Travel card (Thailand)

What is it?

The difference between a normal credit or debit card? Comparative Exchange rate and bank charges?

What are the Pros/Cons?

 

 

My GF recently obtained one for overseas travel.  She had to deposit an amount (THB) in the bank, and the travel cards spending limit was that.

To me, more or less it seems like a debit card, valid ONLY when outside of Thailand.

The best description I can muster is a prepaid debit card linked to one of the major payment networks such as Visa. There's no need to have a bank account to obtain one. (usually)

 

They're the modern day equivalent/replacement for traveler's cheques. 

 

I used them quite often when I was travelling between Egypt and Thailand.

Where would you get a travel card from, the bank? Is it worth it? 

52 minutes ago, Moonlover said:

The best description I can muster is a prepaid debit card linked to one of the major payment networks such as Visa. There's no need to have a bank account to obtain one. (usually)

 

They're the modern day equivalent/replacement for traveler's cheques. 

 

I used them quite often when I was travelling between Egypt and Thailand.

How about the exchange rate/bank charges etc. , compared to normal debit/credit cards?

1 hour ago, ravip said:

How about the exchange rate/bank charges etc. , compared to normal debit/credit cards?

It's over 10 years since I last used one, but I don't recall being alarmed by the exchange rate. As they operate as a debit card I would think that they would be treated the same thereof. 

1 hour ago, ravip said:

How about the exchange rate/bank charges etc. , compared to normal debit/credit cards?

Kasikorn do one and claim "special" exchange rates with no 2.5% conversion charges.  If you go to the website of whichever bank your gf got hers from I'm sure it's all on there.

2 hours ago, ravip said:

How about the exchange rate/bank charges etc. , compared to normal debit/credit cards?

I believe that if the "card" is branded with Visa or MasterCard the exchange rate will be determined by them.

You can find those exchange rates at:

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

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

 

To get the right rate from those websites you need to know if there are foreign transaction fees applied by the financial institution that issued the card.  Those fees range from 1-3%, perhaps even higher.

For thai travel cards (thai citizens going overseas) some cards give better than standard visa/mastercard rates but only for certain currency, and some even let you 'exchange' in advance of travels by buying the currency, working like a multi-currency account  

I have 3 of these...

 

1) SCB Platinum (linked to my Thai SCB account) - I load it up with 100,000 JPY - then travel to Japan and use it as I would a local debit card in shops etc...  there are no transaction fees or exchange rate variation because you are spending JPY from a JPY account.

The only exchange rate variability is at the time of the initial purchase of the JPY.

This works for numerous currencies (whichever currencies they work with).

 

2) Wise UK - I load it up with Currency of a nation I'm travelling to, in much the same way.

 

3) HSBC Global Money account - I load it up with the currency of whichever nation I'm travelling to.

 

The Wise  and HSBC Global money accounts can also be used easily with Apple Pay (Thai accounts wont work with Apple Pay but may with Google Wallet).

 

 

 

Thus, the whole premise of these cards is to use as a pseudo local debit card where you have loaded the account with a predetermined amount and paid what ever exchange rates you did at that time - there are no more 'exchange rate' surprises and no additional charge at POS (Point of Sale) when using the card. 

There may still be cash withdrawal charges though.

 

For those with SCB accounts, consider the SCB Planet Card.

 

Very handy, managed from the SCBEasy app. Visa-branded, Tap & Go. No uplifts.

 

 

https://www.scb.co.th/en/personal-banking/stories/life-style/planet-dream-trip.html

 

 

 

As a long-stay expat, would a Wise card used in this way allow you to withdraw THB from ATM's in Thailand without it registering on the TRD's radar for possible tax? There's no passport involved to identify you when using an ATM, just your name and card number, and the Wise card would be issued in the UK, so the TRD have no obvious way of linking the Joe Bloggs withdrawing 20K Baht/day from various ATM's with the Joe Bloggs who's been living here for 20-odd years and might be liable for Thai tax on the funds he remits to Thailand.

1 hour ago, Guderian said:

As a long-stay expat, would a Wise card used in this way allow you to withdraw THB from ATM's in Thailand without it registering on the TRD's radar for possible tax? There's no passport involved to identify you when using an ATM, just your name and card number, and the Wise card would be issued in the UK, so the TRD have no obvious way of linking the Joe Bloggs withdrawing 20K Baht/day from various ATM's with the Joe Bloggs who's been living here for 20-odd years and might be liable for Thai tax on the funds he remits to Thailand.

 

 

Check Wise cash withdrawal limits before you make lifestyle changes on the strength of this 

26 minutes ago, Regyai said:

 

 

Check Wise cash withdrawal limits before you make lifestyle changes on the strength of this 

 

 

So all their adverts and e-mails about free foreign currency withdrawals when travelling if you already hold the currency in your Wise account only applies up to £200/month? That's not going to get you very far even as a tourist, never mind an expat. Are all the travel cards the same, stuffing you on fees once you withdraw more than the price of a decent meal for two?