Why Thai banks are trying to charge you for cash at ATMs and branches

[Megasin1]

a banker once explained to me that as an individual who had say £1.00 I could loan it to someone, borrow against it or invest it whereas a bank does all 3 things at once to the same £1.00, so therefore Thai banks are just not working hard enough !!!

[observer90210]

Guess the solution will now be to bring in cash for the long winter break here...declare the amount at arrival to prove it's from abroad....and hide it in either a bank safe or a well protected and hidden safe at home.....boycott totally the Thai Banking system if they start to try to cheat people so openly......

[observer90210]

7 minutes ago, Benroon said:

hang on is all of that to avoid a 200 baht ATM withdrawal fee ? Have you ever been likened to a drama queen ?

and have you ever been likened to a goat ? ...you know like those who plainly obey, follow without thinking of alternative issues ?

????

 

[John P Ryke]

true it is only 200 baht and means nothing when i withdraw 20000 but when i take out 500 it is still 200.....that does seem a little bit slack don't you think....

[Walter Travolta]

13 hours ago, Somtamnication said:

Did a border run to Mae Sai (CR). Stopped by a Bangkok Bank atm (I use Siam), 220b charge to take out 500b. Went to another bank, Kasikorn, 220 baht charge. Walked my lazy butt across the street to the Siam atm, free.

 

Go figure.

Would be cheaper to keep it in a safe deposit box, cheeky b#ggers

[manarak]

withdrawing cash a tthe counter should always be free

debit cards and ATMs are cost savers for the banks because they save on staff costs.

 

if they wanted to save on costs, they should put their heads together and share ATMs, so that any ATM could be used to do any bank's business.

[observer90210]

6 minutes ago, Benroon said:

'Issues' ? Do you mean alternatives ?

 

However I have offered alternatives and explained why banks are looking to charge to placate the pant wetters who's lives won't be worth living it seems due to a negligible charge for a convenience. 

 

Can you, or anyone else, tell me why the banks should foot the bill for this technology that only conveniences you ?

No not really - ATM's aren't clever enough yet to work out percentages - however draw the 20000 out and 'withdraw' 500 from the draw you put it in each time ????

Would not mind paying 500 THB if the expense justified. Just feel that making people pay to withdraw in the same branch where they have a account, is cheating. Thank you and good night.

 

[observer90210]

6 minutes ago, Benroon said:

'Issues' ? Do you mean alternatives ?

 

However I have offered alternatives and explained why banks are looking to charge to placate the pant wetters who's lives won't be worth living it seems due to a negligible charge for a convenience. 

 

Can you, or anyone else, tell me why the banks should foot the bill for this technology that only conveniences you ?

No not really - ATM's aren't clever enough yet to work out percentages - however draw the 20000 out and 'withdraw' 500 from the draw you put it in each time ????

Would not mind paying 500 THB if the expense justified. Just feel that making people pay to withdraw in the same branch where they have a account, is cheating. Thank you and good night.

 

[bangrak]

Because banks want to feast on your money, you silly, not (any more) take care of it for you and produce interest for your pocket, pfff, some people really don't understand how the world has changed! OK: you're being robbed, there's no other choice, so just politely say: thank you! Simple though.  

[Domenico Ernesto Esposito]

A few years ago I have opened an account at Citibank Bangkok and with my ATM card I can withdraw for free everywhere in Thailand, also Citibank has never charged any fees on my account.

[sawadeeken]

This is exactly why Thai Immigrations is forcing you now to bring 800,000 and deposit it........ LOOK at all the money they will make off of YOU (NOT ME) (I will rather go to a 2 months in and 2 months out on Tourist Visas..... No Way am I ggoing to let them 'play' with MY MONEY and drain it.......... 

Years ago I thought that 'THAKSIN and his gang' were the biggest thieves...... After observing the present regime the last 4 years I see 'THEY' have found ways of ripping off the 'public' that 'Thaksin' never discovered........... And 'They' make Thaksin look like 'Small Change'

[Katia]

22 minutes ago, bangrak said:

Because banks want to feast on your money, you silly, not (any more) take care of it for you and produce interest for your pocket, pfff, some people really don't understand how the world has changed! OK: you're being robbed, there's no other choice, so just politely say: thank you! Simple though.  

Unfortunately true.  We live in a society of scams.  Other people are trying to scam you.  Businesses are scamming you by giving you less and expecting more in return, plus violating your privacy and selling your information.  There is no real opt-out to all of it unless you go completely off the grid and become a hermit who never interacts with other people; if you choose to forgo Facebook and smartphones and pay cash you're still on credit reports and at the mercy of various fees and price hikes for products and services you buy.  Doesn't matter if you don't like it... you still have to live with it.

[HooHaa]

4 hours ago, ObelixDk said:

was this with thai ATM or foreign ?

My question is why on earth would you go to an atm and only take out 500 baht. 

[KhunProletariat]

Easy solution, just do your banking overseas. Much better rates/service in HK/SG.

 

The banks are just another outfit in the LOS that are looking to fleece you. I'm surprised the soi dogs at the top of my street have't tapped me up for a hundred yet...

 

 

 

 

[mogandave]

My question is why on earth would you go to an atm and only take out 500 baht. 

Maybe that’s all he had...

[Bournville]

The banks aren't making any money on our deposits? 55555. Oh really... Well what are they doing with the billions on deposits? 

[rocketman777]

Lets be clear about one thing, when you 'deposit' cash into a Bank it ceases being 'your' money.

 

It becomes the banks money and you are a creditor , in otherwords you have loaned 'your cash' to the bank.

 

Still none the less, its outrageous for them to charge you to withdraw the cash you have loaned at an ATM.

 

Banks need 'your' cash to maintain adequate liquidity levels. If they start charging you for lending them cash  over and above reasonable bank account maintenance fees, then this could jeopardize their liquidity if people prefer to keep their cash 'under the Mattresses '

[sambum]

5 hours ago, hotchilli said:

Every bank charges you for an ATM card, then for it's renewal every year, that adds up to millions of baht for the banks... now they want to charge you for making a withdrawl as well as making interest on your account while it sits in the bank... pure greed....

Just for information Siam commercial bank charged me 300 baht for an ATM card

Krungthai wanted 699 baht minimum.. guess where I bank now ?

"Every bank charges you for an ATM card, then for it's renewal every year,"

 

I have had the same ATM card for years. I don't have to pay any charges for it, or withdrawals (up to now!) and don't have to renew it every year. (Psst - I'll tell you the name of the Bank for a "finders" fee!)

  

[sjaak327]

6 hours ago, melvinmelvin said:

imbecil comment

cash is no core business of banks, cash is business banks want to get rid of - its just too costly

 

you obviously know close to zilch about bank business

 

Ivory tower. The banks cannot get rid of cash, as long as their customers have to use cash for many of their daily transactions. 

 

You sound like some manager that those banks have way too many off. The reality, back in the real world is, that customers of those banks need cash money to pay for many things. So stating that cash is not a core business of banks, is so out of touch with the reality, it cannot possibly be even remotely true. Pray tell how I can pay for my som tam ? With a credit card, or a debit cards, bitcoins, no with hard cash of course. 

 

Of course the point that I as a customer have to pay additional fees to get access to MY MONEY went straight over your head.  It is clear you haven't got the slightest idea what you are talking about. Step out of that ivory tower and come back to the real world. 

 

Thanks for the laugh though. 

[direction BANGKOK]

15 hours ago, otherstuff1957 said:

Almost every country in the world is pushing their people toward a 'cashless society'.  They will talk about convenience and safety, but the reality is that banks are looking forward to the time when every transaction has a fee and customers will be shopping around for the bank with the lowest negative interest rate. 

 

????

 

I may sound pessimistic, but I believe that this will happen within the next 10 - 20 years.  You may doubt it now, but we all all like frogs in a slowly heated pot, each additional degree of heat is uncomfortable, but bearable, until one day we realize that the water is boiling.

I agree with you. But probably the biggest part of the equation in my opinion you left out. Govts absolutely love credit card and other paypal type transactions. The more electronic transfers there are, the more power and capital they raise. Conversely, the more the people use cash the more power and leverage they give back to themselves. 

 

So yeah, it is a nightmare. The govts and bankers obviously have a vested interest in working with eachother. And all the propoganda bs that works so well gets pushed down everyone's throats, like how unsafe it is to carry cash, which is generally complete nonsense if nobody knows you have it. 

[direction BANGKOK]

As far as cash vs cc goes, I have a question for people to ponder. What problem below is more likely to happen, and which one will have more dire, long lasting consequences...

 

-spends beyond his means and goes into deep debt because of his credit cards

-gets $200 in cash stolen from him

[scorecard]

44 minutes ago, sjaak327 said:

Ivory tower. The banks cannot get rid of cash, as long as their customers have to use cash for many of their daily transactions. 

 

You sound like some manager that those banks have way too many off. The reality, back in the real world is, that customers of those banks need cash money to pay for many things. So stating that cash is not a core business of banks, is so out of touch with the reality, it cannot possibly be even remotely true. Pray tell how I can pay for my som tam ? With a credit card, or a debit cards, bitcoins, no with hard cash of course. 

 

Of course the point that I as a customer have to pay additional fees to get access to MY MONEY went straight over your head.  It is clear you haven't got the slightest idea what you are talking about. Step out of that ivory tower and come back to the real world. 

 

Thanks for the laugh though. 

 

Well yes and no. 

 

Here's a hypothetical; banks, like any business, are always looking for ways to reduce their operating costs.

 

Example: The premises for most bank branches are rented and most are in high walking traffic areas which means higher rents. Plus of course costs of salaries and employee on-costs, electricity, equipment etc. 

 

So what type of business activity is most prevalent at bank branches? The highest level of activity = cash deposits, and cash withdrawals to a lesser level of activity, because of ATM machines.

 

Yes people need some cash but it's getting easier and easier to make payments for many utilities, flight tickets and other services by internet banking transfers and credit cards.

 

So if banks had a lot more deposit machines (ADM machines), especially with extra / more flexible features, example; use any ADM machine at any bank (any bank name) to deposit cash, If the fees for ADMs (any bank) were not too expensive this would probably be attractive to many account holders, because there would very likely be an ADM machine fairly close by your work place of your residence, saving travelling and time.

 

So they would need less tellers inside the banks for cash transactions saving big costs of salaries etc.

 

The other services at current branches; open new accounts etc., well in many countries banks offer many of these services by phone. e.g. Macquarie Bank in Australia, phone banking service is excellent, very customer satisfaction oriented, staff are trained to be good listeners and very friendly and very comprehensive services, and they can show you details, products, etc., etc., on screen by internet as they discuss your needs etc. And very secure.

 

And of course internet banking.

 

So is it possible that banks could take up all of the above and close many branches and/or reduce the size and costs of branch operation? 

 

In fact it's possibly the longer-term strategy of many banks.

 

But if they can massively reduce their operating costs will they reduce their fees? My guess is no. 

 

Big reduction in operating costs and no interruption to revenue plus greater margins on revenue is the dream of every business. 

 

 

 

[sjaak327]

3 minutes ago, scorecard said:

 

Well yes and no. 

 

Here's a hypothetical; banks, like any business, are always looking for ways to reduce their operating costs.

 

Example: The premises for most bank branches are rented and most are in high walking traffic areas which means higher rents. Plus of course costs of salaries and employee on-costs, electricity, equipment etc. 

 

So what type of business activity is most prevalent at bank branches? The highest level of activity = cash deposits, and cash withdrawals to a lesser level of activity, because of ATM machines.

 

Yes people need some cash but it's getting easier and easier to make payments for many utilities, flight tickets and other services by internet banking transfers and credit cards.

 

So if banks had a lot more deposit machines (ADM machines), especially with extra / more flexible features, example; use any ADM machine at any bank (any bank name) to deposit cash, If the fees for ADMs (any bank) were not too expensive this would probably be attractive to many account holders, because there would very likely be an ADM machine fairly close by your work place of your residence, saving travelling and time.

 

So they would need less tellers inside the banks for cash transactions saving big costs of salaries etc.

 

The other services at current branches; open new accounts etc., well in many countries banks offer many of these services by phone. e.g. Macquarie Bank in Australia, phone banking service is excellent, very customer satisfaction oriented, staff are trained to be good listeners and very friendly and very comprehensive services, and they can show you details, products, etc., etc., on screen by internet as they discuss your needs etc. And very secure.

 

And of course internet banking.

 

So is it possible that banks could take up all of the above and close many branches and/or reduce the size and costs of branch operation? 

 

In fact it's possibly the longer-term strategy of many banks.

 

But if they can massively reduce their operating costs will they reduce their fees? My guess is no. 

 

Big reduction in operating costs and no interruption to revenue plus greater margins on revenue is the dream of every business. 

 

 

 

Sure, most of what you say is true. But banks need to realize that they need to provide good service to their customers, lest they walk with their feet. The reality is, a cash free society is a very long way from reality (with Thailand being light years away from many western countries), and even there it will be a hard battle to become cash free. 

 

Still today many businesses here in Thailand do not support any form of electronic payment, and the few that do levy a 3% fee on usage of credit cards for instance, meaning many people will still pay with hard currency. If the banks want to get into that cash free society, maybe levying cc fees at business below a certain volume could be stopped. 

 

But alas, a cash free society is not their goal, milking their customers as much as they can is. Until those people walk, in which case they can maybe hope for the government to bail them out...

 

I can understand and support a fee for "over the counter" cash withdrawals, I think the government should disallow banks from levying atm fees, like the EU did in the Euro zone. Those fees are not needed and dishonest. 

[ArickChaiyaphum]

Other G7 countries charge the same amount depending on what account you have. It is not limited to Thai Banks and can I remind our that Thai banks. Just stopped charging for withdraws and bank transfers out of province the beginning of this year. 

[Blackheart1916]

Same as Aussie banks, and all banks, GREED! Unregulated, unscrupulous, immoral. 

[kiwikeith]

21 hours ago, Somtamnication said:

Did a border run to Mae Sai (CR). Stopped by a Bangkok Bank atm (I use Siam), 220b charge to take out 500b. Went to another bank, Kasikorn, 220 baht charge. Walked my lazy butt across the street to the Siam atm, free.

 

Go figure.

What should be considered here by Gobsuck is, People may withdraw there accounts and go the Bank whose ATM is free.

Fees are being removed from ATM's in NZ and Australia because the Banks are greedy and the fee is parasitical.

Thailand has a far bigger population and a 1 BHT fee would bee more than appropriate,  there must be millions of ATM transactions per day.

Along with the other parasitical bank fees and low interest rates Banks are making a fortune.

They clip the ticket at supermarkets  and the like as well, not known by most punters, by charging supermarkets etc, a commission on all transactions when you use your card to pay.

I do not think this will go ahead as Thais will not like this to much as everyone else.

[toenail]

I had to take a substantial amount out of my UOB bank account so ( to me) going to the ATM machine didn’t make sense.  My UOB is in Bangkok. When I went to another UOB bank branch  in Roi et, they wanted to charge me a commission. What? If I transfer the money on UOB “internet banking “ to my friend’s bank, no commission charge. It didn’t make sense.

[mogandave]

As far as cash vs cc goes, I have a question for people to ponder. What problem below is more likely to happen, and which one will have more dire, long lasting consequences...
 
-spends beyond his means and goes into deep debt because of his credit cards
-gets $200 in cash stolen from him

Anyone can get robbed, only a fool spends beyond their means.

So fools blaming the bank because the bank loaned them the money.

[anon537687643]

imbecil comment
cash is no core business of banks, cash is business banks want to get rid of - its just too costly
 
you obviously know close to zilch about bank business
 

So banks hold folks money out of a feeling of civic duty? Haha


Sent from my iPhone using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

[mogandave]

Same as Aussie banks, and all banks, GREED! Unregulated, unscrupulous, immoral. 

Don’t trade with them.