Phone My Bank in Ireland.............again.

[chiangrai]

Hi,

My Irish bank keeps cancelling my debit card every time I but a few things online.

None of these things are expensive and this is the fourth time it's happened this year.

Each time I had to ring them and get it reactivated.I've told them I live in Thailand,I've told them I spend small money regularly online and that I don't want it cancelled but they keep doing it.

Is this something I just have to put up with and resign myself to ringing them every six weeks or can I do something about it.

The last guy's words were "I can't guarantee that it doesn't happen again"

Do I just have to accept this or should I ask to speak to his supervisor or get an email of somebody who deals with this.

The other option is to do my online banking with a Thai bank but that way I have to change currency twice and other unforeseen problems.

[lopburi3]

Could you use the card to fund Paypal and use that for payment perhaps? It might cost a bit more for fees but might be worth it?

[chiangrai]

I can't transfer money from my Irish bank to my Thai PayPal account and I can't have a Thai delivery address on my Irish PayPal account.

If I put Thai baht into my Thai PayPal account I loose twice on exchange rates.

Unless there's some way to transfer Euros into my Thai PayPal account.

And would I loose that much if I put Thai Baht into my Thai PayPal account

I can't work that one out.It mightn't be much more expensive than the phone call.

[Pib]

Some banks simply require you notify them of your travel itinerary external to your home country...and once you provide the notification it purely up to the bank for how long it's valid...then the notification expires. Some banks are very picky about it; others are not. Seems like you are with a picky bank regarding foreign travels/living.

[DiDiChok]

Thank you "Pib" but I wish that notifying your Bank that you are or are going abroad worked. It doesn't any more because the transfer is backed by Visa or Mastercard and not by the Bank concerned. Those companies will not accept the Banks' word that you are abroad and simply ignore the information. That's the reality.

It is Visa or Mastercard who are causing the trouble and blocking the card because of 'suspicious' purchases, and their anti-fraud systems that are doing the blocking. So when you want your card unblocked, either the Bank calls them or in fact you can call Visa or Mastercard. They also seem to let the first transaction go through if it's not too large just to lure you into thinking all is well, but then block the card afterwards.

Now that many UK Banks' call centres close out of hours at the weekend, I've only been able to 'unblock' my cards by phoning Visa directly during those times. It is also annoying that incorrect messages are displayed on ATM's like 'Transmission error' when it is the case that a block has been put on a card. When I rang Visa directly the first time it happened, they complained that I'd been to twenty ATM's trying to get money. Cryptic words were said to them in similar vein . . .

[chiangrai]

O.K, Thanks,

So I can't stop It being blocked.

Is there an efficient way to transfer money from Ireland into to Thai

PayPal account.They won't let me do it by internet banking as far as I remember.

[chiangrai]

I was just onto the bank,finally they sorted out why they weren't ringing me

before they blocked the card.

I gave an 084 number and they thought it was Irish and got no answer.

They said that if they had that code they would have rung me first.

I told them that it was a Thai number but they never asked for a code.

What's the bloody country code for Thailand

And again what's the best way to put money into my Thai PayPal account without chainging it into Baht first.

Thanks for the input so far.

[sustento]

+66 is the country code for Thailand.

[Pib]

Thank you "Pib" but I wish that notifying your Bank that you are or are going abroad worked. It doesn't any more because the transfer is backed by Visa or Mastercard and not by the Bank concerned. Those companies will not accept the Banks' word that you are abroad and simply ignore the information. That's the reality.

It is Visa or Mastercard who are causing the trouble and blocking the card because of 'suspicious' purchases, and their anti-fraud systems that are doing the blocking. So when you want your card unblocked, either the Bank calls them or in fact you can call Visa or Mastercard. They also seem to let the first transaction go through if it's not too large just to lure you into thinking all is well, but then block the card afterwards.

Now that many UK Banks' call centres close out of hours at the weekend, I've only been able to 'unblock' my cards by phoning Visa directly during those times. It is also annoying that incorrect messages are displayed on ATM's like 'Transmission error' when it is the case that a block has been put on a card. When I rang Visa directly the first time it happened, they complained that I'd been to twenty ATM's trying to get money. Cryptic words were said to them in similar vein . . .

You are correct that Visa/Mastercard is acting as the big guy at the door to block the access, but it could very well be "flags" your bank is setting within the Visa/Mastercard network....call it they are just following instructions given by your bank. While Visa/Mastercard does monitor for fraudulent transactions they do not block your account unless they feel a fraudelent transaction is occurring "or your bank sets a flag to block access." The bank has control over certain flags (a.k.a., blocks) that can be set like useage outside of the home country.

Personal example. I have a Schwab Visa debit card....last year while doing an ATM withdrawal I got error...I immediately tried again and it worked. When I got home I had a voice mail from Visa asking them to call...I called and they wanted to confirm if it was me during a withdrawal in Bangkok...I said yes. They said OK, and I may want to call Schwab to tell them that I'm outside the U.S. as they had set a flag regarding foreign withdrawals. And the rep said Visa uses around 758 flags to monitor accounts and some of those flags are set by your bank...not by Visa.

Anyway, I didn't call Schwab, made several more withdrawals over the next few weeks an then I couldn't anymore...just got an ATM error message saying contact my bank. I called Schwab in the U.S., told them I was assigned to Thailand for the next few years, and they (Schwab) removed the block...haven't had no problems since and I think the Schwab rep just disabled the flag in on my account.

No, no, don't blame Visa/Mastercard for all your card problems as it could very well be your home country bank and most likely is right now. Like I mentioned earlier, some are very picky and many will block access if you didn't notify them in advance of your foreign travels. Not uncommon for banks to only allow access from 30 to 90 days when you notify them in advance and you have to call back to reauthorize it unless you get the block removed like maybe being assigned overseas and providing whatever proof makes the bank comfortable. If you've been calling Visa/Mastercard they may have had the option to "temporarily" remove the block but your home country bank has control over whether it used at all and for how long it might be set for, if it can be disabled, etc.

[DiDiChok]

Yes, yes, YES! I am blaming Visa in this case because THEY told me that THEY were doing the blocking and that it was NOT the 'home country bank'.

When Visa's 'suspected fraud' alarm goes off, you're card's blocked no matter who's said what previously - AND what's worse is that if you've more than one card with them, they may block them all.

[Regyai]

I was just onto the bank,finally they sorted out why they weren't ringing me

before they blocked the card.

I gave an 084 number and they thought it was Irish and got no answer.

They said that if they had that code they would have rung me first.

I told them that it was a Thai number but they never asked for a code.

What's the bloody country code for Thailand

And again what's the best way to put money into my Thai PayPal account without chainging it into Baht first.

Thanks for the input so far.

+66 or 0066

AFAIK you cant put anything but THB into your Thai PP account (It will let you submit another currency as a withdrawal to your bank ...but it auto converts it anyhow)

BUT

Recheck your assertion that you cant have a Thai delivery address on your Irish PP account (I certainly have one on my UK PP account)

.

[Mojomor]

Op needs to open a Thai bank account asap and transfer funds from Ireland by TT. The ATM from the Thai bank has to be activated by bank staff to allow electronic purchasing ----- fairly simple really. At present the Op is probably being hammered on exchange rates and bank charges per transaction.

I explain this ad nauseum to mates here, but all one hears is ''I want use to use my HSBC card or something equally ridiculous.

My Kasikorn card works fine for air tickets, hotel bookings etc.

[chiangrai]

I have a Thai bank account and I transfer my money over here

with internet banking.

My point is if I take some of that money and buy something online

in Euros or Dollars I've changed the money twice.

Maybe going from Euros to Baht and back to Euros again.

I get away with my Thai address on my Irish PayPal account for a while

and then PayPal says no,it's not allowed.

Maybe if I put the account in credit before I made the purchase

they might be O.K.

Anyway the bank said that they would ring me the next time

so that won't be half as bad.

Anyone else have experience of using a Thai address on a european

bank account.

[Ricardo]

Anyone else have experience of using a Thai address on a european

bank account.

Yes, my HSBC-Premier Account in Jersey/C.I. has used my Thai residential-address for the past decade, without any problem.

The problem comes when their UK credit-card-issuing subsidiary wants me to input a UK post-code, in order to charge something on my card, they had difficulty understanding that offshore-customers really do live offshore ! And kept telling me, to pop-in to my nearest UK high-street branch, to sort things out.

[paddypower]

I have a Thai bank account and I transfer my money over here

with internet banking.

My point is if I take some of that money and buy something online

in Euros or Dollars I've changed the money twice.

Maybe going from Euros to Baht and back to Euros again.

I get away with my Thai address on my Irish PayPal account for a while

and then PayPal says no,it's not allowed.

Maybe if I put the account in credit before I made the purchase

they might be O.K.

Anyway the bank said that they would ring me the next time

so that won't be half as bad.

Anyone else have experience of using a Thai address on a european

bank account.

Not sure I follow you. Why would you transfer money here and then buy things on the internet, in FX? I keep a Canadian bank account, use Canadian Visa to pay for online purchase in FX. (usually USD or CAD or EURO). a simple online transfer pay off the Visa. If I accumulate too much funds in that account, I send a request for a TT to my Thai bank. Granted, I get mugged by the exchange rates given by Visa. I am interetsed in your expwereiences with Paypal. Must look into that, as regards do they offer a better exchange rate?