"ATM scam" - myth or reality ?

[RafPinto]

12 hours ago, Sticky Rice Balls said:

Ive done the bank trick they point me to the atm--I say i need more than atm will give aand that im buying a mbike for my thai gf(lie)

Just go inside.
Talk to manager and start crying.
Girlfriend's buffalo needs urgent facelift.
Wife's brother needs a new suit for his work interview.

Wife has a new business idea. Guaranteed return of 175% on return.

You will see how quick branch manager swipes your card.

[RafPinto]

1 hour ago, dingdongrb said:

The real scam is when your Thai bank (Bangkok Bank) charges you a fee when you deposit funds into your account outside the providence you opened your account in.

 

Yes, charges you money to deposit money!

 

10 THB for every 10k THB deposited but yet charged 60 THB when you deposit 50k THB.....Go figure that one out.

I go in and deposit 9999 Baht. Out and in again and repeat.????

[itsari]

9 hours ago, redsongthaew said:

 

Banks have to buy ATMs. Pay rent to locate the ATMs in non-bank venues.  Repair, replace and service their ATMs. Replenish them with cash.

 

While the cash sits in the ATMs the bank cannot earn any interest from the money. For most large banks they have to provide hundreds of millions of baht of cash on a continuous basis to cover their ATM cash requirements.

 

None of this is free. It all costs the bank money. But as a non-bank customer you expect to use this service fee free.

 

Pre-covid Thailand had one of the highest numbers of tourists in the world, a great number of whom would also be non-bank customers who would prefer to withdraw their cash fee free.

 

The banks are not stupid, and when they calculated how much this type of parasitic behaviour cost them they added a fee to cover their costs and to make a bit of profit.

 

After all,  nothing is really free in this world. 

ATM machines save banks money . Less staff required less banks needed . The same applies to internet banking 

[dingdongrb]

26 minutes ago, RafPinto said:

I go in and deposit 9999 Baht. Out and in again and repeat.????

Sure you do.... It's a 20 THB charge when using a teller to do a deposit into a different providence's branch. Plus a 10 THB charge for anything up to the first 10k.

 

No need to lie.

[dingdongrb]

1 hour ago, Ralf001 said:

Thats all covered in the terms and conditions that you agreed to.

How is it a scam ?

I understand that and I'm aware of the TOS. I just don't understand the need to charge especially when using a machine to do the deposit.

 

I can make a deposit at any of my bank's nationwide branches in the USA and not be charged a penny. Why can't the Thai banks do the same? Do you have any sensible examples of why they can't? (I'll wait)

[BudRight]

13 hours ago, OneMoreFarang said:

Is it a scam if banks want a little money for the service they provide?

Imagine there would be no ATMs or similar services in Thailand, how much would you be willing to pay to get your money without flying back home?

 

There were still loads of ATMs back before there was such a charge. It started in 2005 to 2007 or so. Before then there was no charge for foreign cards.

[OneMoreFarang]

49 minutes ago, BudRight said:

There were still loads of ATMs back before there was such a charge. It started in 2005 to 2007 or so. Before then there was no charge for foreign cards.

And your point is?

That if years ago a service was free that is has to be free forever?

There was also a time when people received reasonable interest on their money in the bank...

[Kwaibill]

15 hours ago, JeffersLos said:

This time and effort to simply save 220thb or whatever?

 

My God ????

My first taxed job of work, on which my notions of economics were based, paid $1.00/hour. Yes, 220 baht ,or roughly $7.00, seems excessive. Take out enough to last awhile, or if "in country" get a local account. Bkk Bank has no ATM fees if I use their machines. Also I use direct deposit, so the other international fees are pretty low.

[BudRight]

17 minutes ago, OneMoreFarang said:

And your point is?

That if years ago a service was free that is has to be free forever?

There was also a time when people received reasonable interest on their money in the bank...

My point is that it's just a money grab by the banks, nothing else. That's the reason they all introduced the fee at exactly the same time, they colluded to make travelers pay the fee.

Banks don't pay interest any more because interest rates are set by central banks, and they have been very low for a long time.

 

I don't see the big deal to notice that it's rip off, like Dynamic Currency Conversion. Banks rip people off sometimes. Everyone knows that...don't they?

[redsongthaew]

14 hours ago, Baron Samedi said:

Yeah right, cry me a river ????

 

Card processing systems aren't cheap either you know. Yet nobody is charged 200THB to be able to use them in shops and restaurants.

 

That ATM fee is BS. Can't wait for day fintech is gonna disrupted all this. It's coming and those lazy idiots won't be prepared for it.

 

I'm wondering if the same amount would be charged if the card is chinese... ????

I don't know how fintech is going to disrupt ATM networks in Thailand in the near future.

 

Someone, somewhere has to pay for the ATM network and that someone will always be the customer.

 

Fintech will undoubtedly kill off ATMs that dispense cash eventually, but not just yet. Thailand is heavily cash dependent, with a considerable percentage of people with no bank account. NFC payments in Bangkok are still in their genesis.

[Baron Samedi]

11 hours ago, scubascuba3 said:

Try and find a friendly Krungsri and withdraw inside, if you say have no pin cannot use ATM it helps, because you sign and show passport

Thanks Scubascuba. That's actually a pretty neat trick. I'll try it if I decide to go back to Thailand ????????

Edited May 30, 2022 by Baron Samedi

[Golden Triangle]

15 hours ago, Baron Samedi said:

Scam is how it's being called on many websites out there.

It is a dubious practice to say the least.

200 THB is like 5 euros/dollars for one single ATM withdrawal.

It has nothing to do with whether I can afford it or not.

I just don't see why I should pay them to have the privilege to access my money so I can spend it in their country.

How many other countries have you been too ?? Have you tried withdrawing money with your foreign ( to them ) ATM card ???, you will get charged in every other country, you're obviously a newbie at this international travelling thingy 555555 ????????????????

[Lemsta69]

that's what they charge brother and there ain't a damn thing you can do about it so dance farang, dance.

[Baron Samedi]

27 minutes ago, redsongthaew said:

Someone, somewhere has to pay for the ATM network and that someone will always be the customer.

It's funny though how "customer" becomes specifically synonymous with "tourist" when it comes to pay the equivalent of the daily minimum wage in fees to "maintain the ATM network" ????????????

 

[Robin]

Thai banks have been ripping off customers at every chance for years.  Thais do not complain, so they carry on and get away with it.

Thai banking sector in need of a big shake-up with foreign competition allowed in, but Thai banks, and rich families have too big a say in how the government is run, so ordinary Thais and tourists suffer

[Golden Triangle]

18 minutes ago, Robin said:

Thai banks have been ripping off customers at every chance for years.  Thais do not complain, so they carry on and get away with it.

Thai banking sector in need of a big shake-up with foreign competition allowed in, but Thai banks, and rich families have too big a say in how the government is run, so ordinary Thais and tourists suffer

How do the Thai banks rip us off ?? I have 2 accounts, never noticed being ripped off, what should I be looking for/ aware of ??

[JimmyJ]

19 minutes ago, Golden Triangle said:

How do the Thai banks rip us off ?? I have 2 accounts, never noticed being ripped off, what should I be looking for/ aware of ??

For starters, 4 obvious ones:

 

1) Charging for an ATM and/or Debit Card;

 

2) Charging transaction fees if one is not in the province of the Home bank;

 

3) Charging a fee to receive SMS notification of a transaction;

 

4) As pointed out in the thread, overcharging for ATM withdrawals.

Edited May 30, 2022 by JimmyJ

[Golden Triangle]

4 minutes ago, JimmyJ said:

For starters, 3 obvious ones:

 

1) Charging for an ATM and/or Debit Card;

 

2) Charging transaction fees if one is not in the province of the Home bank;

 

3) Charging a fee to receive SMS notification of a transaction.

I just consider those to be normal occurrences, 1. Every bank here does the same, 2. Again every bank does the same, 3. That is a personal choice, you can choose not to pay for / receive those sms messages. If you have a Thai bank account ( or more, I have more than 2 but less than 5. ) they keep me informed, especially when money should NOT be moving in a couple of accounts ????

[NanLaew]

16 hours ago, Baron Samedi said:

I just don't see why I should pay them to have the privilege to access my money so I can spend it in their country.

If you transfer ALL your money into a Thai account, you can suck on local ATM's until you're blue in the face and it won't cost you anything extra. Just think of all those Sang Som sets!

[NanLaew]

1 hour ago, Baron Samedi said:

12 hours ago, scubascuba3 said:

Try and find a friendly Krungsri and withdraw inside, if you say have no pin cannot use ATM it helps, because you sign and show passport

Thanks Scubascuba. That's actually a pretty neat trick. I'll try it if I decide to go back to Thailand

Last time I did the "great Thai cash advance inside bank ATM fee bypass swindle", they still needed me to input my PIN on their POS card reader. Not like back in the good old days when it was all done with a special, multi-foil transaction slip on that clunky contraption that only needed your signature.

[Baron Samedi]

1 hour ago, Golden Triangle said:

How many other countries have you been too ?? Have you tried withdrawing money with your foreign ( to them ) ATM card ???, you will get charged in every other country, you're obviously a newbie at this international travelling thingy 555555 ????????????????

  Not True.

 

First of all it doesn't depend on the country but on the ATM operator. In some countries you'll find banks that don't charge anything.

And when they do charge, it's rarely some extravagant figure like 7$ per transaction ???? (if I remember well, the world average for ATM operator fees when traveling is 3$)

 

That being said, it might be about time for Thailand to enter the 21th century and offer decent digital payment options. I should be able to pay street food vendors with my phone in 2022.

 

The root cause of this nonsense is laziness.

Legacy businesses not willing to embrace technology because... well... let's keep fxxxxxx people up the xxx, it's so much easier.

 

Edited May 30, 2022 by Baron Samedi

[scubascuba3]

9 minutes ago, NanLaew said:

Last time I did the "great Thai cash advance inside bank ATM fee bypass swindle", they still needed me to input my PIN on their POS card reader. Not like back in the good old days when it was all done with a special, multi-foil transaction slip on that clunky contraption that only needed your signature.

It must vary, Krungsri didn't, Kasikorn did, maybe depends on branches also

[gamb00ler]

30 minutes ago, JimmyJ said:

For starters, 4 obvious ones:

 

1) Charging for an ATM and/or Debit Card;

 

2) Charging transaction fees if one is not in the province of the Home bank;

 

3) Charging a fee to receive SMS notification of a transaction;

 

4) As pointed out in the thread, overcharging for ATM withdrawals.

Having a smartphone will reduce/eliminate a lot of fees.

1.  you can use a smartphone and do a cardless withdrawal from your own bank's ATM's

2. most transactions not involving currency can be done for free on bank's app.

3. the bank's smartphone app will use a free "notification" to inform you of transactions

4. I think the fees posters are complaining about are for withdrawals from foreign banks

[fasteddie]

18 hours ago, FritsSikkink said:

The rate has been in place for a very long time and advertised, so how is it a scam? They want rich tourists who don't moan about a couple of hundred THB.

You're having a laugh, they're the first to moan, how do you think they got rich?

[redsongthaew]

1 hour ago, Baron Samedi said:

It's funny though how "customer" becomes specifically synonymous with "tourist" when it comes to pay the equivalent of the daily minimum wage in fees to "maintain the ATM network" ????????????

 

The nice thing is that you have options if you do not want to pay the ATM fee.

 

1. You can set up your own international card processing and ATM network.

2. You can get a bank account with a bank that does not charge ATM fees of this kind, such as this one that has no foreign transaction fees and unlimited ATM fee rebates.

3. You can bring cash with you and exchange it at a very competitive rate. Many people do this.

4. You can use fintech. You said that you, "Can't wait for day fintech is gonna disrupted all this". Come to Thailand and convert some crypto directly to cash with a local user. However if you do this you know as well as I do that you will be paying 5-10% of the trade to do this, which is going to be massively more than 220 baht. So much for crypto and fintech at this time.

5. You can design your vacation in a way that only requires card payments, so that you can avail yourself of the standard mastercard/visa rate.

 

Lots of choices, from the almost impossible to the highly possible. The most important thing is that you can take action and solve your problems with the advice given in this topic, instead of being victimized for 220 baht by very bad corporations.

[redsongthaew]

16 minutes ago, Baron Samedi said:

That being said, it might be about time for Thailand to enter the 21th century and offer decent digital payment options. I should be able to pay street food vendors with my phone in 2022.

 

The root cause of this nonsense is laziness.

Legacy businesses not willing to embrace technology because... well... let's keep fxxxxxx people up the xxx, it's so much easier.

The root cause of all this is that Thailand is a developing country and not a highly developed country. Not that long ago Thailand didn't have widespread distribution of electricity, surfaced roads or mass transport.

 

NFC payments are just starting to emerge, which is a key driver in terms of the adoption of electronic payments and micro payments.

 

It's not about laziness at all.

[Gottfrid]

18 hours ago, Sticky Rice Balls said:

time and effort?   im at the bank anyway-----a fool n his money are soon parted

Yes, you are so right! Just add that if that fool is in Thailand and can´t afford 220 baht with every 20-30k withdrawal, then it´s the pure essence of a fool. It´s not the money that has departed as that person obviously don´t have enough. It´s the brain, and that is what at the end makes the fool. 

[Baron Samedi]

21 minutes ago, redsongthaew said:

The root cause of all this is that Thailand is a developing country and not a highly developed country. Not that long ago Thailand didn't have widespread distribution of electricity, surfaced roads or mass transport.

 

NFC payments are just starting to emerge, which is a key driver in terms of the adoption of electronic payments and micro payments.

 

It's not about laziness at all.

I know Thailand is a developing country. It's also a country that is quickly falling in the middle income trap and a country that will soon be stopped in its ability to prosper due to its demographics. Many developing nations around the globe have adopted NFC payments.

 

Thailand is lagging behind and its running out of time.

The demand for frictionless experiences is only gonna increase and the tolerance for abuses of dominant position is only gonna decrease.

 

Thai banks are pissing a lot of people off - that is a fact.

 

 

 

Edited May 30, 2022 by Baron Samedi

[billd766]

19 hours ago, JeffersLos said:

This time and effort to simply save 220thb or whatever?

 

My God ????

Do that twice a month for a year, and it will cost you 5,280 baht. Yes it IS worth the time and effort unless you are very rich and don't care about money.

Edited May 30, 2022 by billd766
Correcting Bad spelling

[itsari]

5 hours ago, OneMoreFarang said:

And your point is?

That if years ago a service was free that is has to be free forever?

There was also a time when people received reasonable interest on their money in the bank...

What your point ?

You are talking of interest rates of 40 years back.

Now the rates are on the increase .

ATM charges for foreigners to obtain there own money from abroad is a fraud . 

Time for a change