My Atm Card

[iano]

just wondering......i have an atm debit card it has maestro on it.....i never had a problem taking out my money in thailand but just say i did have a problem at the atm.......my bank said i could go to any thai bank with my card and passport and take my money out there......have any of you ever done this?

[nam-thip]

I have a UK Visa/debit card and withdrew money from a Thai bank without problem other than having a 150.000 baht limit per withdrawal.

As stated take your passport and debit card to a bank of your choice and withdraw money over the counter.

Just remember that not all Thai banks give the best exchange rates so shop around for the best rate.

I always used Krungsri bank or the yellow bank as we foreigners know it.

Try not to withdraw money out of an ATM instead withdraw it over the counter.

Withdrawing money via the ATM machine means you will be charged per transaction which can work out expensive whereas withdrawing a lump sum over the counter can save you money as it's regarded as a single transaction.

I once had a card with Maestro added and withdrew money in both Cambodia and the Philippines.

Plenty of ATM's accept Maestro.

[iano]

I have a UK Visa/debit card and withdrew money from a Thai bank without problem other than having a 150.000 baht limit per withdrawal.

As stated take your passport and debit card to a bank of your choice and withdraw money over the counter.

Just remember that not all Thai banks give the best exchange rates so shop around for the best rate.

I always used Krungsri bank or the yellow bank as we foreigners know it.

Try not to withdraw money out of an ATM instead withdraw it over the counter.

Withdrawing money via the ATM machine means you will be charged per transaction which can work out expensive whereas withdrawing a lump sum over the counter can save you money as it's regarded as a single transaction.

I once had a card with Maestro added and withdrew money in both Cambodia and the Philippines.

Plenty of ATM's accept Maestro.

nice one nam-thip for the info thats after making me feel better.....once i know i can go into a thai bank and acess my money if the atm was not working out for me

[Theo007]

No problem at all in using your visa card and passport to withdraw cash at a bank. Even some of the exchange booths offer this service.

[Gonsalviz]

I have a UK Visa/debit card and withdrew money from a Thai bank without problem other than having a 150.000 baht limit per withdrawal.

As stated take your passport and debit card to a bank of your choice and withdraw money over the counter.

Just remember that not all Thai banks give the best exchange rates so shop around for the best rate.

I always used Krungsri bank or the yellow bank as we foreigners know it.

Try not to withdraw money out of an ATM instead withdraw it over the counter.

Withdrawing money via the ATM machine means you will be charged per transaction which can work out expensive whereas withdrawing a lump sum over the counter can save you money as it's regarded as a single transaction.

I once had a card with Maestro added and withdrew money in both Cambodia and the Philippines.

Plenty of ATM's accept Maestro.

You will pay no matter how you withdraw money.

[iano]

im irish i have an AIB debit card anyone out there have the same card and are using it in thailand with no problems

[Semper]

I have a UK Visa/debit card and withdrew money from a Thai bank without problem other than having a 150.000 baht limit per withdrawal.

As stated take your passport and debit card to a bank of your choice and withdraw money over the counter.

Just remember that not all Thai banks give the best exchange rates so shop around for the best rate.

I always used Krungsri bank or the yellow bank as we foreigners know it.

Try not to withdraw money out of an ATM instead withdraw it over the counter.

Withdrawing money via the ATM machine means you will be charged per transaction which can work out expensive whereas withdrawing a lump sum over the counter can save you money as it's regarded as a single transaction.

I once had a card with Maestro added and withdrew money in both Cambodia and the Philippines.

Plenty of ATM's accept Maestro.

You will pay no matter how you withdraw money.

Yes that's the whole idea with plastic cards.

[smedly]

im irish i have an AIB debit card anyone out there have the same card and are using it in thailand with no problems

AIB is all but useless, the charge per transaction give very poor exchange rates and daily withdraw limit is something rediculous like 2000baht, it all amounts to a very very expensive way of doing things, get a moneybookers account and bin the AIB card, you can transfer your euro into MB account free

[jfchandler]

What the OP is asking about is commonly called a "counter withdrawal" in Thailand.

Many Thai bank branches will do these kinds of transactions, when the person provides their home country bank ATM card (usually with a VISA or MC logo) and their passport.

The advantage is counter withdrawals don't have a flat fee charge from the Thai bank, whereas Thai bank ATM withdrawals using a foreign card now carry the 150 baht flat withdrawal fee.

While counter withdrawals are a normal transaction and should work, there also are a couple of potential drawbacks with them:

1. While it is a normal transaction, some members here who have tried it report being told by their bank tellers to instead go out and use the nearby ATM. The tellers either don't want to be bothered handling the paperwork and/or they don't want to let you avoid the 150 baht ATM fee. If that should occur, a person should just try a different nearby bank branch.

2. The counter withdrawals usually will be handled using the bank's own buying TT exchange rate, which vary from bank to bank, whereas ATM withdrawals typically are handled using the somewhat better and standardized VISA or MC network exchange rates.

3. Some banks like Siam Commercial also have been reported to have very high counter withdrawal limits, but they then turn around and charge an especially low exchange rate on them (below buying TT) using a method called Dynamic Currency Conversion (DCC).

4. When doing counter withdrawals, you have to be carrying around your passport and the small risk that you might lose it...which would create a major hassle.

BTW, if a person's home country bank charges any foreign currency transaction charge, either a flat fee and/or a percentage fee, those likely would apply the same whether using a foreign ATM or doing a foreign counter withdrawal.

Edited August 19, 2011 by jfchandler

[nam-thip]

I have a 10000 baht per day limit using my visa/debit card at a Thai ATM to withdraw money from my UK bank account. Each time i make an ATM withdrawal i'm charged £4.50 and that's per withdrawal!!

If i make Multi ATM withdrawals then every withdrawal is charged at £4.50 by my UK bank, that works out expensive!!

A single withdrawal up to and including 150000 baht over the counter carries a one off charge of £4.50 making this method far cheaper.

Either method carries the usual visa per cent fees but the saving from not having to pay multiple £4.50 makes this the best way for me.

I always transfer the money in pounds sterling to get the best rate available.

Edited August 19, 2011 by nam-thip

[bifftastic]

Just curious, but when you make an over the counter withdrawal, how do they check that the funds are actually available?

I mean, when you use the ATM the system checks your available balance. How is this done at the counter? Do the staff access your account in the same way the ATM does?

[jfchandler]

I'm not a banker, but it sounds from member reports like there are two ways involved...

One, the tellers run your card thru some kind of machine at their counter, and it immediately pulls the funds from your account, presumably just like would be the case if you were using the card to make a purchase.

Second, they seem to use some kind of paper based processing system that usually takes a couple days before the debit is charged against your account... Not sure how availability of funds is verified in that case.

However, I'd doubt the Thai banks have the practice of dolling out funds without somehow knowing they're available in your account.

[jfchandler]

A single withdrawal up to and including 150000 baht over the counter carries a one off charge of £4.50 making this method far cheaper.

Either method carries the usual visa per cent fees but the saving from not having to pay multiple £4.50 makes this the best way for me.

Despite the demise of Nationwide BS as a fee free option for UK folks, there still are a couple of different UK banks and building societies that offer accounts that have no foreign currency fees when using their debit cards abroad...

Most of the larger U.S. banks also have gone to a standard 3% foreign currency charge or higher... But that doesn't mean we have to patronize them or that there aren't much better options available.

[bifftastic]

Thanks jfc, maybe they have some kind of guarantee system for the paper based transactions so that your account would go overdrawn if the funds weren't available?

Anyway, maybe a banker will be able to tell us

As for withdrawal fees from the UK bank, Halifax charge me £1.50 each time, daily limit is the same as it is in the UK (from an ATM) of £300, add the 150 baht to that and it's the £4.50 as posted above, depending on the exchange rate of course, which is a bit of a bugger to work out exactly sometimes. When it was 50 to the pound it was straightforward, when it's 48.79 or whatever, it can take a few attempts before you get access to your funds!

Now I'm using the Bangkok Bank bualuang ibanking, transferred some money the other day and it took about 8 hours to arrive in the Thai bank, which was pretty cool I thought, and worth the £9.50 charge

[smedly]

I find mastercard have superb exchange rate right from an ATM which is why I have a FairFX card and ditched my nationwide card when they started charging, moneybookers is similar - can't fault either of them and AEON are still free - no 150 ATM robery

[jfchandler]

I have a hard enough time keeping track of U.S. banking...which is my home turf, apart from the foreign goings on in the U.K.

But for my Brit brethren here, the U.K. bank I was thinking of that offers no foreign currency fee accounts is Metro Bank based in London and their current account.

http://uk.reuters.co...E76M3KG20110723

The last time I got into this in detail a couple months back with other Brits here, I seem to recall there also were still two other building societies that had no foreign currency fee accounts... But unlike Metro Bank, to open an account with them, you had to live or have your residence address within their particular service areas... which weren't country-wide.

As for Metro Bank, from their current account terms and conditions:

MasterCard®* / LINK Debit card allows access to ATMs and the purchase of goods and services wherever the MasterCard logo is shown. Withdrawals from Metro Bank ATMs are free. Some cash machine operators may apply a direct charge for withdrawals from their cash machines and this will be advised on screen at the time of withdrawal. If you make a debit card payment in a foreign currency, we will change the amount of the transaction to sterling on the date we pay it out of your account using the rate for the transaction which is set and provided to us by MasterCard.

https://www.metroban...t%20Account.pdf

And further from Metro Bank's website:

16.7 If you make a debit card payment in a foreign currency

from one of your accounts, we will change the amount

of the transaction to sterling on the date we pay it out of

your account using the rate for the transaction which is

set and provided to us by MasterCard. MasterCard’s rates

generally reflect either wholesale market rates or rates set by

government bodies which are collected by MasterCard as part

of its daily rate setting process. Please call us if you would like

to find out the rate set and provided to us by MasterCard for

any particular day.

There was a prior TV thread some months back that went into all these details and fleshed out the particular requirements and pros and cons of each of these no foreign currency fee UK banking options.

Edited August 20, 2011 by jfchandler

[jfchandler]

I find mastercard have superb exchange rate right from an ATM which is why I have a FairFX card and ditched my nationwide card when they started charging, moneybookers is similar - can't fault either of them and AEON are still free - no 150 ATM robery

FWIW, we've done a lot of testing and research on this from the American side re the difference between using VISA and MasterCard logo debit cards for ATM withdrawals abroad...

And we've pretty conclusively established that when you go to withdraw funds from an ATM in Thailand, VISA/PLUS logo cards pretty much always yield a slightly better exchange rate that MasterCard/Cirrus cards... all other things being equal.

As we've explained before, when you use a foreign ATM card in a Thai bank ATM, the exchange rate normally is being set by the international card network (VISA or MC) and not by the local Thai bank or by your home country bank. The rates yielded are those set by the two major card networks, and for whatever reasons, MasterCard's rates are invariably lower than VISA's for international exchange.

Now remember, I also did say... all other things being equal... So for instance, someone might have a home country card where the home country bank adds on its own higher surcharges, and maybe that happens to be a VISA logo card. So in that case, the home country bank could be erasing the native advantage a VISA card would have. But if your home country bank isn't tacking on its own surcharges, VISA logo cards normally will yield a better rate vs. MasterCard.

[Jiu-Jitsu]

I have a hard enough time keeping track of U.S. banking...which is my home turf, apart from the foreign goings on in the U.K.

But for my Brit brethren here, the U.K. bank I was thinking of that offers no foreign currency fee accounts is Metro Bank based in London and their current account.

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2011/07/23/uk-metro-bank-idUKTRE76M3KG20110723

The last time I got into this in detail a couple months back with other Brits here, I seem to recall there also were still two other building societies that had no foreign currency fee accounts... But unlike Metro Bank, to open an account with them, you had to live or have your residence address within their particular service areas... which weren't country-wide.

As for Metro Bank, from their current account terms and conditions:

MasterCard®* / LINK Debit card allows access to ATMs and the purchase of goods and services wherever the MasterCard logo is shown. Withdrawals from Metro Bank ATMs are free. Some cash machine operators may apply a direct charge for withdrawals from their cash machines and this will be advised on screen at the time of withdrawal. If you make a debit card payment in a foreign currency, we will change the amount of the transaction to sterling on the date we pay it out of your account using the rate for the transaction which is set and provided to us by MasterCard.

https://www.metrobankonline.co.uk/Global/Important%20Summaries/IIS%20Current%20Account.pdf

There was a prior TV thread some months back that went into all these details and fleshed out the particular requirements and pros and cons of each of these no foreign currency fee UK banking options.

I recall that we had a conversation about this.

Indeed Metro Bank have both a Debit card and Credit card ideal for overseas spending. Use the CC for purchases and the DC for cash withdrawals.

The other two of which you write are N&P with their Gold Classic and Gold Light accounts and the Cumberland Building Society. The N&P doesn't require to live within any particular service area, though the Cumberland does.

There are also a few CC options, including Metro Bank, Halifax Clarity and Santander Zero. Others with provisos are Saga Card, Sainsburys Gold and the Post Office Mastercard.

The are also Prepaid options where the ATM withdrawal costs can be reduced to 0.99% of the Mastercard exchange rate and the purchase rate to nil of the exchange rate.

So still a fair amount of choice out there.

[jfchandler]

Thanks for pulling up the other details of that prior exchange... JJ...

Indeed, I think we know enough to clearly say that no Brit should have to feel that they have no other choice but to pay a 4+ pounds fee to their home country bank every time they need to make an ATM withdrawal abroad. There are no fee choices available out there in various flavors...notwithstanding the demise of Nationwide.

[Jiu-Jitsu]

Thanks for pulling up the other details of that prior exchange... JJ...

Indeed, I think we know enough to clearly say that no Brit should have to feel that they have no other choice but to pay a 4+ pounds fee to their home country bank every time they need to make an ATM withdrawal abroad. There are no fee choices available out there in various flavors...notwithstanding the demise of Nationwide.

There is a possibility that some of the Thai banks may be using DCC or similar when withdrawing via ATM, but not enough evidence has been collected in order to build a clear picture.

Since I don't need to use any of those ATMs, it is not possible for me to check the information that I have been given.

[jfchandler]

From what evidence I've seen, there are some Thai banks whose ATMs do TRY to use Dynamic Currency Conversion, which translates into, their own local and especially low exchange rate.

But from what I've seen, it's usually presented as an option on the ATM screen... not as a take it or leave it requirement... along with some explanation about having the opportunity to know exactly what your exchange rate will be... Unfortunately, the Thai bank ATM screen messages don't tell you that their DCC rate will be lower than if you say NO to any DCC offer.

As I recall, DCC originally surfaced particularly with Bank of Ayudhya ATMs, but only when MasterCard logo foreign cards were used (not VISA) and only for certain home country currencies, including U.S. $ and either Euros or Pounds (but not both, and I can't remember which... I think only for Euro-based accounts). At that time, I don't believe VISA was allowing DCC for ATM transactions.... but I'm not our resident expert on this... Jim Gant is...

The bottom line is... if anyone ever encounters a DCC offer when using a Thai bank ATM, just decline and go down the block and use a different Thai bank's ATM. You'll be saving your own money. Or better yet, find an AEON ATM and use that, so you won't have any DCC and won't have any 150 baht withdrawal fee either.

[Tolley]

I have an Australian debit mastercard and I can tell you I use it very very sparingly because it costs an arm and a leg to withdraw money.

First there is the fee from the Australian side for using a foreign ATM and then there is a fee from the Thai side which can be anything between 7-15 dollars a pop plus whatever the foreign currency conversion fee is.

I worked out that it was around 6 percent minimum charge on every transaction.

If you go to Thailand a lot you might be better off opening a Thai bank account and transferring the money into that account or use travellers cheques or cash.

[jfchandler]

Three comments re the above post...

1. The Thai banks' fee for foreign card ATM withdrawals does not vary. It's uniformly 150 baht per withdrawal, regardless of the withdrawal amount. AEON is not a Thai bank, thus that's why it's ATM machines in Thailand are fee-free.

2. If you're getting reamed by your home country bank, the solution isn't to start using traveler's cheques...but rather....to get a new home country bank and bank card that doesn't charge exhorbitant fees for foreign ATM withdrawals. And at least use that card and account when outside Aus.

3. If you don't like paying the 150 baht Thai bank ATM withdrawal fee, find and use an AEON ATM and pay absolutely no fee (on the Thai end).

[Tolley]

Three comments re the above post...

1. The Thai banks' fee for foreign card ATM withdrawals does not vary. It's uniformly 150 baht per withdrawal, regardless of the withdrawal amount. AEON is not a Thai bank, thus that's why it's ATM machines in Thailand are fee-free.

2. If you're getting reamed by your home country bank, the solution isn't to start using traveler's cheques...but rather....to get a new home country bank and bank card that doesn't charge exhorbitant fees for foreign ATM withdrawals. And at least use that card and account when outside Aus.

3. If you don't like paying the 150 baht Thai bank ATM withdrawal fee, find and use an AEON ATM and pay absolutely no fee (on the Thai end).

Here is an extract from my bank statement

26/04/2011 Wdl ATM PATTAYA KLANG BRANCH 1 CHONBURI THA

THB16150.00 $509.29 $424.98 CR

26/04/2011 International ATM Withdrawal Fee $24.06

Not sure what that fee is made up of but it is pretty steep as you can see.

Not much choice with cards here in Oz.

Travellers cheques are way more cost effective if a little bit of a hassle.

[smedly]

for my visa debit card my bank sets the exchange rate not visa or they add their cut, either way a bank issued visa debit card may not be quite straigh forward in terms of charges, when I use my visa debit card the exchange transaction is calculated on my current account and the banks exchange rate

[jfchandler]

I think what's actually occurring behind the scenes, and this is not at all uncommon, is that the actual international exchange is being done at the VISA or MC network rate, and then your bank is piling on by taking their own cut of the proceeds.

Your bank likely never reports to you what the card network rate was... They just show you what your end result rate was, reflecting the underlying card network exchange rate and then your bank's take on top of it.

That's why it's important for consumers, regardless of the country, to be aware of what the foreign currency fee policies and surcharges are of their individual banks and cards. That's where the variations in exchange rate are going to occur... not in the MC or VISA card network rates.

Generally speaking, the two big card networks charge up to about a 1% processing fee on foreign exchanges that they reflect in their exchange rate behind the scenes. Some banks don't pass that charge along to their customers. Some banks do pass that charge along, but don't add any additional take of their own. And some banks, the worst, pass along the card networks fee and then add on their own local fee/cut on top of it.

Ideally, you want a bank that absorbs the card networks' fee and then doesn't charge any mark-up of their own. Those kinds of accounts are getting increasingly harder to find, though there are some... But I can't speak to whether any such opportunities exist in the Australian banking realm.