Thai banks to charge for transactions abroad

[connda]

6 hours ago, webfact said:

 

From May 1st, Thai commercial banks will charge their customers a 1% Dynamic Currency Conversion (DCC) fee for making cash withdrawals abroad.

 

A similar fee will also be levied on the use of Visa or Master credit cards for transactions made abroad for goods or services or through online stores which are registered outside Thailand.

 

For instance, paying a Netflix membership fee, buying products through TikTok, Alibaba or Amazon or making hotel bookings via Agoda will also be subject to the 1% DCC fee.

 

The banks claim that the DCC charge is in line with credit card practices for transactions abroad adding, however, that customers have an option to use “travel cards” without any extra fees.

 

 

This looks like an advertisement on why to buy Bitcoin.  And why central banks and the governments who back them wish to criminalize the use of cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin.  It cryptos like Bitcoin become the norm, then the banks, corporations, and governments can't fleece the sheep.

[scorecard]

4 hours ago, Purdey said:

Is this the norm in other countries? 

 

A little twist.

 

A mainstream very old bank in Australia charges a 'fee' for withdrawals using debit cards at their ATMs in Oz, cards issued in other countries, mine issued in LOS and linked to VISA.

 

Also, same bank charges another fee because the issuing bank is abroad of AUD34- per transaction.

[freeworld]

5 minutes ago, ravip said:

The amount of 'fees' that banks charge are ridiculous! Very soon banking might become so expensive, only the rich might be able to afford it.

In my home country they charge for each and every thing. Even a simple atm balance inquiry has a charge. Almost every bank account has a monthly charge.

[mancub]

58 minutes ago, JonnyF said:

 

That's what I was thinking as well. I'm sure I get charged (I think 20 Baht) every time I withdraw money from an ATM outside Bangkok.

Cardless banking not so,,,,,,yet !

[Celsius]

4 hours ago, Mike Lister said:

Yes, very common with UK and US banks 

 

how so? I don't have this fee on any of my credit cards.

 

This is not a currency exchange fee.

[Moonlover]

1 hour ago, Chassa said:

Thai banks give you a downgraded exchange rate too!

I use my Krungsri debit to pay a regular subscription to a vendor in the USD, in the USA and have always found the exchange rate to be quite acceptable. So where do you get this information from?

[Mike Lister]

3 minutes ago, Celsius said:

 

how so? I don't have this fee on any of my credit cards.

 

This is not a currency exchange fee.

Have you read the thread? Some cards do, some do not, many do, including mine.

[john donson]

on top of the 308% luxury tax if you buy a car outside thailand?

[digbeth]

54 minutes ago, khunjeff said:

 

That seems to be the case:

 

"When travelling abroad and using credit cards for purchases at international stores, individuals will be presented with the option of paying in the local currency of the country or baht. If the user chooses to pay in baht, an additional 1% fee will be charged."

 

Of course, choosing to pay in baht overseas via DCC is already a terrible idea, since it will be quite a bit more expensive than opting for local currency.

 

And no, this is not a way for Thai banks to cover currency conversion costs. If you choose DCC overseas, the bank in that country will do the conversion. If you choose local currency, conversion will be done by Visa or Mastercard. In neither case will the Thai bank do any conversion or bear any exchange rate risk - the transaction will be submitted to them in baht.

 

https://www.nationthailand.com/blogs/thailand/economy/40036058

 

In case of online subscription or delivering, you don' get to choose, Amazon Prime or Netflix set their price in Thai Baht which will now incurs the DCC rate + this new 1% charge, Previously this won't incur 

Ordering things from the Apple Stores for delivery withing Thailand gets processed from Singapore, Some legs of Air Asia gets charged from Malaysia for example 

[Jeffrey346]

6 hours ago, Mike Lister said:

Yes, very common with UK and US banks 

Not common anymore.. My US Bank charges 0 fees when I use my UD Debit or Credit card anywhere in the world. No conversion fees, no ATM fees no online shopping fees.

Thai Banks are the most greedy in the world.

[Pouatchee]

8 hours ago, HappyExpat57 said:

Does the greed never end?

 

NO!    EN-O

[Yellowtail]

6 hours ago, Mike Lister said:

Yes, very common with UK and US banks 

Is 1% not something of a bargain? 

[Yellowtail]

I think about banking in the '70s and banking today, and I really see nothing to complain about. 

 

Traveller's Checks anyone? 

 

 

[StayinThailand2much]

9 hours ago, webfact said:

The banks claim that the DCC charge is in line with credit card practices for transactions abroad adding, however, that customers have an option to use “travel cards” without any extra fees.

 

Great, so as a foreign(er) devil, can I easily get a "travel card" from my bank? Using my Thailand-issued debit card abroad proved very useful for me recently, but I guess it's back to carrying cash...

[StayinThailand2much]

4 hours ago, Wobblybob said:

I thought 'free banking' only is applicable to your province your bank is located. Don't we get charged a fee when we leave that province?

 

I always thought such a fee would be calculated into the exchange rate.

[Ben Zioner]

For some reason, you won't be able to guess, I have reactivated all my Swiss UBS plastic late last year. So let them charge as much as they wish.

Edited March 5 by Ben Zioner

[JimGant]

3 hours ago, ravip said:

The amount of 'fees' that banks charge are ridiculous! Very soon banking might become so expensive, only the rich might be able to afford it.

 

Depends on the bank, I guess. My banks' credit cards, Cap One, BofAmerica, and USAA, charge no fees; use the network (Visa) FX rate, which approximates the excellent Interbank Exchange Rate (what WISE gives); and give me a 1.5% reward credit. Can't beat that (well, USAA used to be 2.5%).

 

Years ago on this forum DCC was discussed heavily, pointing out which merchants automatically used it (while the networks, visa, mc, require the merchant to divulge whether DCC was being used, or not). And the added cost, around 3%, can add up (with both the merchant and the bank, who defines the FX rate to reach a profitable spread from what he pays Visa, splitting the profit). We got to the point, with Home Pro, that we had to tell the checkout gal to hit "button 2", as "button 1" was the DCC rate.

 

Haven't used Home Pro in awhile, but recently Bangkok Hospital has, on several occasions, asked, "Dollars or baht?" They'd even print out, at request, a comparison of the two rates -- and 3% seems to still be the rip off rate. (Oh, baht is the correct answer.)

 

Don't know if DCC has entered the QR world yet, as I refuse to learn how to pay for something on my phone, while trying to see tiny numbers and keys -- while my plastic credit card is still very functional, thank you very much. (Had to get that rant in -- new technology isn't all that swell for old farts.)

[Yellowtail]

2 minutes ago, JimGant said:

 

Depends on the bank, I guess. My banks' credit cards, Cap One, BofAmerica, and USAA, charge no fees; use the network (Visa) FX rate, which approximates the excellent Interbank Exchange Rate (what WISE gives); and give me a 1.5% reward credit. Can't beat that (well, USAA used to be 2.5%).

 

Years ago on this forum DCC was discussed heavily, pointing out which merchants automatically used it (while the networks, visa, mc, require the merchant to divulge whether DCC was being used, or not). And the added cost, around 3%, can add up (with both the merchant and the bank, who defines the FX rate to reach a profitable spread from what he pays Visa, splitting the profit). We got to the point, with Home Pro, that we had to tell the checkout gal to hit "button 2", as "button 1" was the DCC rate.

 

Haven't used Home Pro in awhile, but recently Bangkok Hospital has, on several occasions, asked, "Dollars or baht?" They'd even print out, at request, a comparison of the two rates -- and 3% seems to still be the rip off rate. (Oh, baht is the correct answer.)

 

Don't know if DCC has entered the QR world yet, as I refuse to learn how to pay for something on my phone, while trying to see tiny numbers and keys -- while my plastic credit card is still very functional, thank you very much. (Had to get that rant in -- new technology isn't all that swell for old farts.)

When I still had insurance, I would pay my bills with my Chase no-fees card in Baht. When the insurance reimbursed me, they deposited to my US account in US dollars. I'd get the 1% from Chase for using the card, and 1.5-3% on the exchange rate from Cigna. 

 

 

[Srikcir]

1% is typical but given the baht volatility best to use credit/debit cards from more stable international currencies such as USD if you have a choice. Otherwise carry a lot of baht cash.

[scorecard]

7 hours ago, scorecard said:

 

A little twist.

 

A mainstream very old bank in Australia charges a 'fee' for withdrawals using debit cards at their ATMs in Oz, cards issued in other countries, mine issued in LOS and linked to VISA.

 

Also, same bank charges another fee because the issuing bank is abroad of AUD34- per transaction.

I forgot, there's also a currency exchange fee.

[Cabradelmar]

I'm a bit surprised they were not doing this already.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

On 3/5/2024 at 7:33 AM, bamnutsak said:

I'm surprised Thai banks/credit card issuers aren't charging Foreign Transaction Fees. I thought that 2.5% was pretty standard here?

 

I'm perplexed by what's going on with the OP report... because... as you suggest in your comment...

 

It's been my experience that at least several of the major Thai banks (and probably most all, because they tend to have mirror policies) already have long been charging foreign currency conversion fees when the Thai bank cards are used outside of Thailand.

 

My Thai wife just returned from a business trip to a foreign country. She checked with her major Thai bank before she left home here, and was told there'd be a 2.5% surcharge for whatever ATM withdrawals or purchases she would have done outside Thailand with her Thai bank debit card.

 

And AFAIK, it's been like that for a long time, because I remember checking long ago what would happen if I ever tried to use my Thai bank debit card during travel back to my home country, and got the exact same answer.

 

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

On 3/5/2024 at 1:26 PM, JimGant said:

Years ago on this forum DCC was discussed heavily,

 

DCC, as implemented here in Thailand, was always an "optional" ripoff... As in, the customer using a foreign card in Thailand had to be given the option of either agreeing to it or declining it. And the DCC meant not a flat fee surcharge, but instead a special lower exchange rate (higher price) with the end price being displayed in the currency of one's home country card instead of in baht.  If the customer refused/declined DCC for the transaction, it then would be charged in Thai baht at the standard, no surcharge price.

 

I don't see anything optional about what the Thai banks are talking about here. Rather than DCC, what they're doing actually seems instead to be what's generally called a "foreign currency conversion fee."  Which, a lot of western banks impose a surcharge of 3% or more for when using their cards outside the bank's home country.

 

Edited March 10 by TallGuyJohninBKK

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

On 3/5/2024 at 12:10 PM, Jeffrey346 said:

Not common anymore.. My US Bank charges 0 fees when I use my UD Debit or Credit card anywhere in the world. No conversion fees, no ATM fees no online shopping fees.

 

'Fraid not re "not common anymore"... The foreign currency/foreign use fees still tend to be the common/default practice at banks in both the U.S. and the U.K.

 

The financial institutions that do NOT charge such fees are far and away the exception, not the rule.

 

Examples:

 

 

https://www.usnews.com/banking/articles/foreign-transaction-fees-by-bank

 

This chart below is older and for U.K. credit cards, but you get the picture:

 

 

https://wise.com/gb/blog/non-sterling-transaction-fee

 

 

Edited March 10 by TallGuyJohninBKK

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

As an example of what I said above about Thai banks' longstanding practice of charging foreign currency conversion fees when their cards are used outside of Thailand, here's an excerpt from Krungthai Bank's current fees schedule regarding using their debit cards in foreign countries:

 

 

https://krungthai.com/Download/rateFee/RateFeeDownload_4801242_67_E.pdf

 

(page 29 of the above PDF file)

 

Edited March 10 by TallGuyJohninBKK

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

Then Krungthai has this newly added language in their fees schedule regarding Dynamic Currency Conversion not abroad, but when someone wants to use a foreign VISA or MasterCard at their bank here in Thailand:

 

 

https://krungthai.com/Download/rateFee/RateFeeDownload_4801242_67_E.pdf

 

(page 30 of the above PDF file)

 

This above in purple seems to be a new category of fee for the bank regarding DCC, but seems separate from the fees discussed in the OP news report here, since those pertain to using the Thai bank cards outside of Thailand, not domestically.

 

 

 

Edited March 10 by TallGuyJohninBKK

[JayClay]

On 3/5/2024 at 3:07 AM, webfact said:

Thai commercial banks will charge their customers a 1% Dynamic Currency Conversion (DCC) fee for making cash withdrawals abroad

 

Top notch reporting as usual. Thai banks can't charge DCC fees for using ATMs from other banks. DCC is a rip-off service provided by the owner of the ATMs (the bank, usually).

 

What Thai commercial banks will be charging is a 1% foreign transaction fee.