care

Subject: RE:ATM/Debit Card

Message: Dear Valued Direct Banking Customer,

Thank you for your message. We are currently in the process of issuing new ATM cards to all of our customers who have an active ATM card. There will be no action required on your part in order to activate this new card. Please note, the new ATM card will have a different card number than your previous card. However, your ATM PIN will remain the same.

Please also keep in mind, your previous ATM card will automatically be deactivated within 5 business days of receiving your new ATM card. We apologize for any confusion this may have caused.

If you have additional questions, please respond to this secure message and we will be happy to assist you further.

Thank you for choosing Capital One Direct Banking.

2)

Upon getting the above I called CAP ONE and spoke to the CSR who answered the phone and her supervisor. I 'grilled' each on the statement from above as to how CAP ONE would know to deactivate the old one within five days since there is no need to call a 800 # to activate the new one. Both said that once the new ATM card is mailed out their system will note the mailed out date. And if you use your old ATM six or more days out it will not work due to it being inactivated. As said I went through all this due to the fact I come back over on 04/April. And the receipt of the new one is within 01/March<>14/May.

So I am spreading the word based on what I have been verbally told and the noted message from them when I used the secure messaging system within the online account.

If all this is true just another reason I am going to dump CAP ONE. Another behind the scene move on them. I mentioned the switch from Plus to Cirrus and before I could make my point the CSR said they, CAP ONE, had been bombarded (my words) by overseas users of their ATM card not being happy folks.

Here is the email from Cap One, don't know where jgm005 got his info since the email doesn't say anything about your current card. I will be hoping that it will have the Visa logo, so it will might again work at AEON

This is probably the wrong thread to alert those holding a Capital One ATM card from their direct banking side. But know that because of their switch from PLUS to CIRRUS they are issuing new ATM cards. To be sent out between 01 March and 14 May. AND once the new ATM card is issued your existing ATM card will fall down dead within five days. Their system will know when you use your old ATM card and that your new ATM card was mailed out. And if this is five days out your old ATM card will be deactivated.

Since I am going back 04/April I have put in a few calls to narrow down exactly what will happen and the above is what I have been told via voice and message.