I've been denied entry to Thailand - Now What ! ?

[davee58]

Just to remind any users of Citibank (UK) debit cards, there will be an Extra 2% charge for overseas ATM withdrawals from the 28th of July.

To Quote the charges section of their website:

We charge a 2.75% commission on the amount of any purchase or cash withdrawal (other than through a Citi ATM) in a currency other than the currency of your account.

From 28th July 2010, a charge of 2% (Minimum £2, Maximum £5) will be applied to all ATM cash withdrawals made using your Citibank card, in a currency other than Sterling, from a Sterling account.....

Please remember that this charge will not apply if you use a Citi ATM...

I believe this means that a (non-citi) ATM withdrawal in Thailand will be subject to:

1.00 % VISA Issuer fee

2.75 % Citibank Commission

2.00 % NEW Citibank charge

Plus the 150 THB Thai bank charge.

The commission and charge will NOT apply if using a Citi ATM, but I think that there is only one Citibank branch in the whole of Thailand.

When I applied for my card 12 years ago, Citibank advertising boasted about the savings on foreign ATM withdrawal charges, that now seems to be a thing of the past as the commission has since been raised, (optional) annual account charges introduced, and now this extra charge.

It would be interesting to compare the actual charges applied by the different UK bank cards, I have been unable to find any decent comparison site.

[shaunoro]

Citi bank in Singapore also charge for making CASH deposits.

dam_n greedy.

[jpp2bkk]

Better to change bank then

[Soutpeel]

Citi bank in Singapore also charge for making CASH deposits.

dam_n greedy.

Sure about that....I have deposited cash in Singapore and was never charged, not saying your wrong, but just relating my own experience

[neil324]

Citibank is a good options for UK residents who need a foreign currency holding account. There is no charge for an account but obviously they make their money other ways.

[alexx431]

Citibank is a good options for UK residents who need a foreign currency holding account. There is no charge for an account but obviously they make their money other ways.

dear community

citibank uk have decided to double their commissions on their foreign currency exchange rates. that means that if until now citibank charged a comission of 2% now they charge 4%. so for example if when the exact exchange rate is pounds for dollars is 1.60 they used to give you 1.57 and now they will only give you 1.54 !!

so please join the community and send a secure message to citibank uk (sign in to internet banking then go to customer services then go to send a secure message and choose subject "statements" as that is what gets through the quickest) complaining about this as if they get enough complaints there is a massive chance they will reinstate the old better exchange rates. this is what their customer services informed me

so for a sample letter to write them

dear sir

I have been a customer for a long time. I have a complaint regarding your exchange rate from £ pounds uk to $ dollars.

I know that you change your rates every half an hour. but my question is that when I used to transfer over £ pounds I would get a compatibale exchange rate relative to other banks. usually it was half a penny from the market price. also when I sold dollars & bought pounds I would get a penny from the market price. so for example the rate to buy dollars would be 1.58 & at the same time the rate to sell dollars & buy pounds would be 1.60 So MY QUESTION IS WHY DID THE COSTS BECOME HIGHER SINCE NOW THE RATE HAS BECOME A 2 PENCE CHARGE SO NOW THE RATE TO BUY DOLLARS IS 1.56 AND AT THE SAME TIME THE RATE TO SELL DOLLARS & BUY POUNDS IS 1.62.

Citibank in the past offered exchange rates that definitely provided a nice comission to citibank and that was fair to the customers which was a perfect combination as citibank deserves to earn revenue from it's services. But now citibank has increased the exchange rate commission, this is taking advantage of the customers and unfair to them.

I therefore feel that citibank should go back to their old exchange rate which is both fair to the customer and still advantageous to citibank. I am sure customers will change to other banks which now stand at a better exchange rate such as close brothers or hsbc. Also customers mainly openend accounts at citibank to transfer money abroad, in effect exchanging the money for another currency and to increase the exchange rate commission WITHOUT EVEN NOTIFYING THEM is definitely not the correct path for a reputable bank as citibank who cares for their customers. Therefore this surely must be something incorrect so please change it back to the way it was.

Please pass this on to the uk department as I would like someone from the uk to reply.

thank you in advance

a valued customer

[Pib]

As more and more banks seem to be raising their foreign transaction fees and providing no ATM reimbursement for foreign transactions/withdrawals, if a person lives in or frequently visits Thailand the person is probably better off just having a Thai bank account with debit/ATM to get cash....and transfer money to the Thai bank account as needed via a low cost transfer method if possible (SWIFTing money can get expensive). Yes, there are home country banks that still do not charge foreign transaction fees/reimburse ATM fees and a person should definitely seek them out, but they are becoming fewer everyday.

[OldgitTom]

Citibank UK is the pits. Avoid it like the plague. About two years ago I struggled with them for weeks when they failed to renew my expired ATM card. Their Free Helpline numbers are - 001 44 207 500 5500

001 44 207 500 5000

which don't work from Thailand. I informed them of that years back. I got a number that did work from the UK. The Helpline people in India were polite but useless. They have no power to do much of anything. I eventually got the Financial Services Ombudsman, UK, on the issue, & then Citiplankers sent me a new card.

The Online Banking service cut me out years back. 2 long phone calls, zilch difference, so I gave up trying to use that "service".

Now they want a repeat performance. ATM card doesn't work. Cut to the chase, Bangalore telestaff said I "failed to renew my UK address". Naughty me, but I received no notification of this "necessity". Helpline people still useless. Gave me the above numbers AGAIN for remedial action, ignoring my pleas that they don't work.

Another letter written, w/out much hope. Visa renewal coming up in November, as my needed local bank deposit dwindles w/out top-ups. I may have to visit London.

I'd change banks if I were in UK, but from here, I suspect Citiplankers would screw that up royally. OGT

[endure]

Citibank UK is the pits. Avoid it like the plague. About two years ago I struggled with them for weeks when they failed to renew my expired ATM card. Their Free Helpline numbers are - 001 44 207 500 5500

001 44 207 500 5000

That's not a free number anyway. It's a standard London number with international dialling code and some sort of in-country dialling prefix stuck on the front. What you need to do is find out what prefix you need to dial to get an international line out of Thailand and follow it with 44 207 500 5000. Dialling 0207 500 5000 from the UK gets me through to Citibank. You need to know the dial-out prefix from Thailand. Perhaps someone who calls ordinary numbers in the UK could help here?

[Chivas]

Citibank UK is the pits. Avoid it like the plague. About two years ago I struggled with them for weeks when they failed to renew my expired ATM card. Their Free Helpline numbers are - 001 44 207 500 5500

001 44 207 500 5000

That's not a free number anyway. It's a standard London number with international dialling code and some sort of in-country dialling prefix stuck on the front. What you need to do is find out what prefix you need to dial to get an international line out of Thailand and follow it with 44 207 500 5000. Dialling 0207 500 5000 from the UK gets me through to Citibank. You need to know the dial-out prefix from Thailand. Perhaps someone who calls ordinary numbers in the UK could help here?

Just tried it using True Inter.

0060044 etc.

Connected no problem.