On 10/9/2025 at 11:10 AM, ronnie50 said:

My bank - Lloyds - won't send me a new ATM/Debit card after my old one expired. In a letter from Lloyds, 'we are unable to send a card to your address as Thailand is an embargoed country.'

I'm aware banks in some countries won't send credit cards to foreign addresses, but this is the first time I've encountered this refusal over a new ATM/Debit card.

 

Has anyone experienced this with Lloyds or other British banks (refusal to send a new ATM/Debit card)?

I just 3 months ago received my HSBC debit card. I do still have a house in the UK. Been with them for 15 years, I opened a bank account with them before I moved to Thailand 

On 10/9/2025 at 11:10 AM, ronnie50 said:

My bank - Lloyds - won't send me a new ATM/Debit card after my old one expired. In a letter from Lloyds, 'we are unable to send a card to your address as Thailand is an embargoed country.'

I'm aware banks in some countries won't send credit cards to foreign addresses, but this is the first time I've encountered this refusal over a new ATM/Debit card.

 

Has anyone experienced this with Lloyds or other British banks (refusal to send a new ATM/Debit card)?

Yep, The Halifax Bank is the same as Lloyds bank.....Will NOT send my DEBIT card to Thailand.....They state " It COULD Be STOLEN " in the post !!

Yes i use my sisters address in the UK for npany bank correspondence Ie new bank cards ect 

Which she forwards on to me via registered mail ect 

1 hour ago, Blueman1 said:

Yep, The Halifax Bank is the same as Lloyds bank.....Will NOT send my DEBIT card to Thailand.....They state " It COULD Be STOLEN " in the post !!

Hmm. Halifax is same ownersip as Lloyds I believe also Bank of Scotland. Maybe thy all have the same rules.

It seems various banking giants and their subsidiaries have various rules. The Lloyds group (including Halifax and maybe Bank of Scotland) won't send an ATM card overseas - well, at least not to Thailand. NatWest group won't either. HSBC and Barclay's group will send.

 

On issue of keeping accounts open without a UK address, it also seems to be hit and miss. I've had my UK bank accounts with a Thai address for 20+ years no problem - and no residence or anything else in the UK - not even a car, bicycle or storage locker. Have a UK credit card too, though last year they threatened to cancel it. Still works with Thai address. They sent a renewal too (Amex). One of the few ways to actually use my bank account! Credit card purchase (with plastic or online) then pay bill online!

1 hour ago, Blueman1 said:

Yep, The Halifax Bank is the same as Lloyds bank.....Will NOT send my DEBIT card to Thailand.....They state " It COULD Be STOLEN " in the post !!

Halifax customer service told me it's OK to have a Thai address although they won't send renewed/replacement cards to Thailand. I found that to be true for my debit cards as I've never received any. However, my Halifax Clarity Credit Card got through twice!

3 hours ago, Mburo said:

Barclays Bank happily posts my new debit card to Thailand every time. 

Interesting because Barclays has been named a few times as a bank that closes accounts if living abroad

On 10/9/2025 at 10:24 AM, richard_smith237 said:

 

Honestly, I’ve no idea. That was about the only explanation the staff at Enterprise could come up with, as my driving record is spotless, I have an active UK banking address, and I’d pre-paid using a UK card.

 

In short, there was no logical reason my driving licence should have raised any kind of flag. Yet somehow, not only did it flag, it apparently failed quite spectacularly - scoring just 25% on their verification check (whatever that means) - which, according to them, meant they should not have rented me the car at all.

 

After doing a bit of research, it seems these verification systems often rely on credit reference databases and similar sources. If you’ve been out of the country for a while, they may find little to no current UK activity to confirm your identity - no debts, minimal spending, and so on - effectively leaving a “cold UK data trail”. That could well explain the low score.

 

To be fair, the on-site manager was extremely reasonable. After a fair bit of back and forth - checking my address, confirming my bank details (UK account with a UK address), and so on - she ultimately gave the go-ahead to rent the car. It probably helped that I kept my cool throughout and simply pointed out the absurdity of a computer preventing her from renting to a British citizen with a British licence, while a handful of Chinese customers were happily collecting vehicles on foreign licences.

 

Hence my remark: it pays to have our Thai licence handy.

 

For context, this was only a one-way hire to get me to my family home, where there’s already a car I can use. I’d opted for the rental as it cost roughly a third of what a taxi would have - and since flights into Heathrow were much cheaper than those into a closer airport, it worked out the most sensible option overall.

 

 

As for the card issue, I couldn’t agree more - though even with virtual cards, some companies still seem reluctant to move with the times. I remember when airlines insisted on seeing the physical card used to buy your ticket at check-in: Thai Airways were particularly bad for that at one stage.

 

 

 

Here is my wretched experience with Enterprise Banbury branch from May this year..

 

Booked pre paid with my Metro bank debit card as done a few times before, turned up to get the car more paperwork and payment confirmed outside to view the car given the keys then asked for my credit card presented my Wise card no good that's  a debit card keys taken back and you will get your deposit taken 5 mins ago back in 14-21 days that was the closest I have come to metering out some violence in 20 years as I then had to order a taxi back🤔 

On 10/10/2025 at 6:29 PM, scubascuba3 said:

fyi a virtual card can be contactless

Surely it is anyway impossible to use contact with a physically non-existent card! ??? 

12 minutes ago, Unamerican said:

Surely it is anyway impossible to use contact with a physically non-existent card! ??? 

Google wallet, have a read about it

1 minute ago, scubascuba3 said:

Google wallet, have a read about it

You can contact a Google wallet: very clever! Or deluded?? 

1 minute ago, Unamerican said:

You can contact a Google wallet: very clever! Or deluded?? 

What is your helpful information? Or, maybe just trolling?

Barclays started closing down accounts with overseas address back in 2023, including mine and other chums in Thailand. Like others have said, keep quiet about being abroad. I opened a chase account in July, that doesn't have foreign exchange rate fees, but they still would only send the debit card to a U.k address (luckily i was on my annual visit to intercept it)

4 hours ago, sammieuk1 said:

Here is my wretched experience with Enterprise Banbury branch from May this year..

 

Booked pre paid with my Metro bank debit card as done a few times before, turned up to get the car more paperwork and payment confirmed outside to view the car given the keys then asked for my credit card presented my Wise card no good that's  a debit card keys taken back and you will get your deposit taken 5 mins ago back in 14-21 days that was the closest I have come to metering out some violence in 20 years as I then had to order a taxi back🤔 

I think it's risky trying to use a debit card to rent/hire a car. Like your experience, I think that is probably the norm, though some seem to have success (as you did before). I guess from the rental company's perspective, anyone can have a debit card - they just need a bank account - but a credit card has a legal obligation for the cardholder. With a debit card, if you wrecked the car, you could just quickly transfer all your money to a different account and there isn't much the rental company could do except chase you for the damages. With a credit card, you are contractually beholden, and Visa/MC/Amex will honour the rental agreement, even if damages are over your limit..so a CC is safer for the rental company than a debit card.

 

Also, as I and another posted earlier, always use your legitimate Thai license to rent when abroad - don't use the UK, US, etc., license that you keep renewing at Aunt Mary's place. If you total the car and the company finds out you rented on an 'invalid' license due to non residence at that address, your insurance could be nullified and you left on the hook for many thousands. (also in some countries, renewing a DL is an excuse to claim you as their tax resident).

On 10/9/2025 at 8:03 AM, ronnie50 said:

correct (years ago). But I think these are two different things. I'm aware that opening a new account anywhere in the world is becoming difficult if you are non-resident. But existing customers are ok - however, without an ATM card, how can I access the cash? I will look into the virtual card. 

 

On 10/9/2025 at 9:45 AM, JackGats said:

To rent a car anywhere in the World except Thailand, for example.

Rental car companies worldwide only accept credit cards for payment and deposit. If you do pitch up only with a debit card they might accept it if you sign a waiver or make a refundable deposit from the debit card account - better to use a credit card that might also give some benefit such as insurance cover

On 10/9/2025 at 12:03 PM, scubascuba3 said:

Maybe it's a credit rating thing, that is likely to continue to fall if you don't take on debt in UK so rating may be zero after a while. I use my UK credit card so i have some sort of rating

What is this rating business? I thought what mattered was the "credit" on the credit card, ie how much you could spend if you maxed out the card.

On 10/9/2025 at 5:03 PM, scubascuba3 said:

Maybe it's a credit rating thing, that is likely to continue to fall if you don't take on debt in UK so rating may be zero after a while. I use my UK credit card so i have some sort of rating

Trying to register at the UK Government Gateway seems to ask for credit rating as one of the ways to register - that and one of two pieces of photo ID like the Passport AND another piece like a "valid/current" DL from the UK. So it's very limited in what you can use to verify the account, resulting in a useless website if you don't have that second valid photo ID. Registering from outside the UK seems near impossible. I gave up some time ago - all you can do is phone them (as usual. "I can ony just apologise') 

6 hours ago, JackGats said:

What is this rating business? I thought what mattered was the "credit" on the credit card, ie how much you could spend if you maxed out the card.

The rental company seemed to be checking something beyond the card credit limit

I can't speak too highly of HSBC, no problems with them sending my debit card. Once (no fault of HSBC) the incompetent UK postal system took 7 weeks for my card to arrive, by which time the card at run out and I had contacted HSBC. They asked if I was visiting UK anytime soon, as luck would have it I was, they asked which branch would be convenient to pick up the new card. I told them and once in the UK I went to the bank and picked up the card with no dramas

22 hours ago, The Fugitive said:

Halifax customer service told me it's OK to have a Thai address although they won't send renewed/replacement cards to Thailand. I found that to be true for my debit cards as I've never received any. However, my Halifax Clarity Credit Card got through twice!

 However, my Halifax Clarity Credit Card got through twice! You're a Very Lucky Guy then ain't yer ??

On 10/9/2025 at 11:15 AM, howerde said:

I would not tell a UK bank that i was living abroad as you need to be resident in UK to keep your account (tipping them off might come back and bite you), might not have been a problem years ago but times change and things do not get easier, most people have it sent to a relatives UK address and have them forward it

Im 72 and have no relatives, none. I have this coming next year. 

We bank with Royal Bank of Scotland. They won't post our debit cards to Thailand. To get around this we change our address to that of my sons in the UK and they send the card to him. He then posts it to us We then change our address back to this country. I think a card lasts five years.

17 hours ago, PFMills said:

We bank with Royal Bank of Scotland. They won't post our debit cards to Thailand. To get around this we change our address to that of my sons in the UK and they send the card to him. He then posts it to us We then change our address back to this country. I think a card lasts five years.

That works for you. However some people (including the above poster) no longer have any living relatives or relatives resident in the United Kingdom.

On 10/13/2025 at 11:00 AM, scubascuba3 said:

Don't be a dick, of course some knowledge required about how contactless works without a physical card

It's a dick that makes comments based on assumption.