New ATM charge for international withdrawal

[chappie1207]

Yesterday I went to withdraw some money from my UK bank at an SCB ATM and saw the charge has gone up from 150 baht to 180 baht. I went to another banks ATM and was greeted with the same amount.

I am not sure when this fee was increased and I did not see any notice from the banks etc....

Anyone have any ideas of the best and cheapest way to withdraw money from overseas?

[Upnotover]

It first went up for Mastercard but I now see it applying to Visa as well. Your best bet is a yellow ATM (Krungsri) and take out 30,000. You still pay the 180 but at least against a reasonably large amount. Alternatively walk into a bank and try to get cash over the counter, no charge for that (if they will do it that is).

[Som wat]

By ATM.

It will cost you 180 baht per transaction.

[KhunBENQ]

Since a while. Has been mentioned in misc threads.

They never announce such goodies

[CharlieH]

Take your passport and do an over the counter withdrawal, tell them you forgot your pin if asked, there is no charge for over the counter process.

Better to withdraw once a week than doing every few days.

[crazygreg44]

try to find a bank in your home country, that will reimburse the fees for foreign withdrawals. And be disciplined, don't allow so many fees from arising, by using the yellow bank and withdraw 30,000 THB in a one-time transaction, so in effect you help them keep the costs low in the long run.

I use a visacard from a bank in Germany whose policies clearly state that they will pay back all fees from foreign ATM's. I have never had a problem, they always pay back all those fees. 150 nor 180, I don't need to care.

And their exchange rates are excellent, so I always wonder how they are making enough profit so they can continue this service. I have double checked but I am unable to find hidden costs as there are none.

Maybe the visacard yearly fee covers some of these expenses.

You should check the exchange rate your UK bank gives you for Thai Baht withdrawals, I think THESE rates are by far more important for your calculation than the oblivious 180 THB ATM fee. If they give you a good rate, you get at least a bit of compensation.

I think Schwab's is working on base of this policy for U.S. Americans, and Barclays in the U.K., however I am not sure about it.

Edited April 17, 2014 by crazygreg44

[strawpanda]

I believe that Thai nationals withdrawing from a Thai bank account at a ATM pay next to nothing. On Xmas Day (sic) I opened an account with SCB, it was easy. When I next go to Thailand I will try sending one large amount to my account there so that I too can avoid those irritating 150 or 180 baht fees.

[ice4351]

Aeon which use to be free is now charging 150 baht! The have 2 machines in Tesco Lotos on North Pattaya Road and 1 in Big C extra on Pattaya Klang.

[John_Betong]

First direct Bank UK has recently added a foreign currency charge to their ATM charge. The local 180 Baht charge now makes a single transaction about a ten quid!

I have recently got a government pension paid directly into a local Bangkok Bank, first payment tomorrow and hope the transaction arrives OK otherwise it will cost at least a tenner to sort it out

[ukrules]

Not all of them are charging 180 yet. I think it's TMB who still charge 150.

[TBWG]

Aeon Bank only charge ( I say only) 150 baht. Used to be free, when they introduced the 150 baht fee the other banks upped it to 180!

Think I have seen an ad from one of the Thai banks offering 80 baht withdrawals, however I have not been able to find ad and can't remember which bank!!!

Maybe someone on the forum know's?

TBWG

[mrfill]

Debit cards charged at 150bt, credit cards at 180bt

[SeaVisionBurma]

I believe that Thai nationals withdrawing from a Thai bank account at a ATM pay next to nothing. On Xmas Day (sic) I opened an account with SCB, it was easy. When I next go to Thailand I will try sending one large amount to my account there so that I too can avoid those irritating 150 or 180 baht fees.

Not just Thai nationals - anyone making a withdrawal from a Thailand bank account at an ATM pay nothing (if the account is held in the same clearing district).

[lor]

Kasikorn put their charge up to 180 a few weeks ago. But the atm next to theirs in Tesco/Lotus South Pattaya still charges 150! Sorry I cannot remember the name of the bank but next time I go I will make a note and post it here.

Chris

[Peterphuket]

Not all of them are charging 180 yet. I think it's TMB who still charge 150.

For how long....

[Upnotover]

Debit cards charged at 150bt, credit cards at 180bt

Not my Lloyds Visa debit card, THB180.

[BradinAsia]

Had the same problem, took almost a year to find the solution, but here's how I solved it.

I have a regular monthly retirement, plus my monthly social security annuity.

This is what I did:

1. Opened an account with a U.S. bank that reimburses ATM fees (up to $15 per month).

2. Arranged to have my regular retirement (which is larger) sent by Direct Deposit to my

Bangkok Bank account (a special account only for Direct Deposit that you can apply for).

3. Now I used the funds in my Bangkok Bank Direct Deposit account for my monthly living

expenses -- with no bank fees at all.

4. Since my social security still goes to my U.S. account, if for any reason I need extra money,

I can withdraw up to 40,000 extra (two 20,000 baht withdrawals) per month at SCB using my U.S.

ATM card and still have all my ATM fees (360 baht) reimbursed automatically by my U.S. bank.

Some cautions and caveats --

- I'm not sure how this would work for non-Yanks, whether or not your home country has banks

that reimburse ATM fees. Also, whether or not Direct Deposit to a Thai bank would be available.

- For Americans receiving federal retirement payments, Bangkok Bank is the only Thai bank

authorized to set up Direct Deposit accounts for that purpose. [Note: The Bangkok Bank website

has details on how to do this.]

- Such a Direct Deposit account cannot have an ATM or debit card connected to it. Withdrawals

can only be made from a Bangkok Bank teller using the account passbook and proper ID.

- The reason I use SCB (and not Bangkok Bank) for withdrawals using my U.S. bank ATM card

is this: My U.S. bank is not able to reimburse ATM fees charged by Bangkok Bank because when

an ATM withdrawal is made at Bangkok Bank, the electronic message transmitted to my U.S. bank

does not include any specific information about the amount of the ATM fee. I have found that some

other Thai banks do transmit the ATM fee info to my U.S. bank, but to keep it simple I use SCB.

- I tried several times to address the ATM fee reimbursement issue to Bangkok Bank local branch

staff and managers, but could not find anyone with enough English ability that I could explain about

ATM fee reimbursement. Nor is my Thai adequate for that degree of complexity.

Bottom line is -- I have no more ATM fees. It feels good... saves me 8,000-10,000 baht/year.

Edited April 17, 2014 by BradinAsia

[dighambara]

Go into the bank, fill out a transfer form and the ATM fee will not be charged.

[nithisa78]

try to find a bank in your home country, that will reimburse the fees for foreign withdrawals. And be disciplined, don't allow so many fees from arising, by using the yellow bank and withdraw 30,000 THB in a one-time transaction, so in effect you help them keep the costs low in the long run.

I use a visacard from a bank in Germany whose policies clearly state that they will pay back all fees from foreign ATM's. I have never had a problem, they always pay back all those fees. 150 nor 180, I don't need to care.

And their exchange rates are excellent, so I always wonder how they are making enough profit so they can continue this service. I have double checked but I am unable to find hidden costs as there are none.

Maybe the visacard yearly fee covers some of these expenses.

You should check the exchange rate your UK bank gives you for Thai Baht withdrawals, I think THESE rates are by far more important for your calculation than the oblivious 180 THB ATM fee. If they give you a good rate, you get at least a bit of compensation.

I think Schwab's is working on base of this policy for U.S. Americans, and Barclays in the U.K., however I am not sure about it.

Schwab for sure USA customers.

[Leung Falang]

try to find a bank in your home country, that will reimburse the fees for foreign withdrawals. And be disciplined, don't allow so many fees from arising, by using the yellow bank and withdraw 30,000 THB in a one-time transaction, so in effect you help them keep the costs low in the long run.

I use a visacard from a bank in Germany whose policies clearly state that they will pay back all fees from foreign ATM's. I have never had a problem, they always pay back all those fees. 150 nor 180, I don't need to care.

And their exchange rates are excellent, so I always wonder how they are making enough profit so they can continue this service. I have double checked but I am unable to find hidden costs as there are none.

Maybe the visacard yearly fee covers some of these expenses.

You should check the exchange rate your UK bank gives you for Thai Baht withdrawals, I think THESE rates are by far more important for your calculation than the oblivious 180 THB ATM fee. If they give you a good rate, you get at least a bit of compensation.

I think Schwab's is working on base of this policy for U.S. Americans, and Barclays in the U.K., however I am not sure about it.

Schwab and PNC bank in the US reimburse.

[ukrules]

Debit cards charged at 150bt, credit cards at 180bt

That makes sense, I just withdrew 20k about 30 minutes ago using my Visa Debit card at TMB and the fee was only 150 Baht.

I noticed that the amount of UK pounds debited from my account has gone down from about 420 per 20k THB last year to around 375 per 20k THB right now so it looks like a lot of things are getting much cheaper anyway.

I still get charged 180 at Kasikorn on the same debit card.

[pauleddy]

You are all a bit late.

Aeon started the 150b about 2 - 3 months ago.

SCB and Kasikorn raised to 180 at the same time.

The yellow ATM at my 7-11 still asks 150. Not sure if it;s B of BKok or Ayuthaya Bank.

No free lunches now.

Eddy

[BradinAsia]

Go into the bank, fill out a transfer form and the ATM fee will not be charged.

Can you please explain what is a "transfer form"? Transferring from what to what?

Do you mean an international wire transfer? That is most certainly not free.

[wump]

Yellow ATMS charge 180 with a visa credit card. The only one I found still doing 150 is Bangkok Bank.

Also, going to the bank is not always a good idea. My bank charges me nothing for withdrawals. I tried to be nice and went inside to save them from having to reimburse me the 150 Baht. Then I see a 5 EUR charge on my statement for doing the over the counter cash advance. I talked to them about it and they wouldn't waive the fee. Well I keep using ATMs then.

When I used an Australian card there was no charge on the bank's side, however like at the ATM they charge you some 4% plus 4$ or so per transaction so it's <deleted> anyway.

Edited April 17, 2014 by MaikB84

[ghworker2010]

OP... if your here a long time, open up a thai bank account and send money over here once a month. It will save you heaps in ALL the fees. I just opened up one recently with a tourist visa and calculated that doing IMT from my country will save me $50 a month all up. Over 12 months....

[tigermonkey]

KTB is still 150 baht foreign ATM fee, plus their optional 150 baht charge for a receipt. If you don't read Thai, you would never know whether you have selected "yes" or "no" for the transaction slip, until it prints.

Edited April 17, 2014 by tigermonkey

[bangarang]

It first went up for Mastercard but I now see it applying to Visa as well. Your best bet is a yellow ATM (Krungsri) and take out 30,000. You still pay the 180 but at least against a reasonably large amount. Alternatively walk into a bank and try to get cash over the counter, no charge for that (if they will do it that is).

Yep, I do the same thing with the Yellow ATMs. You can also connect paypal to your thai account but with their currency rate equally about the same as the ATM international fees you also have to wait 5days for the transfer.

[PhillyBoy]

If you are American. Open an account at First Republic Bank of NY. You must keep a $3500 balance but they reimburse me for ALL ATM fees at the end of each month. I don't care what they charge here.

[JimGant]

Now I used the funds in my Bangkok Bank Direct Deposit account for my monthly living

expenses -- with no bank fees at all.

Using today's (Apr 17) buying TT rate of 32.07, if your Direct Deposit had arrived today, your effective exchange rate would have been 31.83 for $2,200. [ ((2200-10)*32.07)-200]. Yes, Direct Deposit fees are identical to fees you'd incur by doing an ACH transfer yourself. In this situation, $10 front end fee, and 200 baht backend fee (.25%, min 200, max 500 baht). Because of the fixed nature of these fees, more is better -- thus a $3,500 transfer would have an effective rate of 31.90.

Excluding the serendipity (or not) of constantly changing FX rates, you'll always beat sending money to your Bangkok Bank account by using a completely fee free Debit/ATM card. But 'completely fee free' includes absorbing the 1% Foreign Transaction Fee charged by the networks -- but most don't. And some even add to this -- Chase charges 3%, plus a flat fee of $5. Ouch. So unless you have Debit/ATM cards from Schwab, State Farm, Fidelity, and a couple others -- that 1% adds up -- even if you're being reimbursed the 150/180 baht ATM owner's fee. In the above scenario, with the FX rate being 32.07, if your card charges only that 1%, this still means your effective exchange rate is 31.75 [32.07*.99] -- inferior to what you'd get by sending money to Bangkok Bank via Direct Deposit or self-initiated ACH.

Such a Direct Deposit account cannot have an ATM or debit card connected to it. Withdrawals can only be made from a Bangkok Bank teller using the account passbook and proper ID.

Since you already have part of your pension going to a Stateside bank, why would you not have both pensions go there -- then ACH whatever amount you need (and whenever) via Bangkok Bank New York? As pointed out, the Bangkok Bank fees are identical for ACH and Direct Deposit -- and many banks don't charge for an ACH transfer (B of America charges $3, but I'd gladly pay this to free myself from having to physically go to the bank to collect my baht). Anyway, several folks on this forum swear by Direct Deposit -- but I believe they think this service is free -- which it is not.

Bottom line is -- I have no more ATM fees. It feels good... saves me 8,000-10,000 baht/year.

Which completely fee free card do you have?

[HerbalEd]

I believe that Thai nationals withdrawing from a Thai bank account at a ATM pay next to nothing. On Xmas Day (sic) I opened an account with SCB, it was easy. When I next go to Thailand I will try sending one large amount to my account there so that I too can avoid those irritating 150 or 180 baht fees.

When I, a farang, withdraw money from my Bangkok Bank acct. from a Bangkok Bank ATM I pay zero.

Not that long ago I could withdraw money from my USA acct. from any Thai ATM and I paid zero. But, alas, now I have to pay 150 baht ... and apparently even 180 baht. Actually that's much more money than I have to pay in USA when using an ATM that's different from the bank where I have my acct.