Thai Banks To Start Charging For Atm Withdrawals ...

[BIGTOE3]

I've just checked my nationwide statement to see how this 150 baht fee actually shows up.

Now I'm confused , the transaction is as follows, The ATM informed me that a 150 baht fee would be charged on this transaction. I can't see where and if anything I seem to be getting a very good rate :-

2nd June 2009 Cash Bay/Chiangrai Branch CHIANGRAI. 15,000.00THB at 55.903. £268.32

I think the bank was kungrsi bank of ayyutta

As anyone actually seem evidence of the charge ?

It will show up on your full satement as 15,150 withdrawn, either paper or full internet statement in one days time.

I have received word from Nationwide that I can not open a Non Visa flexi account but can apply to DOWNGRADE an existing account

BT

[Chaimai]

It will show up on your full satement as 15,150 withdrawn, either paper or full internet statement in one days time.

I have received word from Nationwide that I can not open a Non Visa flexi account but can apply to DOWNGRADE an existing account

I confirm that the 150 gets added.

Nationwide Flex; VISA to CIRRUS card. I have just done this (I think - we will see if the new card arrives in 5 days time).

Initially, I was told by Internet Banking response to call at the branch to downgrade. I took a print of the response with me but the girl I saw was unsure and said she would call me when she had sorted it. No call. I emailed IB again and got a different response - open new Flex account and downgrade the card at that point. I go back to the branch and the Manageress says "no, we can downgrade one of your existing accounts". I think they managed to do that on screen but there was an issue with their password so I have to put my faith in them completing the task. Lovely girls, bur clearly not an everyday request.

I shall watch my post next week with interest.

Some say, "all this to save 150 Baht". But, in my case it is nearer 10,000 Baht p.a. AND it gives me the choice of funding the weekly+ ATM withdrawals by Sterling (via Nationwide) or Baht (via K Bank account

[Chaimai]

One for the Brits, covering UK bank card charges:-

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/travel/cheap-travel-money

[SurfRider]

GSB ATM Pattaya - Tutkom IT Center -- June 5

20,000 Baht withdrawal - No 150 Baht confiscatory usury fee.

US$ Exchange Rate 34.04 Baht / US$

_______________________________

Unrelated: A friend opened a Bangkok Bank account to transfer funds from USA via their New York branch

On his first "test" transfer of US$100, the fees were US$13 ( I told him that a 13% hit to transfer funds from the US sounded a bit steep! )

According to Bang-Bank's Website, the fees should have been around US$8.88, so all things at Bang-Bank may not be as advertised.

Apparently, he could have transferred up to US$2000 without much of a difference in charges.

.

[Toany]

I've just checked my nationwide statement to see how this 150 baht fee actually shows up.

Now I'm confused , the transaction is as follows, The ATM informed me that a 150 baht fee would be charged on this transaction. I can't see where and if anything I seem to be getting a very good rate :-

Nationwide are now passing on charges

The bad news is that I think you will find that Nationwide and now passing on the charges that VISA are making and they just add it the sterling amount.

they say:

Visa Charges when making Foreign Transactions

For details of charges on foreign transaction and an 'A-Z list of countries', where you can find out if you'll be charged in the country you're visiting, follow this link to our foreign transactions page.

and the link give you:

Foreign Transactions

Nationwide continues to offer commission-free foreign transactions. By commission-free we mean not adding any additional charge for the service of exchanging currency that generates profit for the Society.

We pass on a Visa charge for processing transactions in certain currencies other than sterling. The fee is currently 0.84% and it will be included in the sterling amount shown on your statement.

I think this started in June, but I am not sure. And of course Thailand is ont he list to be charged.

[jfchandler]

Yesterday I withdrew 10,000 baht from GSB. My bank statement shows a debit of $293.57. I also received a refund of $3.57 in ATM fees.

Not that it's a bad thing, but... Why would you get a $3.57 refund from your home bank in ATM fees from a Government Savings Bank withdrawal??? GSB doesn't charge any fees for people using their ATMs...

[jfchandler]

I couldn't figure out why you had two different pounds amounts listed at the far right end of each line/withdrawal transaction. And then I realized, the first amount is your withdrawal amount, and the second was your resulting balance in the account. I know you cut and pasted, and thanks for posting. But you don't really need to post your bank account balance here...

My spread sheet below, copied and pasted from my internet bank account are with a Nationwide Flex Debit card and Bank of Ayudhya ATM withdrawal I thought that the rates were ok and no charge.

21-May-09 Cash Bay/the Mall Ngamwongwan NONTHABURI. 12,000.00THB at 53.530. Ayudhya £224.17 £311.70

22-May-09 Cash Bay/Grand Canal Sub Branc BANGKOK. 2,000.00THB at 54.127. £36.95 £274.77

22-May-09 Cash Bay/Grand Canal Sub Branc BANGKOK. 10,000.00THB at 54.124. £184.76 £90.01

25-May-09 Cash Bay/the Mall Ngamwongwan NONTHABURI. 4,000.00THB at 54.392. £73.54 £16.47

26-May-09 Bank credit XXXXXXX WJ & P/IPC. £500.00 £516.47

27-May-09 Cash Bay/the Mall Ngamwongwan NONTHABURI. 14,000.00THB at 54.563. £256.58 £259.89

29-May-09 Cash Bay/the Mall Ngamwongwan NONTHABURI. 4,000.00THB at 54.637. £73.21 £186.68

29-May-09 Cash Bay/the Mall Ngamwongwan NONTHABURI. 10,000.00THB at 54.635. £183.03 £3.65

[jfchandler]

A friend opened a Bangkok Bank account to transfer funds from USA via their New York branch

On his first "test" transfer of US$100, the fees were US$13 ( I told him that a 13% hit to transfer funds from the US sounded a bit steep! )

According to Bang-Bank's Website, the fees should have been around US$8.88, so all things at Bang-Bank may not be as advertised.

Apparently, he could have transferred up to US$2000 without much of a difference in charges.

Actually, that sounds about right. The $13 U.S. works out to about 440 baht. As I recall, there's a fee tacked on by the New York branch for handling, and then an additional fee tacked on by the home Thailand branch for receiving, typically a few hundred baht on each end. Obviously, the BKK New York to Thailand route works better when you're sending larger amounts, since the bank fees stay relatively modest. The actual BKK B fees on both ends have been posted in other threads here quite a few times. Your friend just paid a bit this time to find out that the transfer really works.

[wimpy]

Yesterday I withdrew 10,000 baht from GSB. My bank statement shows a debit of $293.57. I also received a refund of $3.57 in ATM fees.

Not that it's a bad thing, but... Why would you get a $3.57 refund from your home bank in ATM fees from a Government Savings Bank withdrawal??? GSB doesn't charge any fees for people using their ATMs...

I believe my bank is refunding the 1% Visa fee that is not shown on the ATM slip. I believe you wrote about this in this thread back on 5/5

You wrote:

"And even though the Thai ATMs I use here don't charge any fees themselves (because I only use the NO FEE ones), my U.S. bank has been automatically refunding the 1% VISA fee that also doesn't show up separately (since it's deducted via a slightly lower exchange rate) on ATM withdrawals. But they don't do it at the time of the withdrawal... They do it cumulatively at month's end."

My bank refunds those fees daily. I just received a refund of $3.97 on the 10,000 baht I took from BAY yesterday. A slightly higher amount than refunded from GSB the day before. My bank didn't refund the 150 baht fee though. They probably would if I sent them a copy of the ATM slip.

[SurfRider]

"As I recall, there's a fee tacked on by the New York branch for handling, and then an additional fee tacked on by the home Thailand branch for receiving, typically a few hundred baht on each end."

According to the Bang-Bank website, the charge on the USA end is US$3 and 200 Baht on the Thai end -- $3.00 + $5.88 = $8.88

Thai charge is 1/4 % with a 200 Baht Minimum or a 500 Baht Maximum.

That was what they had posted last week-- either that's been changed or an error crept in somewhere along the path.

.

[jfchandler]

Thanks Wimpy... That makes sense... Where you caused me an issue was to call the 1% an "ATM" fee.

In the case of my home bank that you quoted below, that 1% is instead a foreign transaction fee on a withdrawal made abroad. They charge me the same 1% on foreign purchases made using the same VISA card. And then refund all those 1% fees back to me...

So I wouldn't call it an "ATM" fee... Now, the 150 baht that many Thai banks are charging, that clearly is an ATM fee.

Yesterday I withdrew 10,000 baht from GSB. My bank statement shows a debit of $293.57. I also received a refund of $3.57 in ATM fees.

Not that it's a bad thing, but... Why would you get a $3.57 refund from your home bank in ATM fees from a Government Savings Bank withdrawal??? GSB doesn't charge any fees for people using their ATMs...

I believe my bank is refunding the 1% Visa fee that is not shown on the ATM slip. I believe you wrote about this in this thread back on 5/5

You wrote:

"And even though the Thai ATMs I use here don't charge any fees themselves (because I only use the NO FEE ones), my U.S. bank has been automatically refunding the 1% VISA fee that also doesn't show up separately (since it's deducted via a slightly lower exchange rate) on ATM withdrawals. But they don't do it at the time of the withdrawal... They do it cumulatively at month's end."

My bank refunds those fees daily. I just received a refund of $3.97 on the 10,000 baht I took from BAY yesterday. A slightly higher amount than refunded from GSB the day before. My bank didn't refund the 150 baht fee though. They probably would if I sent them a copy of the ATM slip.

[wimpy]

Thanks Wimpy... That makes sense... Where you caused me an issue was to call the 1% an "ATM" fee.

In the case of my home bank that you quoted below, that 1% is instead a foreign transaction fee on a withdrawal made abroad. They charge me the same 1% on foreign purchases made using the same VISA card. And then refund all those 1% fees back to me...

So I wouldn't call it an "ATM" fee... Now, the 150 baht that many Thai banks are charging, that clearly is an ATM fee.

My statement lists it as "refunded atm fee", and they don't add a foreign transaction fee on purchases. All very confusing really.

[thaimate]

yesterday had to use the bank of Ayudda(sorry about spelling) in central mall Pattaya ,no A T M CHARGE , so hope they keep it up. funny thing was a tourist came up to me and asked which bank didnt charge 150 baht (they are getting wise to it) i told him that in central they all charged as far as i knew and that i was just waiting for my wife to bring a thai bank card for us to use ,so he used Ayudda,then walked over to me showed me his slip with fee no charge so used it myself ,just checked bank statement ,no charge ,hope this helps,

[jfchandler]

Thaimate, at Ayudhya, did you use a MasterCard or VISA logo ATM card??

Remember, for U.S. $ and Euro denominated MasterCards, Ayudhya is using Dynamic Currency Conversion, which means people get a terrible/low exchange rate on those withdrawals.

But if Ayudhya is not charging the 150 baht fee on VISA card withdrawals (where they're NOT doing DCC), then it should be OK.

PS - There's no UOB, GSB or AEON atms (all no fee) around Central Mall Pattaya???

Edited June 6, 2009 by jfchandler

[jfchandler]

Here's a list of UOB ATM locations around Pattaya.. Hope one is near you...

Name : Bang Lamung Branch

Address : 90/27 Mu 5 Pattaya-Naglue Road Banglamung

Telephone : 0-3842-8418, 0-3842-9333 ,0-3842-7748-9, 0-3842-0273

Name : TOPs Pattaya

Address : 369/1 Moo 9 Pattaya Klang Road Tambol Nongprue Banglamung

Name : Modern City Pattaya

Address : 11/2 Moo 10 Pattaya Beach Road, Tambol Nongprue Banglamung

Name : Bangkok Hospital Pattaya

Address : 301 Moo 6 Sukhumvit KM.143 Banglamung

Name : Foreign Exchange Booth Pattaya

Address : 325/115-116 Mu 10 Pattaya Sai 2 Road, Nongprue Banglamung

Telephone : 0-3841-3115

Name : Foreign Exchange Booth Pattaya Sai 2

Address : 519 Moo 10 Pattaya Sai 2 Rd., Nongprue Banglamung

Telephone : 0-3841-6348

Name : Pattaya Branch

Address : 325/115-116 Mu 10 Pattaya Sai 2 Road, Banglamung

Telephone : 0-3842-9464, 0-3871-0414, 0-3841-0027

Name : Foreign Exchange Booth Pattaya Beach

Address : 11/2 Beach Road , Nongprue Banglamung

Telephone : 0-3841-0668

Name : Foreign Exchange Booth Soi 13/2 Pattaya

Address : 183/8 M.10, Beach Road, Soi Pattaya13/2 Banglamung

Telephone : 0-3848-9453

Name : Foreign Exchange Booth Pattaya Walking Street

Address : 496/3 M.10 Banglamung Chon Buri 20150

Telephone : 0-3848-8513

Name : Foreign Exchange Booth South Pattaya

Address : 84 M.10, Nongprue Banglamung

Telephone : 0-3805-2446

And a map of some of their central locations listed above:

[thaimate]

Thaimate, at Ayudhya, did you use a MasterCard or VISA logo ATM card??

Remember, for U.S. $ and Euro denominated MasterCards, Ayudhya is using Dynamic Currency Conversion, which means people get a terrible/low exchange rate on those withdrawals.

But if Ayudhya is not charging the 150 baht fee on VISA card withdrawals (where they're NOT doing DCC), then it should be OK.

PS - There's no UOB, GSB or AEON atms (all no fee) around Central Mall Pattaya???

i was using a visa nationwide card ,and you are right no aeon ect no fee machines in central as far as i know ,i had been intending to make a large withdrawel with my passport from in a branch but forgot to take it . i got an exchange rate of 54.716 presumably .85 % was charged by nationwide.

[jfchandler]

Here are the AEON ATM locations in Pattaya..

Lotus South Pattaya 2 nd Floor Lotus South Pattaya

Home work Pattaya 1 st Fl. Home work Pattaya

Carrefour Pattaya Klang 2 nd Fl Carrefour Pattaya Klang

Here are their branch office locations (I assume they have ATMs, but can't say for certain)

AEON Sport Pattaya Nua 221/19 Moo 5 Pattaya Nua Rd. Nakuea ,Banglamung (038) 370960-1 (038) 411-187

AEON Spot Chonburi Pacific Park Building Room No. 224 90 Pacific Park 2nd Fl., Sukumvit Rd,Sriracha

AEON Spot Chonburi 2 2-4 Srirachanakorn 5 Rd. T.Sriracha A.Sriracha

AEON Spot Amata Nakorn 700/2 Moo 1 Amata Nakorn Building , Klongtamhru, (038) 744100 (038)744-101

AEON Spot Carrefour Chonburi 15/17 Moo 3 T.Huykapi A.Muang Chonburi (038)785133-4 (038)785-135

AEON Spot Tesco Lotus Sattahip Lotus Sattaheep Fl.2 179 Moo 2 Sukhumvit Rd. Sattaheep (038)-739-450-1 (038)-739-452

[SurfRider]

"There's no UOB, GSB or AEON atms (all no fee) around Central Mall Pattaya???"

There is a GSB ATM at Central-Festival -- has been reported on the 4th floor where all the actual banks are located, but hiding away from the main action, near the bathrooms.

Most likely UOB also, but if not, several UOB ATMs nearby along Beach Road and Walking Street.

Not sure about AEON, but they're likely there also. ( AEON clearly has the smallest population of ATMs compared to all the others in Pattaya. )

This listed AEON location would be the closest to Central-Festival -- less than a mile away.

Carrefour Pattaya Klang 2nd Floor, Carrefour, Pattaya Klang

.

Edited June 6, 2009 by SurfTrader

[JimGant]

According to the Bang-Bank website, the charge on the USA end is US$3 and 200 Baht on the Thai end -- $3.00 + $5.88 = $8.88

Thai charge is 1/4 % with a 200 Baht Minimum or a 500 Baht Maximum.

Yeah, that's right -- about 9% to send $100 ACH thru BB New York. And that's with only the BB New York fee and the BB receiving fee.

But, some banks, like B of America and Chase, add more, by charging to send via ACH -- oftentimes to pay their middleman, who, besides causing an added fee, slows transfer time down by a couple of business days. And if your ACH feature is via a billpay system, this too sometimes adds fees to an ACH transfer.

So, look for a financial institution with NO ACH transfer fees -- and no middlemen. And, besides saving money, you might get your money in 2 business days vice 4.

9% ain't attractive. But with larger amounts, you do ok, particularly when compared to SWIFT transfers. Transfering via ACH $1000 would cost about 1% ($5 + 200bt); $10,000, about .25% ($10 + 500bt) . My bank charges $35 for a SWIFT, so if I wired $10,000, I'd be paying about .5% ($35 +500bt) -- or twice as much as for an ACH transfer. It all adds up.

The site explaining this is here, with the fees link towards the bottom:

ACHing using BB New York

[johng]

I used a Nationwide Visa debit card at the UOB ATM Pattaya Branch ( on second road ) and got a crapy rate

5-Jun-09 Cash 200000008/Uobt ATM BANGKOK. 5,000.00THB at 54.716. ( should have been at least 55 )

I used the same card at the Ayudthaya Bank ATM in Tukcom 2 days earlier and got a better rate

+ no 150 baht charge.

3 -Jun-09 Cash Bay/Com Building Pattaya CHOLBURI. 5,000.00THB at 56.091

Every time I try to use a Government Savings Bank ATM I get the " comunication error " do they not like Nationwide ???

Could not find a GSB ATM at the Central Festival Beach Pattaya mall.... I looked on all 6 floors.

So next time I'm in Carrefour I'll try the AEON ATM hope it works with my card or I'm stuck with just Ayudthaya.

Edited June 7, 2009 by johng

[thaimate]

I used a Nationwide Visa debit card at the UOB ATM Pattaya Branch ( on second road ) and got a crapy rate

5-Jun-09 Cash 200000008/Uobt ATM BANGKOK. 5,000.00THB at 54.716. ( should have been at least 55 )

I used the same card at the Ayudthaya Bank ATM in Tukcom 2 days earlier and got a better rate

+ no 150 baht charge.

3 -Jun-09 Cash Bay/Com Building Pattaya CHOLBURI. 5,000.00THB at 56.091

Every time I try to use a Government Savings Bank ATM I get the " comunication error " do they not like Nationwide ???

Could not find a GSB ATM at the Central Festival Beach Pattaya mall.... I looked on all 6 floors.

So next time I'm in Carrefour I'll try the AEON ATM hope it works with my card or I'm stuck with just Ayudthaya.

the reason you got a crappy rate is because the pound is again falling against the dollar,try the g.s.b on north pattaya road ,that woirks with a nationwide card but only 10 k max ,aeon in tesco n pattaya road will give out 2 lots of 7k but not 14k if you type it in . also remember that nationwide is now making a charge of.85% on its visa card.

[SurfRider]

"Could not find a GSB ATM at the Central Festival Beach Pattaya mall.... I looked on all 6 floors."

The GSB ATM has been reported to be on the 4th floor, but not easy to find -- apparently in a corridor leading to some bathrooms.

There's also a branch of GSB on 2nd Road ( next to Royal Garden ) with an ATM -- very close to Central-Festival

.

[jgm005]

As the one that posted finding and using the GSB ATM at Central Festival here are specific directions. Assuming it is still there which it was last week.

Go to the fourth floor of Central Festival. This is the floor with all the banks on it. Be on the Central Department Store End.

Now facing Beach Road the 1st Thai bank on the left is Kasikorn.

Look up and you should see a sign pointing to bathrooms and ATM. The corridor is just past the Kasikorn Bank and hang a left down

into the corridor. When you see another hallway going off to your right walk down it and you should see the GSB ATM at the end

"Could not find a GSB ATM at the Central Festival Beach Pattaya mall.... I looked on all 6 floors."

The GSB ATM has been reported to be on the 4th floor, but not easy to find -- apparently in a corridor leading to some bathrooms.

There's also a branch of GSB on 2nd Road ( next to Royal Garden ) with an ATM -- very close to Central-Festival

.

[johng]

GSB ATM at Central Festival here are specific directions.

Thanks I'll have another look for it tommorow.

try the g.s.b on north pattaya road

I'll look for that one too..

the reason you got a crappy rate is because the pound is again falling against the dollar

Yes I understand that..but Nationwide says that the exchange rate for their Visa debit card is set by Visa and on the day of the UOB transaction I should have got 55 baht to the pound acording to the Visa web site.

http://corporate.visa.com/pd/consumer_serv...er_ex_rates.jsp

maybe I got charged the .85% on the UOB transaction but not on the Ayudthaya one ???

[JimGant]

5-Jun-09 Cash 200000008/Uobt ATM BANGKOK. 5,000.00THB at 54.716. ( should have been at least 55 )

Well, the rate you got, before the .85% hit, was 55.185, so it was "at least 55." X-trade reports 55.12 as their rate for 5 June.

But, the ATM rate is real time, so it's not likely it would coincide with the once-a-day snapshot rate given on the Visa site (and used for credit transactions, not ATM). And the GBP has been rather active lately, so you could get quite a spread in rates in a single day.

Looks like you hit it right at the top with your 3 June ATM transaction.

[johng]

Right then, I found the GSB ATM on the 4th floor of Central Festival Pattaya Beach exactly where jgm005 said it was

( how did I miss that ??? ) tried it and got the "comunication error"

So then I went to Tesco Lotus and tried the AEON upstairs near the food hall and it liked my Natwest Visa debit card.

no mention of any fee.

Then it was off to Carefour to find that the AEON ATM downstairs was out of order

and that the GSB ATM upstairs was also out of order

I used the Ayudthaya ATM upstairs in Carefour and it did not indicate 150 baht fee.

Also had a quick look for the GSB ATM on North Pattaya road and didn't see it...but anyway it looks like they don't like my card so I'll be using Ayudthaya,AEON and UOB in that order of preference.

[SurfRider]

"I used the Ayudthaya ATM upstairs in Carefour and it did not indicate 150 baht fee."

If you could post the exchange rate that the Ayudhya ATM gave you, it would be interesting to see if you got the low DCC rate or some higher rate.

"Also had a quick look for the GSB ATM on North Pattaya road and didn't see it."

It's right next to the large Fascino Pharmacy -- East, toward Sukumvit. -- ( Fascino is about 200 meters east of Pattaya City Hall )

.

Edited June 8, 2009 by SurfTrader

[johng]

If you could post the exchange rate that the Ayudhya ATM gave you

Yes I will, probably wednesday though.

and I'll have onother look for the GSB ATM on North Road.

AEON upstairs near the food hall and it liked my Natwest Visa debit card

oops that should be Nationwide Visa debit card...not Natwest.

[sprq]

Find your AEON ATM machine here

http://www.aeonthailand.com/lang/en/menu/S...m#branchATMForm

[sprq]

I try to avoid using a foreign ATM card because it's costly even without the 150 baht extra hit. But today I needed to and wanted to use my Singapore Maestro/Cirrus cash card of Standard Chartered Bank.

This normally works everywhere, but I'd forgotten about the new 150 baht hit so was miffed when the ATM of SCB, my own local bank, warned me I'd be charged that sum. Since I was in a street with a bank every 50 yards, I tried the next two big names, Kasikorn and Ayudaya -- same story. Not wanting to try every bank in case the warning didn'tcome up and I got hit anyway, I headed for the local Standard Chartered Bank branch, which was of course the last one in the whole street. They won't charge me 150 baht for a card of their own group, will they?

Worse than that, neither of the two machines would even recognise my card!