Best Way To Withdraw 160K Baht?

[Richb2004v2]

I want to buy a second hand car tomorrow and so need to somehow get 160k from my Uk account. Normally I withdraw from ATMs at 12000 baht per time. I have paid large amounts with my Barclaycard Visa before without problem, but only at a hospital. My wife is not keen to use the card at the actual car dealers for fear of card copying or whatever. If I withdraw from an exchange I think there will be quite a large fee. Any ideas? Would you use the card at the garage?

[BigPanda]

I want to buy a second hand car tomorrow and so need to somehow get 160k from my Uk account. Normally I withdraw from ATMs at 12000 baht per time. I have paid large amounts with my Barclaycard Visa before without problem, but only at a hospital. My wife is not keen to use the card at the actual car dealers for fear of card copying or whatever. If I withdraw from an exchange I think there will be quite a large fee. Any ideas? Would you use the card at the garage?

Hi, having had some experience like this, I don't see why it would be a problem for you to use your card over there. Even if they steel your card, you will see in your statement someone else has made a withdraw from your account, and it is very easy now to get a refund from your bank, as long as you go to the police. All you need to do is make a written declaration at the police and knowing the last place you used your credit card was that shop, apart from ATM machines, it would be pretty stupid of them to copy it, as the police would find out easily...

I would not worry. I got stolen my credit card from a hotel once, they took about $2k and i had no problem getting it all back after couple of weeks. Only 2-3 phone calls to my bank and 1 visit at the police station... And knowing where i had lost it, the hotel got investigated and the investigation had nothing to do with me, it is then your credit card company who will pressure the police to accuse them. I was not involved in the process at all!

[Chunky1]

bankwire.

[Richb2004v2]

I think you're right. Plus I have just realised that the limit on the card is almost exactly the amount I need, so it will be at it's limit until I clear it. That would prevent anything being taken on it until I clear it I guess.

[MiG16]

make sure you check with the dealer that they will accept the card though

[coolhandjoe]

The plastic is the safest and most viable procedure for completing the transaction;).

[KunMatt]

ATMs usually have a limit of 25 notes (because that's the max that can be dispensed in the slot I think) so you usually can't withdraw anymore than 25k here at any holes in the wall, also all ATMs except AEON charge 150 Baht plus my bank charges me another 2.5% or 250 Baht max for each withdrawal.

You can wihdraw as much as your home bank or card allows if you do it from inside Siam Commercial Bank (SCB - the purple one: http://www.scb.co.th/index_en.shtml) and there are no charges for me from Thailand or from my UK bank (HSBC).

[craigt3365]

No charges? There has to be some. I know credit card companies charge between 1% and 4% for overseas transactions. Some places hide the fees with a lousy exchange rate. They have to pay for their costs somehow????

[JusMe]

I think you're right. Plus I have just realised that the limit on the card is almost exactly the amount I need, so it will be at it's limit until I clear it. That would prevent anything being taken on it until I clear it I guess.

If it's that close in the amount, be prepared to put maybe 85% or 90% of the total on that credit card and have the rest as either cash or bank transfer from your Thai bank account.

There will be some variation in exchange rates, your own bank might have a fee for foreign use, and often a dealer or store will have a special extra fee for using a credit card, as they get charge a percentage by the financial institutions.

[StreetCowboy]

No charges? There has to be some. I know credit card companies charge between 1% and 4% for overseas transactions. Some places hide the fees with a lousy exchange rate. They have to pay for their costs somehow????

Normally the retailer pays 2 - 4%, which is why organisations that operate on low margins (travel agents, for example) add on a percentage for credit card transactions.

SC

[lopburi3]

Another thing is many card companies will put a lower limit on single transactions from Thailand so you might want to alert your bank or be prepared to call them if amount is not approved.

[Richb2004v2]

I called my bank (Nationwide) and they told me they was a 1% charge which I thought was ok. The car place didn't accept cards. So I went to the nearst decent sized bank. For some reason their machine refused my bank (nationwide) card. In the end I resorted to a visa card (barclays). I have no idea what the charges are. The bank said they don't charge so that might be ok. I didn't have much choice anyway. It was either that or not buying the car. I'll let you know the charges as soon as I get chance to find out.

Thanks.

[KunMatt]

I called my bank (Nationwide) and they told me they was a 1% charge which I thought was ok. The car place didn't accept cards. So I went to the nearst decent sized bank. For some reason their machine refused my bank (nationwide) card. In the end I resorted to a visa card (barclays). I have no idea what the charges are. The bank said they don't charge so that might be ok. I didn't have much choice anyway. It was either that or not buying the car. I'll let you know the charges as soon as I get chance to find out.

Thanks.

Is that Visa card a credit card? If so call your bank and pay off the 160k now because credit cards start charging interest on cash advances the day you wihdraw the money.

[KunMatt]

No charges? There has to be some. I know credit card companies charge between 1% and 4% for overseas transactions. Some places hide the fees with a lousy exchange rate. They have to pay for their costs somehow????

Nope. I went into SCB bank last week and wthdrew 60k from one of the people on the desks and there was no extra charge in Thailand or from my UK bank. I was surprised too as I thought it woud have registered as a cash advance with my HSBC bank and then they charge me £5, but nothing.

[craigt3365]

Wow...amazing. There has to be something...unless you have some sort of premium account. I have a friend who can do this without fees, but he has a premium account with Charles Schwab. I've been traveling around the world for years and have only found a few banks that allow this without fees. And they are all premium accounts that require substantial amounts in the account.

So you used an ATM card to withdraw 60K Baht? I know that for me, the fee is hidden in the transaction. You don't see a separate line item for the 1%. It is just "in" there. Take a look at this link...mentions HSBC's cards...man, if you can do this for no fee, I am changing banks!!

http://flyerguide.com/wiki/index.php/Credit/Debit/ATM_Cards_and_Foreign_Exchange#The_List

[Richb2004v2]

I called my bank (Nationwide) and they told me they was a 1% charge which I thought was ok. The car place didn't accept cards. So I went to the nearst decent sized bank. For some reason their machine refused my bank (nationwide) card. In the end I resorted to a visa card (barclays). I have no idea what the charges are. The bank said they don't charge so that might be ok. I didn't have much choice anyway. It was either that or not buying the car. I'll let you know the charges as soon as I get chance to find out.

Thanks.

Is that Visa card a credit card? If so call your bank and pay off the 160k now because credit cards start charging interest on cash advances the day you wihdraw the money.

No it's a card where the money comes straight out of the bank each time it is used. I've never used it for a large sum like this before, but I know there are no charges for using it with normal ATMs in Thailand.

[KunMatt]

Wow...amazing. There has to be something...unless you have some sort of premium account. I have a friend who can do this without fees, but he has a premium account with Charles Schwab. I've been traveling around the world for years and have only found a few banks that allow this without fees. And they are all premium accounts that require substantial amounts in the account.

So you used an ATM card to withdraw 60K Baht? I know that for me, the fee is hidden in the transaction. You don't see a separate line item for the 1%. It is just "in" there. Take a look at this link...mentions HSBC's cards...man, if you can do this for no fee, I am changing banks!!

http://flyerguide.co...change#The_List

No, just a regular HSBC account. I used to have the HSBC Plus account which costs £13 a month and used to give me a no fees service on ATMs internationally but I cancelled it because I didn't think it was worth it. I then found out that each time I used any ATM here HSBC charges me £5 and the Bank of Ayuthya which used to be free started charging 150 Baht too, so each transaction costs me £8. That's why I tried SCB for 60k cuz I figured I would be paying £8 for 60k instead of £24 for 20k three times, but like I said it was fee free in UK and Thailand.

Last October I did the same thing with SCB but my UK bank charged me for the cash advance, so I'm not sure if I was just lucky this time or maybe it was because I did it with a lady at a desk instead of a teller at an exchange inside the bank.

[Richb2004v2]

I used the Barclays bank instant visa card. I checked the bill today. For a 100,000 baht withdrawal I was charged at 47.704 baht plus 4.5 pounds fee. Also there was a statement of commission of 54 pounds, but it didn't seem to have been added on top, so not sure where that came from unless it was factored into the rate somehow.

[Loz]

turned out nice again, 'ant it?

[bangkockney]

TT transfers offer best value for big money.

£25 flat fee, very favourable exchange rat (better than withdrawal or changing paper money)

Edited July 31, 2010 by bangkockney