Australian non tax resident- non-financial issues.

[Taggart]

Hi,

I'm thinking about getting the Amazon Canada Visa credit card for my wife when she visits Thailand. Apparently, it's one of the few credit cards available in Canada where when used in another country does not incur any foreign currency transaction fees. She'd probably use it mainly in ATM machines while in Thailand, and perhaps for a few big ticket purchases like airline fares while there.

Any Canadians already have this credit card in Thailand and if so, have you had any issues or problems with it's use over there?

[thrilled]

I use capital one visa.no transaction fees.Others charge 3-5% no thank you.I believe almost all banks charge 150 baht ATM fees.

[Taggart]

I use capital one visa.no transaction fees.Others charge 3-5% no thank you.I believe almost all banks charge 150 baht ATM fees.

Is your Capital One Visa card obtained from the U.S.? I'm well of the Capital One cards in Canada, and if you look at the Canadian site, they are all Mastercard, not Visa.

[WhizBang]

The primary issue that you are likely to have with your card will be with the Canadian issuer.

Use it a lot in Thailand, or try to use it for a large purchase, and it is likely to have the transaction blocked as potentially fraudulent. The solution is to call customer service before departing Canada and let them know you will be in Thailand. Give them the dates you will be here and ask them to place a note in your account to NOT block any charges unless you notify them of a loss of the card.

I have had pretty good success once I notify the card company, but they can still end up blocking a transaction, and that will require a phone call to get the matter cleared up.

[Pib]

You should have no problems. If getting the card, but be sure to notify the credit card company of your travel dates to Thailand as some credit card companies will reject foreign buys unless they were notified in advance by the customer of their travel itinerary. CapOne is one of those companies that seem to stress that notification requirement although I'm not sure how tough they really are in enforcing it....it seems to vary based on posts I've seen on ThaiVisa. They sure haven't been tough in enforcing it for my U.S. CapOne Visa and MasterCard which I use all the time in Thailand and I've never notified them of my travel plans...which are not really travel plans since I live here and use a APO mailing address. I think a lot also depends on other factors which they use in their anti-fraud system to detect fraudulent transactions/block transactions. Just notifying them of the travel itinerary and you should be just fine...Thai merchants could care less about whether the card says CapOne, Amazon, Canadian bank XYZ, etc., as they just look for the Visa/MasterCard logo and that the receipt spits out of Point of Sale machine. I use mine all the time in places like Lotus, Big C, HomePro, grocery stores such as Foodland, Sizzler, pay medical/hospital bills, restaurant bills, etc...etc...etc.

Now if that receipt for signature prints out in Thai baht "and" another currency like Canadian or U.S. dollars that is a Dynamic Currency Conversion (DCC) transaction which will hit you with a 3-4% lower exchange rate...STOP...tell them to cancel the transaction (be sure to keep the original and cancelled receipts they will give you after the cancellation just in case you may need it later) and redo the transaction in dollars where a new receipt for signature spits out in "baht only." It only takes them about 30 seconds to do this if they are honest about it as that is how long 10 or so of these transaction have taken to cancel over the last few years where they were intentionally or unintentionally attempted on me. While the DCC transaction may still hit your account, it will fall off in a few business days when the cancelation hits...seems a charge can hit you account instantly but a cancellation may take a few days even the cancellation is done immediately after the mischarge.

Most stores in Thailand do not attempt the DCC ripoff (unfortunately DCC is perfectly legal worldwide) but some will...a lot depends on the company or on a store-by-store basis. It appears HomePro will default to DCC (or at least the 3 here in Bangkok I shop at), Sizzler, and Pizza Company...others do it also but from posts it seems to almost always be locations with a lot of tourists. Places like Big C, Lotus do not although there has been on recent report by an individual of a certain Lotus store defaulting to DCC for foreign cards, but it was at that particular store only based on numerous follow-on posts by other ThaiVisa posters. When in doubt about where a store will attempt DCC, just tell them "charge in baht, not dollars" when handing them your card...it's what I always do at HomePro, Sizzler, Pizza Company and any store I have never charged at before and I think they might attempt the DCC...but, as mentioned, even if a DCC transaction is initiated I just tell them to cancel and rerun in dollars....all have complied without a fuss.

Now I've never used my CapOne cards for cash withdrawals because I don't want to start paying immediately interest on the cash advance plus I have a couple of U.S. no foreign transaction fee debit cards I use to get cash. But I expect the CapOne card would work just fine in an ATM to get a cash advance. But to avoid the Thai bank foreign card ATM fee of Bt150 for a Visa card or Bt180 for a MasterCard, but sure to use a AEON ATM (a Japanese owned company) that does not card this fee. In high population areas/cities AEON ATMs can usually be found in malls, but if out in the sticks they will probably be hard to fine. I use AEON ATMs all the time to get money with my no foreign transaction fee U.S. debit cards.

Go ahead an get that Candian Amazon CapOne "no foreign transaction fee" card...it will work just fine in Thailand Plus, it's one of the few which don't charge a foreign transaction fee. And you can set email Alerts up on your CapOne account which "immediately" notifies you of every transaction...even one penny. Now although the transaction is done in baht (remember I don't do DCC nor should anyone), CapOne does the currency conversion (a no foreign transaction fee conversion with CapOne cards) and of course charges your account in your home country currency...and the Alert will reflect the transaction in your home country currency.. Ex: say I use the card at Big C...normally by the time the clerks hands me back my card and I'm reinserting it into my billfold I hear an email/Gmail notification on my smartphone in my pocket...and that email says I've just accomplished a transaction at store XYZ for $XX.XX. A partial quote of such an email notification follows:

As requested, we are notifying you that an international transaction has been charged to your Capital One^® MASTERCARD WORLDCARD account. On JUN 20, 2013, at FORTIS LOTUS BANGYAI a purchase of $52.73 was charged.

Yea, it won't matter the card is issued from Canada or another country...Thai's only look for the Visa/Matercard logo...and be sure to notify CapOne of your travel plans/dates.

[MrRealDeal]

You contradicted yourself ...... you tell them to charge in baht not dollars , but if you have a problem tell them to re run it in dollars ?

[Pib]

You contradicted yourself ......  you tell them to charge in baht not dollars , but if you have a problem tell them to re run it in dollars ?

Yea...my mistake..too early in the morning to be posting...meant to say rerun/charge in baht.

Sent from my Samsung S4 (GT-I9500)

[Taggart]

Just want to mention, that the credit card I'm referring to has absolutely nothing to do with CapOne. The card I've mentioned is only available to Canadians at Amazon Canada and is run by Chase.

Thanks for the other information posted above though. A few things my wife will have to keep in mind, before she goes, and while she's over there in Thailand. No plans to use a cash advance though, but apparently she can deposit money from our Canadian bank account into her Amazon Rewards Visa credit card and use that to withdraw over there.