How do Thais establish credit for car purchases and credit cards?

[Tracyb]

Does anyone have experience in assisting their spouse or partner in establishing credit?  I’m getting on in age and I want to assist my Thai partner to establish good credit to enable car purchases and various credit purchases in the future.  
 

I have been supporting our family of 2 for many years now and my partner does not work or have income from sources outside our relationship.  We have been in our relationship for close to 20 years and we’ve been married for the past nine years.  We have joint bank accounts both in Thailand and in America.  Cash flow, at the moment, is not a problem.  We may want to purchase a car within the next couple of years and I don’t want to pay all cash.  I’d rather we use a banks money than our own, saving the difference for other purposes.

 

What steps have you taken to establish financial independence for your Thai spouse/partner?  
 

 

[tonray]

7 minutes ago, Tracyb said:

and my partner does not work or have income from sources outside our relationship.

That's key...getting a job is #1

[Tracyb]

1 minute ago, tonray said:

That's key...getting a job is #1

We can establish a monthly income to a bank account owned solely by my partner.  Does one think a record of regular, monthly income that would mirror income from employment would suffice or do creditors want to speak to employers directly.

[Cake Monster]

3 minutes ago, tonray said:

That's key...getting a job is #1

Or having a Business where Legal Accounts can be shown.

[smutcakes]

Tracy, its very difficult. I have tried many ways over the years, including myself guaranteeing purchases etc, however at the end of the day it all boils back to the fact that your partner has no income or means of servicing the debt.

 

From the bank perspective its simply to much risk. They do not know your relationship status whatever you may tell them, and from their perspective if you are willing to be the guarantee, why not just buy it out right. If your relationship was to break down your partner has no income or means of paying the payments for the purchase.

 

From their perspective there is just to much risk for so little/no reward.

[CrunchWrapSupreme]

My wife and I just financed a car. She has little to no credit. Her last vehicle was repoed due to the slowing business even before Covid. Here's how we did it.

 

I'm a teacher with modest income, and some from abroad. They could've wrote up the loan for me but it'd be difficult. Me cosigning wasn't possible.

 

Are you in an agricultural area? The bank told us my wife would have to be a farmer, even though they knew this wasn't the case. They copied her dad's farm documents. They calculated her monthly income based on working the amount of land. Then they sent a guy from the bank to take photos of the farm.

 

They told her to dress in farm clothes, and pose next to the farm. But it had just rained and they couldn't get out to our farmland. So the bank guy just took random pics of any farmland around. Haha.

 

It was a joke. I don't see how the avg farmer could make this payment, it'd be nearly all their income. Yet it was approved. It did require one family member cosigning though. They told us the banks are being really loose with their cash right now, and many are using this method. Tons of shiny new, red plated cars out here in the Issan sticks. I think they even ran out of red plates, because now I see new cars without them. Haha.

 

Walk into any dealership, they should be falling over themselves to do something for you. Trying making a big down payment to get your payments and or the term down. Cheers.

[bwpage3]

I got my wife cards on all my accounts with her own name of them.

 

Before you knew it, the banks were all sending her pre-approved cards in her own name and her own account.

 

Smaller limits but her own accounts.

 

She built up her own credit using her cards and paying the balance off before the month is up

 

 

[bkk6060]

I could be wrong but my experience is there is no real credit bureau or credit history accessibility/limits here.

Supporting this is the fact that they will give car loans to people with payments being 1/2 of their income.

To get a loan your spouse will probably need to show some type of consistent income from a real job.  For a car loan they would minimally check her employment.

Credit cards seem pretty easy I have seen them give them out at the mall with a free T-shirt if you sign up.

[CharlieH]

If she owns property thats usually enough.

Depends entirely what you are applying for.

[CrunchWrapSupreme]

14 minutes ago, tonray said:

That's key...getting a job is #1

Indeed. We opened a stall in the nearby market, as I told her a condition of getting the car would have to be her working. Fortunately she's got a great work ethic, loves to cook, and everyone complements it. ????

[tonray]

2 minutes ago, CrunchWrapSupreme said:

Indeed. We opened a stall in the nearby market, as I told her a condition of getting the car would have to be her working. Fortunately she's got a great work ethic, loves to cook, and everyone complements it. ????

I'm both lucky and unlucky...GF has good job same company 14 years...but she can't cook anything more complex than Mama noodles....Thank heavens I'm a pretty good cook myself.

[Crossy]

39 minutes ago, bkk6060 said:

I could be wrong but my experience is there is no real credit bureau or credit history accessibility/limits here.

 

There is the National Credit Bureau (NCB) who have comprehensive records. Branches all over and a credit check costs a whole 100 Baht (get it in English or Thai) passport or Thai ID card needed.

 

Website here https://www.ncb.co.th/ 

 

[Pumpuynarak]

Wifey got a finance deal on our car (in her name) despite having no job/income. We put 50% down and the car dealership financed the other 50% through a finance company. They accepted my pension to fund the repayments of 29K per month for two years.

 

I could'nt quite understand how they could grant her the loan without any income but TIT and the car was worth 1.5M new so i suppose they could cover the loan on resale if they had to repossess.     

[smutcakes]

13 minutes ago, Pumpuynarak said:

Wifey got a finance deal on our car (in her name) despite having no job/income. We put 50% down and the car dealership financed the other 50% through a finance company. They accepted my pension to fund the repayments of 29K per month for two years.

 

I could'nt quite understand how they could grant her the loan without any income but TIT and the car was worth 1.5M new so i suppose they could cover the loan on resale if they had to repossess.     

 

I expect because you put down a big chunk of change and also paying off over 2 years, so presumably they thought this was acceptable risk. If you defaulted they would get back a nearly new car and also if say after a year i was nearly paid off anyway.

[Kwasaki]

2 hours ago, Tracyb said:

What steps have you taken to establish financial independence for your Thai spouse/partner?  

This is what we did, we are married don't know or sure whether that makes a difference, we just showed we were capable of paying.

That can be done showing money in a Thai bank for your extensions or enough earnings shown coming into your Thai bank or other banks.

 

All you need to do is just go along to the car dealership who wish to buy from choose new or secondhand and leave a deposit and they sort it all out.

They then arrange the bank financing the money come to your house to discuss length of years you want to make payments and then work out the payment amounts.

You can get up to 7 years to pay on a new car dunno about secondhand although we bought a secondhand car once got it over 3 years.

 

If your wife is over fifty they will her want to take out a life insurance which is about 500 baht a month included in the payments.

You get a copy of the cars blue book the financing bank keeps the book until the car is fully paid.

Hope that helps.

 

 

 

Edited June 30, 2021 by Kwasaki

[Tracyb]

59 minutes ago, Kwasaki said:

This is what we did, we are married don't know or sure whether that makes a difference, we just showed we were capable of paying.

That can be done showing money in a Thai bank for your extensions or enough earnings shown coming into your Thai bank or other banks.

 

All you need to do is just go along to the car dealership who wish to buy from choose new or secondhand and leave a deposit and they sort it all out.

They then arrange the bank financing the money come to your house to discuss length of years you want to make payments and then work out the payment amounts.

You can get up to 7 years to pay on a new car dunno about secondhand although we bought a secondhand car once got it over 3 years.

 

If your wife is over fifty they will her want to take out a life insurance which is about 500 baht a month included in the payments.

You get a copy of the cars blue book the financing bank keeps the book until the car is fully paid.

Hope that helps.

 

 

 

Thanks for all that info.  It’s indeed very helpful.

[digbeth]

if they don't qualify for credit card outright, cash advance card or installment purchase cards like First choice is easier to obtain. although the interest is quite high for cash advance and if they don't have the descipline to pay off monthly, only paying the minimum will trap them into a world of debt.

 

Buying things on payment plan often come with 10 months interest free, and it goes on their credit report

 

But the above options require a job with payslip

 

Other option to start them having credit in their name is bonded credit card, where they open an account with say 100,000 baht, and obtain a credit card with that account as colateral, they can't touch that money and the credit card functions like normal, with the credit line of 100,000, you'll be essentially paying the bank interests to borrow your own money, but they get to manage their own credit card, and get to enjoy the perks like cashback or interest free installment buying for many things. If they stuff it up, all you lose is at most the initial 100,000 

[ukrules]

6 hours ago, Tracyb said:

We can establish a monthly income to a bank account owned solely by my partner.  Does one think a record of regular, monthly income that would mirror income from employment would suffice or do creditors want to speak to employers directly.

I believe this would help, it's an approach I've been taking since last year some time.

 

The first thing they look at is, I believe - the 'account turnover' - regular monthly payments coming in = income.

 

If you're looking for a mortgage, there's a world of difference but for smaller loans like cars, etc I think this might be enough.

 

The first step in building a credit rating would be to get a credit card, even one with a small limit and actually use it constantly paying it off each month.

 

[new2here]

6 hours ago, bkk6060 said:

I could be wrong but my experience is there is no real credit bureau or credit history accessibility/limits here.

Supporting this is the fact that they will give car loans to people with payments being 1/2 of their income.

To get a loan your spouse will probably need to show some type of consistent income from a real job.  For a car loan they would minimally check her employment.

Credit cards seem pretty easy I have seen them give them out at the mall with a free T-shirt if you sign up.

There is actually one (and only  one) national credit bureau here, The National Credit Bureau (NCB) set up by regulation, and, if I recall correctly, most/all retail banks and many finance companies participate/use NCB services; that is they will report any reportable events to the NCB.

 

I have credit card accounts with Bangkok Bank and Kasikorn Bank and both banks report my monthly payment history and balance to the NCB.

 

I have stopped by the NCBs small office inside the BTS station Sala Daeng, and requested a copy of my file before. 

 

From what I can gather, unless you have a qualifying account with a participating financial institution, you won’t have a file and also can’t just “open” a NCB file on your own. 

 

 

[natway09]

Same as anywhere else in the world.

Salary, employment savings history but being married to a Farang is not really one of them as the relationship can be severed at any time, dies or the source of income (that they cannot check on) dries up.

I had employment here for 27 years but never bothered to HP my vehicles. All too hard & expensive, just made sure I got everything I wanted on the car at below list price & paid

cash. 

They still looked after everything like insurance renewals, servicing (very good too)

red plate changing.

[Tropposurfer]

8 hours ago, bkk6060 said:

I could be wrong but my experience is there is no real credit bureau or credit history accessibility/limits here.

Supporting this is the fact that they will give car loans to people with payments being 1/2 of their income.

To get a loan your spouse will probably need to show some type of consistent income from a real job.  For a car loan they would minimally check her employment.

Credit cards seem pretty easy I have seen them give them out at the mall with a free T-shirt if you sign up.

Love the free t-shirt comment ... so true

[tandor]

...they lie and fabricate, make up false financial statements....etc.

[KannikaP]

7 hours ago, Pumpuynarak said:

Wifey got a finance deal on our car (in her name) despite having no job/income. We put 50% down and the car dealership financed the other 50% through a finance company. They accepted my pension to fund the repayments of 29K per month for two years.

 

I could'nt quite understand how they could grant her the loan without any income but TIT and the car was worth 1.5M new so i suppose they could cover the loan on resale if they had to repossess.     

So who got the finance deal, you or her if they were taking YOUR pension income for the payments? 

[KannikaP]

8 hours ago, Tracyb said:

I’d rather we use a banks money than our own, saving the difference for other purposes.

But deducting all the interest and other charges first.

Seems silly to me to borrow money and pay interest if you have the money in the first place....well that's what I was taught.

[Bigz]

You can only get a good credit rating by work with a decent salary or having a decent sum in your bank. A few repaid loans help too. Same as everywhere in the world. If it's only for purchasing a car a 25% down payment and an owned home should do the trick. Prior covid at least.

[Caldera]

9 hours ago, Tracyb said:

We can establish a monthly income to a bank account owned solely by my partner.  Does one think a record of regular, monthly income that would mirror income from employment would suffice or do creditors want to speak to employers directly.

 

For the initial application, they will probably want to see pay slips and/or a letter from the employer.

 

From what I've seen with Thai friends, later on, your payment history is the most important factor when deciding to increase the credit card limits. At that point, there don't seem to be additional proof of salary checks, or in other words, the fact that you pay on time becomes more important than where the money comes from.

[jmcet]

Have you considered a loan from a stateside bank or credit union? A lot of them will do loans overseas and the interest  is a lot better

[jackdd]

11 hours ago, Tracyb said:

What steps have you taken to establish financial independence for your Thai spouse/partner?  

Help her to find a job, the most basic requirement to get credit is usually to have a job.

[ericthai]

17 hours ago, Tracyb said:

We can establish a monthly income to a bank account owned solely by my partner.  Does one think a record of regular, monthly income that would mirror income from employment would suffice or do creditors want to speak to employers directly.

Dont know if the bank of ayudhya still does this but, my wife (girl friend at the time) owned a small shop and made deposits weekly (about 5-6K per week). She didnt have a proper company she did like all thais do and just open a shop, no taxes, permits etc. After about maybe 6-7 months the bank started offering her credit cards, loans etc. Most of the time it was more the agent wanted to sell insurance and used the credit card as bait. This was back around 2008/9 in Surin.  I'd have your wife go speak to someone at the bank about her establishing credit and that she can show a monthly deposit. 

[RichardColeman]

17 hours ago, Tracyb said:

We can establish a monthly income to a bank account owned solely by my partner.  Does one think a record of regular, monthly income that would mirror income from employment would suffice or do creditors want to speak to employers directly.

I sincerely doubt that if YOU were putting say 30,000 into her account every month any bank would take any notice of it. If they did, I'd be putting 30,000 into my wife's account to get her on the mortgage ladder and us get a nice cheap house.