Using Thai Bank Debit Cards

[jonniebkk]

How safe is it to use your Thai bank debit card to make purchases?

I have a BB savings account and combined bank ATM/Visa debit card linked to the account. I can use this card to make purchases at merchants that take Visa cards and the money is immediately debited from my savings account balance. This can be convenient, at times, especially for larger purchases as it eliminates the need to take out large sums of money from an ATM and carry it around with you. In addition, it can also function as a local Thai credit card in that I can use it at Visa merchants and avoid the bad currency conversion rates and 3% foreign transaction fee my US credit cards would charge. In addition, for some things that require a credit card for electronic or mail purchases/payments (for example paying a magazine subscription via mail) I can again use this card like it was a regular credit card.

My concern is what happens if the card's number is stolen and how easy it would be for another person to use it. When I have used it I have never been asked for any identification. For any type of debit/credit card transaction, I have never seen anyone give an ID. With my US based bank credit cards, other than the hassle of canceling and waiting for new cards, it's not a problem if this happens because you are not liable for unauthorized transactions. What is the deal with Thai debit cards? Especially when you consider that by the time you become aware of the unauthorized use and take steps to close the account, the money has long since be deducted from the cash balance in your account! [With a credit card, you are not out anything because you haven't paid the bill yet.]

One solution I thought of was to open an account purely to use for Visa debit transactions and keeping the balance in it low so the maximum loss in case of theft would be known. I could just top-off this transaction account whenever necessary from the main savings account.

[naka]

How safe is it to use your Thai bank debit card to make purchases?

I have a BB savings account and combined bank ATM/Visa debit card linked to the account. I can use this card to make purchases at merchants that take Visa cards and the money is immediately debited from my savings account balance. This can be convenient, at times, especially for larger purchases as it eliminates the need to take out large sums of money from an ATM and carry it around with you. In addition, it can also function as a local Thai credit card in that I can use it at Visa merchants and avoid the bad currency conversion rates and 3% foreign transaction fee my US credit cards would charge. In addition, for some things that require a credit card for electronic or mail purchases/payments (for example paying a magazine subscription via mail) I can again use this card like it was a regular credit card.

My concern is what happens if the card's number is stolen and how easy it would be for another person to use it. When I have used it I have never been asked for any identification. For any type of debit/credit card transaction, I have never seen anyone give an ID. With my US based bank credit cards, other than the hassle of canceling and waiting for new cards, it's not a problem if this happens because you are not liable for unauthorized transactions. What is the deal with Thai debit cards? Especially when you consider that by the time you become aware of the unauthorized use and take steps to close the account, the money has long since be deducted from the cash balance in your account! [With a credit card, you are not out anything because you haven't paid the bill yet.]

One solution I thought of was to open an account purely to use for Visa debit transactions and keeping the balance in it low so the maximum loss in case of theft would be known. I could just top-off this transaction account whenever necessary from the main savings account.

Yes, why not. It only costs Bt200 (card fee) to open a new account and you can transfer via online banking or

at ATM.

Naka.

Edited May 9, 2008 by naka