Pre-paid Credit Card

[connda]

I've got a credit card in the US but if I make local purchases I get hit with international transaction fees.
I'd like to obtain one of those pre-deposit, M/C or Visa credit card from a Thai bank to make local purchases.
I can tie up 100K THB as a deposit for a 100K THB credit limit which is way more than I'll ever need.  What I don't want it a bank which insists on holding double the deposit of the credit limit.

What banks in Thailand will issue a credit card with these deposit/credit limits to a farang with a yellow house book, pink ID, Tax-ID, married to a Thai woman, who came into Thailand originally on a Non-B visa (now I just stay on marriage extensions).

[BigStar]

The Bank of Ayudhya issued a secured credit card to me many years ago, B50000 deposit, credit limit equal to deposit amount. I assume they, and most banks, still do. I later worked for a Thai company and got a regular card.

 

A poster recently claimed that SCB would only offer a limit in the amount of half the proposed deposit. Doesn't make a lot of sense to me. Could have been his particular branch, or a misunderstanding. Must check for yourself.

[CallumWK]

26 minutes ago, BigStar said:

A poster recently claimed that SCB would only offer a limit in the amount of half the proposed deposit. Doesn't make a lot of sense to me.

 

I recall Kasikorn offered me one several years ago with the same conditions. Maybe now they changed.

UOB offered me one without any security, I only had to prove that I also had deposits in other banks, but I didn't need to lock up any funds.
I declined the offer coz I don't need a CC, i have an online DC, and that is all I need, as i prefer cash or pay with scan code

[connda]

Look like I may have to walk around to all the banks at the local Big C and have my wife ask. 
So nobody has a credit card out there who actually knows this information? 

[Jingthing]

7 minutes ago, connda said:

Look like I may have to walk around to all the banks at the local Big C and have my wife ask. 
So nobody has a credit card out there who actually knows this information? 

Bangkok Bank offers this.

[AdmiralKrag]

Many years ago I had a secured card from SCB. It was more hassle than it was worth for me.

 

I would be interested especially in anonymous stored credit card as well.

Edited October 17 by AdmiralKrag

[BKKKevin]

What's the difference between a regular bank debit Mastercard with and a prepaid credit card?... (assuming you deposited similar amounts)...

[0ffshore360]

By definition how does a "pre-paid credit card " differ from a debit card?

[lexilis]

A few months ago I noticed that SCB was offering a pre-payed "credit" card (MC or Visa I think) that they advertised as "guaranteed" to work  anywhere in the world, as "good as cash". This is different from a card that is secured by a fixed account deposit that you cannot touch (I have a two of these that have worked fine locally for years). I interpreted this to mean that if you are Denmark or Upper Volta or wherever then "approval' for a purchase is done locally -- they just check if you have that amount of funds still available on the card. It does not have to go back through the normal computer approval cycle. The "normal" cycle (like with the fixed-account secured cards) which goes back thorough the Thai bank and then to a MC/Visa clearing algorithm probably hosted in India. The "normal" approval cycle can fail because the charge (in, say, Upper Volta) is not consistent with your charging history as well as other reasons. At least this is my understanding. I am thinking that my next trip to the US next year I will get one of these pre-paid cards as a safety measure in case my other cards don't work.

[HighPriority]

Do you use wise for transfers ?

They offer physical and virtual Visa cards.

They are usable immediately, load your currency and spend, they handle the currency conversion at their usual good rates.

Edited October 17 by HighPriority
Added information

[Bigz]

Check out Freedom Card. There are no fees whatsoever. With the basic tier card you get 0.3% cashback in crypto. You have the option to stake $Freedom tokens for interest and higher rates of cashback. For example if you stake 10000 bath for a year you will get 1% interest + 1% cashback in crypto. You will have to register on the Thai crypto exchange Bitazza + on the Freedom card website for this. No issues with a yellow book.

[Speedhump]

The only reason I can think of for having a prepaid credit card (in effect just a debit card) is that I believe some online sellers only accept credit cards although I haven't found one in a long while, even airlines accept straight debit cards these days. Also do you get some extra insurance on the purchase?

[CanadaSam]

For those asking about the difference between credit and debit cards, in many countries you can not rent a car without a credit card, they do not accept debit cards.

 

That's only one difference, but a major one for me, as I prefer to rent a car at whichever airport I land in.

[Hotrats]

22 hours ago, connda said:

Look like I may have to walk around to all the banks at the local Big C and have my wife ask. 
So nobody has a credit card out there who actually knows this information? 

Yes. I have had a Visa Credit Card from Bangkok Bank for many years. The credit limit is equal to the amount held on deposit by the bank.

[HighPriority]

On 10/17/2024 at 9:00 PM, HighPriority said:

Do you use wise for transfers ?

They offer physical and virtual Visa cards.

They are usable immediately, load your currency and spend, they handle the currency conversion at their usual good rates.

Speaking of my wise card, I awoke this morning to 3 alerts from Wise about what they thought were fraudulent transactions with my card, a couple of $aud on one and $0aud on the other two.

Definitely not my transactions so I filled in the dispute form.

Ill need to order a new card now.

[Everyman]

The solution is to get another credit card in the U.S. that does not charge foreign transaction fees. 

 

None of the Capital One cards do so you can start there. 

 

If you aren’t able to collect the card in person, have a trusted relative receive the card and take photos of the front and back. Then you can activate it and add it to Apple Pay or whatever the android equivalent is. 

 

I’ve done this with over 10 credit cards. 

[Everyman]

On 10/18/2024 at 6:04 AM, Bigz said:

Check out Freedom Card. There are no fees whatsoever. With the basic tier card you get 0.3% cashback in crypto. You have the option to stake $Freedom tokens for interest and higher rates of cashback. For example if you stake 10000 bath for a year you will get 1% interest + 1% cashback in crypto. You will have to register on the Thai crypto exchange Bitazza + on the Freedom card website for this. No issues with a yellow book.

 

Why not just buy crypto if you want crypto? Why all the extra steps? 

[Digitalbanana]

KBank provided me with a 50k limit ccard with a 50k fixed deposit account as collateral.

[Digitalbanana]

On 10/17/2024 at 5:46 PM, BKKKevin said:

What's the difference between a regular bank debit Mastercard with and a prepaid credit card?

 

Using a debit card for online purchases can be riskier than using a credit card. This is because debit cards are linked directly to your bank account, so if your card information is compromised, fraudsters can potentially access your account and drain your funds.

In contrast, credit cards offer more protections against fraud, such as the ability to dispute charges and limit your liability for fraudulent transactions. So, while it's technically possible to use a debit card for online purchases, it's generally a safer and more secure option to use a credit card instead.

[connda]

On 10/20/2024 at 6:55 PM, Digitalbanana said:

KBank provided me with a 50k limit ccard with a 50k fixed deposit account as collateral.

That's about what I'm looking for.  I'll check out the local KBank.

[lexilis]

I agree with DB's comment above. But also the main difference between a debit card and credit card secured by a fixed account is that when you use a debit card the charge is taken from your account directly at time of purchase. When you use the secured credit card the charge is added to your card balance which you then pay off at the end of the month or (whenever) like a normal credit card. The fixed account which secures the card never comes into play unless you fail to pay off the balance which will cause the card to be cancelled and then the fixed account is used to recover the funds. 

[connda]

12 hours ago, lexilis said:

I agree with DB's comment above. But also the main difference between a debit card and credit card secured by a fixed account is that when you use a debit card the charge is taken from your account directly at time of purchase. When you use the secured credit card the charge is added to your card balance which you then pay off at the end of the month or (whenever) like a normal credit card. The fixed account which secures the card never comes into play unless you fail to pay off the balance which will cause the card to be cancelled and then the fixed account is used to recover the funds. 

A fixed limited credit card is more secure that a debit card

[mogandave]

At Krungsri, as I understood it, if you open a fixed account with B500k, after six months, they will give you an actual credit card, with the limit being the total of all your fixed accounts in all Thai banks.

 

Once you get the card, you do not have to maintain the balances in the  fixed account(s). 

[sometimewoodworker]

17 hours ago, mogandave said:

At Krungsri, as I understood it, if you open a fixed account with B500k, after six months, they will give you an actual credit card, with the limit being the total of all your fixed accounts in all Thai banks.

 

Once you get the card, you do not have to maintain the balances in the  fixed account(s). 

That information is extremely suspect, I can be virtually certain that your understanding is not correct.

 

If you have written information that supports your understanding then please post it. If not it is incorrect.

[Felt 35]

22 minutes ago, sometimewoodworker said:

limit being the total of all your fixed accounts in all Thai banks.

Hmm...would be great but never heard about, and I have had bank accounts in both Krungsri and Bangkok Bank for years. However, the prepaid Credit card I have had with both.

 

Felt

[KannikaP]

On 10/17/2024 at 6:30 PM, HighPriority said:

Do you use wise for transfers ?

They offer physical and virtual Visa cards.

They are usable immediately, load your currency and spend, they handle the currency conversion at their usual good rates.

I use them all the time both here and in UAE. So efficient. Revolut is the same.

Not to use for getting cash out of ATM unless Bht 250 doesn't matter to you.

[HighPriority]

1 hour ago, KannikaP said:

I use them all the time both here and in UAE. So efficient. Revolut is the same.

Not to use for getting cash out of ATM unless Bht 250 doesn't matter to you.

Is that the atm fee for a wise card in Thailand ?

Ive never put mine into an atm, anywhere.

 

Edit: Why do you want to withdraw cash from a credit card at an atm ?

Thats a cash advance and interest is calculated from the second you withdraw it…

If you want access to cash via atm you want a debit card.

Edited October 23 by HighPriority

[KannikaP]

12 hours ago, HighPriority said:

Is that the atm fee for a wise card in Thailand ?

Ive never put mine into an atm, anywhere.

 

Edit: Why do you want to withdraw cash from a credit card at an atm ?

Thats a cash advance and interest is calculated from the second you withdraw it…

If you want access to cash via atm you want a debit card.

Both Wise and Revolut are Debit Cards, but still get a Bht 250 charge for cash withdrawal.

[msbkk]

On 10/17/2024 at 5:46 PM, BKKKevin said:

What's the difference between a regular bank debit Mastercard with and a prepaid credit card?... (assuming you deposited similar amounts)...

With the debit card the money spent is deducted from your account immediately. For the prepaid credit card you will have to pay end of the billing period.

The credit card can be used to pay in installments for larger purchases. And the credit card has more benefits in collecting points to use for gift vouchers, airline miles e.g.

[Karma80]

SCB Planet Card—prepaid Visa. You transfer money onto the card, and you're good to spend it. It's instantly debited from the card, and you can transfer money onto it as you want.

https://www.scb.co.th/en/personal-banking/cards/prepaid-cards/planet-scb-card.html

Source - I've been using it for years.

 

This is different to a debit card, because your funding is limited to what's on your card. It has no international transaction fees and is multicurrency in the sense that you can transfer between currencies loaded onto the card and hold balances - but check the rate you're getting if doing that.