180 Baht Charges for ATM.

[jpinx]

But I believe TMB ATMs do have a menu button in their withdrawal screen that allows you to select 30K just with one button press, instead of having to manually key in the amount.

I can confirm that the TMB ATM had buttons for various set amounts but the most was 20,000. I had to select "other" and go through a couple of screens to be able to dial in an amount.

Yep, I confirmed your comment the other day... 20K is the largest pre-set amount on the TMB ATM video screens.

But you can manually key in a request for up to 30K... Sorry for my prior error on that!!!

Agreed. I played with Kbank's ATM last year to see what maximum it would allow with manual entry, but 30k was the limit. I'll do play same game with TMB and others and report back,,,

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

I've never really tried to go beyond 30K at a Thai ATM because.... a) I don't need that much, and b] most people's ATM/debit cards, at most, will permit $1000 per day withdrawals.... and many only $300 to $500. If you withdraw 30,000b right now, you're getting close to $940 U.S..

[jpinx]

I've never really tried to go beyond 30K at a Thai ATM because.... a) I don't need that much, and b] most people's ATM/debit cards, at most, will permit $1000 per day withdrawals.... and many only $300 to $500. If you withdraw 30,000b right now, you're getting close to $940 U.S..

True - but wouldn't it be cool to get your whole months money with one 150Baht pull and one set of fees in the home bank ?

[Pib]

If the exchange rate was a low 30.9 that's around 3% or more lower than the Visa/Mastercard exchange rate over the recent weeks/months. Maybe the ATM offered a DCC transaction (disguised off course) which was selected and a DCC exchange rate is usually 3 to 4% lower than the Visa/Mastercard rate. As far as I know AmEx does not have a exchange rate calculator webpage like Visa/Mastercard has which shows the specific rate on Day X...now AmEx does have calculator that gives you an "estimate" but it seems to be based on Forex rates which is not the exchange rate the common man gets...the AmEx website will usually tell you to contact the nearest AmEx office for specific rates.

Wonder if the AmEx card triggers a DCC rate which is maybe why the banks only charge a Bt50 foreign card fee vs the Bt150/180 for a Visa/Mastercard.

Edited September 8, 2014 by Pib

[JDGRUEN]

Although my problem was solved upon finding my misplaced wallet. I went to a Bangkok Bank and used the Bluebird card and got some cash. It worked as normal except the Bangkok Bank fee was only 50 Baht... !!! There was also a $2.00 ATM fee charged by American Express. The exchange rate was I believe 30.9 Baht / USD. I don't recall exactly because I was expecting it to be on the receipt. But the receipt was different than my others using my regular ATM cards... it was a very short piece of paper with little detail except the amount of withdraw and the fee. But I recall looking at the screen and believe I saw 30.9. And I estimate the 50 Baht using the exchange rate of 30.9 was about $1.62. Adding the $2.00 AMEX ATM fee to the $1.62 equals $3.62 for the 10K Baht I withdrew. I do not know that if the withdraw had been 20K Baht whether the Bank Fee would have doubled or not to 100 Baht. I will check sometime and see. Daily withdraw is set at $750.00 maximum.

Added to this is that AMEX Bluebird does not charge what they call a Foreign Exchange Fee. In their FAQS there is no mention of a Foreign Transaction Fee using that terminology - at least that I can find. My math applied to the transaction of 10K Baht shows no other fees and nothing else in detailed on the account ledger.

The prevailing U.S. $ to Thai baht exchange rate has been above or just below 32 in recent months... so under 31 would be a low value rate for you. And that's before tacking on the ATM fee.

I haven't looked into the details of this particular card. But in general, pre-paid bank cards are rarely a good value proposition, as they often carry more and different fees than their regular bank account counterparts. Though I do see AMEX is claiming this particular card doesn't have many fees, except for their $2 ATM charge.

PS3077.jpg

As for card management, I'd strongly say,,, never carry any more bank cards in your wallet that you actually need to use that day. I usually carry 1 debit card and 1 credit card as a backup.... and leave everything else in a safe, secure place.

Also keep a list of all your card numbers and bank contact phone numbers in some secure place at home, preferably in a password protected file, in case you ever do have to report cards lost or stolen.

I have a number of Bangkok Bank ATM receipts in the last two months that show an exchange rate of under 31 Baht... Guess I am just not as privileged as you .... Also I know I wrote a long post but I outlined that I had failed to managed my cards as I intended to do and would now take much more precaution and not get lax about it again ... Also I did point out that this card was my backup method - not an optimum method but good enough ... And the many other features may be attractive to some ... such as a shared card Family Plan for loved ones back in the states... actual checks if ever needed in the states, bill pay, set aside accounts and a whole lot more.

[JDGRUEN]

If the exchange rate was a low 30.9 that's around 3% or more lower than the Visa/Mastercard exchange rate over the recent weeks/months. Maybe the ATM offered a DCC transaction (disguised off course) which was selected and a DCC exchange rate is usually 3 to 4% lower than the Visa/Mastercard rate. As far as I know AmEx does not have a exchange rate calculator webpage like Visa/Mastercard has which shows the specific rate on Day X...now AmEx does have calculator that gives you an "estimate" but it seems to be based on Forex rates which is not the exchange rate the common man gets...the AmEx website will usually tell you to contact the nearest AmEx office for specific rates.

Wonder if the AmEx card triggers a DCC rate which is maybe why the banks only charge a Bt50 foreign card fee vs the Bt150/180 for a Visa/Mastercard.

The Exchange rate for ATM/s Bangkok Bank and others over the past few months here in Ao Nang, Krabi have show by receipt to at times - several times to be below 31 Baht... this was always using my USAA Debit/ATM cards ... I am at the mercy of the Banks and I would be surprised that it had anything to do with my American Bank card.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

The plus or minus 32 baht to the dollar rates I posted on above are in fact those that have been the prevailing ones in the currency markets in recent months.

That said... AMEX cards may have different rates than VISA or MC...and my sense is... AMEX cards tend to have lower rates, in order to pay for the various perks they supposedly offer.

Also, if someone is using an USAA card, the resulting rate is going to be at least 1% below the market rates because of the 1% foreign currency fee that USAA charges on foreign transactions. And a MC logo card is going to have a somewhat lower rate than a VISA logo card. (Other US bank cards may have foreign currency fees of up to 3-4%, much higher than USAA.)

And then, some Thai bank ATMs, particularly for MasterCards, ask the users' permission to use Dynamic Currency Conversion, which as Pib noted above, would further reduce your yield by 3-4%. Although, BKK Bank isn't one of the banks that typically offers DCC for MasterCard logo cards, AFAIK.

And lastly, it depends on how one calculates the exchange rate. If you're paying a 150 or 180 baht Thai ATM withdrawal fee, you normally would not figure that amount into your exchange rate calculation, since that's a fee, not the actual exchange.rate.

BTW, a normal BKK Bank ATM receipt, even when using a foreign card, is NOT going to show any exchange rate on the ATM receipt itself -- UNLESS you're agreeing to a Dynamic Currency Conversion rate where it would show an actual rate.

Edited September 8, 2014 by TallGuyJohninBKK

[jpinx]

Using a visa credit card in KBank, TMB and YellowBank - I have never been presented with a DCC option (but I know what it is ).

Edited September 8, 2014 by jpinx

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

I think DCC use with MasterCard logo cards tends to show up at Ayudhya (yellow) and Siam Commercial Bank (purple) ATMs... There may be some other banks as well..though I can't specifically list any others.

I've never heard of a VISA card drawing a DCC offer.

Edited September 8, 2014 by TallGuyJohninBKK

[Pib]

If the exchange rate was a low 30.9 that's around 3% or more lower than the Visa/Mastercard exchange rate over the recent weeks/months. Maybe the ATM offered a DCC transaction (disguised off course) which was selected and a DCC exchange rate is usually 3 to 4% lower than the Visa/Mastercard rate. As far as I know AmEx does not have a exchange rate calculator webpage like Visa/Mastercard has which shows the specific rate on Day X...now AmEx does have calculator that gives you an "estimate" but it seems to be based on Forex rates which is not the exchange rate the common man gets...the AmEx website will usually tell you to contact the nearest AmEx office for specific rates.

Wonder if the AmEx card triggers a DCC rate which is maybe why the banks only charge a Bt50 foreign card fee vs the Bt150/180 for a Visa/Mastercard.

The Exchange rate for ATM/s Bangkok Bank and others over the past few months here in Ao Nang, Krabi have show by receipt to at times - several times to be below 31 Baht... this was always using my USAA Debit/ATM cards ... I am at the mercy of the Banks and I would be surprised that it had anything to do with my American Bank card.

Now I've never been offered a DCC transaction by a Bangkok Bank, TMB, or Krungsri ATM using my Visa no foreign transaction fee debit/credit cards so I don't know if these ATMs possibly offered a DCC option which they may give some warm & fuzzy name like Bank Rate, Home Rate, etc. I live in Bangkok....but maybe in other areas the ATMs are programmed to offer a DCC transaction. I always get the Visa exchange to like the fourth decimal point per the Visa exchange web site...and it has not been below 31 baht for a while.

The only time I've seen an exchange rate on a receipt was when I "purchasing" an item with my foreign card and the merchant tried to ring up a DCC transaction...usually the exchange rate shown on the receipt for signature was around 3.75% lower than the going exchange rate---each time I didn't sign the receipt, told them to cancel that transaction, and rerun the transaction in Thai baht verus USD...then I got the full Visa exchange rate.

The USAA debit card charges a 1% foreign transaction fee. From other posts, it seems Mastercards then to get offered a DCC rate...if I remember right the USAA debit card is a Mastercard logo card, right? I've got a USAA debit card but it lives in my safe due to the 1% foreign transaction fee and I'm too lazy to go open the safe to confirm it's a Mastercard.

Are you sure the ATMs you are using are not offering you a DCC transaction/rate which you are saying Yes to?. If the ATM asks you anything about an exchange rate it is most likely offering you/trying to get you to select the DCC option/transaction which means you will get whatever the bank's DCC rate is which will probably be 3 to 4% below the Visa/Mastercard exchange rate. DCC bad, very bad for the customer; DCC good, very good for the bank/merchant.

Edited September 8, 2014 by Pib

[Jiu-Jitsu]

If the exchange rate was a low 30.9 that's around 3% or more lower than the Visa/Mastercard exchange rate over the recent weeks/months. Maybe the ATM offered a DCC transaction (disguised off course) which was selected and a DCC exchange rate is usually 3 to 4% lower than the Visa/Mastercard rate. As far as I know AmEx does not have a exchange rate calculator webpage like Visa/Mastercard has which shows the specific rate on Day X...now AmEx does have calculator that gives you an "estimate" but it seems to be based on Forex rates which is not the exchange rate the common man gets...the AmEx website will usually tell you to contact the nearest AmEx office for specific rates.

Wonder if the AmEx card triggers a DCC rate which is maybe why the banks only charge a Bt50 foreign card fee vs the Bt150/180 for a Visa/Mastercard.

The Exchange rate for ATM/s Bangkok Bank and others over the past few months here in Ao Nang, Krabi have show by receipt to at times - several times to be below 31 Baht... this was always using my USAA Debit/ATM cards ... I am at the mercy of the Banks and I would be surprised that it had anything to do with my American Bank card.

Why would the ATM show the exchange rate? That smacks of DCC. My ATM receipts show only a Baht amount.

Just noticed the post before mine mentions this too.

Edited September 8, 2014 by Jiu-Jitsu

[taxout]

There's some confusion about Citibank's ATM fees. Understandably.

Their September 16, 2014 Fee Summary says the 180 baht ATM withdrawal fee "Apply to overseas non Citicard Except Visa&MC Europe issued card."

So it looks as if there's no fee at Citibank if you use, say, a card from Citibank NY or a UK Visa/MC card.

Nonetheless, I've had problems before with Citibank narrowly and senselessly interpreting their rules -- in their own favor, of course -- so I wouldn't automatically assume the exceptions are always applied as they should be.

http://www.citibank.co.th/global_docs/ENG/Liab_interest/InterestRate2014/Feetable_Sep_16_2014_ENG.pdf

[jethro69]

No idea if it was mentioned anywhere before, but Bangkok Bank now charges 180 bht too. Nice little new year gift you little greedy f#@&%^s..!!!!

Edited January 3, 2015 by jethro69

[Pib]

No idea if it was mentioned anywhere before, but Bangkok Bank now charges 180 bht too. Nice little new year gift you little greedy f#@&%^s..!!!!

Yeap, its been mentioned. Appears they upped their fee for foreign Visa cards from Bt150 to Bt180 around a month ago....the same as the Bt180 for foreign Mastercard cards.

[pauleddy]

Yep. Sneaky.

Now that Aeon has started charging (last year!), I had started to avoid the journey to them and went to the BBank ATM at my 7-11. This was held at 150b fee for a long time. But, the BB increased to 180b on New Year's Day.

This means that it now costs 3.6 GBP to take out 100 GBP,or even 200. Not to mention the exchange rate or fees that the Home Bank puts on.

Eddy

[Pib]

Yep. Sneaky.

Now that Aeon has started charging (last year!), I had started to avoid the journey to them and went to the BBank ATM at my 7-11. This was held at 150b fee for a long time. But, the BB increased to 180b on New Year's Day.

This means that it now costs 3.6 GBP to take out 100 GBP,or even 200. Not to mention the exchange rate or fees that the Home Bank puts on.

Eddy

Actually Bangkok Bank increased the Visa foreign card fee to Bt180 to match the Mastercard fee a couple of months ago.

[pauleddy]

Funny that. In my little soi, the fee at the 7-11 BB machine was always 150b until about 2 weeks ago. I made a point of going there and avoiding the big SCB macines at Tesco simply because of that.

Is Aeon charging 150 only??

Eddy

[Pib]

Funny that. In my little soi, the fee at the 7-11 BB machine was always 150b until about 2 weeks ago. I made a point of going there and avoiding the big SCB macines at Tesco simply because of that.

Is Aeon charging 150 only??

Eddy

Yeap, AEON started charging Bt150 early last year....still Bt150 as far as I know.

Edited January 18, 2015 by Pib

[Felt 35]

Is it still possible to withdraw money from a terminal inside the Thai Banks with a foreign Visa /Credit Card when want to withdraw more than the limit on ATM`s. I know at least Thai Farmers had this terminals previously. Do they then also charge Thb 180,- Previously it was no charge (my experience)?!

[JDGRUEN]

If the exchange rate was a low 30.9 that's around 3% or more lower than the Visa/Mastercard exchange rate over the recent weeks/months. Maybe the ATM offered a DCC transaction (disguised off course) which was selected and a DCC exchange rate is usually 3 to 4% lower than the Visa/Mastercard rate. As far as I know AmEx does not have a exchange rate calculator webpage like Visa/Mastercard has which shows the specific rate on Day X...now AmEx does have calculator that gives you an "estimate" but it seems to be based on Forex rates which is not the exchange rate the common man gets...the AmEx website will usually tell you to contact the nearest AmEx office for specific rates.

Wonder if the AmEx card triggers a DCC rate which is maybe why the banks only charge a Bt50 foreign card fee vs the Bt150/180 for a Visa/Mastercard.

The Exchange rate for ATM/s Bangkok Bank and others over the past few months here in Ao Nang, Krabi have show by receipt to at times - several times to be below 31 Baht... this was always using my USAA Debit/ATM cards ... I am at the mercy of the Banks and I would be surprised that it had anything to do with my American Bank card.

Why would the ATM show the exchange rate? That smacks of DCC. My ATM receipts show only a Baht amount.

Just noticed the post before mine mentions this too.

I have a box full of Bangkok Bank ATM receipts showing the Exchange Rate applied to the transaction. I do not find this unusual. Not only that -- the Exchange Rate is shown on the screen requiring a go ahead press of a button to proceed.

But as I have posted before ... when using my American Express Bluebird PrePaid Debit/ATM card Bangkok Bank does not show the Exchange Rate on the screen or on the Receipt ... But it does show the Bangkok Bank Fee of only 50 Baht for a transaction.... My calculation of the exchange rate shows it to be very favorable ... average 32.65 Baht / USD... in recent weeks and months...

Edited January 18, 2015 by JDGRUEN

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

fyi on this point, I made a rare ATM withdrawal from a BKK Bank ATM using a U.S. MasterCard debit card the other day, and to my surprise, the ATM screen defaulted to a, "do you want to perform this withdrawal in your home country currency rate" and showing a 31 baht something to the dollar rate.

I was shocked... Didn't remember seeing that before, but upon reflection, not sure I'd ever done a BKK Bank ATM withdrawal with a U.S. Mastercard before. (Unfortunately, one of my banks recently converted their debit card from a VISA to a MC logo version.) I don't believe the BKK Bank ATM display actually mentioned DYNAMIC CURRENCY CONVERSION anywhere on the display. But that's clearly what was going on.

So, you had to press NO at the bottom of the display screen to refuse that option, and then it took you to a regular transaction where the normal MC international network rate would apply.

I think I recalled and knew that other banks were defaulting to DCC when used with U.S. MasterCards, including Ayudhya and SCB, I think, But I didn't know or remember that apparently now BKK Bank is among those doing that also.

Edited January 29, 2015 by TallGuyJohninBKK

[Strangebrew]

If your funds are that tight you have to use a credit card for cash I suggest you get your butt back home and get a J O B.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

If your funds are that tight you have to use a credit card for cash I suggest you get your butt back home and get a J O B.

If your comment was directed at my post above, then perhaps first you should brush up on your reading lessons.

fyi on this point, I made a rare ATM withdrawal from a BKK Bank ATM using a U.S. MasterCard debit card the other day,

[Pib]

From numerous ThaiVisa posts it seems Mastercard logo cards have a tendency to trigger a DCC transaction on many Thai bank ATMs, but Visa logo cards not so.

Anyway, DCC bad, very bad for the customers; DCC good, very good for the bank. Just say No to DCC. Preaching to the choir for many I know, especially TallGuy the choir leader on a lot of bank fees and methods banks use to fill their pockets with direct and indirect fees, lower exchange rates, etc.

[Mencken]

To the defenders of this rubbish. ATM transactions cost a few baht so that "free enterprise" that I am forced to use looks more like gouging. There is no cost involved in thus transaction then add to this the 2%, poor exchange and any fees you incur from your own bank or brokerage. As a percentage, even not, its substantial. A huge part of the nation only pulls in b200 a day. Its criminal.

150, 180, soon 200 then 250...

I love my wife, but I made a mistake marrying Thailand.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

Greed has few boundaries here... not that this is the only place where that might be true.

I suspect the powers that be here likely think of the foreign card ATM surcharge as a kind of an informal tourist tax -- just like tuk tuk fees, doubled event admission charges for farangs, 700-1000 baht airport taxi trips, etc etc. Along with Dynamic Currency Conversion at the ATMs as well.

That said, the antidote is finding home country bank cards that reimburse other banks' ATM charges and don't charge their own foreign currency transaction fees.

Or, failing that, if you're an American or Brit, taking advantage of BKK Bank's comparatively low cost in-house international funds transfer service through their branches in New York and London. If done infrequently and in larger amounts, those can be almost as cost-effective as no-fee ATM withdrawals.

[Mencken]

I don't usually use my debit here, but I've had to on occasion. My brokerage reimburses, but Id be a fool to count on that when the fee hits b300 and don't think it won't.

Thai parliment has two constituancies (sp), themselves and other wealthy Thai. Foreigners pulling money out of banks, well that's just low hanging fruit.

I think what really rubs me is why? What might be the justification fir such a fee? What resources are being used or otherwise taken from Thai/land that such a fee is justified?

Its practically a useage penalty.

[Langsuan Man]

Funny that. In my little soi, the fee at the 7-11 BB machine was always 150b until about 2 weeks ago. I made a point of going there and avoiding the big SCB macines at Tesco simply because of that.

Is Aeon charging 150 only??

Eddy

Yeap, AEON started charging Bt150 early last year....still Bt150 as far as I know.

Is AEON still limited to 20,000 per pull ?

If they returned to their previous 40,000 THB per pull it might be worth using them again even with the 150 THB surcharge

[Pib]

Funny that. In my little soi, the fee at the 7-11 BB machine was always 150b until about 2 weeks ago. I made a point of going there and avoiding the big SCB macines at Tesco simply because of that.

Is Aeon charging 150 only??

Eddy

Yeap, AEON started charging Bt150 early last year....still Bt150 as far as I know.

Is AEON still limited to 20,000 per pull ?

If they returned to their previous 40,000 THB per pull it might be worth using them again even with the 150 THB surcharge

I couldn't say as I haven't used an AEON ATM since they started charging the Bt150 fee and limiting withdrawals to only Bt20K compared to other banks who allow Bt30K. Even if AEON did go back to issuing Bt40K I doubt many folks could take advantage of it as their cards are probably limited to $1000 (or equivalent) or less per transaction/day which is only around Bt32K to Bt33K right now depending on the varying exchange rate. Plus, if they did go to Bt40K, or even Bt30K, while maintaining a Bt150 fee in comparison to Thai banks that charge Bt180 I expect many of AEON ATM machines would be quickly drained by farangs using them since they had the lowest fee.

[KhunBENQ]

AEON: about a month ago they were limited to 20000 (and I guess they will not go back).

AEON BTW is one of the very few banks that is not member of the ATM pool and will also charge 20 Baht for Thai ATM cards in any case.

(while for others there are 5 free withdraws per month at other bank ATMs within the province)

If they returned to their previous 40,000 THB per pull

Good old days: their big ATMs (with many other functions) can spit 100 notes.

Biggest single withdraw I had was 98000.

Edited February 1, 2015 by KhunBENQ