What banks issue JCB or UnionPay debit cards?

[noticojaru]

What banks issue JCB or UnionPay debit cards?

[Oxx]

Bangkok Bank annoys its customers by relentlessly pushing its UnionPay debit cards.

[userabcd]

4 hours ago, Oxx said:

Bangkok Bank annoys its customers by relentlessly pushing its UnionPay debit cards.

I did not feel annoyed.

[Pib]

Most of the issues associated with the Bangkok Bank Union Pay "within Thailand" centered around many Thai merchants like Big C, Lotus, etc...etc....etc not accepting the card. But that's pretty much  been resolved as most Thai merchants who accept credit cards will now accept Union Pay....or at least that's what I see here in the Bangkok metro area.  

 

One good thing about Union Pay cards you need to enter your PIN whether using an ATM or making a purchase; with Thai bank Visa/Mastercard's while you must enter your PIN for ATM use you do not have to for a purchase.

 

So, if you lose your Union Pay card and a bad guy wants to go on a Big C or Lotus shopping spree since he don't know your PIN he will not be able to fulfill his shopping spree dream.

 

 

[Pedrogaz]

Can anyone tell me how these cards, UnionPay and JCB are different than the Wisdom Card from Kasikorn?

I have had a Wisdom card fo many years....it has wide acceptance and allows you to use the lounge at Suvarnabhumi Airport for free. 

[Pib]

7 minutes ago, Pedrogaz said:

Can anyone tell me how these cards, UnionPay and JCB are different than the Wisdom Card from Kasikorn?

I have had a Wisdom card for many years....it has wide acceptance and allows you to use the lounge at Suvarnabhumi Airport for free. 

 

The K-bank Wisdom Cards are just a Visa logo cards with special privileges...and high baht deposit/investment requirements to get/maintain.

 

https://www.kasikornbank.com/en/personal/credit-card/Pages/the-wisdom-infinite.aspx

https://www.kasikornbank.com/en/personal/credit-card/Pages/the-wisdom.aspx

 

[tom in bangkok]

KBank issue JCB credit cards last time I checked. I'm not particularly interested in JCB cards, however at some point I read something about there being a difference between JCB cards issued by a Japanese bank and those that aren't.

 

Why are you interested in JCB and UnionPay? Visa/MC generally have better acceptance rates with merchants.

[Just Weird]

1 hour ago, Pedrogaz said:

I have had a Wisdom card fo many years....it has wide acceptance and allows you to use the lounge at Suvarnabhumi Airport for free. 

With a minimum B10,000,000 deposit or investment, it bloody well should!

[tom in bangkok]

There are no JCB debit card issuers in Thailand according to https://www.global.jcb/en/products/cards/issuer/

 

[Letseng]

11 hours ago, Oxx said:

Bangkok Bank annoys its customers by relentlessly pushing its UnionPay debit cards.

Not true. Got MC without asking for it.

[Max69xl]

11 hours ago, Oxx said:

Bangkok Bank annoys its customers by relentlessly pushing its UnionPay debit cards.

Every customer at Bangkok Bank can choose from UnionPay or Be1st Smart TPN MasterCard. 

[Max69xl]

1 hour ago, Pedrogaz said:

Can anyone tell me how these cards, UnionPay and JCB are different than the Wisdom Card from Kasikorn?

I have had a Wisdom card fo many years....it has wide acceptance and allows you to use the lounge at Suvarnabhumi Airport for free. 

The Wisdom Card fees is much higher compared to the cheapest K-Bank debit card the K-Debit VISA. So,your actually paying to be able to use the lounge.

[tom in bangkok]

4 minutes ago, Max69xl said:

Every customer at Bangkok Bank can choose from UnionPay or Be1st Smart TPN MasterCard. 

Sure, but both cards have their own problems that standard V/MC cards don't have. Namely acceptance by merchants (UnionPay) and acceptance online (TPN).

[Max69xl]

7 hours ago, userabcd said:

I did not feel annoyed.

Who wants a UnionPay Debit card? 

[Max69xl]

Just now, tom in bangkok said:

Sure, but both cards have their own problems that standard V/MC cards don't have. Namely acceptance by merchants (UnionPay) and acceptance online (TPN).

Yes, you're correct. TPN connected cards sucks big time. I have both a Be1st Smart TPN MasterCard and a VISA from K-Bank. I use them both regularly but for different payments/purchases. 

[Burma Bill]

11 hours ago, Oxx said:

Bangkok Bank annoys its customers by relentlessly pushing its UnionPay debit cards.

Yes indeed. When I went to renew my BB Visa debit card (a couple of years ago) I was told I could only have a UnionPay (Chinese banking conglomeration) debit card. Because of complications with UnionPay, I insisted on a Visa card. BB reluctantly agreed but I had to wait one week to receive it. Today, BB does not deal with Visa so mine was withdrawn in favor of a Mastercard debit card which I now use.

[Hotrats]

If you really want a Union Pay Debit Card, then Bangkok Bank issue them, but I don't understand why anyone would actually choose to have one. They are virtually useless except for ATM withdrawals. Certainly no use for anything online or for use outside of Thailand (unless, maybe, if go to China).

I used to have the Bangkok Bank Visa Debit Card, which worked fine until I was told they would no longer be working with Visa for Debit Cards. They did indeed try their best to force their Union Pay card on to me as a replacement. I refused, so they reluctantly agreed to issue me with their MasterCard Debit Card, although for that I also had to wait a week plus there is an annual fee for it, whereas the Union Pay card was free.

[Max69xl]

28 minutes ago, Burma Bill said:

Yes indeed. When I went to renew my BB Visa debit card (a couple of years ago) I was told I could only have a UnionPay (Chinese banking conglomeration) debit card. Because of complications with UnionPay, I insisted on a Visa card. BB reluctantly agreed but I had to wait one week to receive it. Today, BB does not deal with Visa so mine was withdrawn in favor of a Mastercard debit card which I now use.

Hopefully you know that BB's Be1st Smart MasterCard is connected to TPN, Thai Payment Network. That makes it useless online if the company/store doesn't have their servers in Thailand. 

[noticojaru]

3 hours ago, Max69xl said:

Who wants a UnionPay Debit card? 

I do!

[noticojaru]

2 hours ago, Hotrats said:

If you really want a Union Pay Debit Card, then Bangkok Bank issue them, but I don't understand why anyone would actually choose to have one. They are virtually useless except for ATM withdrawals. Certainly no use for anything online or for use outside of Thailand (unless, maybe, if go to China).

why are you talking gibberish? UnionPay works in 170 countries

[tom in bangkok]

1 hour ago, noticojaru said:

why are you talking gibberish? UnionPay works in 170 countries

He's saying that the number of merchants who accept UnionPay cards is quite a lot smaller than other brands. Most (if not all) of the major shopping merchants accept UnionPay, but not everywhere, and certainly not many small-medium sized merchants accept it.

 

It depends on why you want it (why do you want a UnionPay/JCB debit card?) as to whether or not it would be as useful as a more "mainstream" card scheme like Visa or Mastercard.

 

Edit: summary: day-to-day usage of a UPI card isn't going to be as possible or convenient as visa/mc. Might as well have a Diners card for the free bottle of wine at restaurants

Edited January 6, 2020 by tom in bangkok

[Jaggg88]

14 hours ago, userabcd said:

18 hours ago, Oxx said:

Bangkok Bank annoys its customers by relentlessly pushing its UnionPay debit cards.

I did not feel annoyed.

It did me until the major retailers started accepting it.

[Pib]

Things have changed a lot over the last year or two regarding the UnionPay acceptance with Thai merchants, at least in the Bangkok metro area.  it's widely accepted at these merchants now.   Can't speak to outside Thailand. 

 

And as previously mentioned a nice feature is a PIN is required for ATM "and in-store purchases" were PINs are not required for Thai bank Visa/Mastercard debit cards.  So, lose your Bangkok Bank UnionPay card and any bad guy that finds it who wants to go a on Big C, Lotus, etc., shopping spree is out of luck since they don't know your PIN.  But if the bad guy finds your Thai bank Visa/Mastercard then he can go on a shopping spree.

 

Off course a person can always set their purchase to zero with their debit card to prevent bad guy shopping sprees but when you do need to make a purchase you need to call or visit an ATM to change the purchase limit from zero to some value....then get with the merchant again to complete the purchase.

[noticojaru]

39 minutes ago, Pib said:

So, lose your Bangkok Bank UnionPay card and any bad guy that finds it who wants to go a on Big C, Lotus, etc., shopping spree is out of luck since they don't know your PIN.  But if the bad guy finds your Thai bank Visa/Mastercard then he can go on a shopping spree.

 

Off course a person can always set their purchase to zero with their debit card to prevent bad guy shopping sprees but when you do need to make a purchase you need to call or visit an ATM to change the purchase limit from zero to some value....then get with the merchant again to complete the purchase.

the thing the UnionPay requires a pin-code everywhere is not a big advantage.

 

for VISA/MC, if it's lost:

  * zero limit can be set via internet banking. or card can be temporarily blocked there too

  * you lost your last? how often does that occur in the first place? once in 5-10 years perhaps

  * if even you lost your card, call the bank and block it

  * even if you don't call your bank, a person who finds it, may not be aware that "no pin for thai cards is required"

  * even a person is aware of "no pin", going to a shop and purchasing something by someone's found card is  a criminal offense. a camera in a shop will film him.

  * a person may not go to a shop immediately - you have plenty of time to block your card

  * even if a purchase occurs, you may claim that a transaction is illegal

 

Edited January 7, 2020 by noticojaru

[noticojaru]

does "no pin required for Visa/MC purchase in shops" apply only within Thailand?

[Max69xl]

14 hours ago, noticojaru said:

I do!

For what reason? Compared to a proper debit card like MC or Visa it's useless. 

[Max69xl]

14 hours ago, noticojaru said:

why are you talking gibberish? UnionPay works in 170 countries

That's what Bangkok Bank announced in 2017, when it actually didn't even work in Thailand. It's a big difference between working in an ATM and in a store or restaurant abroad. 

[Pib]

20 minutes ago, noticojaru said:

the thing the UnionPay requires a pin-code everywhere is not a big advantage.

 

for VISA/MC, if it's lost:

  * zero limit can be set via internet banking. or card can be temporarily blocked there too

  * you lost your last? how often does that occur in the first place? once in 5-10 years perhaps

  * if even you lost your card, call the bank and block it

  * even if you don't call your bank, a person who finds it, may not be aware that "no pin for thai cards is required"

  * even a person is aware of "no pin", going to a shop and purchasing something by someone's found card is  a criminal offense. a camera in a shop will film him.

  * a person may not go to a shop immediately - you have plenty of time to block your card

  * even if a purchase occurs, you may claim that a transaction is illegal

 

Those are all nice rules and vary somewhat between countries.  But for Thailand the Thai bank rule for the Visa/Mastercard debit/credit cards they issue is generally you are responsible for all charges up until you notify them of the card loss. 

 

Plus, you may not become aware of the card loss until hours...days...etc., after the card's loss.   And who wants to get involved in fighting for reimbursement of their money if it could have been prevented in the first place by a card that requires PIN entry for a purchase like the UnionPay debit card.

 

Don't get me wrong....I'm not a lover of the UnionPay debit card...I'm just saying the feature it has requiring PIN entry to complete a purchase is good thing....can save a person a lot of headaches if their card gets in the hand of guys wanting to go on a shopping spree...and that sure seems to happen a lot in Thailand.   In my household we have both Thai bank Visa debit cards and a Bangkok Bank UnionPay card.  With the exception of the wife's Bangkok Bank UnionPay debit card we have our Bangkok Bank, Krungsri, and KrungThai Visa debit card purchase limits set to zero since well do not use our Thai debit cards for purchases; instead, we use our US credit cards which have no foreign transaction fee and pay 2% cash back along with having strong consumer protection vs the weak consumer protection associated with Thai bank debit/credit cards. 

 

But since the Bangkok Bank UnionPay debit card requires a PIN for purchases and occasionally (once in a blue moon occasionally) we run into a merchant (last time was our animal vet) who will only accept Thai bank debit cards then the wife wanted to be able to have a Thai debit card to complete "small" amount purchases/payments....but we have set the UnionPay purchase limit to Bt20K/day....next possible lower limit setting was zero I think...or it might have been Bt5K which might not be enough for some purchases.

 

[Max69xl]

14 hours ago, tom in bangkok said:

He's saying that the number of merchants who accept UnionPay cards is quite a lot smaller than other brands. Most (if not all) of the major shopping merchants accept UnionPay, but not everywhere, and certainly not many small-medium sized merchants accept it.

 

It depends on why you want it (why do you want a UnionPay/JCB debit card?) as to whether or not it would be as useful as a more "mainstream" card scheme like Visa or Mastercard.

 

Edit: summary: day-to-day usage of a UPI card isn't going to be as possible or convenient as visa/mc. Might as well have a Diners card for the free bottle of wine at restaurants

"Most (if not all) of the major shopping merchants accept UnionPay."

Lazada and Tesco Lotus don't accept UnionPay. Those are imo "major shopping merchants". There are more online thai stores/supermarkets which don't accept it. 

[Max69xl]

31 minutes ago, Pib said:

Those are all nice rules and vary somewhat between countries.  But for Thailand the Thai bank rule for the Visa/Mastercard debit/credit cards they issue is generally you are responsible for all charges up until you notify them of the card loss. 

 

Plus, you may not become aware of the card loss until hours...days...etc., after the card's loss.   And who wants to get involved in fighting for reimbursement of their money if it could have been prevented in the first place by a card that requires PIN entry for a purchase like the UnionPay debit card.

 

Don't get me wrong....I'm not a lover of the UnionPay debit card...I'm just saying the feature it has requiring PIN entry to complete a purchase is good thing....can save a person a lot of headaches if their card gets in the hand of guys wanting to go on a shopping spree...and that sure seems to happen a lot in Thailand.   In my household we have both Thai bank Visa debit cards and a Bangkok Bank UnionPay card.  With the exception of the wife's Bangkok Bank UnionPay debit card we have our Bangkok Bank, Krungsri, and KrungThai Visa debit card purchase limits set to zero since well do not use our Thai debit cards for purchases; instead, we use our US credit cards which have no foreign transaction fee and pay 2% cash back along with having strong consumer protection vs the weak consumer protection associated with Thai bank debit/credit cards. 

 

But since the Bangkok Bank UnionPay debit card requires a PIN for purchases and occasionally (once in a blue moon occasionally) we run into a merchant (last time was our animal vet) who will only accept Thai bank debit cards then the wife wanted to be able to have a Thai debit card to complete "small" amount purchases/payments....but we have set the UnionPay purchase limit to Bt20K/day....next possible lower limit setting was zero I think...or it might have been Bt5K which might not be enough for some purchases.

 

I hope your UnionPay Debit card is the old one,which isn't connected to TPN, Thai Payment Network. When buying online using a debit card connected to TPN, (it's the same for every TPN connected card,MC, VISA or UnionPay),the online server has to be located in Thailand, it's a Bank of Thailand requirement. If it's not the purchase won't be accepted. Bangkok Bank has only 2 debit cards now (from January 2020), the Be1st Smart TPN UnionPay and the Be1st Smart TPN MasterCard. Bangkok Bank hasn't got a clue what TPN is and how it works. Try to by an airline ticket online from a major online agency/airline (Thai Airways might work) and see what happens. You can't even use the TPN connected MC at Tesco Lotus because their server is not located in Thailand.