Highest bank withdrawals with foreign card?

[dsl25]

Which bank in CM allows the highest withdrawals in Baht when using a foreign bank card like VISA/PLUS?

The highest I found so far is THB30.000, is there a way to withdraw more in a single operation?

 

 

Edited April 12, 2019 by dsl25

[elektrified]

I used to withdraw 58,000 from Aeon using my Maestro card when I had it. After 24 hours you could withdraw another 58,000 and so on. The amount is set by the European bank.

[NCC1701A]

1 hour ago, dsl25 said:

is there a way to withdraw more in a single operation?

don't use the ATM, go into the bank.

[55Jay]

Believe 30,000 is the highest one-time transaction limit for an ATM here.  

As suggested above, you can try doing an over-the-counter withdrawal inside a bank with passport and card.  The amount is still restricted by your home bank's card policy; my card's default w/d amount is $1,000/day equivalent, for example.

 

You can also try a cash advance on a credit card if you have one.  The transaction amount is often higher than a debit/ATM card.  Mind the fees of course.

Edited April 12, 2019 by 55Jay

[dsl25]

Thanks guys.

My EU card has a higher than $1000 limit, that's why.

I didn't know I can withdraw inside banks, will try this.

 

Where is AEON? At Maya or only LOTUS?

[elektrified]

9 hours ago, 55Jay said:

Believe 30,000 is the highest one-time transaction limit for an ATM here.  

As suggested above, you can try doing an over-the-counter withdrawal inside a bank with passport and card.  The amount is still restricted by your home bank's card policy; my card's default w/d amount is $1,000/day equivalent, for example.

 

You can also try a cash advance on a credit card if you have one.  The transaction amount is often higher than a debit/ATM card.  Mind the fees of course.

No, that may be for American banks but not for European banks. My Maestro Card withdrawal limit was 5,000 CHF per day but I was told by Aeon that 60,000 Baht was the maximum the ATM would dispense at one time.  I never could get 60K, only 58K. I think once I got 59K. Aeon said that was a security measure - I have no idea how -1-2K THB was a security measure. At the time, Aeon did not charge a service charge.

Edited April 12, 2019 by elektrified

[elektrified]

8 hours ago, dsl25 said:

Thanks guys.

My EU card has a higher than $1000 limit, that's why.

I didn't know I can withdraw inside banks, will try this.

 

Where is AEON? At Maya or only LOTUS?

Be sure to ask your bank about counter withdrawals and how much it will cost!  I experimented by withdrawing 15,000 Baht from Bangkok Bank using my ATM debit card from an American bank I seldom ever use. I did this on the advice of people on this forum, claiming I would save the 150 Baht ATM fee. Yes, I saved the 150 Baht fee but was charged US $18.70 by the American bank. Never again! The ATM withdrawal only cost 150 Baht.

 

Aeon is at Central Festival, Siam TV, Tesco Kamtieng, and I believe Airport Plaza.

[dsl25]

9 hours ago, elektrified said:

Be sure to ask your bank about counter withdrawals and how much it will cost!  I experimented by withdrawing 15,000 Baht from Bangkok Bank using my ATM debit card from an American bank I seldom ever use. I did this on the advice of people on this forum, claiming I would save the 150 Baht ATM fee. Yes, I saved the 150 Baht fee but was charged US $18.70 by the American bank. Never again! The ATM withdrawal only cost 150 Baht.

 

Aeon is at Central Festival, Siam TV, Tesco Kamtieng, and I believe Airport Plaza.

Great, many thanks for this!

[Tongjaw]

12 hours ago, elektrified said:

Be sure to ask your bank about counter withdrawals and how much it will cost!  I experimented by withdrawing 15,000 Baht from Bangkok Bank using my ATM debit card from an American bank I seldom ever use. I did this on the advice of people on this forum, claiming I would save the 150 Baht ATM fee. Yes, I saved the 150 Baht fee but was charged US $18.70 by the American bank. Never again! The ATM withdrawal only cost 150 Baht.

 

Aeon is at Central Festival, Siam TV, Tesco Kamtieng, and I believe Airport Plaza.

Maximum I can get per transaction from my overseas account at the ATM is 30,000baht. They charge me 220baht per transaction. If you don’t mind could  you share which ATM charges only 150baht. Wouldn’t mind saving a few baht per transaction. Thanks 

[AAArdvark]

Obviously not foreign, but my Bangkok Bank debit card has a current limit of ฿50,000 per day and ฿25,000 per ATM transaction.  I actually tried to have it reduced, for safety reasons, and was told that was the minimum amount.  No idea why whey would object to a lower amount. 

[elektrified]

1 hour ago, Tongjaw said:

Maximum I can get per transaction from my overseas account at the ATM is 30,000baht. They charge me 220baht per transaction. If you don’t mind could  you share which ATM charges only 150baht. Wouldn’t mind saving a few baht per transaction. Thanks 

American bank? No surprise there.

 

Aeon Finance Co. which used to be free, charges 150 Baht for a withdrawal. They are all over Thailand.

[55Jay]

14 hours ago, elektrified said:

No, that may be for American banks but not for European banks. My Maestro Card withdrawal limit was 5,000 CHF per day but I was told by Aeon that 60,000 Baht was the maximum the ATM would dispense at one time.  I never could get 60K, only 58K. I think once I got 59K. Aeon said that was a security measure - I have no idea how -1-2K THB was a security measure. At the time, Aeon did not charge a service charge.

I see now the OP has specified EU, wasn't included in the OP.

 

Even worse, I completely blanked about Aeon ATMs, which I used to use routinely but years ago; so thanks for correcting that.  A good reminder to me as well.   I remember now, being able to receive between 30-33,000 Baht for the Aeon ATM transaction, which was close to my daily limit of $1,000, variation due to FOREX.  I would go back the next day for one more of those, and that was my cash for the month, deposited in Thai bank account.

 

Anyway, good luck OP, hope it all works out well for you.

[dsl25]

14 minutes ago, 55Jay said:

Anyway, good luck OP, hope it all works out well for you.

Thanks!

[Danthai]

My limit set by U.S. Credit Union, but can call and set a higher approved limit. I quit using ATM and counter transferred instead.

[donnacha]

 

 

 

2

On 4/12/2019 at 6:21 PM, elektrified said:

I experimented by withdrawing 15,000 Baht from Bangkok Bank using my ATM debit card from an American bank I seldom ever use. I did this on the advice of people on this forum, claiming I would save the 150 Baht ATM fee. Yes, I saved the 150 Baht fee but was charged US $18.70 by the American bank. Never again!

How did your bank justify a fee for the withdrawal of money already in your account?

Are you sure that was not a foreign currency charge, maybe 2 or 3% of the amount, rather than a set fee for a counter withdrawal of any size?

This is the first time I have heard of this on a debit card, I hope it is not the first sign of a shift away from this handy loophole.

[Tongjaw]

20 hours ago, elektrified said:

American bank? No surprise there.

 

Aeon Finance Co. which used to be free, charges 150 Baht for a withdrawal. They are all over Thailand.

Actually my account is an offshore HSBC account Singapore. 

Thanks for the info and will check out the Aeon ATM. 

[elektrified]

7 hours ago, donnacha said:

 

I tried to reply to post #15 but the code is really messed up and it wasn't possible.

 

To answer your question, it was a foreign exchange rate of some kind. The customer service agent told me that I would have avoided it had I just gone ahead and used an ATM and paid the local 150 Baht fee. I only use an American bank ATM card to withdraw cash in Thailand once every 1-2 years, so I didn't get to into demanding a detailed explanation. It was filed under "live and learn".

 

I saw the same topic on being discussed on a FB group where many people also had the same experience.

[donnacha]

11 hours ago, elektrified said:

To answer your question, it was a foreign exchange rate of some kind. The customer service agent told me that I would have avoided it had I just gone ahead and used an ATM and paid the local 150 Baht fee.

That sucks, sorry that happened to you.

As I understand it (and as has worked well for me so far), you need to use a card that adds no additional % rate to the Mastercard / VISA rate, and that doesn't levy any additional charges on foreign transactions. Also, before entering you PIN into the machine at the counter, you need to make sure the transaction is in baht, not your own currency. You're aiming for it to show up as a normal purchase of 10,000 baht or whatever.

That allows you to avoid the ATM fee, which I think is generally around 220 baht, and the basic Mastercard / VISA rate happens to work out better than more complicated methods of transferring cash, such as changing cash at Currency Exchange booths, bank transfers, or services such as Transferwise.

We are not talking huge amounts of money, it is more about the convenience (no need to travel with cash, no need to wait for transfers to arrive etc) and the freedom to transfer even small amounts at a time rather than large amounts in order to save on fees.

 

11 hours ago, elektrified said:

I tried to reply to post #15 but the code is really messed up and it wasn't possible.

Yeah, something often goes wrong when replying in this forum, probably part of the reason why it has become so much less active in recent times.

[elektrified]

26 minutes ago, donnacha said:

That sucks, sorry that happened to you.

As I understand it (and as has worked well for me so far), you need to use a card that adds no additional % rate to the Mastercard / VISA rate, and that doesn't levy any additional charges on foreign transactions. Also, before entering you PIN into the machine at the counter, you need to make sure the transaction is in baht, not your own currency. You're aiming for it to show up as a normal purchase of 10,000 baht or whatever.

That allows you to avoid the ATM fee, which I think is generally around 220 baht, and the basic Mastercard / VISA rate happens to work out better than more complicated methods of transferring cash, such as changing cash at Currency Exchange booths, bank transfers, or services such as Transferwise.

We are not talking huge amounts of money, it is more about the convenience (no need to travel with cash, no need to wait for transfers to arrive etc) and the freedom to transfer even small amounts at a time rather than large amounts in order to save on fees.

 

Yeah, something often goes wrong when replying in this forum, probably part of the reason why it has become so much less active in recent times.

I went to the Bangkok Bank in KSK where everyone recommends making this counter withdrawal. I didn't enter my PIN. I only presented my ATM card and passport and of course signed for it. The transaction was definitely in THB.

 

I don't recall on any of the threads or posts on FB anyone mentioning that they entered a PIN.

[Barley]

I used the same bank and counter within the last two weeks twice with different debit cards and both times I had to enter my PIN.

I can confirm that it works and saves money with TransferWise as well as N26 debit cards.

[jackdd]

On 4/14/2019 at 3:13 AM, donnacha said:

How did your bank justify a fee for the withdrawal of money already in your account?

Are you sure that was not a foreign currency charge, maybe 2 or 3% of the amount, rather than a set fee for a counter withdrawal of any size?

This is the first time I have heard of this on a debit card, I hope it is not the first sign of a shift away from this handy loophole.

I also have a credit card where the fees table states "5% for over the counter withdrawels". When using this credit card at an ATM there is no extra fee added by the issuing bank.

So in general everybody should check the fees of his credit card before doing anything with it.

[elektrified]

5 hours ago, jackdd said:

I also have a credit card where the fees table states "5% for over the counter withdrawels". When using this credit card at an ATM there is no extra fee added by the issuing bank.

So in general everybody should check the fees of his credit card before doing anything with it.

Mine was definitely not a credit card. It was a debit card from a U.S. bank.

[donnacha]

22 hours ago, elektrified said:

I went to the Bangkok Bank in KSK where everyone recommends making this counter withdrawal.

Yeah, I have done it at that branch without issues a few times, although I didn't like the way they insisted that I do it from their currency booth in the front, I worry that it might somehow be treated differently. I usually do it in banks where you just sit and wait to be called to a normal counter.

 

22 hours ago, elektrified said:

I didn't enter my PIN. I only presented my ATM card and passport and of course signed for it. The transaction was definitely in THB.

Ah, I think this might be the key. I remember there was a period during which American cards did not have a chip, lagging behind the rest of the world by more than a decade. As I understand it, the Chip & PIN system was only fully-implemented by US banks in late 2015, so, my guess is that Thai banks still retain the option to process US card transactions using I.D. plus signature. This may give them the opportunity to process it as a slightly different type of transaction, one that gives them an interbank transaction fee that your bank then passes on to you + their handling fee.

Just to be clear, I understand that your card has a chip, I am saying that certain Thai banks, particularly those that deal with a lot of foreign cards, might sometimes opportunistically apply that loophole for American cards. You mentioned that other people had the same experience, I wonder if they might have had American cards too. My cards are Irish, German and UK.

The solution might be to use a less touristy branch of Bangkok Bank, just a regular branch without a currency exchange booth, where the staff will perform the regular Chip & PIN cash advance.

 

23 hours ago, elektrified said:

I don't recall on any of the threads or posts on FB anyone mentioning that they entered a PIN.

I am not familiar with the FB threads, but the PIN is the most important part because, no matter what all the other paperwork says, the screen of the card reading device, right before you enter your PIN, is the only true indicator of what your bank account will actually be debited. It stops them sneakily changing the currency or adding any extra fees. The currency trick applies even more to shops and restaurants than banks.

[grin]

On 4/13/2019 at 1:29 AM, 55Jay said:

I see now the OP has specified EU, wasn't included in the OP.

 

Even worse, I completely blanked about Aeon ATMs, which I used to use routinely but years ago; so thanks for correcting that.  A good reminder to me as well.   I remember now, being able to receive between 30-33,000 Baht for the Aeon ATM transaction, which was close to my daily limit of $1,000, variation due to FOREX.  I would go back the next day for one more of those, and that was my cash for the month, deposited in Thai bank account.

 

Anyway, good luck OP, hope it all works out well for you.

My bank reset my daily withdrawal limit at midnight PST. So I would go to an Aeon ATM a few minutes before 2 PM, withdraw 30,000 Baht and wait until after 2 PM and withdraw another 30,000 Baht. I had to adjust for PDT of course. Only one ATM visit per month.