Coming to Thailand

[Dirk_brijs]

It's not a scam as such, at least not by the hospital. It's actually to do with the payment processor and the provider of the terminals.

It is sold to the Merchant as being a 'service' to their customers(in that they know how much their bill will be in their home currency). In exchange, perhaps, the terminals and processing are provided at slightly better rates. Though the merchants I have asked tend to deny this.

So it could be just the local bank and the payment processor/provider of equipment who share the foreign exchange revenue. In the end the customer and the home bank lose out from these transactions. VISA/Mastercard used to lose the 1% (or thereabouts) exchange rate they used to charge, but once they got wind of what the local banks with doing in conjunction with independent payment processors, they slapped a 1% charge on all transactions, other than just cross currency.

So don't blame the hospitals, they didn't come up with the idea. Just make sure that they choose the option for Thai baht instead of your home currency. In this case they might have to choose another terminal altogether.

the reason was that the providers of the services of VISA and Mastercard lost a law case ordering that they can no longer charge extra costs for rendering these services. So the providers have come up with the solution not to charge directly but make money on exchange rates set. So now the providers will handle 2 sets of exchange rates theirs and the official bank rates. They have to offer both possibilities or they play against the law but will surely try to give you their higher exchange rate. So if you don't object cause you didn't read the small print they win.

As I mentioned before about paypal its not because of paypal but they want to make money on you using your VISA or MASTERCARD

again this is being done now by most online sellers as they all offer the 2 exchange rates (just look at the smallest letters you can find while checking out) it is even this far that most ATM machines now even do it if you use a VISA or MASTERCARD this not only in Thailand but all over the world

[Jiu-Jitsu]

It's not a scam as such, at least not by the hospital. It's actually to do with the payment processor and the provider of the terminals.

It is sold to the Merchant as being a 'service' to their customers(in that they know how much their bill will be in their home currency). In exchange, perhaps, the terminals and processing are provided at slightly better rates. Though the merchants I have asked tend to deny this.

So it could be just the local bank and the payment processor/provider of equipment who share the foreign exchange revenue. In the end the customer and the home bank lose out from these transactions. VISA/Mastercard used to lose the 1% (or thereabouts) exchange rate they used to charge, but once they got wind of what the local banks with doing in conjunction with independent payment processors, they slapped a 1% charge on all transactions, other than just cross currency.

So don't blame the hospitals, they didn't come up with the idea. Just make sure that they choose the option for Thai baht instead of your home currency. In this case they might have to choose another terminal altogether.

the reason was that the providers of the services of VISA and Mastercard lost a law case ordering that they can no longer charge extra costs for rendering these services. So the providers have come up with the solution not to charge directly but make money on exchange rates set. So now the providers will handle 2 sets of exchange rates theirs and the official bank rates. They have to offer both possibilities or they play against the law but will surely try to give you their higher exchange rate. So if you don't object cause you didn't read the small print they win.

As I mentioned before about paypal its not because of paypal but they want to make money on you using your VISA or MASTERCARD

again this is being done now by most online sellers as they all offer the 2 exchange rates (just look at the smallest letters you can find while checking out) it is even this far that most ATM machines now even do it if you use a VISA or MASTERCARD this not only in Thailand but all over the world

Your post doesn't make any sense.

It is not VISA/Mastercard that are levying these charges, so I have no idea as to why you are mentioning an irrelevant court case. (A relevant case would be that it prevented VISA and Mastercard from blocking DCC). Visa/Mastercard charge a nominal fee to the acquiring bank(your home bank). It is generally the Home bank that levies extra fees.

DCC is not at all connected to Visa/Mastercard. They lost out on their cross border fees because of DCC. So instead they just charged the same fee for all transactions, so they wouldn't lose out and stipulated the the consumer must be offered the choice.

Look here

Excerpt:

Visa does not provide DCC, but you can offer it through your acquiring bank or an approved third-party service provider. It is popular in travel and entertainment sectors such as hotels, restaurants and fashion stores – and is increasingly common in other retail sectors.

DCC is an optional service and the process must be completely open and transparent if you offer it to customers. It is particularly important that customers are offered a choice, which protects the customer’s rights and the reputation of everyone involved in the transaction.

DCC is applied by the local acquiring bank and their payment gateway. It is the home bank and the consumer that loses out.

[Jiu-Jitsu]

A useful guide for posters who don't know and for those who think they know but don't!

http://www.moneysavi...ap-travel-money

I'm not sure of the point of your post.

It was you who wrote this:

Others who have bog standard credit cards such as MasterCard and Visa will pay a range of charges, particularly in the UK

and now you are linking us to a page that proves that you were wrong.

That we have a fairly long list of credit cards that levy no charges on purchases, as well as some that don't have cash withdrawal charges either.

We also have debit cards that levy no charges at all.

We also have a prepaid card that levy no charges on purchases and on cash withdrawals charges as little as 0.75%. (Sorry, not listed in your link. You have to have a little knowledge of your own).

So what exactly was the point that you were trying to make when you posted the link?

[Joeb]

Every ATM is a rip off. They charge you 150 Baht to use the machine and then give you 1 baht less than the going exchange rate. If I take B10,000 I pay B150 for a service charge, a foreign transaction fee on my card in the US of $5 and I get the equivalent of $11 less for my dollars than if I took cash to the same bank's foreign exchange booth. Some will let you select an exchange option but many do not.

[willyumcr]

Why would you use that card if you are from the States? Get a card with NO fees. Mentioned many times on this thread.

[Jiu-Jitsu]

Every ATM is a rip off. They charge you 150 Baht to use the machine and then give you 1 baht less than the going exchange rate. If I take B10,000 I pay B150 for a service charge, a foreign transaction fee on my card in the US of $5 and I get the equivalent of $11 less for my dollars than if I took cash to the same bank's foreign exchange booth. Some will let you select an exchange option but many do not.

Every Thai ATM, except AEON. No 150 baht charge and the full Visa/Mastercard rate.

[joeed]

Regarding purchases being settled in your home currency, it can't be called a scam but it still must be avoided at all times as the rate from visa/mastercard is always way below the "standard" rate at the same time.

Credit card companies are justifying this practice by saying that it is just a possibility offered to their customers to be billed in their home currency when abroad. At least when you sign the receipt you know exactly how much it will actually cost you in euro/dollar which is not the case if you choose to pay in THB for instance.

One thing I noticed though is that if staff in shops were properly trained it would be a non issue because on the credit card terminal, at one step a choice is offered between home currency and THB (here) and it's clearly mentioned that it's the CUSTOMER who must choose, not the cashier.

Obviously none of them is reading what is displayed as they are just reproducing to the letter what they have been told to do by someone who has no clue either.

I have also noticed that in some shops, as my visa requires pin code in addition to the signature, the cashier will simply choose cancel at the step where the pincode is required resulting in a refused transaction. Needless to say that it has taken me a few times to understand why my visa card was refused despite having sufficient funds.

So based on my experience here in Pattaya, where a large majority of shops staff are as useful and competent as puppets, here are a few advices to avoid this problem:

Always mention upfront that you want the transaction in THB and not euro/dollar BEFORE handing over the card

Repeat it in case the staff is not paying attention or pretending not to hear you because he's actually not understanding what you want/mean

Ignore whatever reasons they might give as to why it's not possible. It is possible.

Check the receipt as they might still have made the mistake (or ignored what you said thinking they are smarter than you). They can cancel the transaction and do it again, I had it done before (and no I haven't been charged twice).

Don't forget to smile :-)

This problem has caused me a few 'arguments' in the past over some huge amounts (furniture at index) but it's getting better now as I'm more careful and I'm also trying to use the foreign visa card only when necessary.

[joeed]

Every ATM is a rip off. They charge you 150 Baht to use the machine and then give you 1 baht less than the going exchange rate. If I take B10,000 I pay B150 for a service charge, a foreign transaction fee on my card in the US of $5 and I get the equivalent of $11 less for my dollars than if I took cash to the same bank's foreign exchange booth. Some will let you select an exchange option but many do not.

Every Thai ATM, except AEON. No 150 baht charge and the full Visa/Mastercard rate.

With my Visa card (european bank) the cost to withdraw cash is prohibitive and I hardly ever used it.

A withdrawal will cost me EUR 2.5 + 2% of the amount (normally paid by the merchants if not cash advance) + crappy exchange rate + THB 150.

Add to this that the maximum withdrawal in thai ATM is 30k so it's unsuitable for large amounts.

Are there any of those AEON ATM in Pattaya?

[Dirk_brijs]

It's not a scam as such, at least not by the hospital. It's actually to do with the payment processor and the provider of the terminals.

It is sold to the Merchant as being a 'service' to their customers(in that they know how much their bill will be in their home currency). In exchange, perhaps, the terminals and processing are provided at slightly better rates. Though the merchants I have asked tend to deny this.

So it could be just the local bank and the payment processor/provider of equipment who share the foreign exchange revenue. In the end the customer and the home bank lose out from these transactions. VISA/Mastercard used to lose the 1% (or thereabouts) exchange rate they used to charge, but once they got wind of what the local banks with doing in conjunction with independent payment processors, they slapped a 1% charge on all transactions, other than just cross currency.

So don't blame the hospitals, they didn't come up with the idea. Just make sure that they choose the option for Thai baht instead of your home currency. In this case they might have to choose another terminal altogether.

the reason was that the providers of the services of VISA and Mastercard lost a law case ordering that they can no longer charge extra costs for rendering these services. So the providers have come up with the solution not to charge directly but make money on exchange rates set. So now the providers will handle 2 sets of exchange rates theirs and the official bank rates. They have to offer both possibilities or they play against the law but will surely try to give you their higher exchange rate. So if you don't object cause you didn't read the small print they win.

As I mentioned before about paypal its not because of paypal but they want to make money on you using your VISA or MASTERCARD

again this is being done now by most online sellers as they all offer the 2 exchange rates (just look at the smallest letters you can find while checking out) it is even this far that most ATM machines now even do it if you use a VISA or MASTERCARD this not only in Thailand but all over the world

Your post doesn't make any sense.

It is not VISA/Mastercard that are levying these charges, so I have no idea as to why you are mentioning an irrelevant court case. (A relevant case would be that it prevented VISA and Mastercard from blocking DCC). Visa/Mastercard charge a nominal fee to the acquiring bank(your home bank). It is generally the Home bank that levies extra fees.

DCC is not at all connected to Visa/Mastercard. They lost out on their cross border fees because of DCC. So instead they just charged the same fee for all transactions, so they wouldn't lose out and stipulated the the consumer must be offered the choice.

Look here

Excerpt:

Visa does not provide DCC, but you can offer it through your acquiring bank or an approved third-party service provider. It is popular in travel and entertainment sectors such as hotels, restaurants and fashion stores – and is increasingly common in other retail sectors.

DCC is an optional service and the process must be completely open and transparent if you offer it to customers. It is particularly important that customers are offered a choice, which protects the customer’s rights and the reputation of everyone involved in the transaction.

DCC is applied by the local acquiring bank and their payment gateway. It is the home bank and the consumer that loses out.

the case was not against VISA or other but against the users of their services which used to charge extra costs for accepting the VISA

by the way their are still allot of shops in Pattaya who still charge extra which is against the law.

Thus several providers offer now the double exchange rate THEIRS or the the VISA one

[Tolley]

That is why I dont use plastic in thailand....if the card skimmers and readers dont get you then the hidden fees and charges on every transaction will.

Cash or Travellers Cheques are better or a Thai bank account.

[Dirk_brijs]

That is why I dont use plastic in thailand....if the card skimmers and readers dont get you then the hidden fees and charges on every transaction will.

Cash or Travellers Cheques are better or a Thai bank account.

this is an international issue not Thai....

[Jiu-Jitsu]

Every ATM is a rip off. They charge you 150 Baht to use the machine and then give you 1 baht less than the going exchange rate. If I take B10,000 I pay B150 for a service charge, a foreign transaction fee on my card in the US of $5 and I get the equivalent of $11 less for my dollars than if I took cash to the same bank's foreign exchange booth. Some will let you select an exchange option but many do not.

Every Thai ATM, except AEON. No 150 baht charge and the full Visa/Mastercard rate.

With my Visa card (european bank) the cost to withdraw cash is prohibitive and I hardly ever used it.

A withdrawal will cost me EUR 2.5 + 2% of the amount (normally paid by the merchants if not cash advance) + crappy exchange rate + THB 150.

Add to this that the maximum withdrawal in thai ATM is 30k so it's unsuitable for large amounts.

Are there any of those AEON ATM in Pattaya?

Yes, there are three. Outside HomePro on Sukhumvit, Tesco Lotus North Pattaya and Big C Pattaya Klang.

[joeed]

Every ATM is a rip off. They charge you 150 Baht to use the machine and then give you 1 baht less than the going exchange rate. If I take B10,000 I pay B150 for a service charge, a foreign transaction fee on my card in the US of $5 and I get the equivalent of $11 less for my dollars than if I took cash to the same bank's foreign exchange booth. Some will let you select an exchange option but many do not.

Every Thai ATM, except AEON. No 150 baht charge and the full Visa/Mastercard rate.

With my Visa card (european bank) the cost to withdraw cash is prohibitive and I hardly ever used it.

A withdrawal will cost me EUR 2.5 + 2% of the amount (normally paid by the merchants if not cash advance) + crappy exchange rate + THB 150.

Add to this that the maximum withdrawal in thai ATM is 30k so it's unsuitable for large amounts.

Are there any of those AEON ATM in Pattaya?

Yes, there are three. Outside HomePro on Sukhumvit, Tesco Lotus North Pattaya and Big C Pattaya Klang.

I guess you mean homeworks on sukhumvit.

Thanks for the information.

[Ling Kae]

I use AEON ATM's in Pattaya and they always give me the higher TT rate, very good and you can take out large amounts in one hit, no rip offs here.

[Jiu-Jitsu]

I use AEON ATM's in Pattaya and they always give me the higher TT rate, very good and you can take out large amounts in one hit, no rip offs here.

It is not the TT rate, but the Mastercard or Visa rate.