i have a bone fide, DEBIT CARD  issued by BANGKOK BANK  with *UNION PAY* which today the EMBASSY  say they will not accept. (only VISA /MASTERCARD.  my reply to them  was perhaps you need to update your system this is not the UK  this is THAILAND , surely i am not the only person in Thailand who has this card, (to be honest i have never bothered to even look at this card, until a couple of days ago, when moving from Bangkok (debit VISA card) to Jomtien, BANGKOK BANK  issued me with this card, so now i suppose i will have to go to the bank and get it changed, )  

Probably a good idea to change the thread title.

Good luck! BKK bank seemingly only issue these now, most likely  a visa debit card will entail a change of banks.

 

And yes they rarely accepted EVEN in Thailand 

Not quite clear on this. I have Visa, MC and the Visa ATM.  If the Embassy want a Visa/MC go get one?

Bangkok Bank no longer issues Visa cards. Only Union Pay which is almost worthless other than ATM's and a very few merchants.

You should of kept your account in Bangkok open to keep your Visa Card.

I have a Visa and a Union Pay card now. Keeping my Visa card safe now since it is good until 2022.

To be fair, the UK Embassy are very clear as to acceptable payment options:

 

 

We accept payment by Visa, MasterCard, or cash in the local currency (Thai Baht) on the day of appointment. Card payments are preferred.

19 minutes ago, Old Croc said:

Probably a good idea to change the thread title.

Thanks, I've now done that

Just now, ubonjoe said:

Bangkok Bank no longer issues Visa cards. Only Union Pay which is almost worthless other than ATM's and a very few merchants.

You should of kept your account in Bangkok open to keep your Visa Card.

I have a Visa and a Union Pay card now. Keeping my Visa card safe now since it is good until 2022.

Really?  will they renew on expiry?  and MC too?  what's behind this madness?

8 minutes ago, BobBKK said:

Really?  will they renew on expiry?  and MC too?  what's behind this madness?

In a word.... China.

 

Union Pay is as useful as teats on a bull.

3 minutes ago, BobBKK said:

Really?  will they renew on expiry?  and MC too?  what's behind this madness?

The Union Pay card is the only ATM/Debit card they issue. No renewal or replacement if lost or damaged Visa card.

The still issue Visa and MasterCard credit cards.

Just on the subject of BKK bank's changeover to Union Pay, is there a time limit obliging you to make the change?

 

My current ATM card has the Visa symbol on it and is still valid until 2023. If I am forced to change to Union Pay, I will be changing banks. I use my card a lot for online purchases and would happily go through the hassle of changing banks to keep the Visa/MC linkage instead of the alternative.

3 minutes ago, chrisinth said:

Just on the subject of BKK bank's changeover to Union Pay, is there a time limit obliging you to make the change?

After November of 2019 it will not work in ATM's if it is not a chip card. For other uses it will still be good.

You can have more than one card per account. I got the Union Pay card to use at ATM's and perhaps where it is accepted. Visa card is now only for online purchases and bill payments.

9 minutes ago, ubonjoe said:

After November of 2019 it will not work in ATM's if it is not a chip card. For other uses it will still be good.

You can have more than one card per account. I got the Union Pay card to use at ATM's and perhaps where it is accepted. Visa card is now only for online purchases and bill payments.

Sounds the way to go.

42 minutes ago, theoldgit said:

To be fair, the UK Embassy are very clear as to acceptable payment options:

 

 

 

And if it for a Tourist Visa to visit the UK, YOU MUST PAY IN USD !

Hasn't there been many reports in the past with difficulties paying the British Embassy with Thai issued debit cards, regardless of the type, i.e. Visa, MC etc.?

Last time round I tried 2 or 3 Thai cards all refused.

Ended up sending them a bankers draught.

2 hours ago, theoldgit said:

To be fair, the UK Embassy are very clear as to acceptable payment options:

 

 

 

 

2 hours ago, theoldgit said:

  UK in Thailand said:

 

We accept payment by Visa, MasterCard, or cash in the local currency (Thai Baht) on the day of appointment. Card payments are preferred. 

I know that this from the embassy website, but it does not show the whole picture. If you go to their pension letter info page you will find the following:

 

Payment Options

 

Credit Card Payment will be taken in GBP. Complete the Credit Card Authorisation Form below. UK debit/credit cards and some Thai debit/credit cards are accepted. If using a Thai bank card, please ensure payments can be made from your account in GBP.

 

Bank Draft Payment will be taken in THB. Go to any bank and get a draft for THB 2,400 THB made payable to the British Embassy. 

 

The reason why this is problematic for some card holders is because the British Embassies, globally use Barclay Services in sterling to process payments and so it bypasses the Thai payments system.
 

 

 

 

Edited August 17, 20187 yr by Moonlover

41 minutes ago, Mattd said:

Hasn't there been many reports in the past with difficulties paying the British Embassy with Thai issued debit cards, regardless of the type, i.e. Visa, MC etc.?

They only accept Visa or MC debit cards.

The issuing bank is immaterial. 

 

They accepted my Bangkok bank Visa debit card earlier this year, no problem.

 

Quite a few Thai merchants do now accept UP, but they don't advertise it.

Home Pro, Big C accept UP.

 

Online is a different matter and very few airlines accept UP at present.

It's full title is CUP (China Union Pay). which is a Chinese finance services corporation.

If your visiting China, it's the card to have!  ?

 

Edited August 17, 20187 yr by Tanoshi

Supposedly you can still get a bank clerk to order a visa debit card.  But they have to know how to do it.   YMWDV from branch to branch.    But I wouldn't bank on that.

Just now, 4evermaat said:

Supposedly you can still get a bank clerk to order a visa debit card.  But they have to know how to do it.   YMWDV from branch to branch.    But I wouldn't bank on that.

Can't be ordered, they don't hold any stock and won't be reordering any.

Sad, yes!

Apparently they tried to negotiate the charges from Visa, without success, so in defiance they changed to CUP.

Loss of face also came into the equation.   ?

2 hours ago, ubonjoe said:

Bangkok Bank no longer issues Visa cards. Only Union Pay which is almost worthless other than ATM's and a very few merchants.

You should of kept your account in Bangkok open to keep your Visa Card.

I have a Visa and a Union Pay card now. Keeping my Visa card safe now since it is good until 2022.

all cars will be switch to UNION pay beginning in 2019 at Bangkok Bank. It's on their web site and I was told in person when I renewed my card with them. Switched from visa to union. no choice was given since after the end of this year all Bangkok bank customers will have to change.

This Union Card  business, and now the potential loss of ACH transfers via BKK Bank's New York branch next year - I won't have a compelling reason to stay with them.

2 hours ago, ubonjoe said:

After November of 2019 it will not work in ATM's if it is not a chip card. For other uses it will still be good.

You can have more than one card per account. I got the Union Pay card to use at ATM's and perhaps where it is accepted. Visa card is now only for online purchases and bill payments.

Everytime I withdraw from my BB ATM I get a message advising that I can get a new free card up until and I will check again December 2018

 

You are saying November 2019?

 

So after either of these dates I will not be able to use my ATM to withdraw cash even though it is valid until 2024?

12 minutes ago, darrendsd said:

Everytime I withdraw from my BB ATM I get a message advising that I can get a new free card up until and I will check again December 2018

You are saying November 2019?

So after either of these dates I will not be able to use my ATM to withdraw cash even though it is valid until 2024?

I got a discount from 300 to 200 baht  when I got the Union Pay card since it was a 2nd card instead of a replacement. If you trade your visa in for a Union Pay it will be free until December.

The magnetic stripe Visa card will work in ATM's until November 2019. 

Info is here: http://www.bangkokbank.com/BangkokBank/PersonalBanking/DailyBanking/Be1stVisaDebitCard/Pages/B1stnewdefault.aspx

28 minutes ago, pmarlin said:

all cars will be switch to UNION pay beginning in 2019 at Bangkok Bank. It's on their web site and I was told in person when I renewed my card with them. Switched from visa to union. no choice was given since after the end of this year all Bangkok bank customers will have to change.

No, all cards will switch to chip and pin only from 2019.

The older magnetic strip type card won't work after the end of 2018 and can be replaced FOC for the new chip and pin, but they will all be UP debit cards.

 

Existing Visa chip and pin debit cards will continue in use until their expiry date.

4 minutes ago, Tanoshi said:

Existing Visa chip and pin debit cards will continue in use until their expiry date.

The magnetic stripe version will still work until it expires as well for online transactions. After 2019 it will not work in a ATM and at most merchants.

6 minutes ago, Tanoshi said:

No, all cards will switch to chip and pin only from 2019.

The older magnetic strip type card won't work after the end of 2018 and can be replaced FOC for the new chip and pin, but they will all be UP debit cards.

 

Existing Visa chip and pin debit cards will continue in use until their expiry date.

From Bangkok bank web site:

"Please note:
If you have a Be1st Smart, Be1st Smart Rabbit, Be1st Smart Rabbit Siriraj or Be1st Debit card, you can still use your card until 2019. Also, you can change your existing card to a more secure 6-Digit PIN CHIP card – simply visit a Bangkok Bank branch to receive your new card free of charge."

15 minutes ago, ubonjoe said:

I got a discount from 300 to 200 baht  when I got the Union Pay card since it was a 2nd card instead of a replacement. If you trade your visa in for a Union Pay it will be free until December.

The magnetic stripe Visa card will work in ATM's until November 2019. 

Info is here: http://www.bangkokbank.com/BangkokBank/PersonalBanking/DailyBanking/Be1stVisaDebitCard/Pages/B1stnewdefault.aspx

Thanks Joe, did they issue you the card in the branch or did they send it to your house?

2 minutes ago, ubonjoe said:

The magnetic stripe version will still work until it expires as well for online transactions. After 2019 it will not work in a ATM and at most merchants.

So they allow you to  have 2 cards? 1 for ATM withdrawals and 1 for online transactions (until it expires)