Nationwide Building Society

[duan]

Following the excellent advice in many threads concerning withdrawing UK cash in LOS I opened today a Flexaccount with the Nationwide.I was told that I would get a cash card usable at 462000 atms worldwide displaying the Cirrus sign.The alternative cards were a visa debit card or a visa credit card.I would be very grateful if people could that the atms in LOS generally accept Cirrus cards and specifically the one outside the Landmark on suk takes this Nationwide card as opposed to visa debit or credit cards.If anyone knows the same info for Hua Hin please let me know.Finally the daily limit is £500 although I have seen references to both 20000 and 30000 in previous posts.What is the current daily limit in LOS?

[Totster]

Following the excellent advice in many threads concerning withdrawing UK cash in LOS I opened today a Flexaccount with the Nationwide.I was told that I would get a cash card usable at 462000 atms worldwide displaying the Cirrus sign.The alternative cards were a visa debit card or a visa credit card.I would be very grateful if people could that the atms in LOS generally accept Cirrus cards and specifically the one outside the Landmark on suk takes this Nationwide card as opposed to visa debit or credit cards.If anyone knows the same info for Hua Hin please let me know.Finally the daily limit is £500 although I have seen references to both 20000 and 30000 in previous posts.What is the current daily limit in LOS?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Most ATM's ( mainly the larger Thai banks ) accept cards with the Cirrus Logo. It's not hard to find an ATM that accepts these cards.

Currently using the Nationwide ATM card the daily maximum withdrawel is £500 ( so approx bt35000 )

It's the card issuer that sets the daily limit for withdrawels.. so it is the same wherever you are in the world.

totster

[medicinebox]

I used the nationwide flexaccount visa debit card.

I think you will find that this one will work just about everywhere. Mine never got refused once.

ATM only, will be restricted to Cirrus.

[ZOVOX]

All the atms i've seen take Cirrus. The 20000/30000 bt limit you refer to is not the daily limit - the daily limit is much higher and set by your card issuer. the amount you refer too is the per use limit. for example, if you wish to withdraw, say 100000bt, you just have to insert your card and input the pin number several times. i think you can do this as many times as you like until you reach your daily limit.

[dugdig]

You might consider a Bangkok Bank atm card. They cost about 250 baht to get one. Withdrawals are in Thai baht and there is no withdrawal fee if you are in the regional area where your bank is located and , I think , 20 baht if you are outside that area. There are Bangkok BAnk atms everywhere and you can get cash from most other atms for a fee. I don't know what this fee is because I've always been able to find the free atms. Of course they're only good in Thailand but I think that its the most convenient way to get cash here.

[Ajarn]

Most ATM's ( mainly the larger Thai banks ) accept cards with the Cirrus Logo. It's not hard to find an ATM that accepts these cards. 

Currently using the Nationwide ATM card the daily maximum withdrawel is £500 ( so approx bt35000 ) 

It's the card issuer that sets the daily limit for withdrawels.. so it is the same wherever you are in the world.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

There are two 'daily limits' . One set by the card issuer, one set by the bank whose ATM you are using. Most Thai banks have a 20,000 baht limit per day on foreign bank cards in their ATMS.

For example, my citibank debit card has a $2,500 daily withdrawl limit, but TFB has a limit of 20,000 bat per day (about $500). But, my debit card from TFB has a 400,000 baht per day limit on TFB atm's... I don't know what their per-transaction limit is, but I've taken 80,000 baht in one shot in the past....

You might consider a Bangkok Bank atm card. They cost about 250 baht to get one. Withdrawals are in Thai baht and there is no withdrawal fee if you are in the regional area where your bank is located and , I think , 20 baht if you are outside that area. There are Bangkok BAnk atms everywhere and you can get cash from most other atms for a fee. I don't know what this fee is because I've always been able to find the free atms. Of course they're only good in Thailand but I think that its the most convenient way to get cash here

Opening a local bank account is probably the most convenient for atm use, I think, too. But, their cards can be used outside of Thailand if you ask for that card. I don't know about BKK bank, but TFB has 3 different cards. A local generic atm card, a 'visa' debit card for in-country, and an 'interntional' visa debit card that can be used internationaly...

[Flummoxed]

I've been using my BKK bank card to pay for my groceries at the supermarket in England.

BTW. I love my Flex account. How strange that I should use my BKK bank ATM card when in England... and my Nationide Flexacount card when in Thailand.

[astral]

The ATM will have a limit, usually 20,000 per transaction.

If you need more and have not exceeded the limit set by the NWBS

then make another withdrawal, using a different bank, if necessary.

I think all the banks support Cirrus and Maestro.

[Totster]

Well.... I learn something new everyday..!!

totster

[loong]

Can anyone tell me how the exchange rate compares with changing travel cheques when using Nationwide card in ATM?

Cheers

[Spee]

For example, my citibank debit card has a $2,500 daily withdrawl limit, but TFB has a limit of 20,000 bat per day (about $500). But, my debit card from TFB has a 400,000 baht per day limit on TFB atm's... I don't know what their per-transaction limit is, but I've taken 80,000 baht in one shot in the past....

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

That's typical in my experience, one limit for daily cash out of the ATM and one limit for the debit charges using the Mastercard or Visa feature.

With my farang card, I've typically been limited to 20,000 TB per day, but that is per bank. If I need more than that, I can typically get it from another bank .... and so on up to my limit.

IMHO, you will almost always get a better exchange rate from the ATM than from cashing a TC at a currency exchange or bank. A rarely deal in TC's these days for that reason, unless I'm going to be in an area where I may really need some emergency cash.

[charles]

Can anyone tell me how the exchange rate compares with changing travel cheques when using Nationwide card in ATM?

Cheers

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

In my experience the exchange rate with Nationwide is slightly better (roughly 0.5 baht to the pound) than the exchange rate a Thai bank would give you for cashing a sterling traveller's cheque.

Of course with Nationwide, there is no fee whatsoever, whereas with traveller's cheques you pay a small fee to the Thai bank on top of what you've paid, if anything, to issue the cheques in the first place.

[Clive]

An easy answer-Why don't you phone Nationwide head office in Swindon.

As a nationwide account holder I would always favour sterling travellers cheques over Nationwide's exchange rates.

I realise that their rates might have changed but last year I phoned them to check on their rates and they advised me that they didn't charge comission. Very good I thought but later found out that the rate they were offering at the time was B 62 to the UK pound-the correct exchange rate was B 72 to the pound. No commission-my arse!!

Open a thai Bank account and cash in your travellers cheques if you are worried about carrying vast amounts of cash. Most Thai banks will hand you an ATM card there and then so no waiting to get your hands on your money.

Good luck

[350torana]

Use my National Aussie Bank atm card with PLUS . Never had any problems in the kingdom. Mostly use Siam Bank ATMS because I get receipts and about 29/30 baht for an aussie dollar , limited to 20,000.

I noticed last time i was in the UAE the sign for plus is white background instead of blue and ATM card not working in most machines. Seen a few machines here with a white plus instead of blue Any insight ?

[davee58]

Watch out for the extra cost of using an ATM, or visa/charge cards abroad, these vary considerably between the financial institutions.

A few years ago I did comparisons between my Lloyds card, my Citibank card, and the daily FX rates available from a site such as www.oanda.com .

Lloyds was the most expensive for ATM withdrawal, charging over 5% on top of the rate, including an additional penalty for using a non Lloyds ATM. Note that there is also a minimum charge which can make using the card even more costly if you prefer to make smaller withdrawals.

Citibank (UK) was best, when used at a citibank branch the charge was well under 1%, when used at a non citibank branch less than 2%.

My comparisons used cashpoint withdrawals in Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany and Thailand, the results were consistent.