Thai Immigration Bureau to take e-payments

BANGKOK: -- Foreigners who have to pay fees or fines to the Immigration Bureau can pay by ATM, credit or debit cards starting this Sunday, the bureau has announced. Only cash payments are accepted currently.

Immigration bureau chief Pol Lt Gen Phanu Kerdlarpphol said the bureau would be the first unit of the Royal Thai Police to introduce electronic means of fees and fines payments.

Each year, the bureau's offices in Bangkok collect close to 800 million baht in revenue from fines and fees. The electronic payment options would increase convenience for the payer and the bureau itself, Pol Lt Gen Phanu said.

The services were also part of the bureau's efforts to match standards of immigration services overseas.

The new service will be available at the government complex on Chaeng Watthana Road, the centre for visa and work permit services at Chamchuri Square, the service centre for Myanmar, Lao and Cambodian immigrant workers, the Immigration Office on Soi Suan Phlu, and other units of the bureau.

Krung Thai Bank, which will handle payments for the bureau, will waive payment fees for Krung Thai ATM and Visa debit card holders from Dec 1 until Feb 28, Pol Lt Gen Phanu said.

Payments using debit cards of other banks or financial institutions and credit cards of any financial institution would be subject to a 1% fee, he said.

-- Agencies/Bangkok Post 2012-11-30

This is a welcome move that should reduce the worload of individual Immigration Offices and be convenient for customers. But it is unclear what the 1% fee is for, the inference is that it is a bank charge.

....and other units of the bureau

Does this mean provincial offices too?

Nonsense comment deleted.

Thanks George! Nice bit of info and a welcome move on their part.

800million?wow that explane all the new cars in the staff parking.If this will be in all local office,that will make many officers unhappy,no cash,no extras??

1 % fee really spoil the good feeling.

About time, what about Embassies & consulates abroad?

Maybe I am wrong on this, but when you sign up to have payments processed by Visa and Mastercard don't they have in the contract that merchants are not allowed to assess additional fees to process the cards. Essentially for the customer it has to be the same as paying cash. The merchant has to eat the processing charge. Every time I see a hotel or restaurant try to take on that 3% for using Credit or Debit cards, I thought that it is against Visa and Mastercards policy. Am I wrong?

Edited November 30, 201213 yr by SalonExpert

It is not enough that we have to pay these fees ie Baht 3,800 for multiple entry.( just to come back into the country).

NOW we have to pay another 1%.

Baht 800 million a year.

Welcome to Thailand.

No thanks i will still pay cash, until they MAKE us pay by card.

1% fee to make their lives easier (handling cash, book keeping), reduce the potential for corruption. You - get "convenience", because this isnt a cash economy and everyone always short of pocket money, especially when one knowingly will have to pay a fine or pay their extension.

Guaranteed, this will never roll out to the prov's. Just the big cities. I could even see the tiny fiefdoms fight it so as to retain the cash aspect of the tranaction. $$$$

Even Air Asia doesn't levy fees and certainly not % fees.

Pass.

Edited November 30, 201213 yr by bangkokburning

Maybe I am wrong on this, but when you sign up to have payments processed by Visa and Mastercard don't they have in the contract that merchants are not allowed to assess additional fees to process the cards. Essentially for the customer it has to be the same as paying cash. The merchant has to eat the processing charge. Every time I see a hotel or restaurant try to take on that 3% for using Credit or Debit cards, I thought that it is against Visa and Mastercards policy. Am I wrong?

You are correct. Vendors are not allowed to add processing costs according to Visa & MC rules.

Maybe I am wrong on this, but when you sign up to have payments processed by Visa and Mastercard don't they have in the contract that merchants are not allowed to assess additional fees to process the cards. Essentially for the customer it has to be the same as paying cash. The merchant has to eat the processing charge. Every time I see a hotel or restaurant try to take on that 3% for using Credit or Debit cards, I thought that it is against Visa and Mastercards policy. Am I wrong?

YES but don't forget this is Thailand.

Where anything goes.

The Immigration Bureau could be paying people on TVF 5% for the convenience make electronic payments, and they would still be whinging.

For god's sake, if you can't afford the 1%, keep paying by cash - or even better, reconsider whether you really should be living in a foreign country.

Maybe I am wrong on this, but when you sign up to have payments processed by Visa and Mastercard don't they have in the contract that merchants are not allowed to assess additional fees to process the cards. Essentially for the customer it has to be the same as paying cash. The merchant has to eat the processing charge. Every time I see a hotel or restaurant try to take on that 3% for using Credit or Debit cards, I thought that it is against Visa and Mastercards policy. Am I wrong?

Just based upon UK experience, such extra charges are commonplace. Ryanair charges GBP 12 to book a ticket with a credit card; Toyota charged GBP 75 to buy a car with a credit card; even government organisations such as DVLA and HM Revenue and Customs charge extra for payment by credit card. (Source http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/borrowing/creditcards/8974365/Credit-card-fees-to-be-banned-in-crackdown-on-surcharges.html.)

If memory serves me right, the rules were changed a few years back to allow retailers to charge extra for use of credit cards.

(Actually, charging extra for credit cards doesn't particularly bother me, since there is an extra charge to the retailer. Charging extra for debit cards, however, really gets my goat.)

Maybe I am wrong on this, but when you sign up to have payments processed by Visa and Mastercard don't they have in the contract that merchants are not allowed to assess additional fees to process the cards. Essentially for the customer it has to be the same as paying cash. The merchant has to eat the processing charge. Every time I see a hotel or restaurant try to take on that 3% for using Credit or Debit cards, I thought that it is against Visa and Mastercards policy. Am I wrong?

YES but don't forget this is Thailand.

Where anything goes.

Visa, MasterCard Agree To Let Merchants Add Surcharges To Credit Card Purchases

July 13, 2012 By Chris Morran

Earlier this week, we told you that a settlement in a huge lawsuit between merchants and Visa and MasterCard was in the offing and that it could open the door to retailers tacking on surcharges to credit card customers. Well, that proposed settlement has come to pass, meaning you may soon be paying more for the privilege of using your credit card.

http://consumerist.com/2012/07/13/visa-mastercard-agree-to-let-merchants-charge-extra-to-credit-card-customers/

When I read "e-payment" I thought we would be able to pay with Paypal

I guess it is determined on the "status" of the payment.

Visa does allow a “service fee” to be charged on face-to-face tax payments (only MCC 9311 – Tax Payments) as a percentage of the transaction. The Visa Tax Payment requires registration and the Service Fee must be a separate transaction.

Edited November 30, 201213 yr by tesolguru

Even Air Asia doesn't levy fees and certainly not % fees.

Pass.

Correction: Air Asia do in fact charge a handling fee of 100bt per person, unless you use an SCB debit card.

1 % fee really spoil the good feeling.

Yeah ... it's such an enormous fee, and definitely not worth the convenience. They should revoke this and go back to only cash, don't you think?

Maybe I am wrong on this, but when you sign up to have payments processed by Visa and Mastercard don't they have in the contract that merchants are not allowed to assess additional fees to process the cards. Essentially for the customer it has to be the same as paying cash. The merchant has to eat the processing charge. Every time I see a hotel or restaurant try to take on that 3% for using Credit or Debit cards, I thought that it is against Visa and Mastercards policy. Am I wrong?

YES but don't forget this is Thailand.

Where anything goes.

Which is why many of us expats love living here.

1% is not huge and many people might payment by card convenient. But shouldn't the government pay the bank fee, since they want the convenience of not handling huge amounts of cash every day? I for one am not going to pay by card, if the fee is charged to me, when I can just stop by one of the many ATMs in the lower ground floor of the Immigration Bureau at CW.

Edited November 30, 201213 yr by Arkady

Within a couple of years it will be card only with a 3% surcharge/handling fee more coffers for the Government !!!!!!

It's a very positive (and welcome) move by the authorities who are passing on a part of the cost (the 1% is surely only a part of their costs - retailers where I live charge an additional 2.5% for credit card payments). And after all, it's not a replacement for cash payments - it's merely an additional payment option! Sadly, it seems that some people are simply incapable of a positive statement when it comes to anything Thai ....

Edited November 30, 201213 yr by johnopolo

1% is not huge and many people might payment by card convenient. But shouldn't the government pay the bank fee, since they want the convenience of not handling huge amounts of cash every day? I for one am not going to pay by card, if the fee is charged to me, when I can just stop by one of the many ATMs in the lower ground floor of the Immigration Bureau at CW.

Imagine a guy paying the PR fee. 1 % becomes huge then.

welcome to the 21st century

Maybe I am wrong on this, but when you sign up to have payments processed by Visa and Mastercard don't they have in the contract that merchants are not allowed to assess additional fees to process the cards. Essentially for the customer it has to be the same as paying cash. The merchant has to eat the processing charge. Every time I see a hotel or restaurant try to take on that 3% for using Credit or Debit cards, I thought that it is against Visa and Mastercards policy. Am I wrong?

I believe the rules are set in each country and differ around the world.

For example in the UK it used to be against the law to do this but this was changed a few years ago.

It's also worth noting that 1% will not be all of the fee, it's normally upto 3 or 4% so it looks like they may be splitting the fee with customers.

Even Air Asia doesn't levy fees and certainly not % fees.

Pass.

Correction: Air Asia do in fact charge a handling fee of 100bt per person, unless you use an SCB debit card.

Actually for the use of Visa Air Asia casually charges 300 Baht

Edited November 30, 201213 yr by dick

Even Air Asia doesn't levy fees and certainly not % fees.

Pass.

Correction: Air Asia do in fact charge a handling fee of 100bt per person, unless you use an SCB debit card.

Actually for the use of Visa Air Asia casually charges 300 Baht

My scb atm = free unless i am missing something.

It's a positive step....now if only they could come up with a system that doesn't require 2 paper copies of every document conceivable ,each and every time you visit them !

It is not enough that we have to pay these fees ie Baht 3,800 for multiple entry.( just to come back into the country).

NOW we have to pay another 1%.

Baht 800 million a year.

Welcome to Thailand.

No thanks i will still pay cash, until they MAKE us pay by card.

So paying an 'extra' 38 baht for the convenience is a problem?????