On 12/30/2021 at 1:22 PM, Mac Mickmanus said:

Why is it "not a smart way to go" ?

Costs.

23 hours ago, Lemsta69 said:

duse you'll only get the true MC rate if your bank/financial institution doesn't add fees on top, which most do.

duse???

 

Fees are seperate from the exchange rate and not the issue here, although your right they can give an effective rate much lower if calculated that way.  Most savvy spenders overseas will have card(s) where no fees are added for foreign currency transactions.

 

 

3 hours ago, Liverpool Lou said:

Look up the Dynamic Currency Conversion for an explanation of how the ATM owner gave him the choice! It didn't force him to make the "wrong" choice if, indeed, that is what happened.

I said he accepted the rate offered instead of saying no, nothing about being forced to.

On 12/30/2021 at 1:22 PM, Mac Mickmanus said:

Why is it "not a smart way to go" ?

V expensive

On 12/30/2021 at 12:14 PM, david_je said:

Can someone confirm the two ATMs are still there?

Thanks to everyone for replies. I do not plan to get money with the card. It is a replacement card and I only need to stick it into an HSBC ATM and check my balance in order to activate it.

I believe you can use any ATM for such ID purposes

19 hours ago, TropicalGuy said:

My new HSBC Debit Card self-activates upon (any) first transaction or 30 days from issue. Explained in form cover leaflet.Why HSBC ATM needed?

My card is only an ATM card, not a debit card. Can only transact by using an ATM. Thanks for your reply.

6 hours ago, david_je said:

My card is only an ATM card, not a debit card. Can only transact by using an ATM. Thanks for your reply.

Never heard of an “ATM  Card”. Only Debit or Credit Cards.

10 minutes ago, TropicalGuy said:

Never heard of an “ATM  Card”. Only Debit or Credit Cards.

Me neither.   I have a HSBC Debit card, though only use it for very small UK transactions.   I just use Wise to transfer funds to my SCB account.

31 minutes ago, TropicalGuy said:

Never heard of an “ATM  Card”. Only Debit or Credit Cards.

atm-card-user-guide.pdf (hsbc.com.hk)

"Wherever you next travel to, you know that you will never be short of cash with an ATM Card from HSBC. You can withdraw cash using your ATM Card at any of the HSBC Group’s ATMs1 and UnionPay or PLUS ATMs (please refer to the network label at the back of your ATM card) locally and internationally."

My Bangkok Bank Debit card is UnionPay. If I were the OP I would stick it in one of their machines and see if that works