Credit Card Perceptions in Thailand?

[Cardano]

36 minutes ago, peterfranks said:

Stop talking about things you don't have the slightest knowledge.

 

Foreigners who legally work in Thailand can get a credit card without having money locked up in an account.

I obviously have more knowledge than you, firstly we are not talking about the real credit cards we are talking about the mickey mouse credit cards issued by Thai banks.
And yes I know foreigners can get legit credit cards in Thailand I have two issued by Krungsri Bank, and by the way I didn't need a work permit to get them.

[Cardano]

8 minutes ago, StevieAus said:

That is not strictly true as some banks such as the Bangkok Bank will not allow an expat who is not working , to have a credit card unless the amount of the  credit limit is maintained in a separate bank account.

No deductions are made from that account so it is not a debit card.

Yes it is true, a proper credit card does not require you to deposit funds to cover your own credit limit, a debit card on the other hand requires deposited funds to allow use of said card up to the amount of funds deposited.

[hellohello123]

Probably not related to whether its a cultural thing,

however it appears that I am quite a minority group

I have 5 credit cards that I have opened for the opening promotion,

I play the frequent flyer miles game,

I have never paid interest except when I occasionally forget or when I was 18 and was a student with a part time job, that i would use the credit card to get me by to the next month

 

the funny thing is I dont care about the interest rates as I never pay interest, but the people who carry balances (including my friend) over also dont care about the interest rate????

[OneMoreFarang]

A long time ago I had one of those and I was proud that I got it.

 

And then, sometime later, I got one of these. That was (almost) top of the pecking order.

At that time, one had to earn a lot of money to be able to get one.

 

[Ralf001]

6 hours ago, FriendlyFarang said:

Credit cards in Thailand work the same way as probably anywhere else. Don't confuse credit cards with debit cards.

A credit card has a certain limit, set by the bank, depending on how much income you have, and maybe credit history etc.

This is money you can borrow from the bank, and if you use it for purchases you have a certain time frame (usually 1 month, sometimes 2 months) where you don't pay interest rate on it. If at the end of this one month you pay your credit card issuing bank in full it's done, no interest due. If after this month you don't have the money, you can do a payment plan instead, in this case interest is charged. If you do a cash advance at an ATM (and not a purchase in a store), interest starts to accumulate as soon as you withdraw the money.

The most basic requirement to obtain a credit card in Thailand (as a Thai citizen), is to have an income of 15k Baht (the bank wants to see income payment slips over a certain amount of time). If a Thai can provide these slips it's usually no problem for them to obtain a credit card, often the limit is also quite high, so they might get a 100k limit with their 15k/month job, and might even be able to obtain multiple cards at different banks.

 

Neither me, nor most Thais would consider 15k Baht per month as wealthy, so I guess it's not seen as a sign of wealth.

This is exactly how how both my Thai credit cards work (K bank and BKK bank).

 

Credit limit is 5 times the monthly salary earned at time of application.

[Dan O]

2 hours ago, Cardano said:

My brain is fully engaged thanks and it tells me you don't understand the definition of "credit"  Having to deposit X amount in a FD account is a security requirement of the bank to enable them to issue a card that allows you to spend your money up to the amount deposited, how is this credit?. Also note that the interest is only payable after your total deposit is locked for a set time period, any withdrawal will result in loss of interest. As for cashback and points just another marketing con. Also I didn't suggest using anything, I stated that the so called credit card issued by the OPs bank is not a credit card it is a just a debit card that allows a certain time period before any debit to your current account, there is no credit facility, he has to deposit his own funds to enable use of so called card (same as debit card).

You two should stop arguing as you both have part of the credit and debit process correct and both have part of the process wrong. 

[geisha]

8 hours ago, hellohello123 said:

In my country  that's the same too.

Credit cards have been around for ever and the bank gives you a limit  of "their" money and you have credit/assets/income checks, and you get charged interest

 

Whilst debit cards are newer, and have the same mastercard/Visa  logo on it but it's tied to your savings account and requires no credit checks and you can only spend what you have, so a 8 year old could have one  so there is zero chance of getting into financially difficulty

Are debit cards more risk if used fraudulently /  stolen ??

[DrJoy]

23 minutes ago, geisha said:

Are debit cards more risk if used fraudulently /  stolen ??

Your a/c could be emptied by the scammer, incase of debit cards.

[3NUMBAS]

take the money and run and never pay it back till hell freezes over

[OneMoreFarang]

3 hours ago, 3NUMBAS said:

take the money and run and never pay it back till hell freezes over

I wonder how many of us did that before we came to Thailand... 

[Andycoops]

18 hours ago, foreverlomsak said:

I'm going to be told I'm wrong, but this is my understanding

In the UK a Credit Card has an available balance you can spend of their money, whereas a debit card uses your money in your account to generate the available balance.

In Thailand both appear to work the same way, the available balance is dependent on how much you have in the associated account (i.e. you can only spend your money).

I approached my Thai bank several years ago to ask about a CC.

I was told I had sufficient funds to be given one but when it was explained to me that using it would mean money was used from my account to pay for the purchases, I immediately pointed out that was a debit card.

No. No they said it would be a credit card.

I said but your using my money in deposit not giving me money from your account to use and pay back later.

At that point I could see there was no point and politely withdrew from the discussion.

I have no idea if this is still the case but suspect it probably is. 

Perhaps someone has more recent information.

[rak sa_ngop]

Big difference between Debit and Credit cards: 

My Thai BB Debit Card does not have my name on the card.

My UK Debit card only has my name in small letters at the base of the card so no embossed letters to make an (old style) counter purchase.

 

This probably explains why Debit cards are more likely to be refused although the UK card allows for a contactless payment. My Thai card also has the contactless icon so I assume that works (in Thailand?) as well.

 

[hellohello123]

16 hours ago, OneMoreFarang said:

A long time ago I had one of those and I was proud that I got it.

 

And then, sometime later, I got one of these. That was (almost) top of the pecking order.

At that time, one had to earn a lot of money to be able to get one.

 

the only time I will judge a someones wealth is if I see a centurion card, those are really hard to get, and you have a lot of criteria to satisfy,

 

That being said amex have a charge card which if I'm not wrong, is credit but you have to pay it off by the end of the month

[userabcd]

5 hours ago, Andycoops said:

I approached my Thai bank several years ago to ask about a CC.

I was told I had sufficient funds to be given one but when it was explained to me that using it would mean money was used from my account to pay for the purchases, I immediately pointed out that was a debit card.

No. No they said it would be a credit card.

I said but your using my money in deposit not giving me money from your account to use and pay back later.

At that point I could see there was no point and politely withdrew from the discussion.

I have no idea if this is still the case but suspect it probably is. 

Perhaps someone has more recent information.

The deposit is put in a fixed account in  ones own name, it earns interest and remains there, no money is taken out but is held in the account as a fixed security, the money still belongs to the saver and the interest earned accumulated can be withdrawn.

 

Then one uses the credit card, just like other credit cards everywhere else, one uses the banks money and the same rules apply at end of month balance, min payments and interest charged on outstanding balances.

 

No money is taken out of the fixed deposit unless I suppose some devious temporarily long term non immigrant visitor criminal tries to defraud the bank by absconding without settling their debt.

[Photoguy21]

Seems the friend wasnt quite as smart as she the image projected.

[userabcd]

17 hours ago, Cardano said:

Yes it is true, a proper credit card does not require you to deposit funds to cover your own credit limit, a debit card on the other hand requires deposited funds to allow use of said card up to the amount of funds deposited.

It is a proper credit card. Credit limits are set by all banks depending on a persons risk profile, personal and financial circumstances, I guess temporary foreigners residing long term on annual visa extensions are considered a huge financial risk, and probably rightly so.

 

Anyway, what do temporary foreigners residing in Thailand need credit for in a foreign country where they are non-immigrants.

 

Just like it is in other countries who would not even entertain to issue a credit card to a long term visa holder and even with a fixed deposit.

[OneMoreFarang]

1 hour ago, hellohello123 said:

the only time I will judge a someones wealth is if I see a centurion card, those are really hard to get, and you have a lot of criteria to satisfy,

That card has a funny history. It existed in fiction first and then people asked AMEX about it, and it didn't exist. And then AMEX "invented" it for real life. 

[Fab5BKK]

1 hour ago, hellohello123 said:

the only time I will judge a someones wealth is if I see a centurion card, those are really hard to get, and you have a lot of criteria to satisfy,

 

That being said amex have a charge card which if I'm not wrong, is credit but you have to pay it off by the end of the month

When in the UK, I "progressed" from Gold to Centurion AMEX. These cards were "Charge Cards", meaning you don't pay on the spot, you pay all of your purchases at the end of the month. Very convenient when you travel a lot for business.

 

The Centurion's benefits were great, with 24-7 Concierge, comprehensive Travel Insurance (even if you don't pay your trip with the card), direct access to top tiers Hotel Airlines loyalty programs, etc.

[RafPinto]

Try to book a rental car abroad without a credit car.
Impossible.

[RafPinto]

Each woman has a "build in" credit card.

No money, no honey.

[Everyman]

1 hour ago, RafPinto said:

Each woman has a "build in" credit card.

No money, no honey.

A rubbish saying that bar girls use to train their money slaves. 

[Everyman]

23 hours ago, HappyExpat57 said:

Before the days of credit cards, life was slower, smaller, friendlier. You went to your local grocer, got your goods on a tab which you paid at the end of the month. In those days a simple savings account earned 6% compound interest.

 

Enter corporate greed. Tempt young people with a large chunk of money that appears as free money. Only a fraction of the balance needs to be paid monthly. Ignore the fact that most of that payment is interest and that it would take seven years of minimum monthly payments to pay off the balance. Want another credit card? No problem, you can use THAT one to make the payments on the FIRST one.  Soon you're giving the banks hundreds of dollars every month in interest payments alone. And thus began the financial enslavement of millions of people.

 

If you use a credit card, use it like the first paragraph of this post - pay off the balance every month.

I appreciate the nostalgia for simpler times, but you mention a few things that are not related to each other. 

 

Nothing in 2022 is stopping merchants from allowing sales on their own credit except that it is an unreliable way to collect payment. That’s why they don’t do it anymore. 

 

Savings account interest rates are indirectly set by country’s central banks. And they have set them very low for a long time now. The wisdom of that is debatable and would take a long time to discuss. 

 

Credit card companies are indeed predatory yes.