Kasikorn Bank not thinking straight

[asiamint]

Kasikorn bank want 500 baht or 800 baht for an ATM

Sent a Thai friend to open bank account to get him on the road to saving, gave him 1000 baht

He calls me at the branch to tell me Kasikorn bank want 500 baht fee(the cheapest option) for ATM card.

I tell him they must be having a laugh and trying to rip him of, I've never heard of such a fee for wanting a basic ATM card.(150 baht or 250 max)

To cut a long story short i had to call them as i thought someone is lying here or they must be drunk on whiskey

Kasikorn head office tell me their only options are 500 baht and 800 baht for ATM because they are special ATM called DORAEMON, some stupid cartoon sponsor has his picture on the bank book and ATM. Just because they have some dumb cartoon character on their cards they want big money for them, where is the common sense? How are they helping poor people to save?

This guy earns 400 baht a day and they want him to spend more than a days wages on ATM card.

Not so bad if they had other price options, but to have this as there only option has to rank as one of the most stupid decisions i have ever seen in Thailand, and I've seen a few.

Am I wrong here? What value am i missing?

What type of scumbag thinks up these ideas?

It's so easy to fleece the uneducated poor here and it seems the banks are masters at it

[Pib]

Expect there is some miscommunication / misunderstanding somewhere...during your friend's conversation with the bank, when he was talking to you, and when you were talking to the bank. Your friend will need to provide Bt500 as an opening savings account deposit regardless of what debit card he chooses....and there are a variety of debit cards at a variety of prices available. Such as the basic K-debit card which would require a Bt100 entrance fee and a Bt200 annual fee. Another example is the K-Max Debit card which comes with insurance and has a entrance fee of Bt150 and an annual fee of Bt550. As mentioned a variety of other cards and various prices also available.

Yeap, expect there is some miscommunication/misunderstanding somewhere.

[scorecard]

Well here's another angle. A few months back My Thai adult son and I went into our local K bank where we have banked for years and have several accounts, to open another joint savings account.

Bank lady says 'sign here' with no details written on the application form. Son says 'no,I don't sign blank forms'. Bank lady shows she's angry at being challenged. Sons also says very clearly in Thai 'don't want an ATM card'.

Bank lady proceeded to finish the application form to open the account then puts several forms in front of my son for signature, including an application for an ATM card. Son says 'no, I told you we don't want an ATM card', response is 'but this is also a debit card so it's OK'.

Branch manager walks nearby, son asks him to come to talk to us, branch manager says 'but it's OK because it's more convenient to have a debit card and combined ATM card.'

Son politely looses his cool and we start to walk out.

Document for ATM / debit card suddenly torn up. But bank lady clearly very angry at being challenged. Son says he doesn't like her attitude. We leave.

Bank manager calls my son a few minutes later and personally comes to a nearby coffee shop to apologize and with a polite request that we do open the account with K bank.

All resolved, no ATM card.

I should add, the teller staff in this branch all go out of their way to give fast and professional and friendly service.

Edited March 26, 2014 by scorecard

[scoutman360]

I am sure the problem is with this particular staff member. I have K-bank and always had good service. I also have accounts without debit cards. No questions asked. Friendly smiles. I only wish I could speak more Thai to the beautiful staff helping me.

[MeowBundit]

1. 500 for account opening + entrance fee + annual fee = more than 1000, depends on card type.

2. Bank lady can have a commission if she issue new card for customer. Or branch have instructions from HQ and they just want to sell more services to customer.

3. The missing value is prediction of services for particular customer. People (even Thai people) save millions on their bank accounts, and no one know this particular guy earn 400 thb per day...

[Pib]

I am sure the problem is with this particular staff member. I have K-bank and always had good service. I also have accounts without debit cards. No questions asked. Friendly smiles. I only wish I could speak more Thai to the beautiful staff helping me.

I opened another Bangkok Bank saving account in Dec 13 "with no ATM/debit card." During the application process I just pointed out I don't want a ATM/debit card on this account....no problem at all. I use this no ATM account to keep the bulk of my funds without the need to worry about my ATM/debit card getting stole/skimmed...then I just transfer funds as necessary (via ibanking) from that account to my other account with ATM/debit card.

[thaidel48]

Never mind those ATM rip offs. Bangkok Bank and perhaps others ( I only have A bangkok Bank account ) charge 50 Baht a month if you use a savings account as a bank account ie make multiple withdrawals. As anyone who has tried to open a chequing account knows this is not an option so the fee they charge is unfair to say the least and extortion in truth. The problem of opening a real chequing applies to Thai's as well.

[dave2]

re

DORAEMON, some stupid cartoon sponsor has his picture on the bank book and ATM

here ya go )

dave2 .. a cat lover !

[lopburi3]

Never mind those ATM rip offs. Bangkok Bank and perhaps others ( I only have A bangkok Bank account ) charge 50 Baht a month if you use a savings account as a bank account ie make multiple withdrawals. As anyone who has tried to open a chequing account knows this is not an option so the fee they charge is unfair to say the least and extortion in truth. The problem of opening a real chequing applies to Thai's as well.

There is no such charge. But suspect you are making transfers to other bank accounts and there is a fee involved, or you are using ATM outside of your home bank city, or you are using another bank ATM too often. There is no 50 baht per month charge but there are other fees as mentioned.

[damole]

I opened a Kasikorn bank account on Tuesday and they tried to charge me 800 Bt for an ATM card, this is the kind of card with insurance etc. According to the Kasikorn website only the K-Max family debit card costs 800, the simple K-Debit card is 100Bt for application and 200 Bt annual fee.

Eventually they agreed I could have an ordinary card and I showed them the the Kasikorn webpage which showed the ordinary KBank debit card on my phone to confirm I would get what I wanted. The only thing was they didn't have any of them and it would take a week to before they did as they had just ordered some the day before. Now I have my account book with no card and it it will be up to me to if I want the card when they have them back again. They seemed to suggest that they were offering me an alternative because otherwise I would have to wait a week.

[Pib]

Never mind those ATM rip offs. Bangkok Bank and perhaps others ( I only have A bangkok Bank account ) charge 50 Baht a month if you use a savings account as a bank account ie make multiple withdrawals. As anyone who has tried to open a chequing account knows this is not an option so the fee they charge is unfair to say the least and extortion in truth. The problem of opening a real chequing applies to Thai's as well.

There is no such charge. But suspect you are making transfers to other bank accounts and there is a fee involved, or you are using ATM outside of your home bank city, or you are using another bank ATM too often. There is no 50 baht per month charBg19ge but there are other fees as mentioned.

@ thaidel48: As lopburi3 said, there is no such charge just because you are using your account from multiple withdrawals...like ATM withdrawals. I've had multiple Bangkok Bank savings accounts for many years....do multiple withdrawals each month...no 50 baht fee.

Maybe you have some type of automatic transfer setup...sending money to another account automatically each month? I took a quick look look at Bangkok Bank fees and the only place I spotted a 50 baht charge like you are referring to is in other their Account Maintenance section and there is a 50 baht per month charge if you have an automatic transfer setup with an account balance of less than Bt10K, or you have not been using your account for the past 12 months and have a balance of less than Bt2K. See this Bangkok Bank Link for more info. But to say again, there is no 50 baht charge per month for just doing withdrawals....you are incurring the fee for other reasons.

[Pib]

I opened a Kasikorn bank account on Tuesday and they tried to charge me 800 Bt for an ATM card, this is the kind of card with insurance etc. According to the Kasikorn website only the K-Max family debit card costs 800, the simple K-Debit card is 100Bt for application and 200 Bt annual fee.

Eventually they agreed I could have an ordinary card and I showed them the the Kasikorn webpage which showed the ordinary KBank debit card on my phone to confirm I would get what I wanted. The only thing was they didn't have any of them and it would take a week to before they did as they had just ordered some the day before. Now I have my account book with no card and it it will be up to me to if I want the card when they have them back again. They seemed to suggest that they were offering me an alternative because otherwise I would have to wait a week.

Sounds like K-bank is really pushing their high cost debit cards which come with insurance you'll probably never or could use.

[shiroboi]

I opened a K-bank account in my name and had to pay for an ATM card. The Doraemon ATM card was the cheapest option. I have the Doremon ATM card.

[TommyUK1960]

My Kbank card ran out of date, So I went to Central festival branch and they tried their hardest to flog me the visa card with cartoons on for 500 bhat. I told them I want same as my old one with my name on it. They said you will have to wait 2 weeks. I said "OK" and it cost me 300 baht and 200 every year for it's 5 year term. Most of the time they give excellent service but regarding ATM cards I think they are under pressure to flog the more expensive replacements.