Thai Banks To Start Charging For Atm Withdrawals ...

[Mali1964]

Just noticed a bank that has branches in Isaan and rural areas (591 branches) and doesn't seem to be on the Thai Bank Association list - Bank For Agriculture And Agricultural Cooperative (BAAC).

I don't suppose anybody knows if they do fee-free ATM withdrawals?

Very interesting this bank is in my Amphor the same bank that as invited my wife to join to help further finance our Harvester contracting business very good rates i believe less than half that of the commercial banks, take a look at the link see if you recognize this bank yourself its backed by the ministry of finance.i have a good feeling this may be free also.

I will ask the misses as i'm in UK at the moment to check see if its free for their ATM use.

[Mali1964]

On the NW Flexaccount, I'm not sure that the option of always 'maxing' the ATM withdrawal would work for me. A couple of years ago I always used to get 20k per withdrawal with no problems, but a lot of ATMs I use now only seem to want to pay out 10K per time (haven't experimented to see if the precise cut-off point is say 15K to coincide with £300).

Yeah, the cut off is currently at around the 15,000Bt (£300) mark ( I got 15K out only the other day). Unless of course, you have managed to rise your personal daily ATM withdrawal limit with Nationwide (if this is possible).

Yes & don't forget your 24 hour period per daily withdrawal limit is UK time so if you maxed out today you can not draw again until after 6am Thai time i forgot this once & went straight after midnight Thai time & thought my card was locked out then it dawned on me

Regarding this new Government bank for free ATM use, i will have to wait until she receives my Nationwide cash card in the post next week before i can test if its free so any one have this bank in their area please give it a try & let us know.

Cheers

[ray23]

34.88 Bank of Bangkok ATM worst rate of exchaneg I've seen in a long time. No 150 baht charge showing I think automatically factored it in and are not showing it seperatley. So I doubt I will be seeing any refund this time.

At least the card still works I was bit concerned about that. I will find a better way, in the next month.

[Langsuan Man]

This is the first time that this has been reported for Bangkok Bank, they were one of the first to give the 150 THB warning

Unfortunately since you did not give us the amount your took out there is no way for us to be sure whether or not the charge was "hidden" in

the exchange rate, but it sounds like it since the dollar usually only drops or rises a couple of santangs (sic) a day

[jfchandler]

By way of comparison, I made identical U.S. ATM debit card withdrawals Thursday and Friday nights at Kasikorn with no Thai ATM fee, but the usual 1% Visa cut.

I got a 35.18 rate on Thursday and a 35.08 rate today/Friday...

[jgm005]

By way of comparison, I made identical U.S. ATM debit card withdrawals Thursday and Friday nights at Kasikorn with no Thai ATM fee, but the usual 1% Visa cut.

I got a 35.18 rate on Thursday and a 35.08 rate today/Friday...

Get a Capital One ATM card and you will not have to put up with that 1% fee!

[jgm005]

Just noticed a bank that has branches in Isaan and rural areas (591 branches) and doesn't seem to be on the Thai Bank Association list - Bank For Agriculture And Agricultural Cooperative (BAAC).

I don't suppose anybody knows if they do fee-free ATM withdrawals?

I'll be up at my home in Isaan land later this coming week for the local rocket festival and will give it a try. There is one in Nonsang, Nongbulampoo which is close to the home.

[phaethon]

Here's a useful branch locator I came across:

http://www.bankthailand.info/BankBranchesLocator.htm

[InterestedObserver]

Yep, used my US based Debit Card yesterday, just to keep it alive, and Bangkok Bank duly informed me that a 150 baht surcharge charge would be added. Of course I could of selected the "NO" option.

[jgm005]

Kasikorn ATM at Esplanada Mall at Noon on 02/May. NO FEE. Exchange rate was 35.23

[jackbristol]

If all banks start issuing the same charge at the same time, is this not price fixing? I recall BA receiving a huge fine for agreeing to raise their fuel surcharge fees in line with each other.

Anyway, it is what it is and there's no changing it, so I have two questions which I'm struggling to find a clear answer for:

1. Are any ATMs not charging the 150 baht fee?

2. If you go into a bank with VISA card and passport, can you withdraw any amount from the card fee-free? Are any commissions charged or worked into the exchange rate?

Much love... Jack

[ray23]

Yes it is price fixing which I think upsets people more then the actual fee. Really a pretty bold move considering the need to attract tourist. I don't think it's greed, greed would have been a three fold increase. Seven fold is panic.

Edited May 2, 2009 by ray23

[jfchandler]

Jack, if you actually read just the past couple pages of posts in this thread, you'll find the answers to both of your questions...

[ray23]

35.23 K bank ATM no additional charge

[SurfRider]

.

20,000 Baht -- Kasikorn ATM Jomtien -- 4:15pm Saturday May 2 -- E-Trade Debit Card -- no confiscatory 150 Baht usury fee -- US$ Exchange Rate 35.23

.

[MattFS218]

By way of comparison, I made identical U.S. ATM debit card withdrawals Thursday and Friday nights at Kasikorn with no Thai ATM fee, but the usual 1% Visa cut.

I got a 35.18 rate on Thursday and a 35.08 rate today/Friday...

Get a Capital One ATM card and you will not have to put up with that 1% fee!

capitalone charges the 1% visa and mc fee.. it's widely reported that they do not..but in fact they DO..if you look closely on transactions done in thailand. 1% is dificult to detect..because currency rates often change more than 2-3% in a single day...but if you check the rates on visa's website before you make a purchase and look at the post date...you will see that they NO LONGER ABSORB the 1% fee. Call Customer service and the will give you the deceiving line that "THEY" do not charge any fee...this does NOT mean they eat the 1% visa/mc fee.

--matt

[jgm005]

By way of comparison, I made identical U.S. ATM debit card withdrawals Thursday and Friday nights at Kasikorn with no Thai ATM fee, but the usual 1% Visa cut.

I got a 35.18 rate on Thursday and a 35.08 rate today/Friday...

Get a Capital One ATM card and you will not have to put up with that 1% fee!

capitalone charges the 1% visa and mc fee.. it's widely reported that they do not..but in fact they DO..if you look closely on transactions done in thailand. 1% is dificult to detect..because currency rates often change more than 2-3% in a single day...but if you check the rates on visa's website before you make a purchase and look at the post date...you will see that they NO LONGER ABSORB the 1% fee. Call Customer service and the will give you the deceiving line that "THEY" do not charge any fee...this does NOT mean they eat the 1% visa/mc fee.

--matt

I shall politely disagree. To be more specific the ATM Capital One card I have is linked to a money market. I have compared exchange rates, same day within same hour, using the Capital One card against a USA Credit Union Visa ATM card where the 1% is deducted as a separate line item. The exchange rate I received using the Capital One ATM was slightly, ever so, better than the other and there was not the 1% fee hidden or otherwise.

And the other two people who reported their exchange rate for Saturday after my post you will see that their exchange rate was the same as mine. And for at least one of them they stated what ATM they used which was not Capital One.

[Langsuan Man]

This post is about the 150 Fee for use of a Foreign ATM card but has devolved into a p........contest between you people on whether or not Capital ONE cards have a % fee

PLEASE STAY ON POINT OR START A CAPITAL ONE THREAD

As we end another week with the big three

STILL NOT CHARGING 150 THB ATM FEE

Government Savings Bank Government Savings Bank

Kasikorn BankKasikorn Bank

Bank of Ayudhya Bank of Ayudhya

Edited May 2, 2009 by Langsuan Man

[feasantplukka]

This of course in addition to a similar charge imposed by the foreign banks, my UK bank, for instance, charges £1.50 plus a 2.75% conversion fee.

A pretty rum do and the sign of things to come I fear.

Well you can claw some of this new charge back by switching to Nationwide who charge £0.00 (on the UK side) per withdrawal and still give excellent exchange rates.

Although this is true at the moment, Nationwide are also going to start charging customers for Foreign withdrawals I think the date is the !st June 2009, my wife has my Nationwide Flexi card and the last 2 withdrwals have been charged at 150bht a time

[phaethon]

Although this is true at the moment, Nationwide are also going to start charging customers for Foreign withdrawals I think the date is the !st June 2009, my wife has my Nationwide Flexi card and the last 2 withdrwals have been charged at 150bht a time

...but not by Nationwide, she should use an ATM of one of the three mentioned above.

In over-the-counter transactions, Kasikorn is free but limited to 20k, SCB is free and limited to 200-250k and Ayudhya add a swingeing 3% cut and limited to 100k.

[Chaimai]

Although this is true at the moment, Nationwide are also going to start charging customers for Foreign withdrawals I think the date is the !st June 2009, my wife has my Nationwide Flexi card and the last 2 withdrwals have been charged at 150bht a time

Can your Mrs not recognise bank signs ??

[jfchandler]

Thanks for helping keep us on point, LM....

If talking about Capital One is as far astray as we get in this thread, then we're doing 100% better than almost every other thread on TV!!!!

PS - One thing that would be interesting... I'm thinking of opening a new account with Kasikorn, presuming they stay on the NO FEE list... I want to do my Thai banking business with banks that treat me fairly as a customer, in my view.

If anyone is having in-branch dealings with them now, it would be interesting to talk to one of the branch managers and mention the 150 baht fee issue, and see what they say... As in, trying to get some read of whether they are just SLOW or they're not going to do the fee.

If it turns out they're not going to do the fee, every time an expat opens a new account with them, we ought to mention, we're doing it in part because they've kept their ATM network free.

[guru]

Nationwide will start to pass on visa's 0.84% fee from June 1st 2009 and then from July 1st 2009 this will increase to 1%.

[Mali1964]

Nationwide will start to pass on visa's 0.84% fee from June 1st 2009 and then from July 1st 2009 this will increase to 1%.

As mentioned many time's in this tread there is no charge if you apply for or have the Nationwide Flexaccount CASH CARD using the cirrus (Mastercard) network,not the Visa debit card, its Visa that charge this 1% fee & Nationwide have decided to pass it on.

[endure]

FWIW, I just (3pm today) used both my Nationwide Debit (Visa) and Cashcard (Cirrus) to draw 14,000 baht with each from a Kasikorn ATM (major branch in Chiang Mai). No on-screen mention of 150 baht and the receipt slips say "Fee: 0.00". The transactions aren't currently showing online, but I'll check/compare them to see what the effective exchange rate applied for each (as per my earlier post on matching withdrawals from an SCB ATM last week).

Follow up to the above - now that I've seen the transactions online:

Debit card (Visa) : THB 14,000 = GBP 270.60 (effective rate 51.73)

Cashcard (Cirrus) : THB 14,000 = GBP 271.78 (effective rate 51.51)

Same kind of differential as I noted in Post #508 - the Debit Visa card works out to be marginally better (presumably this will reverse when Nationwide start to pass on what will be a 1% Visa transaction charge).

On the 11th April I made a 5000bt withdrawal and a 10000bt withdrawal within seconds of each other from the same TMB ATM in Chiang Mai. The rate for the 5000bt withdrawal was 51.546 and the rate for the 10000bt withdrawal was 51.549. I've noticed this differential before on Flexaccount withdrawals made seconds apart and I always assumed that Nationwide was using some sort of real-time conversion mechanism.

[jgm005]

Thanks for helping keep us on point, LM....

If talking about Capital One is as far astray as we get in this thread, then we're doing 100% better than almost every other thread on TV!!!!

PS - One thing that would be interesting... I'm thinking of opening a new account with Kasikorn, presuming they stay on the NO FEE list... I want to do my Thai banking business with banks that treat me fairly as a customer, in my view.

If anyone is having in-branch dealings with them now, it would be interesting to talk to one of the branch managers and mention the 150 baht fee issue, and see what they say... As in, trying to get some read of whether they are just SLOW or they're not going to do the fee.

If it turns out they're not going to do the fee, every time an expat opens a new account with them, we ought to mention, we're doing it in part because they've kept their ATM network free.

I have had a discussion with both the branch manager (Asoke Exchange Tower) and email contact with head office on their not applying the 150 bt fee. The response I got, sorry to say, was typical. They did not know. I made sure that many folks where following the fact they are not charging the 150bt. Specially with my contact with head office (granted through email)

[feasantplukka]

Although this is true at the moment, Nationwide are also going to start charging customers for Foreign withdrawals I think the date is the !st June 2009, my wife has my Nationwide Flexi card and the last 2 withdrwals have been charged at 150bht a time

Can your Mrs not recognise bank signs ??

Yes she should be able to recognise that sign thanks, I'll let her no straight away, the post I replied to was on page 2, there were 25 pages at the time which is prity time consuming to read, my reply just happened to drop below the post stating which banks are not charging still, so thanks for your sarcastic reply, you have been very helpfull my friend, its obvious you are a Barclays Banker youself

[Mali1964]

Although this is true at the moment, Nationwide are also going to start charging customers for Foreign withdrawals I think the date is the !st June 2009, my wife has my Nationwide Flexi card and the last 2 withdrwals have been charged at 150bht a time

Can your Mrs not recognise bank signs ??

Yes she should be able to recognise that sign thanks, I'll let her no straight away, the post I replied to was on page 2, there were 25 pages at the time which is prity time consuming to read, my reply just happened to drop below the post stating which banks are not charging still, so thanks for your sarcastic reply, you have been very helpfull my friend, its obvious you are a Barclays Banker youself

You mean he's a Barclays

[jgm005]

Kasikorn ATM Sukhumvit. NO FEE! Exchange Rate of 35.23 as of 11am/03/May

[Langsuan Man]

Thank you jgm005 for the report and keeping on topic