Are Kasikorn a bunch of idiots?

[TheCruncher]

About 20 years ago I opened my current account with Thai farmers bank, now Kasikorn.

Then a few years ago I registered for cyberbanking at the ATM.

In this era of smart phones I decided to register for mobile banking yesterday.

Went to the ATM and registered with the OTP they sent to my phone. Then got the message that I my mobile banking would be activated as soon as I received an SMS. Today still no SMS, so when I try to log in the APP asks for my password.

I wasn't asked for a password when I registered yesterday, so also can not enter one.

Up to the nearest branch who explain to me how to reset my password, which I wasn't asked for yesterday, at the ATM.

When that is cleared I log in again, with my brandnew password, after which the app asks for my passport number. I enter my PP number which it says is wrong

Since this is only a 1 year new passport, I guess they want the number of my previous passport, which I enter after which I get the message that it is also wrong.

I enter it a second time, and now get a message that I have used up my attempts and have to contact the head-office, which on Thursday will be closed.

So obviously they want the passport number I used to open my account 20 years ago, and which is at least 4 passports ago as the maximum validity in my country is 5 years.

Don't those idiots have really no idea that passport numbers change every so many years and that it will be impossible for me to recover that 20 year old number ?

End of rant.

[tx22cb]

Yes, must be annoying.

My US bank allows me to log in and update any changes in my particulars myself (address, phone, e-mail etc), so my info is pretty much up-to-date.

And I can do most things remotely, without having to visit a branch. If anything, I think US banks actually dissuades their customers from going to a branch - they prefer you to go on-line or to phone a 1-800 number.

[BudRight]

I've had them reject my new passport as ID because it had a different number. When I tried to change it they told me it was impossible. Likewise changing address.

[phetphet]

i recently changed renewed my passport, and one of the first things I did was go to each bank and notify them of the new passport number. You will also have to notify them if you ever change your phone number, as they use this to send OTP's.

I also went to Transport Dept, and changed passport number on both driving licences. Was told for Green Book..."Not necessary". Also notified motorbike insurance company and accident insurance as did not want to give them any get out excuse in event of a claim.

Thailand and bureaucracy.

[TheCruncher]

I've had them reject my new passport as ID because it had a different number. When I tried to change it they told me it was impossible. Likewise changing address.

And I feel that I'm facing a similar issue. Not able to check today as banks are closed.

[DMC1]

My salary gets paid into Kasikorn & I only have a bank book account. They won't let me use the internet application because I refuse to have an ATM/visa card with them! I can only use the online banking through the webmail. I don't get this at all. I have my reasons for not having a card, which I won't go into again.

I use Bangkok Bank for my daily account & internet banking as I find their service far better.

[Pib]

When you get a new passport number, you need to provide that new passport number to your Thai bank as they will update their system and may issue you new passbooks since your passport number along with your signature is on the passport's very back page only seen under a blacklight. And you may need to contact "each branch" you have an account at, even if it's with the same bank since only the branch that opened your account can update certain things.

It there is a passport mismatch in the bank's system, like one of your accounts opened at branch ABC reflect one passport number and an account you opened at another branch XYZ with another passport number when you try to accomplish certain ibanking operations you will not be able to because their system is reflecting different passport numbers for you...which could mean possible fraudulent activity. And some branches may not accomplish a teller withdrawal if your current passport number don't match the passport number they will see under the blacklight when viewing the passbook.

Yeap, for a farang their passport number is equivalent to a Thai ID card number...it critical identification..and if the bank detect passport number mismatches it can cause real headaches for you.

[Jip99]

My salary gets paid into Kasikorn & I only have a bank book account. They won't let me use the internet application because I refuse to have an ATM/visa card with them! I can only use the online banking through the webmail. I don't get this at all. I have my reasons for not having a card, which I won't go into again.

I use Bangkok Bank for my daily account & internet banking as I find their service far better.

I have found the opposite to be true. I much prefer K Bank online sytsems.

In my area I have also found Bangkok Bank staff to be retards whereas Kasikorn staff are more Frang friendly and have better English skills. I rarely need to take advantage of that as everything I do is online or via ATM.

[TheCruncher]

When you get a new passport number, you need to provide that new passport number to your Thai bank as they will update their system and may issue you new passbooks since your passport number along with your signature is on the passport's very back page only seen under a blacklight. And you may need to contact "each branch" you have an account at, even if it's with the same bank since only the branch that opened your account can update certain things.

It there is a passport mismatch in the bank's system, like one of your accounts opened at branch ABC reflect one passport number and an account you opened at another branch XYZ with another passport number when you try to accomplish certain ibanking operations you will not be able to because their system is reflecting different passport numbers for you...which could mean possible fraudulent activity. And some branches may not accomplish a teller withdrawal if your current passport number don't match the passport number they will see under the blacklight when viewing the passbook.

Yeap, for a farang their passport number is equivalent to a Thai ID card number...it critical identification..and if the bank detect passport number mismatches it can cause real headaches for you.

When I call Kasikorn customer support, using my registered mobile phone, they call me by my name before I have said a word.

When registering for mobile banking they send a OTP to that phone, after which I go to an ATM and insert my ATM card and enter my personal password and OTP to proceed.

Don't you think it's a bit over the top that they would need my passport number over and over again, while it is more than obvious who is logging in ?

[Pib]

What I think is unimportant regarding a bank's policy regarding identification...and for Thai banks a farang's passport number or a Thai's ID Card number is the Holy Grail for ID purposes.

Also, I have found over the years from opening Thai bank accounts that just because you open a bank account "today" at a branch or dropped off some document to update your bank credentials (like phone number or passport number) it could be up to a week before its getting "fully" and "completely" processed throughout their system. Like updating your phone number for ibanking purposes...you would think that should be able to be done right at a branch "immediately" once they confirm your identity...well, if like at Bangkok Bank, you still must go to a branch (any branch will do...don't have to be the branch you opened your account at), filled out a form with the new number, provide a copy of your passport, let the branch sign/stamp the form, and then they mail/fax that documentation to their central ibanking office which accomplishes the update in 3-5 business days...until all that occurs you number is not fully/completely updated throughout their system.

Personal example from around 3 months ago. I had recently opened a new Bangkok Bank account...all went easy enough. I have multiple Bangkok Bank accounts at a couple of branches. But then around mid Jun 14 Bangkok Bank implemented some changes in their ibanking system when "paying bills" like your electric bill, mobile bill, etc. Anytime you had to change the "Ref 1" number in the bill payment (some bills change the last few digits of the Ref 1 number each month; other bills do not...depends on the company) you now had to get a OTP via SMS to complete the payment. So, in late June when I tried to make some utility bill payments via ibanking I would never get the SMS. Well, I sure use to get SMSs when doing a 3rd Party Transfer, setting up a bill payment, or other things which require a SMS OTP. Now I was not getting SMSs.

Called the Bangkok Bank Call Center and for 10 days we went around and around in trying to resolve the problem in multiple calls... Bangkok Bank was saying the OTPs were being transmitted...I said I'm not getting them...they continued to research the problem...they even had their contract telecommunications vendor (AIS) who transmits the OTPs from the Bangkok Bank system validate they were getting the OTPs and what was then happening to them. My cell service provider, DTAC, even confirmed no SMS OTPs were being rec'd by me. Then on my sixth or so call to the Bangkok Bank call center we had a breakthrough....they said my OTPs were apparently being transmitted to a foreign number....I said what??? I then asked them to read the number to me...and it was my Thailand cell phone number, not an international number like the rep said, but they had one digit in the number wrong....the sixth digit.

Now immediately the problem had been identified...I said how did that occur? I have the same cell phone number in Thailand from the get-go and SMS worked fine before? They couldn't provide an answer especially since we had reviewed my phone number in previous call center calls on this problem. The call center rep just said I must go to any Bangkok Bank branch and submit the document to update my cell phone number which I did that day...it then took 4 business days for that paperwork to filter through the system and get my phone number updated to whether the ibanking SMS OTP as working again. I can only guess when I opened that new account, which was a fixed savings account, a typo was made when the Bangkok Bank folks were entering the documentation into their magic computer system...I still had a copy of my account opening docs and the cell number was correct and clearly written on the forms.

Yeap, banking can be frustrating sometimes in Thialand since some of their rules/regulations/polices/laws are different from our home country's which we are probably most use to and mistakenly sometimes expect Thai banks to have the same procedures.

[cmsally]

On Thai banks system you often have to add the nationality as well as passport number. I think this is because Thai IDs have more digits and this is what their software is set up for.

So for example when they put in your passport number to the system if a UK one it will be GB111222333

A lot of the bank employees don't seem to know this!

[Pib]

On Thai banks system you often have to add the nationality as well as passport number. I think this is because Thai IDs have more digits and this is what their software is set up for.

So for example when they put in your passport number to the system if a UK one it will be GB111222333

A lot of the bank employees don't seem to know this!

Yeap, when opening an account one time the bank rep turned her screen towards me asking to verify some of the entries she had just typed in and in one of database entry fields close to the passport number she had entered US and the next field had my U.S. passport number.

[seabass69]

Three words....Third World Country.

[watcharacters]

I've had them reject my new passport as ID because it had a different number. When I tried to change it they told me it was impossible. Likewise changing address.

Don't know if true or not but I was told a password can also not be changed once it's set.

TIT

[fletchsmile]

It can be frustrating.

You have to bear in mind though 99% of a bank's customers are Thai. who have a single Thai ID number which is used for so many things in Thailand, and never changes. It's actually amazing how the various Thai systems these days can link that single ID number to so many databases.

It is a pain though having to update them each time your passport number changes. It's not unique to Thailand though. I have the same problem remembering which passport was in use or they have on record in Singapore, Vietnam, Indonesia etc when they want passport verification. That said Singapore seem easier to accept changes.

Cheers

Fletch

[Pib]

I've had them reject my new passport as ID because it had a different number. When I tried to change it they told me it was impossible. Likewise changing address.

Don't know if true or not but I was told a password can also not be changed once it's set.

TIT

Your password can be changed/updated.

[TheCruncher]

It can be frustrating.

You have to bear in mind though 99% of a bank's customers are Thai. who have a single Thai ID number which is used for so many things in Thailand, and never changes. It's actually amazing how the various Thai systems these days can link that single ID number to so many databases.

It is a pain though having to update them each time your passport number changes. It's not unique to Thailand though. I have the same problem remembering which passport was in use or they have on record in Singapore, Vietnam, Indonesia etc when they want passport verification. That said Singapore seem easier to accept changes.

Cheers

Fletch

I would say that my anger is actually not so that they ask a passport number which is not retrievable anymore, but that they ask A passport number each time I want to activate a new service with a bank which who I am registered for 20 years, and can perfectly identify me because I have to insert my ATM card, enter my personal password and the OTP they sent to my registered phone.

With my bank in Europe they take a copy of my ID card once when register with them, and then never again. But here you have to sign 374 documents for every transaction, which the minute after you leave the branch go through the paper shredder or even worse are used to copy official documents on the backside.

I remember I once had a company ltd to own a house, and when balance sheet time I had to place 108 signatures, on the documents that were made in sixfold

Edited October 23, 2014 by TheCruncher

[A1Str8]

No.

[Time Traveller]

Actually some banks make it even more complicated and expect you to add the letter P before entering the passport number.

[Sviss Geez]

Three words....Third World Country.

4 words...waste of posting space.

[Sviss Geez]

"Don't those idiots have really no idea..."

Don't some idiots realise that you're a foreigner here and you have to comply with Thailand's rules? Who cares after what period your passport expires.

[TheCruncher]

"Don't those idiots have really no idea..."

Don't some idiots realise that you're a foreigner here and you have to comply with Thailand's rules? Who cares after what period your passport expires.

And it is forbidden to point out that those rules make no sense and are ridiculous ?

[alanferdi]

My salary gets paid into Kasikorn & I only have a bank book account. They won't let me use the internet application because I refuse to have an ATM/visa card with them! I can only use the online banking through the webmail. I don't get this at all. I have my reasons for not having a card, which I won't go into again.

I use Bangkok Bank for my daily account & internet banking as I find their service far better.

Yes, I agree with Bangkok Bank I have good service. there are the few odd thai logics, that cannot rationally be explained "TT" - Thats Thai. accept dont question.... the equation never qualifys itself. but on the whole the process is transparent. Another bank that I find good and would recommend is KrungThai Bank. They also provide online services and are efficient compared to some of the other banks. that probably need to be schooled in their own software, position and system proceedures. after all they are the ones who should be providing a service with solutions... not adding to the complexity of it. Or is this something Thai..... if do not understand then make it complicated and unattainable?

[alanferdi]

"Don't those idiots have really no idea..."

Don't some idiots realise that you're a foreigner here and you have to comply with Thailand's rules? Who cares after what period your passport expires.

And it is forbidden to point out that those rules make no sense and are ridiculous ?

Have to comply?..... where are you coming from? We live and most educated Thais work and interact rationally. Its the ones who play "position" or "musical chairs" in their jobs that arent at all in the position to show those rules! And Thailand wants to be a important partner in ASEAN......Thai rules???? eh emm huh ..... dah!!!!

[NoshowJones]

Yes, must be annoying.

My US bank allows me to log in and update any changes in my particulars myself (address, phone, e-mail etc), so my info is pretty much up-to-date.

And I can do most things remotely, without having to visit a branch. If anything, I think US banks actually dissuades their customers from going to a branch - they prefer you to go on-line or to phone a 1-800 number.

To the OP. Yes, though I don't like using the word total idiots, as are Bangkok Bank and SCB. I have had Major issues with all three of them, I did bomb out SCB. but I am not changing the other two, as it would probably be the same with any bank in this country. TiT, with lots of low mentality, but in the biggest majority of cases, decent honest people.

[NoshowJones]

My salary gets paid into Kasikorn & I only have a bank book account. They won't let me use the internet application because I refuse to have an ATM/visa card with them! I can only use the online banking through the webmail. I don't get this at all. I have my reasons for not having a card, which I won't go into again.

I use Bangkok Bank for my daily account & internet banking as I find their service far better.

I also refuse to have an ATM card with Kasikorn Bank as their incompetence is astounding, but I still have an online account with them.

[NoshowJones]

Three words....Third World Country.

Like button not working again, same as yesterday, but yes, a third world country.

[kurnell]

K Bank has been good, SCB better. UOB incompetent

[DMC1]

My salary gets paid into Kasikorn & I only have a bank book account. They won't let me use the internet application because I refuse to have an ATM/visa card with them! I can only use the online banking through the webmail. I don't get this at all. I have my reasons for not having a card, which I won't go into again.

I use Bangkok Bank for my daily account & internet banking as I find their service far better.

I also refuse to have an ATM card with Kasikorn Bank as their incompetence is astounding, but I still have an online account with them.

Yes, I have internet banking with K-Bank for past 8-10 years but only via webmail. You can't activate the app (IOS) without having an ATM/VISA card number. Bangkok Bank are far from perfect but seem to do a better job for me IMO. The banking app is great for paying bills once it's all set up.

[joshuatdixon]

Is there a specific bank in Thailand that is more farang friendly? I haut opened up a business account with K bank and it is difficult to find information on things such as why business accounts can't have debit cards, why I am still waiting for online banking details etc...the same things I think all of us deal with regularly when first becoming aquatinted with how Thailand works. I have my US business bank account and it's extremely easy to use. I call up the customer service, they verify my info, and fix my problems. It appears to me in Thailand I need to go to the bank branch I opened up the account at and bring my passport, business stamp, etc...and then find out that hey have no idea what I'm asking about.

Is there a bank that's better suited for farang business in Thailand?