Getting A Credit Card In Phuket

[ssinlos]

Does anyone know which bank in Phuket is the easiest to deal with with regards to getting a local credit card?

cheers

[LivinginKata]

All the Thai banks are reluctant to issue credit cards, even to Thais. About the only way my wife could obtain a credit card was to deposit an amount of money in a 'locked' bank account to cover the limit of the credit card.

[ozymandious]

Don't know which is the easiest but have the following documents ready.

Passport

Work permit

Salary slip

and potentially a photo copy of your bank book.

Start with a bank that you are already a customer of and if that doesn't work then go to another bank ( be prepared to open a new account with them ) they are always looking for new clients

[katabeachbum]

Bank of Ayudhya (yellow bank) issued me Credit Card. No work permit, never payed income tax in LOS.

Required part of my savings account locked as a reserve. 80 k baht locked provided Gold card with 64k baht credit. Whenever I need higher credit in card, I just make a depoist in creditcardaccount in any yellow branch. Works excellent

I have 8 years of banking with them, and cashflow of up to 20 million/year. A friend with only a couple million a year got it to.

For Thais they prefere income tax reciepts. My GF had never payed taxes when she applied, so they would only give her a 180k baht limit (Gold Card, no Platinum). Home Pro card, whic is run by the yellow bank. No security required. Shes had cash flow approx half of mine

[keestha]

Kasikorn Bank issues virtual credit cards which can only be used online, if you have a Kasikorn account it takes about 5 minutes behind the computer to get one, will be usable in a couple of days.

Edited April 10, 2011 by keestha

[Ping]

I got a debit card with Kasikorn Bank but could have got a credit card just as easily. Only docs required were my passport and KBank Bank Book (to get the Bank Book, only required my passport).

[katabeachbum]

I got a debit card with Kasikorn Bank but could have got a credit card just as easily. Only docs required were my passport and KBank Bank Book (to get the Bank Book, only required my passport).

ehm, BOT (Bank of Thailand) does not allow banks to issue creditcard to foreigners unless they have workpermit/tax payment reciepts or place security 120% of CC limit.

[BangTaoBoy]

Bank of Ayudhya (yellow bank) issued me Credit Card. No work permit, never payed income tax in LOS.

Required part of my savings account locked as a reserve. 80 k baht locked provided Gold card with 64k baht credit. Whenever I need higher credit in card, I just make a depoist in creditcardaccount in any yellow branch. Works excellent

I have 8 years of banking with them, and cashflow of up to 20 million/year. A friend with only a couple million a year got it to.

For Thais they prefere income tax reciepts. My GF had never payed taxes when she applied, so they would only give her a 180k baht limit (Gold Card, no Platinum). Home Pro card, whic is run by the yellow bank. No security required. Shes had cash flow approx half of mine

Isn't what you have just described, essentialy a debit card (also known as a pre paid credit card) Surely the key word in credit card, is 'Credit'? Meaning borrowing money you don't have. So you have a credit card, but have no credit

[katabeachbum]

Bank of Ayudhya (yellow bank) issued me Credit Card. No work permit, never payed income tax in LOS.

Required part of my savings account locked as a reserve. 80 k baht locked provided Gold card with 64k baht credit. Whenever I need higher credit in card, I just make a depoist in creditcardaccount in any yellow branch. Works excellent

I have 8 years of banking with them, and cashflow of up to 20 million/year. A friend with only a couple million a year got it to.

For Thais they prefere income tax reciepts. My GF had never payed taxes when she applied, so they would only give her a 180k baht limit (Gold Card, no Platinum). Home Pro card, whic is run by the yellow bank. No security required. Shes had cash flow approx half of mine

Isn't what you have just described, essentialy a debit card (also known as a pre paid credit card) Surely the key word in credit card, is 'Credit'? Meaning borrowing money you don't have. So you have a credit card, but have no credit

From Thai banks

I have a Visa Gold Credit Card and an invoice is mailed to me each month which can be payed partly or in full, and have made a guarantee for it to be payed as required by BOT.

I also have a bunch of Debit cards (visa and mastercard) where money used is withdrawn from my accounts when used. Useless for airfare with most airlines, hotel bookings, rental cars etc

I also have car loan, which is credit.

and a check book, which is legal as credit as checks can be dated forward in LOS without having account cover on date of issuing

happy now?

Foreigners can have thai credit card in Phuket, thats what OP asked about

[Ping]

I got a debit card with Kasikorn Bank but could have got a credit card just as easily. Only docs required were my passport and KBank Bank Book (to get the Bank Book, only required my passport).

ehm, BOT (Bank of Thailand) does not allow banks to issue creditcard to foreigners unless they have workpermit/tax payment reciepts or place security 120% of CC limit.

Was the 'ehm' bit entirely necessary? KBank at no stage told me of these special requirements. However, I accept you are probably correct, but since I only asked for a debit card, the issue didn't arise (and I assumed I could have got a credit card). Thank you. I stand corrected - politely.

[katabeachbum]

I got a debit card with Kasikorn Bank but could have got a credit card just as easily. Only docs required were my passport and KBank Bank Book (to get the Bank Book, only required my passport).

ehm, BOT (Bank of Thailand) does not allow banks to issue creditcard to foreigners unless they have workpermit/tax payment reciepts or place security 120% of CC limit.

Was the 'ehm' bit entirely necessary? KBank at no stage told me of these special requirements. However, I accept you are probably correct, but since I only asked for a debit card, the issue didn't arise (and I assumed I could have got a credit card). Thank you. I stand corrected - politely.

sorry about the "ehm" :jap:

It is so Thai to offer a creditcard without displaying the conditions, and as foreigners we often bring this incomplete info to others. How many times have I been asked, "you want" and I say I want to know the conditions and requirements before I consider if I want

[Ping]

Good point - thanks

[BangTaoBoy]

From Thai banks

I have a Visa Gold Credit Card and an invoice is mailed to me each month which can be payed partly or in full, and have made a guarantee for it to be payed as required by BOT.

I also have a bunch of Debit cards (visa and mastercard) where money used is withdrawn from my accounts when used. Useless for airfare with most airlines, hotel bookings, rental cars etc

I also have car loan, which is credit.

and a check book, which is legal as credit as checks can be dated forward in LOS without having account cover on date of issuing

happy now?

Foreigners can have thai credit card in Phuket, thats what OP asked about

Yes, but perhaps the OP also required a credit card that was not secured with money in the bank. Which isn't really a credit card at all. You didn't mention anything about the likelihood of him actually being able to obtain credit, which he may have wanted to know.

Although a car loan is credit, it's also secured credit! The car being the security.

[katabeachbum]

From Thai banks

I have a Visa Gold Credit Card and an invoice is mailed to me each month which can be payed partly or in full, and have made a guarantee for it to be payed as required by BOT.

I also have a bunch of Debit cards (visa and mastercard) where money used is withdrawn from my accounts when used. Useless for airfare with most airlines, hotel bookings, rental cars etc

I also have car loan, which is credit.

and a check book, which is legal as credit as checks can be dated forward in LOS without having account cover on date of issuing

happy now?

Foreigners can have thai credit card in Phuket, thats what OP asked about

Yes, but perhaps the OP also required a credit card that was not secured with money in the bank. Which isn't really a credit card at all. You didn't mention anything about the likelihood of him actually being able to obtain credit, which he may have wanted to know.

Although a car loan is credit, it's also secured credit! The car being the security.

perhaps, even if he didnt say, so

as stated in my posts, BOT does not allow banks to grant foreigners (without Workpermit and tax receipts) unsecured credit in Thai banks/finance institutions

a Credit Card is a Credit Card, not a prepayed CC or Debet card, and is accepted as a CC by all businesses.

What security the Finance Institution requires to issue you a CC is another story

Rather easy to get a CC in LOS, rather difficult in most countries for a foreigner with no work or no incometaxes payed ever and no credit history or credit score

happy now?

[FritsSikkink]

From Thai banks

I have a Visa Gold Credit Card and an invoice is mailed to me each month which can be payed partly or in full, and have made a guarantee for it to be payed as required by BOT.

I also have a bunch of Debit cards (visa and mastercard) where money used is withdrawn from my accounts when used. Useless for airfare with most airlines, hotel bookings, rental cars etc

I also have car loan, which is credit.

and a check book, which is legal as credit as checks can be dated forward in LOS without having account cover on date of issuing

happy now?

Foreigners can have thai credit card in Phuket, thats what OP asked about

Yes, but perhaps the OP also required a credit card that was not secured with money in the bank. Which isn't really a credit card at all. You didn't mention anything about the likelihood of him actually being able to obtain credit, which he may have wanted to know.

Although a car loan is credit, it's also secured credit! The car being the security.

perhaps, even if he didnt say, so

as stated in my posts, BOT does not allow banks to grant foreigners (without Workpermit and tax receipts) unsecured credit in Thai banks/finance institutions

a Credit Card is a Credit Card, not a prepayed CC or Debet card, and is accepted as a CC by all businesses.

What security the Finance Institution requires to issue you a CC is another story

Rather easy to get a CC in LOS, rather difficult in most countries for a foreigner with no work or no incometaxes payed ever and no credit history or credit score

happy now?

Why the " happy now" twice?

[BangTaoBoy]

perhaps, even if he didnt say, so

as stated in my posts, BOT does not allow banks to grant foreigners (without Workpermit and tax receipts) unsecured credit in Thai banks/finance institutions

a Credit Card is a Credit Card, not a prepayed CC or Debet card, and is accepted as a CC by all businesses.

What security the Finance Institution requires to issue you a CC is another story

Rather easy to get a CC in LOS, rather difficult in most countries for a foreigner with no work or no incometaxes payed ever and no credit history or credit score

happy now?

Not quite!

You seem to be implying your credit card is not pre-payed, despite having to have a larger amount of money in the bank (frozen) than you are allowed to spend on the card. Which is the very definition of a pre paid card!

The pre paid credit card, like pay as you go mobiles, are a reletivley new concept. It was introduced for obvious reasons, to hit a wider target audience, as well as to tap in to the ever growing amount of people who had been blacklisted. As far as I'm concerned, it is not considered a 'normal' credit card. Yes, it is accepted by everyone as if it was a credit card, but so are debit cards, it's having the visa or mastercard sign on it that makes them usable. As I said before, the clue is in the name and the definition of the word 'credit'. It is not 'credit' if it is your money you are spending.

I just hought, that despite your very long post, which seemed to be more about your personal stuff, like bank balances than anything else, (I was conviced for a minute there, you were going to tell us your pin numbers ) that you didn't address the matter of actual credit, which may have been of interest to the OP.

No where in your first post did you say anything about BOT not allowing foreigners credit by the way!

[katabeachbum]

The pre paid credit card, like pay as you go mobiles, are a reletivley new concept. It was introduced for obvious reasons, to hit a wider target audience, as well as to tap in to the ever growing amount of people who had been blacklisted. As far as I'm concerned, it is not considered a 'normal' credit card. Yes, it is accepted by everyone as if it was a credit card, but so are debit cards, it's having the visa or mastercard sign on it that makes them usable. As I said before, the clue is in the name and the definition of the word 'credit'. It is not 'credit' if it is your money you are spending.

I am spending the credit cars companies money with my Credit Card, and the 10Th the next month I pay their Invoice partly or in full. Interest free credit is up to 45 days, if I choose to pay invoice partly an interest is charged on balance. As a security, there is a frozen amount in my savingsaccount in case I fail to pay the money I have borrowed with my Credit card, which would give me a bad Thai creditrating unabling me from financing a car again. So, not prepayed like my mobilephones, but payed when debt Invoiced.

If my Thai Debet cards had been accepted on par with my Thai Credit Card, I would not have bothered to have a Credit Card at all. But it doesnt, not to book hotels online, not to check in at high end hotels and not to rent a car from large companies, and not to pay online a 50k baht airfare with most airlines

Feel free to consider it what you want, but all businesses and Thai banks and creditrating bureas consider it a normal Credit Card, and having it actually improves my creditrating, as long as payed on time of course. In a credit rating it appears as debt, small debt always payed in time. A good first step to be able to finance a car without a Thai guarantor or Workpermit.

[katabeachbum]

No where in your first post did you say anything about BOT not allowing foreigners credit by the way!

I did not. And if I had, it would not have been correct.

Read all thread again, and you can see I said BOT does not allow Thai Banks/Financeinstitutions to grant UNSECURED credit to foreigners.

[BangTaoBoy]

You forgot to ask me If I was 'Happy Now'

[BangTaoBoy]

No where in your first post did you say anything about BOT not allowing foreigners credit by the way!

I did not. And if I had, it would not have been correct.

Read all thread again, and you can see I said BOT does not allow Thai Banks/Financeinstitutions to grant UNSECURED credit to foreigners.

I was paraphrasing. Obviously got your exact words wrong.

You may have said it somehwere in the thread. The point I was making, is you didn't say it in your first post, which is the one I replied to. You quoted it as if you had. You were too busy talking about yourself as always.

P.S I'm happy now, so I'll let it go.

Edited April 10, 2011 by BangTaoBoy

[WarpSpeed]

Bank of Ayudhya (yellow bank) issued me Credit Card. No work permit, never payed income tax in LOS.

Required part of my savings account locked as a reserve. 80 k baht locked provided Gold card with 64k baht credit. Whenever I need higher credit in card, I just make a depoist in creditcardaccount in any yellow branch. Works excellent

I have 8 years of banking with them, and cashflow of up to 20 million/year. A friend with only a couple million a year got it to.

For Thais they prefere income tax reciepts. My GF had never payed taxes when she applied, so they would only give her a 180k baht limit (Gold Card, no Platinum). Home Pro card, whic is run by the yellow bank. No security required. Shes had cash flow approx half of mine

Isn't what you have just described, essentialy a debit card (also known as a pre paid credit card) Surely the key word in credit card, is 'Credit'? Meaning borrowing money you don't have. So you have a credit card, but have no credit

Yes this is not necessarily a credit card in the common definition as it is referred to as, a "secured card" not a pre-paid card.

The difference of which also limits you to the amount deposited but is usually limited use to certain merchants.

But it is not a true credit card, it is a secured card with his deposit of funds and I might say a fair bit unbalanced as he should have gotten equal credit limit to his deposit amount.

Edited April 10, 2011 by WarpSpeed

[katabeachbum]

Bank of Ayudhya (yellow bank) issued me Credit Card. No work permit, never payed income tax in LOS.

Required part of my savings account locked as a reserve. 80 k baht locked provided Gold card with 64k baht credit. Whenever I need higher credit in card, I just make a depoist in creditcardaccount in any yellow branch. Works excellent

I have 8 years of banking with them, and cashflow of up to 20 million/year. A friend with only a couple million a year got it to.

For Thais they prefere income tax reciepts. My GF had never payed taxes when she applied, so they would only give her a 180k baht limit (Gold Card, no Platinum). Home Pro card, whic is run by the yellow bank. No security required. Shes had cash flow approx half of mine

Woohoo, Bangtaoboy happy now.

Had to go back to my first post advicing how to get Phuket Credit Card and how it is like to have it, as quoted above, to see how much I was talking about myself

[WarpSpeed]

From Thai banks

I have a Visa Gold Credit Card and an invoice is mailed to me each month which can be payed partly or in full, and have made a guarantee for it to be payed as required by BOT.

I also have a bunch of Debit cards (visa and mastercard) where money used is withdrawn from my accounts when used. Useless for airfare with most airlines, hotel bookings, rental cars etc

I also have car loan, which is credit.

and a check book, which is legal as credit as checks can be dated forward in LOS without having account cover on date of issuing

happy now?

Foreigners can have thai credit card in Phuket, thats what OP asked about

Yes, but perhaps the OP also required a credit card that was not secured with money in the bank. Which isn't really a credit card at all. You didn't mention anything about the likelihood of him actually being able to obtain credit, which he may have wanted to know.

Although a car loan is credit, it's also secured credit! The car being the security.

perhaps, even if he didnt say, so

as stated in my posts, BOT does not allow banks to grant foreigners (without Workpermit and tax receipts) unsecured credit in Thai banks/finance institutions

a Credit Card is a Credit Card, not a prepayed CC or Debet card, and is accepted as a CC by all businesses.

What security the Finance Institution requires to issue you a CC is another story

Rather easy to get a CC in LOS, rather difficult in most countries for a foreigner with no work or no incometaxes payed ever and no credit history or credit score

happy now?

Why the " happy now" twice?

Yes, bad day it seems...

[WarpSpeed]

The pre paid credit card, like pay as you go mobiles, are a reletivley new concept. It was introduced for obvious reasons, to hit a wider target audience, as well as to tap in to the ever growing amount of people who had been blacklisted. As far as I'm concerned, it is not considered a 'normal' credit card. Yes, it is accepted by everyone as if it was a credit card, but so are debit cards, it's having the visa or mastercard sign on it that makes them usable. As I said before, the clue is in the name and the definition of the word 'credit'. It is not 'credit' if it is your money you are spending.

I am spending the credit cars companies money with my Credit Card, and the 10Th the next month I pay their Invoice partly or in full. Interest free credit is up to 45 days, if I choose to pay invoice partly an interest is charged on balance. As a security, there is a frozen amount in my savingsaccount in case I fail to pay the money I have borrowed with my Credit card, which would give me a bad Thai creditrating unabling me from financing a car again. So, not prepayed like my mobilephones, but payed when debt Invoiced.

If my Thai Debet cards had been accepted on par with my Thai Credit Card, I would not have bothered to have a Credit Card at all. But it doesnt, not to book hotels online, not to check in at high end hotels and not to rent a car from large companies, and not to pay online a 50k baht airfare with most airlines

Feel free to consider it what you want, but all businesses and Thai banks and creditrating bureas consider it a normal Credit Card, and having it actually improves my creditrating, as long as payed on time of course. In a credit rating it appears as debt, small debt always payed in time. A good first step to be able to finance a car without a Thai guarantor or Workpermit.

The credit card company isn't taking any risk with you though as your money is securing your "credit". He is correct, it is not a "credit card" in the conventional sense of them issuing you unsecured credit and taking the chance you'll repay..Also weighs much heavier on your credit rating..

[katabeachbum]

The pre paid credit card, like pay as you go mobiles, are a reletivley new concept. It was introduced for obvious reasons, to hit a wider target audience, as well as to tap in to the ever growing amount of people who had been blacklisted. As far as I'm concerned, it is not considered a 'normal' credit card. Yes, it is accepted by everyone as if it was a credit card, but so are debit cards, it's having the visa or mastercard sign on it that makes them usable. As I said before, the clue is in the name and the definition of the word 'credit'. It is not 'credit' if it is your money you are spending.

I am spending the credit cars companies money with my Credit Card, and the 10Th the next month I pay their Invoice partly or in full. Interest free credit is up to 45 days, if I choose to pay invoice partly an interest is charged on balance. As a security, there is a frozen amount in my savingsaccount in case I fail to pay the money I have borrowed with my Credit card, which would give me a bad Thai creditrating unabling me from financing a car again. So, not prepayed like my mobilephones, but payed when debt Invoiced.

If my Thai Debet cards had been accepted on par with my Thai Credit Card, I would not have bothered to have a Credit Card at all. But it doesnt, not to book hotels online, not to check in at high end hotels and not to rent a car from large companies, and not to pay online a 50k baht airfare with most airlines

Feel free to consider it what you want, but all businesses and Thai banks and creditrating bureas consider it a normal Credit Card, and having it actually improves my creditrating, as long as payed on time of course. In a credit rating it appears as debt, small debt always payed in time. A good first step to be able to finance a car without a Thai guarantor or Workpermit.

The credit card company isn't taking any risk with you though as your money is securing your "credit". He is correct, it is not a "credit card" in the conventional sense of them issuing you unsecured credit and taking the chance you'll repay..Also weighs much heavier on your credit rating..

I am glad you both do not work at BOT, my banks or the Thai credit rating companies. There are members here who do, and I have learned a lot from their posts.

As for Thai credit rating there is no weighing or points as in Europe or US, it is pure debt and repayment history to be analyzed by lender. In addition lender consider your income, assets and cash flow in bank.

So Warp and BTB, what have you contributed with in this thread to help OP get a Phuket Credit card?

[WarpSpeed]

I tried to edit but got interrupted in the process, I wanted to include that not all businesses in Thailand accept credit cards either..

[WarpSpeed]

As for Thai credit rating there is no weighing or points as in Europe or US, it is pure debt and repayment history to be analyzed by lender. In addition lender consider your income, assets and cash flow in bank.

There most certainly is.

I've been helping my wife build hers ever since I got here and it's served to purchase a host of items both large and small and get her not one but 2 unsecured credit cards totaling more then your secured line by quite some amount..

As posted before she is not Thai either we are both foreigners and all of that is known to the banks we've applied to, no deception.. Yes she does have a work permit and pays taxes but still it is double jeopardy in our case being both foreigners it is certain her annual income is not comparable to the one you listed..

I got advice from an attorney too when I got here about visas and a host of other things but it was just a waste of money as everything they told us wasn't possible we've managed to accomplish with just the right amount of research and determination applied..So I have no clue who's providing you information but it seems they're not as well versed as you and they suspect..

[WarpSpeed]

I am glad you both do not work at BOT, my banks or the Thai credit rating companies. There are members here who do, and I have learned a lot from their posts.

As for Thai credit rating there is no weighing or points as in Europe or US, it is pure debt and repayment history to be analyzed by lender. In addition lender consider your income, assets and cash flow in bank.

So Warp and BTB, what have you contributed with in this thread to help OP get a Phuket Credit card?

I think what we've both contributed is debunking your inaccurate description and information regarding a secured line of credit versus an unsecured line of credit.

Since the OP does not distinguish but most likely it can be presumed he was speaking in terms of an unsecured credit card in which he has no need to produce a significant inaccessible deposit then both BTB and myself are accurate in our advice and information.

If on the other hand your presumption of him wanting an unsecured credit card then your information is irrefutable and no one has disputed that fact either..

Are you happy now???

[petercallen]

I have never worked in Thailand and never had a work permit

I have a retirement visa and had no trouble obtaining a credit card

I have a credit card with the SCB which works the same as a credit card anywhere and is excepted when a credit card is required for a transaction

I have a separate account and the bank holds the bankbook of this account as a security deposit against my CC

Debit cards are not excepted by a lot of businesses

[BangTaoBoy]

So Warp and BTB, what have you contributed with in this thread to help OP get a Phuket Credit card?

I just contributed my witt and charming personality, 'WarpSpeed' did all the clever stuff.