Best Thai Banks to withdraw cash from using int debit cards as of 2022?

[gastos]

Hi there, 

I know there are Bangkok Bank(the dark blue bank), Siam Bank(the purple bank), Krung Thai (the light blue bank), and Krung Sri (the yellow bank), Kasikorn bank (the green bank), government savings bank (the pink bank), 

 

Which one of these banks are the best with no fees or the least fees with the best exchange rates?

 

Could you rank these banks from the best to worst? 

 

Also how does international banks such as Citi and HSBC fit in the equation? 

 

Thank you very much! Card I'll be using are either the Schwab debit card or the Fidelity debit card. 

[Zaphod]

Get the debit card offered by Wise (Transferwise), put both your home currency and thai baht on the card, then use that card in Thailand to get money from cash machines. If you use up all the money,  transfer more to the Wise debit card using the Wise phone app and your regular account back home. 

[Onerak]

28 minutes ago, Zaphod said:

Get the debit card offered by Wise (Transferwise), put both your home currency and thai baht on the card, then use that card in Thailand to get money from cash machines. If you use up all the money,  transfer more to the Wise debit card using the Wise phone app and your regular account back home. 

There is no ATM fees charged for withdrawing from Wise card in Thailand? I was thinking of getting one but so far could not think of  any utility for that. 

[Onerak]

3 hours ago, gastos said:

Thank you very much! Card I'll be using are either the Schwab debit card or the Fidelity debit card. 

I think there is no ATM charge (or refunded) by both the cards. I have used Schwab and they refunded the ATM charges. Have not  used Fidelity yet. 

[Salerno]

1 hour ago, Zaphod said:

Get the debit card offered by Wise (Transferwise), put both your home currency and thai baht on the card, then use that card in Thailand to get money from cash machines. If you use up all the money,  transfer more to the Wise debit card using the Wise phone app and your regular account back home. 

As far as I see it, using Wise as an ATM card is a bad move. The "free" withdrawals are extremely low and only twice a month, you get hit with the Thai ATM fees then hit with Wise fees after the "free" withdrawals on top of the Thai fees:

 

• If your card was issued in Europe or the UK: You can take out money for free twice a month — as long as the total amount is under 200 GBP/EUR. But after that, we’ll charge you 0.50 GBP/EUR per transaction. This is a fixed fee. If you take out over 200 GBP/EUR in one month, we’ll charge you 1.75% on top of that.
• If your card was issued in Australia, New Zealand, or Singapore**: You can take out money for free twice a month — as long as the total amount is under 350 AUD/NZD/SGD. But after that, we’ll charge you 1.50 AUD/NZD/SGD per transaction. This is a fixed fee. If you take out over 350 AUD/NZD/SGD in one month, we’ll charge you 1.75% on top of that.
• If your card was issued in Japan**: You can take out money for free twice a month — as long as the total amount is under 30,000 JPY. But after that, we’ll charge you 70 JPY per transaction. This is a fixed fee. If you take out over 30,000 JPY in one month, we’ll charge you 1.75% on top of that.
• If your card was issued in the US: You can take out money for free twice a month — as long as the total amount is under 100 USD. But after that, we’ll charge you 1.50 USD per transaction. This is a fixed fee. If you take out over 100 USD in one month, we’ll charge you 2% on top of that.
• If your card was issued in Malaysia: You can take out money for free twice a month — as long as the total amount is under 1,000 MYR. But after that, we’ll charge you 5 MYR per transaction. This is a fixed fee. If you take out over 1,000 MYR in one month, we’ll charge you 1.75% on top of that.
• If your card was issued in Canada: You can take out money for free abroad twice a month — as long as the total amount is under the equivalent of 350 CAD. But after that, we’ll charge you the equivalent of 1.50 CAD per transaction. This is a fixed fee. If you take out over 350 CAD in one month, we’ll charge you 1.75% on top of that.
• If your card was issued in Brazil: You can take out money for free twice a month — as long as the total amount is under 1,400 BRL. But after that, we’ll charge you 6.50 BRL per transaction. This is a fixed fee. If you take out over 1,400 in one month, we’ll charge you 1.75% on top of that.
• If you’re using a different currency, the sum will be equivalent to the currency your card was issued in.

 

https://wise.com/help/articles/2935769/how-much-does-it-cost-to-withdraw-cash

 

 

Edited April 12, 2022 by Salerno

[Salerno]

34 minutes ago, Onerak said:

There is no ATM fees charged for withdrawing from Wise card in Thailand? I was thinking of getting one but so far could not think of  any utility for that. 

Yes there are fees (see above).

 

It can be useful for shopping online or paying via "credit" card but not ATM withdrawal. Also useful for building a stash when the rates are favourable i.e. build a Baht holding in the account. 

 

Edited April 12, 2022 by Salerno
Typo

[scubascuba3]

i hear that Schwab may refund ATM fees, best to accept their exchange rate rather than thai banks, which should be better but not same visa or MasterCard, check with them maybe they charge commission per transaction most do

[Onerak]

3 hours ago, Salerno said:

It can be useful for shopping online or paying via "credit" card but not ATM withdrawal. Also useful for building a stash when the rates are favourable i.e. build a Baht holding in the account. 

If I want to build a stash, I can do so in a Thai bank by transferring from my USA bank to Thai bank. For online shopping I can use my US CC. I don't use CC for lazada or shopy. Only use for big C and Lotus delivery or 7/11 in the shop. All other CC uses are in the shops including restaurants. 

Edited April 13, 2022 by Onerak

[Photoguy21]

4 hours ago, Zaphod said:

Get the debit card offered by Wise (Transferwise), put both your home currency and thai baht on the card, then use that card in Thailand to get money from cash machines. If you use up all the money,  transfer more to the Wise debit card using the Wise phone app and your regular account back home. 

They dont have the card yet for Thailand I know I keep asking them for it. Having said that the OP could transfer from his home country to Thailand if he has a bank here using Wise.

[Salerno]

59 minutes ago, Onerak said:

If I want to build a stash, I can do so in a Thai bank by transferring from my USA bank to Thai bank.

True, but not everyone has a Thai bank account.

 

1 hour ago, Onerak said:

For online shopping I can use my US CC. I don't use CC for lazada or shopy. Only use for big C and Lotus delivery or 7/11 in the shop. All other CC uses are in the shops including restaurants. 

Depending on the card, more costly than using a Wise card with Thai Baht on it (some countries still have a poor selection of cards with extortionit forex and bank fees).

[gamb00ler]

8 hours ago, gastos said:

Which one of these banks are the best with no fees or the least fees with the best exchange rates?

It is not the bank that determines the exchange rate.  The companies processing the transaction (VISA or MasterCard) set the exchange rate.  The rate is set once per day (M-F) by each company.  VISA sets the rate at 7AM Thai time and I think MasterCard does it at 3AM.

 

I asked one time at SCB (purple) and was told they don't offer cash withdrawal services on debit cards at the teller.  BKK bank (blue) does the transactions quickly, without questions and doesn't charge a fee.

[Chivas]

Yet again a classic example of why our Asean Forum needs an experienced financial moderator for this particular sub forum which is the most important as money clearly effects us all

 

I despair at times I really do at the responses that are allowed to remain over many many threads

[mtls2005]

For those two cards the exchange rate is determined by Visa.

 

Both refund ATM fees.

 

So it doesn't really matter which banks or ATMs you use here.

 

I use AEON ATMs with my Fidelity ATM Debit card. The 150 THB is usually credited with 24 hours.

 

Now if you have other requirements: larger sums, immigration let us know.

 

Decline Dynamic Currency Conversion (DCC) if offered as a screen prompt.

 

 

 

.

Edited April 13, 2022 by mtls2005

[gastos]

On 4/13/2022 at 7:28 AM, mtls2005 said:

For those two cards the exchange rate is determined by Visa.

 

Both refund ATM fees.

 

So it doesn't really matter which banks or ATMs you use here.

 

I use AEON ATMs with my Fidelity ATM Debit card. The 150 THB is usually credited with 24 hours.

 

Now if you have other requirements: larger sums, immigration let us know.

 

Decline Dynamic Currency Conversion (DCC) if offered as a screen prompt.

 

 

 

.

Fantastic information! I will definitely try to find those precious 150 THB Aeon ATMs and withdraw using my Schwab card. 

 

Do you know much THB can be withdrawn at once at most? I heard it is 10000 THB at once is it true can it be more?

 

Also since Aeon ATMs aren't ubiquitous, have you found any other banks that provide great rates and charge minimal or zero ATM fees?

 

Also where would you find the Aeon ATMs in Bangkok and Chiangmai? 

[gastos]

Oh and just FYI I had extremely poor experience with Wise. They arbitrarily suspended my account twice, and I am not the only person plenty of people have their account arbitrarily suspended and wise requested a lot of intrusive documents from me to prove that the transactions I have been making was my own money. It has been a very miserable experience because I have to prove that my money is mine and my money and my account has been completely frozen in the mean time. 

I closed my account with wise when they froze my account the 2nd time even when the account itself has no money in it. I cannot tolerate Wise randomly without any notice suspending my acct and I have to submit a myriad of documents to get the account unfrozen. 

[London Lowf]

Rarely, it is great to be British!

 

I have a MasterCard issued by the Halifax Bank and they charge no fees on international transactions. I get cash over the counter from Krungsri with no deductions and I get charged in GB Pounds at the MasterCard rate. I've withdrawn up to B50,000 at a time and all they need is my passport, local phone number and a signature - they don't even ask me to key in my PIN!

 

I must admit that i don't understand why they do it - there's nothing in it for them!

 

When I'd tried Bangkok Bank in Kamala (Phuket) they just directed me to the ATM outside.

[scubascuba3]

4 hours ago, gastos said:

Oh and just FYI I had extremely poor experience with Wise. They arbitrarily suspended my account twice, and I am not the only person plenty of people have their account arbitrarily suspended and wise requested a lot of intrusive documents from me to prove that the transactions I have been making was my own money. It has been a very miserable experience because I have to prove that my money is mine and my money and my account has been completely frozen in the mean time. 

I closed my account with wise when they froze my account the 2nd time even when the account itself has no money in it. I cannot tolerate Wise randomly without any notice suspending my acct and I have to submit a myriad of documents to get the account unfrozen. 

Wise are following anti money laundering regs, you probably appeared shady so they asked for extra proof, makes sense

[Pmbkk]

On 4/12/2022 at 11:28 PM, Zaphod said:

Get the debit card offered by Wise (Transferwise), put both your home currency and thai baht on the card, then use that card in Thailand to get money from cash machines. If you use up all the money,  transfer more to the Wise debit card using the Wise phone app and your regular account back home. 

My missus is back in BKK now. We got a wise card(UK) to test out.

 

When she tested it in the ATM it said there was a 200 baht charge for the transaction - she was withdrawing a small amount - a few hundred baht -  as we only planned to test it's use. Is that the standard charge?

Edited April 17, 2022 by Pmbkk