Current Account & Credit Card

[Expat2B]

My current plan is to relocate to Thailand within the next 2 to 3 months where I will be both a bona fide student (Chula Masters) and intend to establish a Thai Company for consulting work and obtain a work permit on the back of this. As a result I will almost certainly opt for a B rather than ED Visa.

My query is how do Expats here manage their banking? As I understand it a proper current account is hard to get and local credit cards all but impossible without lots of history here (and even difficult then). I find it hard to imagine not having a current account for regular payments (e.g. contract mobile, rental payments, utilities etc.), and the lack of a current account must cause problems when obtaining said services.

I know I can keep my UK based credit cards, but I wonder how willing the card companies will be to maintain accounts once they know I am no longer UK resident (i.e. once I formally change my address with them). Is there any way to obtain a Thai based credit card (to avoid currency translation fees and simplify banking arrangements)? Given the riskiness of the local market I would have thought that arrangements similar to those for the credit impaired elsewhere in the world (e.g. credit card account opened initially with a cash deposit with increasing credit limit for good conduct, etc.) could work well here.

All advice would be appreciated. I could probably sort out something with HSBC my UK bank, but for various reasons would prefer not to use them if there is any other alternative.

[lopburi3]

You pay bills by cash or money transfer using phone or atm or direct debit. Very few people in Thailand are willing to accept checks so not having them is not a problem of major proportions. For those without atm or phone or debit ability there is the local 7-11 with bill payment service for very low fee.

Electron type debit cards are the only freely available type of cards for foreigners and protection from fraud seems to be more your problem than the bank so do not use myself.

Overseas credit cards, as least from the USA, have found they can charge a foreign use fee making many useless for long term use here (plus many places not accepting foreign cards or requesting you pay the bank fees of 3-5 percent off bill).

[Expat2B]

You pay bills by cash or money transfer using phone or atm or direct debit.  Very few people in Thailand are willing to accept checks so not having them is not a problem of major proportions.  For those without atm or phone or debit ability there is the local 7-11 with bill payment service for very low fee.

Electron type debit cards are the only freely available type of cards for foreigners and protection from fraud seems to be more your problem than the bank so do not use myself.

Overseas credit cards, as least from the USA, have found they can charge a foreign use fee making many useless for long term use here (plus many places not accepting foreign cards or requesting you pay the bank fees of 3-5 percent off bill).

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Ok well that clears up part of what I was thinking, I had assumed that Direct Debits would be problematic on a non current account (as can be the case in the UK), so provided that you obtain a savings account with direct debit potential then bill payments should be fairly straightforward.

I agree with the Debit Card comment, I never use them in the UK myself and have no intention of bearing sole responsibility for fraud etc that seems to accompany their use.

Some transactions however are essentially credit card related I am particularly thinking of things like hotels or car hire. I can imagine that car hire would be a lesser problem here, but surely every decent hotel requests a credit card upon check in and would view cash settlement of bills a little odd?

I guess another question raised is the difficulty in obtaining a current account for business use (Thai Company) but I guess that is another topic

[lopburi3]

Three star and below hotels often do not want credit cards at all and most people find paying a agent to obtain room to be must less expensive than dealing with hotel directly. These may request advance CC or transfer payments or, as the case with the one I use, payment in cash after you check-in and see room. In any case there is another option to credit cards but just about any firm here.

And yes, the normal passbook savings account allows direct debit payments.

[astral]

Minimise the amount of money you bring here.

Move you funds offshore, Channel Islands, Isle of Man, and keep your UK credit cards.

The only problem is getting replacement cards sent to Thailand.

You may need to use a UK address and ask a friend to courier the card on to you.

This is still a very cash oriented society.

Credit card users are often surcharged 3%, so no-one likes using them.

Utility companies will debit your savings account for you, but do not expect the banks

to manage standing orders. They do not have the systems set up.

If you need a cheque the bank will issue a cashiers cheque for a very small fee.

[grahamb]

As Astral said, minimise the money you bring.

Talk to HSBC about transferring your money to an offshore account with them. Their offshore account now has a relatively high opening amount (£5k IIRC) but they'll probably let you transfer without that limit. HSBC sent credit cards and cheque books to our Finnish address before we moved to Thailand but we've not had to renew them here yet so don't know if they will send to Thailand. They do have a branch in BKK so may be able to send them there securely.

If you have an American Express card, you can transfer that to a Thai American Express. Diners Club, etc. may also do something similar.

I find that with our Thai Amex, UK HSBC Visa and a standard Kasikorn passbook account, we're OK. Most of the bills can be debitted directly to the Amex card (which is then debitted from the passbook account!) and the others can be paid at the ATM or transferred via internet banking. If only internet banking would let me set up regular payments, we'd be sorted!

If you are thinking about any other investments, bank accounts, etc. in the UK, make sure you open them before you leave - it's much easier to transfer the address later than open them from overseas.

[PeaceBlondie]

I went without a current (savings) account here for over a year. My employer wanted me on direct deposit, so she helped me get a savings account. I have checking and savings and credit card and debit card in the USA, all with a USA address. Don't let them know you're overseas. Bring extra copies of your CC with you (put them in safe place here). Try to get a long expiration date before you go, or arrange with a trusted person back home to forward you the new one. I get new cards on my annual visit home.

I'm not aware of the extra liability for fraud with a debit card, but I used one for years back home and still use it here when I wish (it has a MC or Visa logo if I want to pretend it's a credit card; they can't tell if it has 16 digits).

Very cash oriented. We pay utility bills at 7-11's, which are everywhere. I pay cash for rent; no problem. I used to get paid my monthly salary in cash, also.

I get charged US$3 every time I take cash out of my US checking account using my debit card; it amounts to about a 1% service charge. But they charge more if I use that debit card for purchases, so I don't do that.

Via internet, you can move cash from your home checking account into your credit card (for charging travel, for example).