TrueMoney blocks foreign Credit/Debit cards from April 24, 2024

[lkn]

On 5/1/2024 at 5:11 AM, george said:

Seems like foreign cards are frowned upon everywhere in the country now. What could be the reason?

Maybe related to VISA and MasterCard’s plan to increase their fees. This was reported last year and it said to be from October and April, so basically now.

[lkn]

On 5/1/2024 at 1:49 PM, Liverpool Lou said:

They have never allowed the use of any debit cards.

This is not true. It is only Thai debit cards that they do not accept, with the exception of UOB Bank, and for the same reasons as them refusing to accept PromptPay: They want to push Thai citizens toward TrueWallet or UOB Bank because of ownership stake.

 

Below are the payment methods accepted by 7-Eleven, here VISA, MasterCard, and UnionPay can be debit cards as well, as long as they were not issued by a Thai bank. Speaking as someone who has paid with both my Wise and Revolut debit card in a 7-Eleven.

 

[torturedsole]

As an occasional visitor to Thailand, is there any KYC to undertake when signing up to the TrueMoney Wallet app? 

[lkn]

On 5/3/2024 at 12:27 AM, JensenZ said:

Are you serious? Having some coins in your pocket distresses you?

Not OP, but yes, coins are definitely annoying!

 

In a hot country like Thailand I generally wear thin trousers and a buttoned shirt, so limited pocket space where several coins add noticeable weight to the trousers, and when you also carry a caseless phone, you have to take notice not to put the phone in the pocket with your coins, as your phone may get scratched.

 

Furthermore, after having counted how many coins I have, e.g. if I want to buy something, I need to wash my hands before touching food again.

 

And of course there is just the nuisance of always making sure you have enough cash with you. When you go out, you don’t always plan for taking a taxi because it was raining, eating dinner at some restaurant because it got late, buying something in a store you hadn’t seen before, entering a museum, or what have you.

 

It really boggles the mind that “cash is king” people can’t see it is much more convenient not having to carry around bills and coins all the time, not having to make a budget each time you leave your home, not having to forego a snack because you didn’t bring enough cash with you, etc.

 

I am 100% cashless in Thailand (PromptPay + TrueWallet for 7-Eleven), and my home country (ApplePay), it is only when visiting countries that are still not entirely cashless (Japan and Taiwan comes to mind), that I am reminded of the hassle dealing with cash. I can tell you countless stories about issues we had wrt. cash on our travels, and of course also the annoying problem of not having too much excess cash when you leave the country — likewise, I can tell you just how big of a joy it was in e.g. Switzerland where we didn’t see a single Swiss franc on our entire trip: The pay toilet accepted ApplePay, all public transport, the vendor selling handwoven baskets at the market, etc.

 

Not just is this more convenient, but you also get a full record of everything you have bought, and nobody is shortchanging you.

[JensenZ]

5 hours ago, lkn said:

Not OP, but yes, coins are definitely annoying!

 

In a hot country like Thailand I generally wear thin trousers and a buttoned shirt, so limited pocket space where several coins add noticeable weight to the trousers, and when you also carry a caseless phone, you have to take notice not to put the phone in the pocket with your coins, as your phone may get scratched.

 

Furthermore, after having counted how many coins I have, e.g. if I want to buy something, I need to wash my hands before touching food again.

 

And of course there is just the nuisance of always making sure you have enough cash with you. When you go out, you don’t always plan for taking a taxi because it was raining, eating dinner at some restaurant because it got late, buying something in a store you hadn’t seen before, entering a museum, or what have you.

 

It really boggles the mind that “cash is king” people can’t see it is much more convenient not having to carry around bills and coins all the time, not having to make a budget each time you leave your home, not having to forego a snack because you didn’t bring enough cash with you, etc.

 

I am 100% cashless in Thailand (PromptPay + TrueWallet for 7-Eleven), and my home country (ApplePay), it is only when visiting countries that are still not entirely cashless (Japan and Taiwan comes to mind), that I am reminded of the hassle dealing with cash. I can tell you countless stories about issues we had wrt. cash on our travels, and of course also the annoying problem of not having too much excess cash when you leave the country — likewise, I can tell you just how big of a joy it was in e.g. Switzerland where we didn’t see a single Swiss franc on our entire trip: The pay toilet accepted ApplePay, all public transport, the vendor selling handwoven baskets at the market, etc.

 

Not just is this more convenient, but you also get a full record of everything you have bought, and nobody is shortchanging you.

You certainly have some major problems that are easily solved. 

 

Carry the coins in the other pocket. If that's a problem, put them in the tip box.

 

I do all my major shopping by card at malls but always keep some cash for things you cannot buy with cards, which are many. I'm amazed people find this so inconvenient. 7-Eleven is a piece of cake - if it's raining and you don't have any cash, there's an ATM at nearly every 7-Eleven.

[lkn]

28 minutes ago, JensenZ said:

You certainly have some major problems that are easily solved. 

Right, easily solved by just getting rid of the coins, i.e. paying by phone.

 

28 minutes ago, JensenZ said:

if it's raining and you don't have any cash, there's an ATM at nearly every 7-Eleven

Again, easily solved by having a wallet/payment app on your phone.

 

I don’t mind that some prefer paying with cash and carry around physical cash for “just incase” or going to ATMs, etc., but why do you have to insist that cash is easier than paying with your phone? It most certainly is not, that is just silly.

[JensenZ]

22 minutes ago, lkn said:

Right, easily solved by just getting rid of the coins, i.e. paying by phone.

 

Again, easily solved by having a wallet/payment app on your phone.

 

I don’t mind that some prefer paying with cash and carry around physical cash for “just incase” or going to ATMs, etc., but why do you have to insist that cash is easier than paying with your phone? It most certainly is not, that is just silly.

I insisted on nothing of the sort. You were insisting that carrying any cash is an inconvenience, which is nonsense. Many places won't accept phone or card payments. Market stalls, street stalls, small restaurants - the list is long. The people who insist on paying small amounts by phone hold up the queues in many stores. So many times I'm held up in a queue waiting for you to fiddle around on your phone.

[scubascuba3]

4 hours ago, JensenZ said:

Many places won't accept phone or card payments. Market stalls, street stalls, small restaurants

Everywhere takes QR payments, street food, market stalls, small restaurants, look and you will find

[lkn]

4 hours ago, JensenZ said:

You were insisting that carrying any cash is an inconvenience, which is nonsense.

How is carrying around metal coins not more inconvenient than not having to carry around metal coins? Especially in hot weather where you’re wearing light clothing, plus all the other things I mentioned, like cash often being dirty (try to count a jar of coins and then look at your hands afterwards), and often cash will exchange hands before buying something to eat, so not the time where you want to have dirt hands, and then having to basically make a budget before you leave your home, or visit the ATM… basically you are carrying extra stuff, you are making extra trips to the ATM, and you claim this is not less convenient than not carrying stuff and not having to visit the ATM regularly? As I said, these arguments are just silly…

 

4 hours ago, JensenZ said:

Many places won't accept phone or card payments. Market stalls, street stalls, small restaurants - the list is long.

Unless you’re talking about places that are just for tourists (like Ao Nang) then this is BS! I am based in Chiang Mai, and I am aware of only a single street side restaurant that does not take electronic payment, everything else does, and I buy plenty of stuff at markets, street side stalls, small shops, etc. Occasionally I will have someone tell me they do not do PromptPay, but then they will instead give me a bank account number to transfer money to.

 

4 hours ago, JensenZ said:

The people who insist on paying small amounts by phone hold up the queues in many stores. So many times I'm held up in a queue waiting for you to fiddle around on your phone.

No, that was not me. If the vendor has their QR code visible, as many do, I will often pay while the vendor is preparing my food, or bagging my items, but yes, not everyone are proficient with digital payments, nor are everyone proficient with cash, as some also wait until they reach the counter to find their wallet and start counting all their coins, and in Europe (where we use NFC instead of QR payments), nobody is holding up the line doing “digital payments”…

[scottiejohn]

2 hours ago, scubascuba3 said:

Everywhere takes QR payments, street food, market stalls, small restaurants, look and you will find

BS!

Maybe many but definitely NOT "Everywhere takes QR payments"!

[george]

1 hour ago, scottiejohn said:

BS!

Maybe many but definitely NOT "Everywhere takes QR payments"!

 

If the venue doesn't take QR payments, try to ask staff or owner and they are always willing to accept, in my experience. Cash is so 1990's.

[jayboy]

On 5/3/2024 at 7:22 PM, torturedsole said:

QR codes do the job for me linked to my Bangkok Bank account, although still not as smooth as an Apple Pay purchase.

 

I've sometimes wondered why Apple Pay isn't available in Thailand whereas it is in Singapore, Malaysia and Vietnam. I suppose it's the same old story of the large Thai banks/telcoms/corporates using their very strong links with government to block innovative outside commercial interests.

[scubascuba3]

3 hours ago, scottiejohn said:

BS!

Maybe many but definitely NOT "Everywhere takes QR payments"!

Every trader will have a QR code on their phone, surely everyone knows that

[digbeth]

2 hours ago, jayboy said:

 

I've sometimes wondered why Apple Pay isn't available in Thailand whereas it is in Singapore, Malaysia and Vietnam. I suppose it's the same old story of the large Thai banks/telcoms/corporates using their very strong links with government to block innovative outside commercial interests.

 

The fact that Samsung Pay was available, and left Thailand due to lack of use, and now Some Thai Banks (Bangkok Bank and K Bank, which controls the majority of credit cards terminals in Thailand) works with Google Pay/Wallet I would say the onus is more on Apple not offering a competitive deal or anything to the Banks rather than anything more sinister 

[scottiejohn]

1 hour ago, scubascuba3 said:

Every trader will have a QR code on their phone, surely everyone knows that

That does NOT mean that they want to use it for money transaction!

[scottiejohn]

3 hours ago, george said:

 

If the venue doesn't take QR payments, try to ask staff or owner and they are always willing to accept, in my experience. Cash is so 1990's.

I will not ask for or use any such system!

The Mom and Pop store three doors down from me do not know what a QR code is! We have just asked them! 

[scubascuba3]

45 minutes ago, scottiejohn said:

I will not ask for or use any such system!

The Mom and Pop store three doors down from me do not know what a QR code is! We have just asked them! 

Have to say Scan or in Thai or show them