Any BTS cards I can top up online?

[MJKT2014]

Hi,

 

Arriving in Bangkok soon and was wondering if these days there's a way to pay online for trips on BTS (or MRT)? Anything to avoid long queues waiting for a ticket machine at Asoke? Something I could top up with by KBank online on my phone or web site would be useful?

 

Is there such a system please? I will mostly use BTS but something that works for the MRT would be nice too? I already have an Easy Pass for the expressways that's tops up from KBank mobile app that works great, wondering about the trains?? 

 

Cheers

[zhangxifu]

Bangkok Bank's debit card can be used as Rabbit card as well. That can be set up to direct pay from the account, or so the bank app suggests. Haven't had time to figure it all out yet. Bank told me to top up at BTS. Rabbit card also has an app which would make your phone replace the card I guess. Please reply after figuring this all out for us.

[buick]

MRT has a card similar to the rabbit BTS card.  just go to the booth and buy one.  then you can avoid the lines at the ticket machine.  i'm not aware of the ability to top it up online though.  just go to the booth to top up and try and do it during off peak travel times.  

[Crossy]

Right now no, there's no online top-up facility for any of the travel cards, and no cards that work on all trains.

 

Just get a Rabbit (BTS) and an MRT Plus (MRT) card, load a few hundred Baht and forget about queueing at least until the balance gets low. I top up my MRT card whenever I see a ticket office with no line, if you keep an eye on the balance you should never actually have to join a queue.

[Classic Ray]

1 hour ago, Crossy said:

Right now no, there's no online top-up facility for any of the travel cards, and no cards that work on all trains.

 

Just get a Rabbit (BTS) and an MRT Plus (MRT) card, load a few hundred Baht and forget about queueing at least until the balance gets low. I top up my MRT card whenever I see a ticket office with no line, if you keep an eye on the balance you should never actually have to join a queue.

But as Crossy knows the intention is to introduce in the future entry/payment by Visa and other credit cards which will be used as well as Rabbit and the Mamoong Spider, if it ever gets developed.

[MJKT2014]

Ok, thanks guys, that helps keep me upto date.

[Crossy]

15 minutes ago, Classic Ray said:

But as Crossy knows the intention is to introduce in the future entry/payment by Visa and other credit cards which will be used as well as Rabbit and the Mamoong Spider, if it ever gets developed.

Indeed, contactless EMV is the future, just tap your Visa or Mastercard and ride, London and Hongkong have live systems, Singapore going live in the next couple of months. Also, no surprise that these three cities see a massive majority (>99%) of stored-value or pass users, almost no single-ride / cash payment, Bangkok by contrast is about 50%.

 

Will it get off the ground here, most likely, but there are hurdles, some technical, most political. MRTA are calling it Mangmoom 4.0 (not sure what happened to 2.0 and 3.0)

[samsensam]

17 minutes ago, Classic Ray said:

But as Crossy knows the intention is to introduce in the future entry/payment by Visa and other credit cards which will be used as well as Rabbit and the Mamoong Spider, if it ever gets developed.

 

such technology has been developed and implemented in london and hong kong, given the relativity small network in bangkok plus it could be included in the current BTS/MRT  expansion project it should, in theory, be relatively easy to implement. however you have to take into account the political will to get it done and also consider whether customers will actually use the technology; i often see huge queues to buy tickets at BTS/MRT stations, why people dont currently buy travel cards and avoid the need to queue i honestly dont understand.

[joloit]

Is there any way to top up Rabbit Card in Rawai, Phuket?

[MJKT2014]

1 hour ago, Crossy said:

there's no online top-up facility for any of the travel cards, and no cards that work on all trains.

Just looking on YouTube there appears to be a number of Thai language videos explaining how to top up BTS Rabbit Cards online using Rabbit Line Pay function in the Line chat app?

 

Seems like one has to enable Rabbit Line Pay first with a link to any of your banks and then one can top up Rabbit cards as Line sucks money from your bank? I am a bit sceptical of this as they seem to give Line access to your bank account details rather than other way around and what I would prefer would be me giving my bank details of my Line account so I paid into that? 

[PerkinsCuthbert]

15 minutes ago, joloit said:

Is there any way to top up Rabbit Card in Rawai, Phuket?

As I understand it, the only way to top up cards is with cash at BTS station kiosks; even there credit or debit cards cannot be used, though see posts #2 and 10 for a possible alternative to the Rabbit card or paying by LinePay respectively.

 

A propos the BTS, there is currently a special discount running: a magnificent and magnanimous 1 Baht per journey saving can be made if the Rabbit card is used. Do not be caught in the crush of people availing of this once in a lifetime offer. 

Edited June 16, 2018 by PerkinsCuthbert

[Crossy]

6 minutes ago, MJKT2014 said:

Just looking on YouTube there appears to be a number of Thai language videos explaining how to top up BTS Rabbit Cards online using Rabbit Line Pay function in the Line chat app?

I understand it's still under limited testing so not live for the general public.

[Caldera]

37 minutes ago, joloit said:

Is there any way to top up Rabbit Card in Rawai, Phuket?

If there's a McDonald's in Rawai, you can probably use and top up your Rabbit card there.

[Bangkok Barry]

3 hours ago, buick said:

MRT has a card similar to the rabbit BTS card.  just go to the booth and buy one.  then you can avoid the lines at the ticket machine.  i'm not aware of the ability to top it up online though.  just go to the booth to top up and try and do it during off peak travel times.  

 

And do it at a station other that Asok, which is always chaotic. Phrom Pong is quieter, for example.

[Eaglekott]

You can top up the Rabbit card on many places but not all you can use it to pay. 

You can top up at BTS, BRT, McDonalds, McCafe, Mpay, Food hall at Paragon, Quartier Emporium, MBK, And some other food courts.  Also TescoLotus Express and BigC.

 

On many other places you can only use it to pay.

Edited June 16, 2018 by Eaglekott
Had some wring information

[Argus Tuft]

On 6/16/2018 at 3:50 PM, joloit said:

Is there any way to top up Rabbit Card in Rawai, Phuket?

Try your nearest McDonalds store.  Have noticed also in the last month that there are a big number of local Family Mart's offering Rabbit consoles for purchases or topping up
Phuket is coming along in terms of numbers of Rabbit accepting outlets

[Thian]

On 6/16/2018 at 10:23 AM, Crossy said:

Singapore going live in the next couple of months

That's great but it seems i won't get a card with that chip untill 2019

 

Betting on contactless: Mastercard pushes chips to center of table — Mastercard — “After October 2018, all new acceptance terminals in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Latin America and Asia Pacific will have EMV chip and contactless enabled; After April 2019, all new cards issued in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Latin America and Asia Pacific will have EMV chip and contactless technology; and by April 2023, all merchant terminals in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Latin America will be EMV chip and contactless enabled.”

 

[Carib]

Well, it is not online but quite a few stores can help you out with a top up (and spending).

 

https://card.rabbit.co.th/en/where-use-top-rabbit

[notasmartassknowitallfarag]

Are ‘rabbit’ fares slightly cheaper than pay as you go? 

[MJKT2014]

On ‎6‎/‎18‎/‎2018 at 11:13 PM, notasmartassknowitallfarag said:

Are ‘rabbit’ fares slightly cheaper than pay as you go? 

Yes slightly cheaper, but the card costs 100THB to buy.

 

I bought a Rabbit Card a few days ago and also enrolled in Rabbit Line Pay on my mobile phone. Oddly whilst Rabbit Line Pay can purchase various things and pay bills on your phone, you cannot actually use Rabbit Pay to add funds to your Rabbit card from your phone!?

[orientalist]

As of last month you can register a credit/debit card on Line Pay and use it to top-up your BTS card. I just went through the process using a credit card (I assume you could use K-Bank's virtual debit card if worried about fraud) and they even let me use my Pink Card ID instead of passport number. They encourage you to pick a passcode to protect yourself, but you don't have to. Then you must choose between two "payment methods": Rabbit Line Pay or Credit Card. I am not really sure what the difference is. I chose Credit Card. The T&C is all in Thai.

 

As the final step you have to go to a major BTS station to have the BTS card activated. The activation involves transferring your card balance to your Line Pay wallet. They give you 3 free rides as a bonus.

 

Presumably, I am now good to go, but we'll see tomorrow. When I tried to top-up with my credit card later this evening I got a message saying debit card top-up was now closed and inviting me to use bank debit or ATM. So perhaps you have to do it in office hours for some reason...

[YT3k72Em]

13 hours ago, orientalist said:

As of last month you can register a credit/debit card on Line Pay and use it to top-up your BTS card. I just went through the process using a credit card (I assume you could use K-Bank's virtual debit card if worried about fraud) and they even let me use my Pink Card ID instead of passport number. They encourage you to pick a passcode to protect yourself, but you don't have to. Then you must choose between two "payment methods": Rabbit Line Pay or Credit Card. I am not really sure what the difference is. I chose Credit Card. The T&C is all in Thai.

  

As the final step you have to go to a major BTS station to have the BTS card activated. The activation involves transferring your card balance to your Line Pay wallet. They give you 3 free rides as a bonus.

 

 Presumably, I am now good to go, but we'll see tomorrow. When I tried to top-up with my credit card later this evening I got a message saying debit card top-up was now closed and inviting me to use bank debit or ATM. So perhaps you have to do it in office hours for some reason...

 

Note that you can't produce your card to get the 3 free rides if you already have rides on your card. You must use them all up first. (the stage I'm at)

 

Also you are not required to link a credit/debit card to use Rabbit Line Pay, it is possible to pay for items (i assume trips too) through the "Wallet" function on Rabbit Line Pay, which you can top up from your banking app as you would top-up a mobile phone. Less convenient but some people may like not having to give them your bank or card details.

 

Steps to complete:

1. Upgrade to latest version of LINE - you should see wallet icon, and inside that BTS. Must be a Thai version of LINE, ie. first registered with a Thai mobile number.

2. Register your name and ID number, mobile phone and email on BTS icon

3. Enter the number on the back of Rabbit card to link to that card (only one card can be linked to one account)

4. Produce your card and original ID at a station to have them verified and get your free trips.

 

There are some downsides relating to deleting your LINE account makes the card unusable etc. but some upsides like being able to lock the card through your phone if you lose it and retain the credit  and trips in theory.

[orientalist]

6 minutes ago, YT3k72Em said:

Also you are not required to link a credit/debit card to use Rabbit Line Pay, it is possible to pay for items (i assume trips too) through the "Wallet" function on Rabbit Line Pay, which you can top up from your banking app as you would top-up a mobile phone. Less convenient but some people may like not having to give them your bank or card details.

 

Right. Contrary to what I had hoped (at this time) you cannot actually top-up your wallet using a credit card, but you can do it easily with your mobile banking app or Internet banking. The credit card can be used to buy stuff from the LINE store or purchase monthly BTS commuter passes, but not to top-up. So there is no reason to add your credit card.

[YT3k72Em]

On 11/8/2018 at 10:59 AM, orientalist said:

 

Right. Contrary to what I had hoped (at this time) you cannot actually top-up your wallet using a credit card, but you can do it easily with your mobile banking app or Internet banking. The credit card can be used to buy stuff from the LINE store or purchase monthly BTS commuter passes, but not to top-up. So there is no reason to add your credit card.

Ah yes. Probably for the same reason they stopped you topping up with a CC at the stations. They are basically selling you cash and incurring a fee from the credit card company. Then you can spend that "cash" elsewhere.

[HampiK]

1 hour ago, YT3k72Em said:

Ah yes. Probably for the same reason they stopped you topping up with a CC at the stations. They are basically selling you cash and incurring a fee from the credit card company. Then you can spend that "cash" elsewhere.

I just topped up 2 weeks ago with my cc at the station. Trips include 200 baht extra on the Rabbit card. I always used the cc to topup my trips.

[orientalist]

I believe since BTS stopped allowing CC for top-ups, they have allowed it for trips. It's the same with Line Pay - they allow you to buy trip passes with CC. I guess BTS is not willing to consider, say, a 300-baht top-up a "bundle" or product and absorb the CC commission.

 

Having said that, my main concern is to have my expenses recorded somewhere, and now the BTS top-ups are at least recorded by my K-Bank app. These days, I only need cash for eating in food courts.

 

Also, I do like having the record of all trips taken on BTS stored on my phone. But the Line Pay interface is clunky. It was designed as a messaging app rather than a banking app.

[MJKT2014]

On ‎6‎/‎20‎/‎2018 at 10:01 AM, MJKT2014 said:

you cannot actually use Rabbit Pay to add funds to your Rabbit card from your phone!?

I understand from this month you now can, but it requires another trip to the BTS station to authorise it.

[orientalist]

On 11/8/2018 at 10:59 AM, orientalist said:

 

Right. Contrary to what I had hoped (at this time) you cannot actually top-up your wallet using a credit card, but you can do it easily with your mobile banking app or Internet banking. The credit card can be used to buy stuff from the LINE store or purchase monthly BTS commuter passes, but not to top-up. So there is no reason to add your credit card.

 

I just discovered that if you register a CC and then buy a single trip ticket from the machine using your phone to scan the bar-code the money will be deducted from your CC - not your Line pay balance.