Banking For Americans In Thailand 101

[Pib]

Read Penfed reviews at creditkarma.com

I'm sure there are plenty of negative reviews just like for most banks. But one thing I noticed in a lot of reviews, many times it's just a case of customer error or misunderstanding. Kinda like some reviews people give on computer hardware they buy from an online store....you can tell from the review the customer probably had the IQ of a watermelon, couldn't get to computer item to work due to their own lack of knowledge (probably can't change a light bulb), but then do a review making it sound like the item was defective when it wasn't.

But with that being said, some of PenFed's ibanking rules rub me the wrong way, but I can't argue they still provide no foreign transaction fee and no cash advance fee credit cards with rewards programs, low interest rates, and no annual fee.

Edit: just reviewed the credit union ratings on the Credit Karma web site (they had 523 credit unions reviewed) and the great majority scored one 2 or 3 stars on a 5 star scale....PenFed had a 2.7 star rating based on 88 reviews. And the majority of the highest rated credit unions was usually around a 4 star rating but in many cases that was based on just a couple of reviews (too few reviews to base an opinion) and for credit unions that were small & served a very limited population. Seems the majority of Credit Karma reviews were for folks bitching about a loan, credit card, debit card, or numerous other banking services...and I think some of them probably fit the description of an having the IQ of a watermelon. Unfortunately, a lot websites just end up drawing negatives reviews because people want to vent their frustration...plus, most folks who are satisfied with a service/product don't post any review....that's why I take many reviews with a big grain of salt and try to figure if the reviews are made by watermelons or not.

Edited February 4, 2015 by Pib

[grin]

Pib, thanks for the PenFed advance payment tip. I probably would have never tried that.

Grin

[2fishin2]

Ive been with Pentagon for 31 years. That should say something.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

fyi, I've been reading about a U.S. Tax Court ruling that has the potential to create tax headaches for folks who have multiple maturing CDs in traditional or Roth IRA accounts.

https://www.depositaccounts.com/blog/ira-rollover-rules.html

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/how-to-beat-new-ira-rollover-rules-2014-02-18

The United States Tax Court recently ruled that you can only do one tax-free IRA rollover a year (365 day period) even if you have several IRAs. The new decision flies in the face of long-standing IRS guidance that says the one-IRA-rollover-per-year limitation simply means you can’t use the same IRA for more than one rollover in any one-year period.

One thing to say upfront: this new rule/limit and interpretation doesn't apply to direct broker to broker/trustee movements. So you can still roll over IRA accounts by moving them from one brokerage house to another one or within the same brokerage -- just so long as you never receive the funds directly yourself.

But the issue is, from what I'm reading here, is that a lot of banks (as opposed to brokerages) have the practice of automatically paying the maturing CD balance to the account holder upon maturity. And if that happens in one instance, that counts as your one non-direct rollover for the year. And any other maturing IRA CDs that subsequently matured and were paid out in the same year would count as taxable distributions.

In the past, the owner could roll it over within 60 days to a new IRA or the same IRA without issue. "If you do this twice in a year, then one of those mature CDs will not be able to go back into your IRA. This could cause you to lose the tax benefits of the IRA, as you will owe taxes today and won’t be able to get that money back into the IRA for retirement. Failing to pay attention to this rule could cause you to lose a large portion of your IRA to taxes and lose the ability for future tax deferred investment growth inside of your IRA."

"If Mrs. Taxpayer wants to consolidate her five CD IRAs into one IRA and she cashes the CDs and has checks issued to her and then re deposits them, this would violate the rollover rule. All of those excess transfers would be 100% taxable within the year and it will catch many people off guard and require a huge tax liability come next April," says Pat Simasko, an elder law attorney and founder of Simasko Law.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

fyi... a good summary on the limits and issues associated with the coming conversion of U.S. bank card to the "chipped" variety:

https://www.depositaccounts.com/blog/chip-cards-cure-credit-card-fraud.html

Is it safe to sleep at night?

There is no such thing as 100% safe. Furthermore, since most of the chip credit cards issued in the U.S. will be chip and signature, versus chip and PIN, the second layer of PIN security will be non-existent, which could potentially leave lost or stolen cards open to fraudulent activity, says Mast.

While chip cards will be helpful over time in the fight against fraud and generate substantial expensive saving, "They are by no means a panacea," says Trevor Knott, vice president of service at Saylent.

As long as cards continue to include the magnetic stripe, banks and retailers need to continue to invest in anti-skimming technologies to protect consumer data and their financial interests, points out Owen Wild, global marketing director for Security at NCR.

Although the new EMV chip credit cards will likely reduce credit card fraud at brick and mortar stores, it is likely that online credit card fraud will dramatically increase, as was the experience in the United Kingdom, where online credit card fraud went up 79% in the three years following the switch to EMV chip credit cards, reports attorney Steven J.J. Weisman.

Chip cards are not better at protecting individuals against card-not-present (CNP) fraud, says Robert Harrow, a research analyst with Value Penguin. "This is the type of fraud that occurs when thieves use the card online, or in other ways where they are not required to present the physical card to a merchant – instead simply giving the number and its security code. CNP fraud is on the rise globally, including the U.S. Unfortunately, this new technology doesn’t do anything to combat it."

Expect too, to wait longer in checkout lines at the terminals when using your credit cards, due to the extra time to process the information on the card through the EMV chip. "From a consumer standpoint to stand there for an extra minute is probably a little annoying," says Justin Friedberg, co-founder of Match Point Payment Solutions.

Mostly, experts are confident that the transition to chip cards, "will choke a lot of life out of card fraudsters," says security expert Robert Siciliano. But it won’t come cheap, the transition is expected to cost about $8 billion, if done correctly, he says. And, the "roll-out phase" won’t happen overnight either."

[Pib]

Expect too, to wait longer in checkout lines at the terminals when using your credit cards, due to the extra time to process the information on the card through the EMV chip. "From a consumer standpoint to stand there for an extra minute is probably a little annoying," says Justin Friedberg, co-founder of Match Point Payment Solutions.

Extra minute? I don't know how they come with it taking anymore time. Now they stick the chipped card into the POS machine...the receipt for signature prints out in just a few seconds. In fact it may take less time that using the magnetic stripe because their is no lost time in swiping the card the wrong way, too slow, too fast, etc.

But yea, chipped cards just help to reduce some portions of card fraud....but a chipped card is by no means the cure-all to card fraud.,.it's just an improvement.

[Langsuan Man]

Walmart in the US just started making you use the "chip reader" that is located in a slot under the machine if you have a chipped card and the process is much slower than the side slide method since you have to read the machine's display and not remove your card until directed to or the transaction will be voided and you have to start all over again

[Pib]

They probably make it complicated for some customers by requiring them to push the OK button to agree with the amount displayed....that can be a mental challenge for some...and then I guess a bunch of folks' eye sight ain't good enough to read the display...or they must pull out their reading glasses....and then some folks are just mentally challenged on the simplest questions. I expect the Thai store cashier is answering the display question(s) they make the customer answer at Walmart...and they know not to remove the card before the transaction is completed since they do in many times per day.

I just know here in Thailand like at Lotus, PTT fuel station, etc., they stick my U.S. chipped credit into the POS machine...the cashier does not push any buttons... and about 2 to 5 seconds later a receipt for signature is printing out...I signed it...done. Works the same with swiping the card. At other places like at Foodland the cashier quickly pushes an extra button or two...probably responding to what the display is asking before the receipt for signature prints out. Guess it all depends on how each merchant sets up their POS machine such as does it default to DCC if a foreign card or not...does the cashier have to select certain things...and how in interfaces with the cashier machine..

Does not take any longer than swiping the card...and there are some times the person has to reswipe because the first swipe just didn't take...maybe done too fast or too slow. But with the chip, just slide it in.

I expect once folks get use to use chipped cards and pushing a few POS machines buttons the process will speed up.