Ordered to come into the bank to show my passport

[Alan653]

Are you American? If so, that would explain it. New rules for Americans.

What new rules for Americans?

[xen]

Don't know if it is co-incidental but my partner and i have a joint account with Bangkok Bank and she needed a new passbook but they wouldn't give it to her without sighting my passport and signing a few papers a few times times. I think just to see if i actually existed . It is an working account not an investment account I think the government may be closing a few loopholes where money that may have been derived from dubious sources may be leaving the country via false bank accounts .

In Australia , quite a few years ago hey introduced a legislative requirement for anybody opening a new account with any financial institution needs to prove their identity as a way combating money laundering . This would be a move that in Thailand would leave quite a few people running for cover.

[heyexile]

As your accounts are over 10 yrs old, your passport and passport number have changed. They probably just need to update their records to a valid ID

I don't think it's as simple as this, otherwise they would have asked me directly to bring in my passport. I'm pretty sure, on reflection, that it's visa-related. I was the one who first used the word "passport" in the conversation.

What seems odd to me is that nobody else has reported receiving a similar 'phone call.

Probably because other branches have not got round to it yet or did not receive/ understand HQ request.

Possibly because you have been `flagged`. By Immigration, Tax Authority, Police, random bank computer, even someone who did not like one of your posts. Unlikely but we live in interesting times so possible.

Don`t want to teach my grandmother how to suck eggs or, as my Thai wife used to say, "teach an old crocodile how to swim" but I would make an exploratory call to head office, then make appointment with local manager. If you require `proof of life` for other purposes, kill 2 birds and print out something for the now friendly manager to sign. Maybe take a charming interpreter (witness) with you. As a long standing customer, should you be inconvenienced? Probably not. Do you have to sort it to their satisfaction? Yes, they have your money.

It is not unusual for banks to ask for odd things out of the blue. Unusual transactions, especially small ones, trigger fraud dept alerts. Extra funds deposited, money laundering dept. Lower than usual funds over last few months, not sure your business is profitable any more and we would just as soon you take it elsewhere.

I doubt very much you would take the advice of some posters and close your a/cs in a huff, unless you already have alternative banking in place. Opening new bank a/c for a foreigner may not be so easy now. You could be asked for `Certificate of Residence` (only valid for 30 days from date of application), proof of source for any income and or capital, proof of where any tax is paid etc as well as normal visa/passport stuff. Read the small print `Terms & Conditions`, I fear you will find the bank can impose any conditions/restrictions on you at any time, without prior notice and without having to explain their reasons.

Same as it ever was. Probably just a minor hiccup/cock up. Good luck.

[CroBiker]

Because, unless the bank issued some kind of ultimatum along with the request, I have no good reason to comply.

Why wouldn't you comply? You got nothing to hide.

If you received similar request in Europe or North America I am sure you would be in compliance within hours without asking questions on internet.

[Suradit69]

Are you American? If so, that would explain it. New rules for Americans.

When I got a new American passport a month ago, after I got my stamps transferred at immigrations I took the new passport to my Bangkok Bank branch.

They took new photocopies (for ID purposes if I wanted to make a cash withdrawal or get a manager's letter for immigrations) and I got a new passbook because the old one was full anyway.

No one seemed particularly interested in the fact that I'm American nor did anyone break out the magnifying glass to closely inspect my current immigrations status. It all seemed very ho hum and routine business as usual.

[maxjay]

AyG wrote:

Or should I just close all my accounts with Krung Thai to avoid the inconvenience?

AyG, what's the inconvenience? How long could it take? 20 minutes out of your life?

Don't passports expire every ten years? Maybe their system has just flagged you as needing to be updated. But I'd probably ignore it if I were in your shoes.

Great advice attrayant. Let's all just mess with the people holding our money for us.

Think about the consequences of "ignoring" it: account frozen until compliance, IE: cancelled ATM card, etc...

AyG... Up2U...

Edited August 29, 2014 by maxjay

[Tony125]

get rid of your phone or dont tell them your number then they would have to come to you, cant see that happening

They wouldn't have to find him they would simply frezze his account and deactivate his ATM card untill he came into the bank. Had a US Bank do that to me once as they though someone had unothorized use of my card so frozee everything untill I came into bank.

[dotpoom]

Why not just keep life simple and not fuss too much about it. Whatever the reason is, they must have had one to call you and ask you to bring in your passport and just accept it at that. I have long since giving up searching for explanations as to what people say and do over here. I learned that with my wife....after hours of trashing something out with here that seemed totally illogical to me I would see that from where she was coming from it seemed the logical thing to say or do..........to her.

[belg]

10 years passport, what a dream ...

mine has only 5 years !

and cost a good 3500 baht ....

[Merryman88]

Are you American? If so, that would explain it. New rules for Americans.

I draw my pension through the SCB each week and they photocopy my passport each week but last week they photocopied my visa pages which they have never done previously,\

But as to closing your accounts or letting them see your passport , if you have nothing to hide why worry about it .

It sometimes useful to have a long term relationship with a bank if you've been a customer for many years comply with their requests. Many weird things have happened lately its probably the army takeover i went into a branch of my bank the SCB in Pattaya and was told that SCB did not take Visa Debit cards, which was strange as I had been drawing my pension each week through the SCB for some two years.

Any answers to this ????

[Jaggg88]

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My Bangkok Bank account still has the address of the house I built and sold over 18 years ago. I asked them a few months ago if they needed an updated address and they said they would need to request the change of address form from head office and would let me know. I have heard nothing about it since.

Meanwhile, my Isle of Man based bank that I have been happy with for nigh on 30 years has suddenly requested that I prove who I am and where I live with very arcane and limited ways of providing the evidence they seek.

But I digress... the OP should pop into the local branch and speak to the manager about what exactly they require and why. It doesn't sound like much of a hardship unlike my UK offshore bank!

Offshore banks are under enormous pressure from the EU to identify customers under the pretense of money laundering laws whereas the real purpose it to track down tax evaders. EU has decreed that off shore bank accounts will be taxed @ 14% if they are registered to an address within the EU and not declared to the Inland revenue. This happened to me a number of years ago with my bank in the Isle of Man so looks like your bank is playing catch up. You can have a UK address for admin purposes but the account must be registered to an address outside the EU to avoid the punitive tax.

[The Maltese Falcon]

It seems to me it's bye bye baby for the Sabay Sabay falang

[jacky54]

Why didn't you ask when you talked on the phone with them ??

Language problems. I did ask, and the person couldn't explain in English what was needed.

(In fact, the whole 'phone call was rather amateurish. The person who actually 'phoned me couldn't speak any English at all, and I had to hold whilst he found someone who spoke a little.)

Did he go and get a tuk tuk driver or waitress? bar girl would have been the best bet. I'm amazed at all these 'educated' folks in Banks with degrees who cannot even understand withdrawal or update, in tourist areas too.

[lopburi3]

Don't know if it is co-incidental but my partner and i have a joint account with Bangkok Bank and she needed a new passbook but they wouldn't give it to her without sighting my passport and signing a few papers a few times times. I think just to see if i actually existed . It is an working account not an investment account I think the government may be closing a few loopholes where money that may have been derived from dubious sources may be leaving the country via false bank accounts .

In Australia , quite a few years ago hey introduced a legislative requirement for anybody opening a new account with any financial institution needs to prove their identity as a way combating money laundering . This would be a move that in Thailand would leave quite a few people running for cover.

A joint account has always required both parties be present to issue a new passbook (or even to set up internet banking). Normal procedure over last 20 years in my experience.

[Firelily]

Does anyone have experience what happens if they check your passport and find out that you don't have a non-B anymore, you're just a simple tourist? I opened my 3 accounts (just in case, Bangkok Bank, SCB, Kasikorn) while I still had a work permit, but quit more than 2 years ago, new passport registered with all 3 since, nobody ever asked anything about visas up until 2 weeks ago, even though they do check my passport for major transactions and phone number change for internet banking.

I would have no idea what to do if I had to withdraw all my savings, no residency status anywhere else in SE Asia, and I never go home to Europe, so it would be important to know if there is a major, systematic crackdown regarding the visa status of foreigners holding accounts in Thailand, or the stories in the comments above are isolated incidents.

Thank you.

[Pib]

Does anyone have experience what happens if they check your passport and find out that you don't have a non-B anymore, you're just a simple tourist? I opened my 3 accounts (just in case, Bangkok Bank, SCB, Kasikorn) while I still had a work permit, but quit more than 2 years ago, new passport registered with all 3 since, nobody ever asked anything about visas up until 2 weeks ago, even though they do check my passport for major transactions and phone number change for internet banking.

I would have no idea what to do if I had to withdraw all my savings, no residency status anywhere else in SE Asia, and I never go home to Europe, so it would be important to know if there is a major, systematic crackdown regarding the visa status of foreigners holding accounts in Thailand, or the stories in the comments above are isolated incidents.

Thank you.

Expect they could care less about visas/extensions of stay "after" the account is opened. When you go a bank to do a transaction all they look at the passport main page where name, signature, etc., exists and then compare that with our passbook.

Now if you need to open a new account, then the lack of a long term visa may cause issues depending on the bank and branch.

[attrayant]

Expect they could care less about visas/extensions of stay "after" the account is opened. When you go a bank to do a transaction all they look at the passport main page where name, signature, etc., exists and then compare that with our passbook.

I'm not sure how to read your reply, as your first sentence seems to contradict your second. Unless that was a typo and you meant "couldn't care less". My experience has been that they never bother fishing through my passport looking for latest stamps and such; they're only interested in my identity and they never go further than the bio page.

Besides, I think that "must have a long stay visa or extension to open a bank account" thing is not a law, but merely a bank policy and therefore enforced on the whims of whatever bank employee happens to be standing in front of you. My very first K Bank account was opened three years ago when I was here on a tourist visa.

[Pib]

Expect they could care less about visas/extensions of stay "after" the account is opened. When you go a bank to do a transaction all they look at the passport main page where name, signature, etc., exists and then compare that with our passbook.

I'm not sure how to read your reply, as your first sentence seems to contradict your second. Unless that was a typo and you meant "couldn't care less". My experience has been that they never bother fishing through my passport looking for latest stamps and such; they're only interested in my identity and they never go further than the bio page.

Besides, I think that "must have a long stay visa or extension to open a bank account" thing is not a law, but merely a bank policy and therefore enforced on the whims of whatever bank employee happens to be standing in front of you. My very first K Bank account was opened three years ago when I was here on a tourist visa.

By "they could care less" i mean they do not care. I seriously doubt they care about visa/extensions stamps when going to the bank to do a transaction with an account already open; but when when opening a new account policies seem to vary from bank to bank, branch to branch based on your stay status. Heck, with all the different stamps many of us have in our passports, determining which stamp means what (if completely readable) would probably take a team of immigration professionals. But when opening a new accounts I expect most Thai banks/branches make a serious effort to look for a work permit/visa/extension stamp and may ask you to point it out to them.

[attrayant]

Okay that's what I guessed from the overall tone of your reply, but "could care less" means the opposite of "do not care", which is why I was a bit puzzled. Otherwise we're in agreement.

[Firelily]

Thanks for the replies. Yes, I remember they did the paperwork very thoroughly and made sure I had a non-B with valid extension when I opened the bank accounts. If anyone hears of someone getting in trouble in a similar situation, please remember to come back and inform me :-) thank you.

(I was just wondering what else could be the aim of the OP's bank in the incident described at the very beginning - why did they suddenly check his passport? I had an inactive but fully functioning account even 5 years after the original passport expired, the system didn't flag it or nothing happened (same bank as OP). )

[ldnguy]

As your accounts are over 10 yrs old, your passport and passport number have changed. They probably just need to update their records to a valid ID

I don't think it's as simple as this, otherwise they would have asked me directly to bring in my passport. I'm pretty sure, on reflection, that it's visa-related. I was the one who first used the word "passport" in the conversation.

What seems odd to me is that nobody else has reported receiving a similar 'phone call.

It's not odd at all. The problem is with you and your account, so why should they call anyone else. That would be pretty pointless. Just go to the bank and check instead of carrying on a fairly pointless debate here. You aren't even clear about what they asked for, so how is anyone on here supposed to be able to help. Stop trying to turn somethings extremely simple into something extremely complex.

If anyone in any country phones so ask anything about any of my accounts I just sort out the issue directly with them. Why are you involving a bunch of strangers. Your account, your problem. Surely you're adult enough to be able to sort this out on your own. If not, maybe one of the esteemed TV members can come and hold your hand and take you to the bank.

I really do despair at some of the nonsense posted on here.

[ableguy]

Why all these stupid answers and original question ? Go into the bank and ask get your answer from the horses mouth.

[AyG]

No satisfactory conclusion to this.

I went into the bank and asked for the person who'd called me. She wasn't available. Staff didn't have a clue what it was about. They then called the manager who made a couple of suggestions.

- Do you have a credit card? (No.)

- Have you lost your passbook? (No.)

Then he 'phoned head office. No explanation.

After half an hour of activity he didn't know what the call was about, but would speak the the caller upon her return to work.

So, no explanation of the call, and a wasted trip.

Footnote: A couple of days later I tried to close the account since I no longer needed it. I was allowed to withdraw all the money in the account (bar 14 satang), but still couldn't close it. The reason being that I had a number of fixed deposit accounts dating back years. They accounts had long matured and had zero balances, but prevented the savings account's being closed. Stupid.

[AyG]

And now I've received a 'phone call from a different bank - Krung Sri - also asking for me to come in. At least this time the caller could speak English and was able to explain that they need to see my visa since the previous one they had on record has expired. (And is was specifically "visa" not "passport".)

Absolutely no idea why banks have started checking visa validity and why (apparently) I'm being targeted.

[Pib]

And now I've received a 'phone call from a different bank - Krung Sri - also asking for me to come in. At least this time the caller could speak English and was able to explain that they need to see my visa since the previous one they had on record has expired. (And is was specifically "visa" not "passport".)

Absolutely no idea why banks have started checking visa validity and why (apparently) I'm being targeted.

I'm surprised you found anyone at Krungsri that can speak any English. I opened an account a few weeks ago at the Krungsri branch at Chaeng Wattana/Bangkok immigration and no one could speak English...you would expect at that branch with farangs walking around everywhere there would be some English capability...but they were very nice and professional...opened the account no problem...they did whip out some FATCA type forms for me when seeing my U.S. passport....not sure if they also copied the passport page showing my retirement extension of stay...but they definitely copied the main passport page...but the more I think about it I think they did copy the page showing my retirement extension of stay.

And the around a week later in a Krungsri branch in western Bangkok I had an account issue and no one in the branch could speak any English....but I know enough Thai to be dangerous and we somehow communicated and solved my issue...once again they were very nice and professional...but they just didn't have any significant English speaking capability in the branch.

Now whether you are being targeted or not I can't say...if may just be FACTA-related which is also catching some non-Americans in the fishing net as the Thai banks cast their net to get FACTA related paperwork from Americans...including those which may have dual citizenship such as Thai & American, XYZ and American, etc...etc...etc. And the different banks appear to be casting different types of nets, where the cast them, when they cast them, etc. It's probably just a push by Thai banks to get better/more documentation from their foreign customers, like it or not.

Now I can't speak as to if Krungsri "stickler" towards farangs when it comes to opening a bank account, or keeping a bank account open, unless the person has certain type of visa/extension of stay, work permit, etc. But I would expect once you had an account opened they would not close it because you didn't have a work permit or a long stay visa/extension of stay.

Edited September 22, 2014 by Pib