Cash advance with debit card question

[djeetyet]

For the past 3 years I've been using the debit card/cash advance system at Bangkok Bank, where I have an account, to transfer money from my American banks to Thailand. My Bangkok Bank's cash advance machine is broken and there are no other branches nearby. I am not sure when it will be fixed and I would like to take advantage of the present favorable exchange rates. Has anyone used a bank where they do NOT have a bank account to receive a debit card/cash advance? Which Thai Bank? TIA

[gamb00ler]

I think it does not matter if you have an account at the bank where you choose to do a cash advance.  As long as you don't mind walking out with all the cash you received.  I would suggest being a customer is likely to make it easier for the bank to say yes.

 

In the land of the free I often got cash advances at banks where I was not a customer.

 

I can't give a positive response to your query.  I can only say that I've asked at SCB, Kasikorn and Land and House banks.  None of them were able/willing to do a cash advance.

Edited September 29, 2023 by gamb00ler

[djeetyet]

17 minutes ago, gamb00ler said:

I can't give a positive response to your query.  I can only say that I've asked at SCB, Kasikorn and Land and House banks.  None of them were able/willing to do a cash advance.

So it sounds like Bangkok Bank is pretty much the only bank that offers this service? I really like this method of transferring money to my Thai account - it's so quick and easy.

[gamb00ler]

Hopefully you are using a debit card that does not charge a foreign transaction fee.

 

Charles Schwab and CapitalOne and some credit unions offer cards with out that fee.

[djeetyet]

1 hour ago, gamb00ler said:

Charles Schwab and CapitalOne and some credit unions offer cards with out that fee.

I have a Schwab account. I haven't seen a fee when I get a cash advance, but maybe it's "baked into" the exchange rate. I just used the Schwab debit card at BKK Bank's ATM machine even though it said there was a whopping 220B fee (!) - I did it anyway just as an experiment to see how the exchange rate worked out and if the fee was waived by Schwab, or not. 

[Olmate]

58 minutes ago, djeetyet said:

I have a Schwab account. I haven't seen a fee when I get a cash advance, but maybe it's "baked into" the exchange rate. I just used the Schwab debit card at BKK Bank's ATM machine even though it said there was a whopping 220B fee (!) - I did it anyway just as an experiment to see how the exchange rate worked out and if the fee was waived by Schwab, or not. 

Today? May I ask the rate? ATM  normal fee is 220bht  for non bank ATM

[gamb00ler]

8 hours ago, Olmate said:

Today? May I ask the rate? ATM  normal fee is 220bht  for non bank ATM

Tue thru Friday at around 7AM (Thai time) Visa publishes the exchange rate that will be in effect until the new rate is published.  That rate can be found at:

https://www.visa.co.uk/support/consumer/travel-support/exchange-rate-calculator.html

 

MasterCard rate is also online at:

https://www.mastercard.us/en-us/personal/get-support/convert-currency.html

 

You will have to specify that you are converting from Thai ฿ to your home currency.  Since you receive Thai ฿ at the bank, you need to specify the "From" currency as ฿ and the "To" currency as that of your foreign account.  It can seem counterintuitive.

 

[djeetyet]

On 9/29/2023 at 11:03 AM, Olmate said:

Today? May I ask the rate? ATM  normal fee is 220bht  for non bank ATM

Sorry for the slow response but the transaction took a few days to clear, probably because it was on a weekend. I withdrew 10,000B on Friday morning Sept 29th around 9 a.m. from the ATM machine in front of BKK bank. It cleared 10/02/2023. Here's what showed up in my transaction history:
 
10,000B ATM Withdrawal BANGKOK BANK: -$279.93. 
SCHWAB ATM REBATE ATM SURCHARGE WAIVED: $6.03 (credit) 
So, $279.33 - $6.03 = $273.30
10,000B/273.30 = 1U$ : 36.59B

I think a decent exchange rate. So, this worked fine, but not really efficient for transferring large sums. I am still waiting for the "Cash Advance" machine to be repaired...

[gamb00ler]

5 hours ago, djeetyet said:

I withdrew 10,000B on Friday morning Sept 29th around 9 a.m. from the ATM machine in front of BKK bank. It cleared 10/02/2023. Here's what showed up in my transaction history:
 
10,000B ATM Withdrawal BANGKOK BANK: -$279.93. 
SCHWAB ATM REBATE ATM SURCHARGE WAIVED: $6.03 (credit) 
So, $279.33 - $6.03 = $273.30
10,000B/273.30 = 1U$ : 36.59B

I've only done 1 ATM withdrawal with my Schwab Visa debit card in Dec '21.  The ฿ was much higher then. 

 

I received 16K ฿ from the ATM but I think the ATM requested a withdrawal of 16,220 ฿ to include the extra fee for using foreign debit card.  $484.61 was withdrawn for the 16,220 ฿.  As in your case I was given a credit of $6.57 for the extra 220 ฿ withdrawn.

 

I would calculate my exchange rate as 16220/484.61 = 33.4702.  To check that rate I also see that 220 ฿ / 6.57 = 33.4855 which is different probably due to round off error.