Not needing to sign for debit card purchases

[thonglorjimmy]

I'm not sure if this is fairly new but when I've used my Kasikorn regular debit card in shops like Villa and Tops for smaller purchases, under 1,000 Baht in my case, they no longer ask for a signature.

 

Mine is a standard debit card, not chipped and not wave enabled, so I'm assuming that anybody could use me card to make smaller purchases should I lose it, not that the signature was ever checked.

 

Is this the new norm I wonder, I'm assuming there's no pretection whatsoever.  

[lkn]

1 hour ago, thonglorjimmy said:

I'm assuming there's no pretection whatsoever

I don’t think the signature works for the clerk to detect someone using a stolen card, rather, it is if you dispute a charge, they would *then* check to see if you had signed the slip, in which case, they can reject your claim.

 

Presumably they will also reject your claim if you had not reported the card as lost within a short amount of time after the disputed transaction¹.

 

Not sure if omitting signature would be official company policy, but I assume they have statistics to show just how few “physical card present” transactions gets disputed in a supermarket where there is CCTV.

 

¹ In theory someone could use a duplicated, rather than stolen card, in which case you would not have reported it stolen, but someone having obtained your card details would presumably use it for more than just a 100 baht pack of chewing gum in Tops.

[MJCM]

I haven't noticed that, I have to sign always, but, what is the use of signing as I even had my wife sign (using my card) and it was always accepted, they IMHO don't check the signature.

[RandG]

Usually use a UK credit card, and they mainly want PIN and signature. However accidentally used an SCB debit card in Big C recently for around THB 1,000 and no PIN/signature required. Thought it was strange at the time.

[Minnehaha]

On 3/4/2018 at 11:00 AM, lkn said:

I don’t think the signature works for the clerk to detect someone using a stolen card, rather, it is if you dispute a charge, they would *then* check to see if you had signed the slip, in which case, they can reject your claim.

 

Presumably they will also reject your claim if you had not reported the card as lost within a short amount of time after the disputed transaction¹.

 

Not sure if omitting signature would be official company policy, but I assume they have statistics to show just how few “physical card present” transactions gets disputed in a supermarket where there is CCTV.

 

¹ In theory someone could use a duplicated, rather than stolen card, in which case you would not have reported it stolen, but someone having obtained your card details would presumably use it for more than just a 100 baht pack of chewing gum in Tops.

Yes. For a while now Tops Gourmet mkt and many others do not require signature. I think the amounts exceed 1000 Baht but have not noted that. 

If your card is with Thai bank you are screwed if it is lost stolen and used by someone. 

The onus is on cardholder to prove to bank that they did not make purchases. For example if u used credit card at ATM in NYC and 4 hours later it was used in LA and also Miami and very large charges were racked up. 

This happened to friend of mine. All complaints and paperwork to prove not possibly him were left to sit on desk for 9 months. Only after call to senior banker contact in said bank was the issue resolved. 

Thai banks do not insure your credit card as is done in west. Debit is cash so you can forget about trying to protect that. Thai banks have a monopoly and this is one of the crap service results of this set up. 

[lkn]

10 minutes ago, Minnehaha said:

Debit is cash so you can forget about trying to protect that. Thai banks have a monopoly and this is one of the crap service results of this set up. 

They do offer you to set a daily limit, receive SMS whenever the card is used, require OTP for online use, I can instantly block my card via netbank (report it as lost), and if you’re paranoid, open an extra account and only transfer what you expect to use, to the account for which you have a debit card.

 

All in all I think the system is pretty good, though I do wish the restaurants would have portable terminals so that you could pay at the table, rather than allow them to walk away with your card (giving them ample opportunity to duplicate it).

[AlQaholic]

On 3/4/2018 at 9:02 AM, thonglorjimmy said:

I'm not sure if this is fairly new but when I've used my Kasikorn regular debit card in shops like Villa and Tops for smaller purchases, under 1,000 Baht in my case, they no longer ask for a signature.

Surveillance cameras.....

[DJ54]

Every time I’ve used my US debit card I have to sign. Unlike the US you don’t have to sign. I was in Singapore recently and used the card at 7/11 they used the chip reader gave me the receipt all done very quickly. 

[uncleeagle]

I used my Thai debit card to pay a 10,000 baht bill (ten thousand) at a hotel and no PIN or anything was needed, which worried me enough to not use it again apart from at the ATM.

[4evermaat]

Big c i think did not have to sign. Tesco you have to sign depending on amount.

As others have said, you can set daily purchase limit (to 0 if you want) so you can use only as debit card. Easy to change via phone automated prompts.

And as extra safety precaution, have 2 accts where only one has active debit card. Move funds around via online/mobile banking.

I remember the flyer on one of my debit cards i had special ordered said "treat your debit card like it is cash."


Sent from my ASUS_Z010D using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

[jackdd]

1 hour ago, 4evermaat said:

As others have said, you can set daily purchase limit (to 0 if you want) so you can use only as debit card. Easy to change via phone automated prompts.

They should add an option like "always require pin", but i've never seen this yet at any bank.

[Skeptic7]

Don't have to sign for many credit card purchases here nowadays. About time! The signature isn't going to stop fraud in most cases anyway. The clerk never even looks...and if they do, they aren't qualified to notice any difference...nor do they care.

 

That said...a PIN should always be required for Debit Cards. 

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

2 hours ago, DJ54 said:

Every time I’ve used my US debit card I have to sign. Unlike the US you don’t have to sign. I was in Singapore recently and used the card at 7/11 they used the chip reader gave me the receipt all done very quickly. 

 

I only use my U.S. debit cards here in TH, and have found increasingly lately that various supermarkets and others are going to no-signature, no-PIN purchases.

 

It does seem to only apply when the transaction is under 1,000 baht or so, but I haven't been able to suss out any consistency on the signature vs no signature requirement. Some do, some don't, and I have no clue on why in some cases and why not in others.

 

I'm guessing it also may be related to the move to chipped cards vs the older mag strip only cards.

 

Edited March 5, 2018 by TallGuyJohninBKK

[Pib]

It's called a "low value purchase."   No signature or PIN required.  

 

Purely up to the merchant if they want to use such a system and at least in Bangkok I'm seeing more and more stores use it. 

 

Typically a low value purchase is less than Bt700 for Visa and less than Bt1500 for Mastercard.  However, at least one store I frequent (I think Foodland) uses less than Bt1500 for both Visa and Mastercard.

[curtklay]

"a 100 baht pack of chewing gum in Tops."

Man, are you getting ripped off!

 

[Pib]

3 hours ago, uncleeagle said:

I used my Thai debit card to pay a 10,000 baht bill (ten thousand) at a hotel and no PIN or anything was needed, which worried me enough to not use it again apart from at the ATM.

Due to no PIN or signature requirement by many merchants (or card to ID verification) losing your debit or credit card can be like losing cash. 

 

The bad guy who gets your card just uses the card in stores until it stops working which could be a while depending on how long it takes the card owner to realize the card is missing & notifies the card-issuing bank of the loss....or the card-issuing bank/Visa/Mastercard just blocks further transaction because they suspect card fraudulent activity.

 

Yeap, protect your credit/debit card like you protect your cash.

[lkn]

5 hours ago, uncleeagle said:

I used my Thai debit card to pay a 10,000 baht bill (ten thousand) at a hotel and no PIN or anything was needed, which worried me enough to not use it again apart from at the ATM.

This seems a little misguided. Refusing to use your debit card for purchases does nothing to protect yourself against fraud.

 

As for your hotel bill, if this was payment for your stay, they would have a copy of your passport, so incase you had paid with a stolen credit card, they would be able to send the police your way.

 

[dallen52]

God help us when pay wave or tap and pay takes off here.. 

Ka ching. Ka ching. 

 

Mine does $100 without a pin. 

Over that you can pay wave but it requires a pin input. 

[nrasmussen]

In Big C Extra there's no signature required for purchases below ฿750 (or is it 700?) and ฿1500 for VISA and MasterCard, respectively.

Sent from my SM-N920C using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

[Pib]

The move away from signature...and even PIN entry....especially for purchases below 100 U.S. dollars or equivalent. 

 

But I'm sure the merchant still has latitude in still requiring a signature if they feel they are better protected from loss/a fraudulent purchase/charge-back attempt/etc.

 

https://www.creditcards.com/credit-card-news/signatures-soon-may-not-be-required.php

 

Quote

 

Mastercard, Discover, AmEx and now Visa will ditch signatures

You will not be routinely jotting your name on payment slips and checkout terminals much longer. Mastercard, Discover, American Express and now Visa plan to ditch the signature requirement at merchants in April. 

 

 

[Minnehaha]

On 3/5/2018 at 3:37 PM, lkn said:

They do offer you to set a daily limit, receive SMS whenever the card is used, require OTP for online use, I can instantly block my card via netbank (report it as lost), and if you’re paranoid, open an extra account and only transfer what you expect to use, to the account for which you have a debit card.

 

All in all I think the system is pretty good, though I do wish the restaurants would have portable terminals so that you could pay at the table, rather than allow them to walk away with your card (giving them ample opportunity to duplicate it).

Not paranoid and welcome the controls you highlight. 

I manage debit card exactly as you suggest.

My point remains: if you ever have a discrepancy with Thai credit card you will learn they have no insurance with loss limit as banks must in west. You are obligated to prove and fight for stolen money and in example i gave the person was thousands of miles from points of purchase. Multiple points. Still bank standard reply is denied - this is customers loss. Plus they did nothing to contact bank in USA to seek clarification. The amounts were very large : 400.000 Baht. That should get attention. 

[The manic]

Frequently experienced no security at all when using Thai Cash cards and UK CCs here to make purchases or pay for services.  No pin numbers no chip and pin no signature check.  But that being said 'Touch and Go' cards are becoming the norm in the UK. 

[theoldgit]

We opened a new account with Kasikorn and got one of the new chipped debit cards wach, probably not that new really,
We were told that the new cards cannot be embossed with your name, I remain “valued customer” I felt that having a male name on the card gave me a fighting chance, and the new six digit pins cannot be used in point of sale terminals in Europe, though assumingely in an atm machine.
It seems a half hearted attempt to address security issues, but maybe I’m being unkind,


Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect