Barclay'S No Longer Renewing Debit (Atm) Cards?

[CaptainSplod]

Hi!

Just some general information for you that may have a Barclay's Offshore Account

and maybe you need to be forewarned about the following :

I've just received a written reply to a query I made to my bank, after NOT receiving

a replacement "Connect" (Debit) card from them after the old one expired.

I advise due to strict regulatory requirements we are no longer able to dispatch

sensitive items such as Connect Cards to certain countries. Unfortunately, Thailand

falls into this category".....

Strange.....as previously I've received replacements cards without (too much)

bother. I will add that the last time my card expired, it was necessary to call

the bank before a new card was finally sent - previous to that a new card arrived

automatically, at least as far as I remember.

Too, it would certainly have been nice to have been informed by the bank about their "regulatory requirements" - well

BEFORE the card actually expired.

Ah, yes, British bank service has certainly changed from the "friendly bank manager attitude" from many years ago....

Check your Connect card for the expiry date - maybe you'll need to make other arrangements in future !

Cheers

[AmericanInExile]

Well I can understand a bank's security concerns given Thailand's reputation for scams and fraud, I too have not had any problem having ATM or credit cards sent to me from my USA based banks. It should not really be of concern as the cards have to be activated with the account holders security codes before they can be used.

[hunglikea]

Even though my 'bank', Abbey/Santander, sent a card by courier before, for the last 2 years they've said the same - 'Thailand is a risky place to send cards'.

I had to change my address to my children's in the UK and have the card sent there. They then sent it to me.

The stupid part was Abbey suggested I did it that way!

[JAS21]

Even though my 'bank', Abbey/Santander, sent a card by courier before, for the last 2 years they've said the same - 'Thailand is a risky place to send cards'.

I had to change my address to my children's in the UK and have the card sent there. They then sent it to me.

The stupid part was Abbey suggested I did it that way!

Same with me and the Royal Bank of Scotland. My son passed it to a friend who brought it out here to me. I think one reason maybe is that just looking at the 'envelope' it is obvious that it contains a bank card.

[PattayaParent]

i've never had a problem with Debit Cards (yet) but HSBC won't send Credit Cards to Thailand, yet they would send them to my HSBC bank branch who were quite happy to send it to me in Thailand.

Edit: It expires in October and I no longer bank with HSBC so will have to see what happens then.

Maybe I'll need to look for a new international credit card provider, anyone know one?

Edited July 30, 2010 by PattayaParent

[CaptainSplod]

Same for me before - replacement cards were at first sent by ordinary post, then later on that ceased and it arrived by courier (DHL or some such).

As far as I was aware there was never any problem in receiving the replacement cards - though perhaps the bank would never actually admit that a card "went astray".

Well, maybe the new Metro Bank (with the slogan "Love Your Bank!") will eventually extend their services to cater for expats. They seem to already have caused something of a stir on the UK High Street, proclaiming to be a "service for customers" bank, ideal for those that are fed up with the "non-service" attitude at their existing bank.

Perhaps at least the appearance of this new (and apparently more to follow) bank will shake the existing banks up a bit - one can only hope so.

Cheers

PP - good luck with your Debit card - but maybe in the meantime you should be looking at other alternatives than using a card.

[chainarong]

Most banks and ccard companies are not all that keen on Thailand.