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[Daveroc]

For the record, be aware there are two limits. One for ATM cash withdrawals and one for spending. As such you may have a spending limit of 100,000 baht per day to make purchases and a cash withdrawal limit of 50,000 baht per day. Collectively 150,000 baht per day. Adjustments to limits can be made by calling the Banks call centres.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

For the record, be aware there are two limits. One for ATM cash withdrawals and one for spending. As such you may have a spending limit of 100,000 baht per day to make purchases and a cash withdrawal limit of 50,000 baht per day. Collectively 150,000 baht per day. Adjustments to limits can be made by calling the Banks call centres.

Yes, that's right. In the past, various banks offered either a straight ATM card, that only could be used for ATM withdrawals but not point of sale purchases, and then a so-called debit card, usually with VISA or MC logo, that could be used for ATM withdrawals and purchases...

I believe some banks still do offer ATM only cards. But at least in the case of BKK Bank, I just noticed, it seems they have discontinued their straight ATM card, and now are only issuing the debit cards....

How can I get my card reissued?

We are no longer reissuing Bualuang ATM and Bualuang Premier cards, the Be1st debit card is now our all in one card allowing you to use it as a both a debit and ATM card.

http://www.bangkokbank.com/Bangkok%20Bank/Personal%20Banking/Be1st%20and%20ATM%20Cards/Pages/ATM_Bualuang_FAQ.aspx

[JimGant]

I believe some banks still do offer ATM only cards. But at least in the case of BKK Bank, I just noticed, it seems they have discontinued their straight ATM card, and now are only issuing the debit cards....

Right. Because, as previously posted, you can neuter the "swipe" aspect of your ATM/Debit card, by setting the POS limit to zero. Thus, you essentially have just a pin-mode ATM card.

If you could get a credit card, why on earth would you even want a debit card? As mentioned, with fraud and a credit card, there's no two-week wait -- if you're lucky -- to have your bank account replenished (and, of course, it's during those two weeks when your automatic debits for utilities, etc would bounce).

And, having your credit card account automatically paid from your checking account, what's the diff between that and a debit card? (At today's interest rates, I won't dare mention the nearly two-month 'float' possible between expenditure and payment dates...).

And, in the rare situation where you actually need a quick loan, why, gee whiz, the 'credit' in credit card comes to life. (Never happened to me, but nice to know I have the option -- covered in time enough from investment sales to preclude having to pay interest on the 'loan.')

USAA gives 1% cash back on its credit card purchases. Used to give one/half percent back on debit card purchases. Now, it's nothing on debit card purchase -- due to the new 'swipe fee' law relative only to debit cards.

No, debit cards suck (unless, they're your only alternative).

Now, does anyone know if I can set my Schwab ATM/Debit card POS limit to zero? They wouldn't get very rich cleaning this account out, as I only ACH enough into it to cover impending ATM transactions in Thailand. However, the Bangkok Bank method of zero POS limit makes good sense, and certainly others do the same thing....

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

Right. Because, as previously posted, you can neuter the "swipe" aspect of your ATM/Debit card, by setting the POS limit to zero. Thus, you essentially have just a pin-mode ATM card.

Now, does anyone know if I can set my Schwab ATM/Debit card POS limit to zero?

Well Jim, let's make up your mind here... Either you know you can.... Or you don't know you can... Maybe you should have asked first!

For me, I've never yet tried setting my POS to $0... but it's an interesting idea for those who either don't plan to use the card for POS or are paranoid about card security.

No, debit cards suck (unless, they're your only alternative).

Hmm... I would counter, debit cards didn't suck for the past couple years when I was getting 5%, then 4%, then 3% even now FDIC insured on a variety of Rewards Checking Accounts linked to debit cards and their regular use.... at the same time general bank interest rates were 3%, then 2% and now 1%.... so, essentially, pretty much a prevailing 2% interest rate advantage all through the plunge in market interest rates.

However, I have a bunch of funds coming free soon, and the best I can probably do with RCAs is about 3% right now...and even those aren't easy to find or keep... So I may be down to keeping 1 or 2 RCA accounts in the 3 to 4% range... and finding a different home for the remainder.

I will say, fortunately, in the past 3 years of pretty much constant use, I never had any merchant fraud on any of my cards. And the only bad experience I had was having my wallet swiped once and one debit card run up to its daily POS limit.... And my U.S. bank ended up refunding all of my funds -- didn't lose a dime -- within about two weeks from the original theft, because I had reported the theft almost immediately.

BTW...on a side note, I happened to be at two different hospitals in the past couple days...one visit for me and a different one for my wife.... At St. Louis, the cashier rang up the bill in U.S. $ on DCC, and I had to direct her to void that and re-ring it in baht... At Bumrungrad, the cashier actually asked me first whether I wanted my card charged in USD or baht... and I happily and politely responded.... baht!

'

[JimGant]

Well Jim, let's make up your mind here... Either you know you can.... Or you don't know you can... Maybe you should have asked first!

Yeah, I probably should have asked. Meanwhile, I know I can neuter my Bangkok Bank ATM/Debit card. Don't know about Schwab, however -- as I was more interested in the fee structure when used in ATMs overseas -- than in any security measures against the 'swipe' feature. Many on this forum have Schwab cards, so hopefully I can get an easy answer. Otherwise, I'll have to uncradle the phone.

The debit card RCA feature. You got me there. I thought only JFChandler knew about that. Now there are two of you to shoot holes in my tirade against debit cards. Sigh.

[inthepink]

Chip and Pin what on earth could that be? Sounds like more work, forget that one then. Security thats a nice word but what does it mean, I look after myself and you look after yourself? I have not got time to look after your security and I am tired and its nearly time to go home. What does dilligent mean in Thailand do you think?

Which is EXACTLY the reason Thailand will remain a third world country indefinately.

Because they don't have chip and PIN?? (By the way, third world is an inaccurate and out of date label, regardless of the topic being discussed)

[Pib]

Chip and Pin what on earth could that be? Sounds like more work, forget that one then. Security thats a nice word but what does it mean, I look after myself and you look after yourself? I have not got time to look after your security and I am tired and its nearly time to go home. What does dilligent mean in Thailand do you think?

Which is EXACTLY the reason Thailand will remain a third world country indefinately.

Because they don't have chip and PIN?? (By the way, third world is an inaccurate and out of date label, regardless of the topic being discussed)

Actually it's quite common for Thai bank credit cards to have Chips and you can get a Bangkok Bank debit card that uses a Chip instead of a magnetic strip (it's called the Be1st Smart Debit Card). Unfortunately, for credit card and debit card point of sales in Thailand they don't do the PIN thing....just the Signature thing without verifying the signature against other ID. Now the Bangkok Bank Be1st Smart Debit Card still requires you to enter a PIN when using it in an ATM.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

Pib, I know the newer BKKB Be1st cards allow you to choose that feature.... But I'm not sure how many, if any, other of the Thai banks have gone down that road, as yet...

The other drawback about the chipped BKKB card, as I recall, is that you wouldn't necessarily be able to use it elsewhere... I seem to recall, for example, the BKKB staff telling me at one point that their chipped card would NOT work in other Thai banks' ATM machines, as well as not in the U.S. for certain things....

[Pib]

Pib, I know the newer BKKB Be1st cards allow you to choose that feature.... But I'm not sure how many, if any, other of the Thai banks have gone down that road, as yet...

The other drawback about the chipped BKKB card, as I recall, is that you wouldn't necessarily be able to use it elsewhere... I seem to recall, for example, the BKKB staff telling me at one point that their chipped card would NOT work in other Thai banks' ATM machines, as well as not in the U.S. for certain things....

You are absolutely right. As of a few months ago I read Bangkok Bank had about 90% of its ATMs modified to accept the Chip debit cards...maybe close to all by now.. All Point of Sale devices can accept Chip credit or debit cards. And yes, I don't thing they are any other Thai banks using Chip debit cards yet, nor are their ATM modified for them. When I replaced my Bangkok Bank debit card a few months ago I opted for the plain ol' magnetic strip version so I could use it in any Thai bank ATM.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

Ditto for me...

I don't keep any sizable balance in the BKKB account, so I don't really have security worries there...

But after I heard the explanation of what I could and couldn't do with the new BKKB chip card, and where it could and couldn't be used, I opted to keep my existing magnetic strip card.... fully aware of its inherent risks.

However, if I was keeping any significant amount of funds in the BKK Bank card-linked account, I might have made a different decision.

[inthepink]

Chip and Pin what on earth could that be? Sounds like more work, forget that one then. Security thats a nice word but what does it mean, I look after myself and you look after yourself? I have not got time to look after your security and I am tired and its nearly time to go home. What does dilligent mean in Thailand do you think?

Which is EXACTLY the reason Thailand will remain a third world country indefinately.

Because they don't have chip and PIN?? (By the way, third world is an inaccurate and out of date label, regardless of the topic being discussed)

Actually it's quite common for Thai bank credit cards to have Chips and you can get a Bangkok Bank debit card that uses a Chip instead of a magnetic strip (it's called the Be1st Smart Debit Card). Unfortunately, for credit card and debit card point of sales in Thailand they don't do the PIN thing....just the Signature thing without verifying the signature against other ID. Now the Bangkok Bank Be1st Smart Debit Card still requires you to enter a PIN when using it in an ATM.

They do the PIN thing at some places in Thailand (Tesco and Central outlets for example). They don't use Chip and PIN in the USA as far as I know though - does that make it a "third world country" in Chivas' opinion?

Edited September 6, 2011 by inthepink

[Pib]

They do the PIN thing at some places in Thailand (Tesco and Central outlets for example). They don't use Chip and PIN in the USA as far as I know though - does that make it a "third world country" in Chivas' opinion?

I don't shop at Central because its too expensive but I shop at Tesco Lotus a lot. Have been behind many people in the Lotus checkout line paying with credit and debit cards but I have never seen anyone use a PIN code...instead a signature is used. In fact, in all the Thai stores where I buy stuff the credit card/debit card Point of Sale machine is kept next to the cashier machine away from the customer and only operated by the checkout clerk. So, I'm not sure how a customer would enter a PIN in that case as I've also never seen a Thai cashier move the POS machine to a customer to enter a PIN...usually the POS machine is on a short hookup cable and can only be moved around the cashier machine a little. But hey, lots of stores in Thailand and I haven't shopped in all of them.

But in the States use of the Chip type card is not used very much....the magnetic strip cards still rules. But use of the PIN along with the magnetic strip card is very common in the States and that's why the POS machines are usually right where the customer can swipe their own card and enter their PIN.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

Ditto on what Pib says above...

I've shopped here for years, and often shop at Tesco stores... I've never seen anyone there have the opportunity to enter a PIN number on the keypad as part of a debit or credit card transaction... It's always swipe and sign...

I can't recall ever being asked to do otherwise in Thailand... anywhere...

[inthepink]

They do the PIN thing at some places in Thailand (Tesco and Central outlets for example). They don't use Chip and PIN in the USA as far as I know though - does that make it a "third world country" in Chivas' opinion?

I don't shop at Central because its too expensive but I shop at Tesco Lotus a lot. Have been behind many people in the Lotus checkout line paying with credit and debit cards but I have never seen anyone use a PIN code...instead a signature is used. In fact, in all the Thai stores where I buy stuff the credit card/debit card Point of Sale machine is kept next to the cashier machine away from the customer and only operated by the checkout clerk. So, I'm not sure how a customer would enter a PIN in that case as I've also never seen a Thai cashier move the POS machine to a customer to enter a PIN...usually the POS machine is on a short hookup cable and can only be moved around the cashier machine a little. But hey, lots of stores in Thailand and I haven't shopped in all of them.

But in the States use of the Chip type card is not used very much....the magnetic strip cards still rules. But use of the PIN along with the magnetic strip card is very common in the States and that's why the POS machines are usually right where the customer can swipe their own card and enter their PIN.

Yes, the POS machine was on a short cable and it wasn't moved (very far) for me. I had to lean over and do it while they pulled it as near to me as possible. I'm not 100% sure it was a Tesco store though, I only remember that I was buying groceries. Central I'm sure about as I was in the perfume / watches / beauty products etcetera section and I had to go to the till each time I made a purchase. The other time I remember was a clothing store in a Central mall but I had to tell the girl how to do it - she thought my credit card had been rejected but actually it was because she tried to bypass the PIN request.

@TallJohn I don't think the length of time that we've been shopping in Thailand is relevant - it's probably a fairly recent introduction. However, my old card wasn't a Chip and PIN so I'm not sure exactly when they started using machines that accepted these cards. Also, as I mentioned above, I'm not absolutely sure it was a Tesco, but by a process of elimination that's what I think it was.

Edited September 8, 2011 by inthepink