Thai Banks To Start Charging For Atm Withdrawals ...

[Lancelot]

I don't do wire transfers, I don't do counter withdrawals. But if I ever needed to access a large amount of funds in a single transaction, I'd ACH the funds to BKK Bank in New York and have them sent onward to my BKK Bank account here.

Great info JF! I have a BKK Bank account and after reading your post, I logged on and read the proceedure to transfer funds from my US bank account to my BKK bank account. Its another relatively low cost option to avoid the B150 ATM fee

[jfchandler]

Lancelot, the U.S. bank to BKK Bank New York to Thailand route should work fine... But keep the following in mind...

There still are some fixed charges associated with each transaction... A few bucks charged by the New York branch, and then a few hundred baht charged by BKK Bank here in Thailand for handling the incoming deposit. So, if you were just moving 20,000 or 30,000 baht, paying the 150 ATM fee would be cheaper.

For larger, less frequent moving of funds, that definitely is the best way to go, compared to most traditional wire transfers.

But for routine, frequent accessing of funds within the limit that Thai ATMs dispense (25,000 to 30,000 baht per transaction), the ATM would come out ahead. And of course, if you use an AEON ATM here in Thailand, you can avoid the 150 baht fee altogether, making it the best approach.

I don't do wire transfers, I don't do counter withdrawals. But if I ever needed to access a large amount of funds in a single transaction, I'd ACH the funds to BKK Bank in New York and have them sent onward to my BKK Bank account here.

Great info JF! I have a BKK Bank account and after reading your post, I logged on and read the proceedure to transfer funds from my US bank account to my BKK bank account. Its another relatively low cost option to avoid the B150 ATM fee

[jfchandler]

I had a bad run with ATMs yesterday....

Tried to use the AEON ATM at Carrefour in OnNut around lunchtime on Friday, and it was out of service. Later, tried to use the AEON ATM at FortuneTown on Friday night about dinner time, and it was out of service.

Later, about 8 pm, tried the GSB ATM at the Asoke BTS Station. The ATM appeared to be in service, but it wouldn't accept any of my normal U.S. VISA debit cards (the ones I usually use in GSB ATMs). I wanted to check on/verify that they had begun the 150 baht ATM fee, but couldn't get it.

Based on Vagabond's reports, it sounds like the Asoke GSB ATM will be charging the ATM fee by today. I have to drop by there later on, so I'll try again today, and report the result here.

[wimpy]

I went to another GSB branch and sure enough, 150baht fee is in effect there too. I decided I will take out some money after all, since it's the weekend. I used my fee free Fidelity ATM card, so I will get the 150baht back. Next week, I'll check out the AEON ATM machine at CM International Airport. The one at Airport Central Plaza is situated in a not so well lit, out of the way corner. My paranoia says to avoid using it.

So I rode in the rain this morning to CM Airport to use the Aeon atm machine. When I got there, I couldn't find one. I asked several security guards, and they all told me there are no Aeon machines at the airport. Vagabond, are you sure there is one there? Where??

[vagabond48]

So I rode in the rain this morning to CM Airport to use the Aeon atm machine. When I got there, I couldn't find one. I asked several security guards, and they all told me there are no Aeon machines at the airport. Vagabond, are you sure there is one there? Where??

I have never used it or any other Aeon machine.

The above is 1 of 4 listed on their website.

Sorry wimpy, I misread the address.

It is at,

AIR PORT BUSINESS PARK Unit 308-309 90 Mahidol Road, Muang, Chiangmai 50000

Open : 9.00 Close : 20.00

Here are the other 3

Central Airport Plaza Room No 359/1 3rd Fl. 2 Mahidol Road, Muang, Chiangmai 50000

Open : 10.00 Close : 21.00

Tesco Lotus Hangdong 132 Moo 1 Tumbol Padad Muang Chiangmai 50000

Open : 10.00 Close : 21.00

Tesco Lotus Khamthieng 19 Talad Khamthieng Road Tumbol Patan Muang Chiangmai 50000

Open : 10.00 Close : 21.00

[Lopburi99]

This is a screenshot from the AEON ATM. Interesting that they address the concerns of the

customer. Happy to support them for making a public statement and not following the crowd.

I haven't read all the posts, but in case somebody hasn't already said this, we should be showing our appreciation to AEON by utilizing their other services whenever we have the opportunity!

Really excellent to see an example of an organization which is not greedily making a profit in any way possible.

I just went to do my monthly ATM withdrawals at the Big C here in Lopburi (visiting temporarily). I held off making these withdrawals until coming here because there isn't an AEON in Sao Kaeo which is near the village I live in now.

With the damned continued weakening of the $USD, I need all the help I can get!

You've been saving me 600 baht every month! Thank you AEON!

[wimpy]

So I rode in the rain this morning to CM Airport to use the Aeon atm machine. When I got there, I couldn't find one. I asked several security guards, and they all told me there are no Aeon machines at the airport. Vagabond, are you sure there is one there? Where??

I have never used it or any other Aeon machine.

The above is 1 of 4 listed on their website.

Sorry wimpy, I misread the address.

It is at,

AIR PORT BUSINESS PARK Unit 308-309 90 Mahidol Road, Muang, Chiangmai 50000

Open : 9.00 Close : 20.00

Here are the other 3

Central Airport Plaza Room No 359/1 3rd Fl. 2 Mahidol Road, Muang, Chiangmai 50000

Open : 10.00 Close : 21.00

Tesco Lotus Hangdong 132 Moo 1 Tumbol Padad Muang Chiangmai 50000

Open : 10.00 Close : 21.00

Tesco Lotus Khamthieng 19 Talad Khamthieng Road Tumbol Patan Muang Chiangmai 50000

Open : 10.00 Close : 21.00

Ah. You can add the Carrefour on the superhighway to that list. Used it this afternoon.

[vagabond48]

Ah. You can add the Carrefour on the superhighway to that list. Used it this afternoon.

That's great. I was thinking this morning, it would have been nice if Carrefour had one, since I live only 4K from there.

Maybe there are a few more than the 4 listed + Carrefour in CM.

[Lopburi99]

Something noteworthy to mention, also if it hasn't been already.

I just noticed on the AEON receipt, your card number is shown in full, with no digits masked.

Best to keep or destroy the slip, not just crumpling it up and throwing it away (which I've always done). Somebody could easily see you and retrieve the slip, and your card number -- perhaps to use it in some nefarious manner.

Edited October 3, 2009 by Lopburi99

[jfchandler]

I haven't read all the posts, but in case somebody hasn't already said this, we should be showing our appreciation to AEON by utilizing their other services whenever we have the opportunity!

Really excellent to see an example of an organization which is not greedily making a profit in any way possible.

You've been saving me 600 baht every month! Thank you AEON!

I was thinking of writing a post on this subject, but I held off, until I saw Lopburi99's post above. Now I can't hold back any longer...

Indeed, I too am appreciative that AEON hasn't joined the Thai ATM 150 baht cabal. One reason may be that AEON is a Japanese-based company that's really more into credit cards than ATMs or banking services. And they're not a part of the TBA (Thai Bankers Assn.) that cooked up the ATM fee scheme.

On the other hand, regarding Lopburi99's post... Have you looked at the standard interest rates that AEON charges in Thailand to their credit cardholders who carry over a balance??? Suffice to say, they are pretty darned high, even by Thai credit card interest rate standards.

The real reason AEON may not be charging the 150 baht ATM fee is they're already making so much money off their credit card business (including people who take cash advances on their AEON credit cards thru AEON ATM machines) that they don't need to worry about soaking it to the farangs.

Don't get me wrong: AEON ATMs are my best banking friend these days, especially IF GSB has gone to the dark side. But let's not get carried away in soaking them with praise. They're hardly a non-profit organization.

[jfchandler]

So, I went out for a second day today, hoping to be able to confirm, thru my own experience, Vagabond's post about GSB having begun charging an ATM fee... Unfortunately, again today not able to access GSB ATMs in BKK.

Went back for the second day to the GSB ATM at Asoke BTS Station. The display screen was on, and it accepted my card and pin. But after I selected an amount to withdraw, the screen went blank and it spit out my U.S. VISA debit card. Tried once with fast withdrawal, and a second time with regular withdrawal, and same result.

So I meandered down the road to the GSB Branch across from The Emporium shopping center. Same result. Tried fast withdrawal and regular withdrawal, both using the Thai language and English language menus. This time, after keying in my information, unlike the Asoke ATM, this machine only then displayed a "This machine is not in service" message on the display screen.

Dunno what's up with GSB... But this is the first time in the months of using their ATMs that I've ever encountered a sustained outage like this at multiple locations. The circumstances certainly could be consistent with Vagabond's report in that they could be reconfiguring their ATMs to begin charging an ATM fee on foreign cards. But so far at least in BKK, I can't get one to work to confirm that.

PS - As of tonight (Saturday), the AEON ATM on the first floor of Tesco Lotus at FortuneTown is back in service and working fine, after being out of service in the evening yesterday.

[vagabond48]

Btw, jfc, another member also got charged the 150baht at GSB. See 1829

[jfchandler]

Vagabond, I don't doubt your report or the other one at all...regarding GSB...

Just doing the same as you, trying to help everyone here out by reporting on our own experiences with the ATM thing.

Unfortunately, I'm guessing within a day or two, the GSB ATMs around my neighborhood in BKK will be back online and charging the fee... But, it hasn't quite happened here yet.

I'd really like to be a fly on the wall and know how this apparent change has come about... Government Savings Bank, I'm pretty sure, is not a member of the Thai Bankers Assn. that concocted the ATM fee. So how has it come to pass that months after all the commercial banks began charging this fee, suddenly GSB joins the fray??? I'd sure like to know how it came to be...

[vagabond48]

I'd really like to be a fly on the wall and know how this apparent change has come about... Government Savings Bank, I'm pretty sure, is not a member of the Thai Bankers Assn. that concocted the ATM fee. So how has it come to pass that months after all the commercial banks began charging this fee, suddenly GSB joins the fray??? I'd sure like to know how it came to be...

Greed?

[SurfRider]

"So how has it come to pass that months after all the commercial banks began charging this fee, suddenly GSB joins the fray??? I'd sure like to know how it came to be..."

Unfortunately, it's most likely the flip-side of the old proverbial coin.

As we scavenged among the remaining bones of the carcasses of the previously abundant farm of ATMs that still adhered to the sensible ways of the civilized world-- Those that hadn't fallen prey to the lucrative Thai ATM usury fee scheme-- G$B eventually chose to hop on the band-wagon and go to the dark side.

Kinda like Slick Willie Sutton's reply to a reporter's inquiry as to why he robbed banks ... "Because that's where the money is"

It will be interesting to see how long the last glimmer of AEON sunlight from the bygone glory days will continue to shine from the Land of the Rising Sun . . .

.

Edited October 4, 2009 by SurfRider

[jfchandler]

Tried the Asoke BTS ATM of GSB yesterday afternoon....and got the same result for the third consecutive day.... ATM appeared to be in service, but spit back my U.S. VISA debit card after accepting my PIN and giving me the transactions screen.

[HalfSquat]

If I want to withdraw cash from a UK Natwest account which is the best ATM to use in Bangkok or does it not matter as they all charge the same?

Thanks.

[jfchandler]

AEON ATMS...no 150 baht withdrawal fee...

[vagabond48]

Tried the Asoke BTS ATM of GSB yesterday afternoon....and got the same result for the third consecutive day.... ATM appeared to be in service, but spit back my U.S. VISA debit card after accepting my PIN and giving me the transactions screen.

Well, at least you can say that you still haven't been charged the 150baht by GSB. You lucky devil.

[thecatman]

AEON ATMS...no 150 baht withdrawal fee...

Hey jfc, I've been away from this site and away from Thailand for the last 4 months (but return on Wednesday) so I'm a little behind on the goings on on this thread. From what I've just briefly read I understand that GSB are now charging the 150bt fee. When I left in June the other charge free bank was UOB....by the sounds of things they must be charging now too, which just leaves Aeon right??

I was wondering about those 3 HSBC ATMs down at their one and only Thai branch down in the Silom/Lumpini Park area. Do you know if those machines operate fee free??

Thanks.

Edited October 5, 2009 by thecatman

[jfchandler]

Hi Catman...

AEON ATMs remain fee-free.

UOB went over to the dark side a couple months ago.

Vagabond and another TV member have reported in the last couple days that GSB has begun charging the fee. I haven't been able to confirm that in BKK myself. As reported above, for the last three days, my usual GSB ATMs have been kicking back my U.S. debit card, the same one I've always used with GSB in the past with no problem.

Re HSBC's branch near Saladaeng, I don't have any definitive info on that. There haven't been many posts on their status, as best as I can recall. I have an HSBC card from the U.S., but I long ago ceased using it in the HSBC ATMs here, because they always seemed to give a lousy exchange rate, even before the 150 baht ATM fee arrived.

There also have been some reports by some TV members that they've been able to use Bank of Ayudhya ATMs without incurring the 150 baht fee, mostly seemingly Brits. But other members do get charged the fee at Ayudhya ATMs. I don't think we've ever been able to account for the conflicting reports.

HSBC is not a listed member of the Thai Bankers Assn. that hatched the 150 baht ATM fee scheme, but neither is GSB....

AEON ATMS...no 150 baht withdrawal fee...

Hey jfc, I've been away from this site and away from Thailand for the last 4 months (but return on Wednesday) so I'm a little behind on the goings on on this thread. From what I've just briefly read I understand that GSB are now charging the 150bt fee. When I left in June the other charge free bank was UOB....by the sounds of things they must be charging now too, which just leaves Aeon right??

I was wondering about those 3 HSBC ATMs down at their one and only Thai branch down in the Silom/Lumpini Park area. Do you know if those machines operate fee free??

Thanks.

[Lancelot]

Lancelot, the U.S. bank to BKK Bank New York to Thailand route should work fine... But keep the following in mind...

Yeah, I ran the numbers but its still cost effective since my ATM card has a $500 USD daily limit, about B17,000 at current exchange rates. By my reckoning, the ACH and wire fee would be around B208 for a 17k transfer; therefore, I would transfer larger amounts, around one years living expenses...

Doing one transfer per year would be a substantial savings over the B150 fee per ATM withdrawl...

[thecatman]

Hi Catman...

AEON ATMs remain fee-free.

UOB went over to the dark side a couple months ago.

Vagabond and another TV member have reported in the last couple days that GSB has begun charging the fee. I haven't been able to confirm that in BKK myself. As reported above, for the last three days, my usual GSB ATMs have been kicking back my U.S. debit card, the same one I've always used with GSB in the past with no problem.

Re HSBC's branch near Saladaeng, I don't have any definitive info on that. There haven't been many posts on their status, as best as I can recall. I have an HSBC card from the U.S., but I long ago ceased using it in the HSBC ATMs here, because they always seemed to give a lousy exchange rate, even before the 150 baht ATM fee arrived.

There also have been some reports by some TV members that they've been able to use Bank of Ayudhya ATMs without incurring the 150 baht fee, mostly seemingly Brits. But other members do get charged the fee at Ayudhya ATMs. I don't think we've ever been able to account for the conflicting reports.

HSBC is not a listed member of the Thai Bankers Assn. that hatched the 150 baht ATM fee scheme, but neither is GSB....

Cheers jfc, you're a star. Yeah, I remember from before that some Brits with visa cards could withdraw from Bank of Ayudhya ATMs fee free. I'll give it a go (in the name of research) later on in the week, and report my results.

[jfchandler]

Lancelot, a couple of thoughts on your comment below:

1. By transferring a year's worth of living expenses all at once, you will give up whatever interest earnings you might have received on those funds had they stayed in the U.S. Given today's interest rates environment, that might not be too much. But some folks do better than others in finding U.S. insured bank accounts even today that still pay 4-5% annual interest on deposits. Whatever funds you have on deposit with banks in Thailand, for all intents and purposes, will earn basically no interest these days.

2. Speaking personally, I'm always averse to pulling a large amount of funds all at once. For me, I find that if I pull down a large amount of funds, I'm more likely to spend them freely. Whereas if I draw down smaller amounts periodically, then I'm more inclined to stay within my intended budget. But everyone has their own individual habits about these things.

3. Most U.S. banks, in my experience, will allow you by request to adjust your ATM daily withdrawal amount limits, either up or down. Some do, some don't. It might be worth asking the U.S. bank that you use whether they will adjust your daily amount to one that works better for your needs. No harm in asking.

4. You haven't said where you live/stay here, so I can't tell whether you're near any of the many (fee-free) AEON ATMs that are spread around Thailand. But as long as AEON ATMs remain fee-free, they are going to be a better economic deal than even the BKK Bank New York route.

PS - I did an AEON ATM withdrawal today to pull funds for my monthly rent payment, and withdrew 20,000 in one pop, no problem.

Yeah, I ran the numbers but its still cost effective since my ATM card has a $500 USD daily limit, about B17,000 at current exchange rates. By my reckoning, the ACH and wire fee would be around B208 for a 17k transfer; therefore, I would transfer larger amounts, around one years living expenses...

Doing one transfer per year would be a substantial savings over the B150 fee per ATM withdrawl...

[vagabond48]

Hey Lancelot,

Have you thought about getting either a Fidelity or Schwab fee free debit card. Besides ATM fees being reimbursed by them here in Thailand, banks in a couple of other countries I have gone to (Cambodia and Vietnam) also charge ATM fees, so there is an advantage of carrying fee free debit cards. Right now, I am favoring the Schwab card since their HY savings has a decent rate and they appear to have fixed the problem of automatically reimbursing the ATM fees while I am not sure Fidelity has. I'll see at the beginning of next month if Fidelity did.

[jfchandler]

And to add onto Vagabond's comments... Don't forget E*Trade as another similar option...

I needed some spending funds the other day, and after trying three GSB ATMs to no avail, I finally sucked it up and used an E*Trade debit card at a fee-charging Thai bank ATM. As always, E*Trade posted the full fee reimbursement at the same time they posted the debit.

However, as I've always said, I will continue to always try to use fee-free ATMs like AEON as long as they remain available here... and only turn to the fee charging ones (and rely on my fee-reimbursing cards) as a last resort.

[namkung]

I tried my Fidelity (US) ATM card both ways and I'm not quite sure if I came out ahead with the teller or not. Using an ATM machine on September 24, I withdrew 16000 baht and US$481.80 was deducted by my account by Fidelity, making the effecting exchange rate (including the 150 baht fee that was indicated on the ATM receipt) 33.21 Baht/USD. Then on September 27, I went to a Kaisikorn bank teller window, handed them my ATM card and withdrew another 16000 baht. That time no 150 baht fee was noted on the bank records, and the amount charged to my accout turned out to be US$475.84, making the effective rate 33.62 Baht/USD. However in that same period of time the Interbank exhange rate indicated on oanda when from 33.70 to 34.08, so both the trransactions were about the same amount below the published Interbank rate. Both transactions were credited to my account in the US within the same day that the money was withdrawn (the ATM transaction was online immediately; the bank teller transaction took a few hours to show up).

Interesting.. I used my US ATM to withdraw 16,000 THB from an AEON ATM at Silom Complex on Sept. 25th. The next day I check my bank statement and was shocked to see that $491.28 was charged- of course with an additional $2 withdrawal fee that the bank charges. I withdraw 16,000 almost every two weeks and noticed that it's been about $484 for the past 2 months.

My Thai bank account is with Siam Commercial Bank and now that you mentioned going to the teller at Kasikorn Thai I'll try that this Friday and see what happens.

So is it final answer that GSB has started to charge 150 bht as well? I just noticed that UOB started charging two weeks ago as well. Sux.. banks are total ripoff!

[vagabond48]

But some folks do better than others in finding U.S. insured bank accounts even today that still pay 4-5% annual interest on deposits.

Please point me in that direction.

As my CDs have slowly come to maturity with their higher rates of 3 to 5 years ago, I continuously search for decent rates but have not spotted anything coming close.

Best I have seen is 5 year CD earning 3.5% APY.

[Lancelot]

Hey Lancelot,

Have you thought about getting either a Fidelity or Schwab fee free debit card. Besides ATM fees being reimbursed by them here in Thailand, banks in a couple of other countries I have gone to (Cambodia and Vietnam) also charge ATM fees, so there is an advantage of carrying fee free debit cards. Right now, I am favoring the Schwab card since their HY savings has a decent rate and they appear to have fixed the problem of automatically reimbursing the ATM fees while I am not sure Fidelity has. I'll see at the beginning of next month if Fidelity did.

Hi ya Vagabond,

Yes, I should have opened an ETrade or Fidelity account, but until now there was no need and my Vanguard account was working just fine... until the usurous B150 fee was implimented...

[Lancelot]

Lancelot, a couple of thoughts on your comment below:

1. By transferring a year's worth of living expenses all at once, you will give up whatever interest earnings you might have received on those funds had they stayed in the U.S. Given today's interest rates environment, that might not be too much. But some folks do better than others in finding U.S. insured bank accounts even today that still pay 4-5% annual interest on deposits. Whatever funds you have on deposit with banks in Thailand, for all intents and purposes, will earn basically no interest these days.

Hmm, I am receiving considerably less than that, even for new time deposits.

2. Speaking personally, I'm always averse to pulling a large amount of funds all at once. For me, I find that if I pull down a large amount of funds, I'm more likely to spend them freely. Whereas if I draw down smaller amounts periodically, then I'm more inclined to stay within my intended budget. But everyone has their own individual habits about these things.

I tend to spend the same; once a cheap charlie, always a ...

3. Most U.S. banks, in my experience, will allow you by request to adjust your ATM daily withdrawal amount limits, either up or down. Some do, some don't. It might be worth asking the U.S. bank that you use whether they will adjust your daily amount to one that works better for your needs. No harm in asking.

Asked and was refused

4. You haven't said where you live/stay here, so I can't tell whether you're near any of the many (fee-free) AEON ATMs that are spread around Thailand. But as long as AEON ATMs remain fee-free, they are going to be a better economic deal than even the BKK Bank New York route.

Pattaya, I'll try the AEON option next