Banks In Cambodia

[mel2surf]

I'm American with a Bank of America account,and have been using ATM Visa debit card for 3 years,in Thailand,and now here in Cambodia.I am in a fix.

My card is now expired because Bank of America was incompetent and incapable of sending a replacement card to me here in Cambodia after two months of trying.I am at the end of my rope. Each time I got hold of a B of A rep,they gave me a different song and dance,and after 3 tries NO CARD.

They say that Cambodia is not on their list of "applicable"countries to send via express mail of any kind,and regular mail...who knows how long it would take..... HELP!!! I am now stuck here in Phnom Penh with no access to my funds,and beyond irate. Does anyone know of a way to access cash from here? I am seriously considering opening a bank acct.here with ATM card access and wiring? all my funds from B of A out and into a bank here.

Any help much appreciated!

[DragonQuest]

Tell them to mail at your home is US. Then have a family member mail it to you. I think you'll need to have them activate it over the phone over there though before it can be used as a security precaution. Goodluck

[JR Texas]

Tell them to mail at your home is US. Then have a family member mail it to you. I think you'll need to have them activate it over the phone over there though before it can be used as a security precaution. Goodluck

Maybe the banking system there is as crazy as it is in Thailand..........suggestion..........go to the US Embassy and tell them your problem and get advice.

[imaneggspurt]

Well certainly in the uk you can have it sent to your home address ( the address registered with them for you in the uk ) and then have someone forward it, even if it needs activating it can be done on the phone,.ive done it 2 times, good luck,.

Edited April 23, 2009 by imaneggspurt

[SoCal]

1) You lived in Thailand for 3 years, and didn't make any worthwhile friends?

Send the card to friend in Thailand, and either go get, or have them forward.

2) Yes, why not open a local bank account and wire funds?

All your funds? You sure that's smart? Maybe a third, if you plan to spend the rest of your lifetime in Cambodia.

B of A incompetent in following corporate policy, or you incompetent in not comming up with a solution to your financial needs? No offense meant, but it is just one of those joys of living overseas, and in your case Cambodia. It is up to you to find ways around things, not their responsibility for having corporate policies which don't fit into your plans.

[mel2surf]

My problem is that if they cannot seem to send ATM card via FedEx HOW could I be sure a friend would receive it.As stated,I have been working with them for two months trying to nip this in the bud before it came to this,and no,Mr. SoCal,I don't think I am being unreasonable as I've called the B ofA customer service reps numerous times now and was given different answers each time.

1: First replacement card try they sent to a very old home address in US (after they were told of my plans to LIVE in SEA)

so thats a non starter,as that address is now my brothers home,and we are not on speaking terms.he probably threw it in the bin

2: Second try.I gave them the MAIN POST OFFICE ADDRESS IN PHNOM PENH,and instead of making it to my name C/O Main Post Office,etc. they put only my name and the address. NO GO!

3. I gave them the address to the FedEx subsidiary office in Phnom Penh,and I was told they FedExed it,but then when I called BofA they told me they had sent it REGULAR mail,and that "Cambodia was not on the list of applicable countries for any kind of express mailing" NO GO!

4.They now say they sent a new card by regular mail to the FedEx office here (whats the use of FedEx?) Who knows how long THAT will take.meanwhile I am now stuck here with no access to my funds.

I beg your pardon,but its not exactly bad planning,as I've been going back and forth with them now for a seemingly simple procedure for two months.

Does anyone have suggestions for a decent bank in Cambodia.ANZ?..Canadia?

Help appreciated

criticism not helpful

mel

ps I met you SoCal.We spoke about Vietnam before,and you gave me some good tips about the country.I am from San Diego.

[mel2surf]

May just add a new related question?

How do I get emergency cash from my Bank of America acct. sent here to Cambodia?

Moneygram?..Western Union?

thanks much!

mel

[threelegcowboy]

1. Call you BOA cusomer rep and ask if your capable of wiring money to Cambodia from your BOA account. If you are ask what the routing number is.

2. Go open an account at a Cambodia bank. Ask first if a wire transfer is possible. Each bank may ask what the other bank name is so you might have to make several calls to get it straight.

3. If you cant do this and have no friends to help from back in the states you are in bad shape. Hock all your stuff if you need money to get back to the states. Then get set up so you dont get in this situation again. In your case I would recomend you at least open an Earthmail service account to forward your mail etc. You would not be in this shape.

GOOD LUCK

[BEENTHEREDONETHAT]

Have them send it to The US embassy and advise the embassy it is coming. The embassy mail is usually very safe. Our social security checks are sent to the embassy in BKK every month and they forward them to us. Slow but it gets done.

[digdug]

no western unions in cambo? more stories to tell about being strandid in 3rd world

[mbox]

My problem is that if they cannot seem to send ATM card via FedEx HOW could I be sure a friend would receive it.As stated,I have been working with them for two months trying to nip this in the bud before it came to this,and no,Mr. SoCal,I don't think I am being unreasonable as I've called the B ofA customer service reps numerous times now and was given different answers each time.

1: First replacement card try they sent to a very old home address in US (after they were told of my plans to LIVE in SEA)

so thats a non starter,as that address is now my brothers home,and we are not on speaking terms.he probably threw it in the bin

2: Second try.I gave them the MAIN POST OFFICE ADDRESS IN PHNOM PENH,and instead of making it to my name C/O Main Post Office,etc. they put only my name and the address. NO GO!

3. I gave them the address to the FedEx subsidiary office in Phnom Penh,and I was told they FedExed it,but then when I called BofA they told me they had sent it REGULAR mail,and that "Cambodia was not on the list of applicable countries for any kind of express mailing" NO GO!

4.They now say they sent a new card by regular mail to the FedEx office here (whats the use of FedEx?) Who knows how long THAT will take.meanwhile I am now stuck here with no access to my funds.

I beg your pardon,but its not exactly bad planning,as I've been going back and forth with them now for a seemingly simple procedure for two months.

Does anyone have suggestions for a decent bank in Cambodia.ANZ?..Canadia?

Help appreciated

criticism not helpful

mel

ps I met you SoCal.We spoke about Vietnam before,and you gave me some good tips about the country.I am from San Diego.

Hi mel,

1) isn't exactly B of A's fault

2) Can't imagine that any banks send a Atm card to an C/O (or PO) adress 

3) they(fedex) obviously do not have certain services available to Cambodia ...this often happens, and travelling extensively myself(appr. 100 countries) i did know that fedex dhl... do not offer certain services to some areas.

4) answered already on point 3)

Perhaps a western union or similar would be fatest for now...and than  get your act together to sort something solid out. Either provide a proper address (no PO or CO) or get a local bank account and wire via internet banking ( yes that is doable with many banks- would assume you can do it with B of A )  . Have you thought of a credit card?Not sure in what extend it is acepted in cambodia , maybe not much- but it will get you through on "rainy day's" i assume. I lost my mastercard in Phuket ...replaced within 48 hours.....maybe an incident like this in cambodia takes longer to rectify but it will be done within a week (i guess)....so you are not ending up in a misery like this again.

hope that helps,

mbox

[mbox]

May just add a new related question?

How do I get emergency cash from my Bank of America acct. sent here to Cambodia?

Moneygram?..Western Union?

thanks much!

mel

i found this one ...http://www.cab.com.kh/sub/international_trade.html  it is a cambodain bank who is authorized western union agent.

mbox

[Jingthing]

That sounds quite distressing. You have my sympathy. I don't understand expats who feel the need to preach to you while you are in a fix.

Anyway, the only possible idea I have to add to the mix. If you can open a Cambo bank account that accepts SWIFT transfers. Then contact a friend or relative in the US who can wire money to you. Assuming you have online access to your B of A account, you can first send them a check so there is no risk to them. If you need to do this regularly, you could always offer them a service fee to compensate them for the hassle. Its not a big deal for anyone to walk into their US bank and effect a SWIFT.

Edited April 24, 2009 by Jingthing

[ozzydom]

Hi Mel, sorry to hear of your predicament, you have my sympathy as the same thing happened to me with my Oz bank. I had given them my Thai address but they omitted to tell me that they wont mail debit cards to S/E Asia so it left me in deep poo ,finally had them send a card to a friends Oz address to forward to me.

I have my meager dosh transferred per Swift to my Thai bank a/c as it is no big deal to get a new debit card where-ever I may be.

You need a Cambo business visa of at least 6 months duration and a current lease from your landlord to start an a/c at a Cambo bank.

Will be back in Snooky soon so see you then ,meantime you might have to hock the Rolex.

[technocracy]

I had a similar experience with Barclays International . . however being an international account they had my address here in Lao on record.

However I had actually 'lost' my card (when I say lost I actually found it under the bed about 2 month later!) - at the time I need it urgently as I was going to the UK for a couple of weeks so need access to the money.

After reporting the card lost they sent the card . . . which went missing . . . I gave them 4 weeks for that card to arrive - I now had less than 2 weeks before I departed to the UK. I then phoned them and said I need this card urgently and can they send it via courier. The reply . . nope . . . the reason . . cutbacks! So paying a fair bit of cash per year for the priviledge of this account I get told they can't help me due to cutbacks! I also asked them why they sent a debit card via totally unregistered mail to a SE Asia destination - I was told Laos isn't on their 'risk list' even though all mail destined for Laos goes via one that is (Thailand)!

All banks are completely <deleted>' useless - anyone trying to stick up for them needs their head examining!

Hope you get things sorted!

[asia_pilot]

Small problem and very easy to resolve:

Use one of your families or friends address as your billing address. Have BofA send the card to your billing address and your friend/ family will FedEx, UPS, DHL or mail it to you.

Contacting the mebassy is a waste of time, since this is not their business.

[retiredusn]

Small problem and very easy to resolve:

Use one of your families or friends address as your billing address. Have BofA send the card to your billing address and your friend/ family will FedEx, UPS, DHL or mail it to you.

Contacting the mebassy is a waste of time, since this is not their business.

Did just this solution and worked fine, then I set-up a mail forwarding service in the states and have had no problems since.........Just make sure you get one with email access so you can change the forwarding as you need it.......

[mjperry]

I had this same dilemma last year, my UK VISA debit card expired while i was living in Thailand, I had tried to get the replacement card the last time i was in the UK but it didn't arrive in time. Trying to get them to send me a replacement card via an express method to me in Thailand was refused, all they could do was send the replacement card to my parent's address in the UK. I had them do this and collected it upon my next visit to the UK.

In the mean time I called the VISA worldwide customer centre, I can dig the number up for you if you can't find it, it was a US number. They organised me an emergency cash advance of $10K from my account via Western Union which I picked up and deposited into a local Thai account to tide me over till that next visit. The warning they gave me was that you can only do an emergency cash advance once per year so make sure you get them enough to see you through to either getting the replacement card or some other means of accessing funds.

[Robroy]

You could open an account with ACLEDA Bank here in PP pretty quick, & get some of the funds wired over.

Mr Lim there will help you out: 015 700 646.

ACLEDA is one of the better banks, tho you have to go a kilometer or 3 to find an ATM: they're not as plentiful as we're used to.

(BTW my Australian bank won't send card even to Thailand - let alone Cambodia, which basically has no rule of law & a high crime rate.)

[Cuban]

You have only one source to access funds?

You will clearly learn from this experiance and have multiple paths to act as backup credit cards and cash reserves in future.

A few days eating 5 Baht noodles and water will be good for your personal development.

HTH.

[mel2surf]

Thanks for the advice from the more sympathetic expats and balls to the ones with the condescending airs.

As I've stated,I have been pro-actively working on this months before the card expired,and have had no results from BofA,and YES,I DO fault BofA for changing the rules,giving out false/misleading info and for not having solid policy in place in regards to their international customers.

I normally don't get riled up easily,but in this case I went to my online banking chat function and ripped the rep a new one about the hassles I've been through getting this resolved after months and much $ and time in hotel etc. Then when I called BofA that night and requested to speak to a manager,apparently he read my chat message and seemed to "get it"

I had told them that I was about to open an acct. in Cambodia and would be wiring all funds out of B of A and into Canadia Bank or ACleda,etc.THIS may have done the trick,as this rep was now very helpful and clear on my situation,etc. He told me he is sending a NEW card(treating it basically as if it was a lost or stolen one) via an express courier to my hotel in Phnom Penh! Will update on whether it gets done or not,but the guy did give me his name and extension,and hours etc. and told me to call him to follow up on it It seems to be close to getting resolved.

Thanks again fellas!

Mel

[Asianrider]

I don't trust the Thai post one inch, hence keep a UK address for card replacements etc, and monitor the expiry dates carefully. I'm surprised OP only has one account / card, when i travel bring at least 2-3 cards in case of an unforeseen problem with one institution.

[drtreelove]

Thanks for the advice from the more sympathetic expats and balls to the ones with the condescending airs.

As I've stated,I have been pro-actively working on this months before the card expired,and have had no results from BofA,and YES,I DO fault BofA for changing the rules,giving out false/misleading info and for not having solid policy in place in regards to their international customers.

I normally don't get riled up easily,but in this case I went to my online banking chat function and ripped the rep a new one about the hassles I've been through getting this resolved after months and much $ and time in hotel etc. Then when I called BofA that night and requested to speak to a manager,apparently he read my chat message and seemed to "get it"

I had told them that I was about to open an acct. in Cambodia and would be wiring all funds out of B of A and into Canadia Bank or ACleda,etc.THIS may have done the trick,as this rep was now very helpful and clear on my situation,etc. He told me he is sending a NEW card(treating it basically as if it was a lost or stolen one) via an express courier to my hotel in Phnom Penh! Will update on whether it gets done or not,but the guy did give me his name and extension,and hours etc. and told me to call him to follow up on it It seems to be close to getting resolved.

Thanks again fellas!

Mel

I hope he follows through for you, but I'm sorry I have to tell you that I have had a similar experience with an Bank of America 'Bill Pay' issue and it was never rectified, even after hours of 'chats' and international phone calls, acknowledgement of their mistake, apologies and promises. After being a happy B of A customer for many years, I have found that their customer service is slipping into the pits. One department doesn't know what the other one is doing and the fraud department seems to be in a world of its own, where even a Bill Pay manager couldn't get through. If I wasn't in so deep with them, direct deposits and repetitive wire transfer set up, I would cancel my accounts for fear of further expensive and frustrating mistakes. They appear to care, but I think they are just too big and maybe too 'outsourced' to be able to provide the tight customer service we expect. Good Luck, don

[mel2surf]

One thing is for sure.

I will be opening an account in Cambo at some point.

I will report on the outcome of this.

Mel

[Sheryl]

Bank accounts in Cambodia:

ANZ good bank but tough to get an account in unless you have a house lease and proof of emplkyment in Cambodia

Acleda also good and may be easier to open acct in

Foreign Trade Bank reliable, very easy to open account

For immediate cash problem: There are multiple Western Union outlets in PP and alos in various provincial towns, i have used it many times, works quite well. Have someone back home wire the cash to you and tell you the code number, then you just go to any of the many Western Union locations (I know there is one near Lucky market on Sihanouk Blvd) with your passport for ID.

can also do Moneygram via Canadia bank, but Western Union has more locations.

[mel2surf]

Bank accounts in Cambodia:

ANZ good bank but tough to get an account in unless you have a house lease and proof of emplkyment in Cambodia

Acleda also good and may be easier to open acct in

Foreign Trade Bank reliable, very easy to open account

For immediate cash problem: There are multiple Western Union outlets in PP and alos in various provincial towns, i have used it many times, works quite well. Have someone back home wire the cash to you and tell you the code number, then you just go to any of the many Western Union locations (I know there is one near Lucky market on Sihanouk Blvd) with your passport for ID.

can also do Moneygram via Canadia bank, but Western Union has more locations.

Sheryl, Thank you very much for the valuable info!!!

I've also heard Canadia Bank is a good one?

Do you happen to know how I'd go about wiring funds out of my American bank and into a Cambodian one?

Thanks again!

mel2surf

[mel2surf]

Resolution at last!!

Visa sent an emergency replacement card which uses the same checking account from B of A-holes.

After months of rude,unresponsive,arrogant and inept "customer service" reps at Bank of America ,loads of $ to call ,the waits,grief,etc. i have resolution...

Visa had to step in and took care of the situation in a few days via DHL (sent friday,arrived Monday morning!)

The expiration date is until 2013 so I will use it as normal ATM/Visa card and <deleted>> Bank Of American Morons!!

Also,when I return from a holiday in Phuket,I will look into wiring ALL funds out of B of A.

IMHO they are a terrible bank and care nothing about we customers living abroad.

end of rant and thanks to the kind expats who

offered positive advice

mel

[Boater]

glad you got it sorted