American banks have blocked ATM use in Thailand!

[CraigSchuler]

I am not sure how many different banks have started this but mine has. My Mother in law whom my wife sends a small monthly allowance to each month has tried to use the ATM card we left with her. She called last night saying the bank was not allowing her to with draw money.

I paid my local branch here in America a visit thinking maybe her ATM card had gone bad. The branch manager informed me that as of last month six different countries were placed on a No withdraw list, which means any card associated with my bank has been blocked due to fraud and other illegal activity. This also includes credit card/debit purchases. She did say that she could get the account released but only for a said period of time i.e. vacation.

Thailand is one of the six banned.

She also stated that many more banks are planning to follow suit. If you have an address in the United States your card may be blocked at any time without any notice. She also had no idea how long this would last.

Just thought I'd pass along the info.

Edited November 7, 2014 by CraigSchuler

[NeverSure]

US laws don't protect against debit card fraud as they do credit card fraud, but Visa and Mastercard have a policy to do it anyway. So the bank is going to suffer any loss due to fraud. Who can blame them for cutting off Thailand?

"In outright fraud cases, Visa or MasterCard voluntarily protect check cards they issue through member banks as if they were credit cards, meaning the maximum a defrauded customer is liable for is $50. Visa states they have adopted a "zero-liability" policy, which applies to its debit cards as well as credit cards. Many banks eventually refund the entire amount stolen."

LINK

The answer is to have a Thai bank account and ATM card and not keep more in it than you are willing to lose.

[gk10002000]

I will look into this and ask my banks. USA guy.

[ukrules]

Won't the bank allow you to specifically authorise withdrawals from inside Thailand ?

[RandomSand]

UK bank Santander also now restricts debit card use ...thread here

Edited November 7, 2014 by RandomSand

[namdocmai]

European banks limited the max amount of withdrawal in Thailand. Now i can only get max 11000 baht out of the atm a day. This is as a precaution because there have been too much fraud from out of thailand.

I m waiting for the creditcard company's to follow this and i guess the Quality Tourists won't be happy with it so we will see how long this will last.

[NamKAheng]

That will surely help bring more tourist to Thailand.

[ukrules]

These banks are going to get a lot of complaints.

[CharlieH]

MOVED

[ClutchClark]

European banks limited the max amount of withdrawal in Thailand. Now i can only get max 11000 baht out of the atm a day. This is as a precaution because there have been too much fraud from out of thailand.

I m waiting for the creditcard company's to follow this and i guess the Quality Tourists won't be happy with it so we will see how long this will last.

Why are the credit card companies going to follow suit?

Didn't the OP indicate his Bank would allow ATM card transactions in thailand as long as the vacation dates were approved beforehand?

The amount of money a credit card Bank receives from vacation spending in thailand is worth the risk, particularly when the CC Banks have a vigilant fraud department that quickly identifies spending patterns.

[pitrevie]

I gave up using my UK bank cards in Thailand and for that matter outside the UK following the charges the banks piled on top for any withdrawals.

[Naam]

European banks limited the max amount of withdrawal in Thailand. Now i can only get max 11000 baht out of the atm a day. This is as a precaution because there have been too much fraud from out of thailand.

I m waiting for the creditcard company's to follow this and i guess the Quality Tourists won't be happy with it so we will see how long this will last.

no generalising please. your bank may have applied a limit. "European" banks do not.

[noise]

I used my Wells Fargo debit card in a Siam Commercial ATM yesterday.

[robblok]

European banks limited the max amount of withdrawal in Thailand. Now i can only get max 11000 baht out of the atm a day. This is as a precaution because there have been too much fraud from out of thailand.

I m waiting for the creditcard company's to follow this and i guess the Quality Tourists won't be happy with it so we will see how long this will last.

no generalising please. your bank may have applied a limit. "European" banks do not.

The guy is dutch.. But even my Dutch rabobank does not limit that the ABN for instance does well. But with the Rabobank they set Thailand as default on blocked. You can unblock it yourself.

[Pib]

Well as soon as the OP can post some weblinks providing additional proof that Thailand has been placed on some banking blacklist I may get concerned, but the three U.S. credit cards and 2 U.S. debit cards I use regularly in Thailand (used two of them just yesterday) are still working fine. My guess is it's just the OP's bank that is tightening down on "foreign" transactions like they need to be notified in advance of a person's travel itinerary/time expect to stay in country XYZ. Quite a few banks have been like that for a long time.

[tartempion]

European banks limited the max amount of withdrawal in Thailand. Now i can only get max 11000 baht out of the atm a day. This is as a precaution because there have been too much fraud from out of thailand.

I m waiting for the creditcard company's to follow this and i guess the Quality Tourists won't be happy with it so we will see how long this will last.

no generalising please. your bank may have applied a limit. "European" banks do not.

ALL Belgian banks have blocked ATM withdrawals for Thailand.

You need to ask for a temporary "unblock"

Daily and weekly withdrawal limits are standard

[NancyL]

Our Visa card is issued by the credit union that serves the corporate HQ of a Fortune 100 company with global offices. We're retired now, and live in Thailand year round. I've asked them about this potential problem and they just laughed saying many of their customers are executives who travel and even live overseas. There's no way they anticipate restricting use of their Visa cards internationally. Thailand wouldn't be on a "restricted list" Not when that Fortune 100 company has manufacturing facilities and personnel here.

Edited November 8, 2014 by NancyL

[robblok]

European banks limited the max amount of withdrawal in Thailand. Now i can only get max 11000 baht out of the atm a day. This is as a precaution because there have been too much fraud from out of thailand.

I m waiting for the creditcard company's to follow this and i guess the Quality Tourists won't be happy with it so we will see how long this will last.

no generalising please. your bank may have applied a limit. "European" banks do not.

ALL Belgian banks have blocked ATM withdrawals for Thailand.

You need to ask for a temporary "unblock"

Daily and weekly withdrawal limits are standard

Just curious.. the Dutch banks don't really mention Thailand as such .. they lump it up with the rest of Asia. Do the Belgium banks do the same or specifically Thailand.

[Naam]

European banks limited the max amount of withdrawal in Thailand. Now i can only get max 11000 baht out of the atm a day. This is as a precaution because there have been too much fraud from out of thailand.

I m waiting for the creditcard company's to follow this and i guess the Quality Tourists won't be happy with it so we will see how long this will last.

no generalising please. your bank may have applied a limit. "European" banks do not.

ALL Belgian banks have blocked ATM withdrawals for Thailand.

You need to ask for a temporary "unblock"

Daily and weekly withdrawal limits are standard

"all Belgian banks" do not represent all European banks.

[Chwooly]

I was able to get money out on Wednesday. US debit card used at Thai bank. That being said. About a year ago Banks in Vietnam changed the amount you could withdraw so you had to do more transactions and they were able to make more money from you because you had to make more transactions.

Edited November 8, 2014 by Chwooly

[dean008]

I saw a program about card fraud once. They compared the figures for fraud and the revenue the banks got from insurance against card fraud, the cost of fraud was approx half the income derived from insurance. It seems fraud is very profitable for the banks

[Mrjlh]

All my credit card companies have the same policy but they require you notify their "Security Department" and report it's use outside the states. Some will extend the time to one year, Chase Bank is monthly. Even if you buy something on the Internet. As far as "cash advances" they can be completed at a bank branch office easier sometimes than an ATM. It does seem like a pain but in the end it's not only for their security it's for yours. It's also advised you copy all your credit card info including the toll free numbers on the back and put the in safe keeping in case of theft.

[IMA_FARANG]

Have you used your ATM card in Thailand before?

Some banks block your ATM card if you use it in Thailand.

You need to call the bank and talk to their credit card fraud people, and get them to authorize that card for "overseas use".

This happened to me about a year ago.

I was back in the U.S. and got a new ATM/debit card from my bank then as my old card was running out.

I specifically told the clerk that my card was to be used in Thailand for on-line purchases.

She however, failed to pass this information on.

So when my card was approved their was no notice that the card "would be used outside the U.S." legally by myself.

The first time I got back to Thailand, and made an on-line purchase, it was blocked for "possible fraudulent use" because it was used overseas.

Took me 4 or 5 telephone calls, and about two hours of effort until I finally found someone who could unblock it.

Most of the brainless bimbos that the bank has to answer telephone complaints from customers are clueless about the banks policies, they are just pretty fluff designed to smile at the customers.

Turned out my U.S, bank "outsources" it's security/fraud problems to another security company.

Once I got that company, and talked to their "ATM fraud" personnel, they cleared and resolved my problem in about 15 minutes.

The root cause was that brainless bimbo who forgot to put the notification on my application that "card will be used overseas for on-line purchases", as I told her when I applied for a replacement card.

Edited November 8, 2014 by IMA_FARANG

[namdocmai]

Well i unblocked my card allready and now can get 11000 baht a day but i don't use it anymore in thailand so i don't even know if it still works.

My creditcard can easy pay big amounts if used in thai shops, even without signature or anything and that worries me as well.

My wife told me today that now scammers can hack the creditcard wireless when it is still in your wallet, so i won't bring it with me anymore. I brought it for emergency or to buy online airtickets for which i need a special calculator and so. Not easy to use.

I will never use my creditcard in thai shops again even if their insurance will pay me back, just don't want to get into hassle from that.

It was in the dutch newspapers a while ago that banks will put more restrictions on asian country's, i forgot which banks they mentioned.

Edited November 8, 2014 by namdocmai

[Tywais]

Our Visa card is issued by the credit union that serves the corporate HQ of a Fortune 100 company with global offices. We're retired now, and live in Thailand year round. I've asked them about this potential problem and they just laughed saying many of their customers are executives who travel and even live overseas. There's no way they anticipate restricting use of their Visa cards internationally. Thailand wouldn't be on a "restricted list" Not when that Fortune 100 company has manufacturing facilities and personnel here.

Mine is also from a Fortune 100 company and just used it at a Bangkok Bank ATM yesterday. Over several years they have put a block on it two or three times when I purchased something not following my normal activity. But a quick phone call explaining and verifying the card use and it is immediately unblocked. Been quite a while (years) now since that has happened.

[ToddinChonburi]

Just more good news for Thailand. I know Usbank has daily limits on withdrawals.

[eldragon]

OP, did your bank say why they've instituted this policy? Credit/debit card fraud happens just about anywhere, doesn't it?

[fey]

its a rogue bank or misinterpreting what a rep said over the phone.

[Pib]

It's just the OP's bank (or credit union). As mentioned earlier banks have been doing this for a long time and it varies from bank-to-bank as to how they implement foreign transactions. Some require you to notify them of your itinerary before traveling and then the bank will allow foreign transaction for X-amount of time like from the beginning to ending date of the travel, 45 days, 90 days, etc.

And some banks have a list of blocked countries. Like below list of Blocked Countries for Credit/Debit Transactions if having a Fort Knox Credit Union cards. Yes Thailand is on the list but so is countries like Sweden, Switzerland, Japan, Ireland, etc. Apparently this credit union wants to go to the extreme in guarding against fraudulent foreign transactions. While googling I found other bank lists that varied in the number of countries on their blocked list like the other attachment below from San Mateo Credit Union in California...Thailand is not on their list.

BlockedCountries.pdf

[roamer]

A couple of things happening here. When an EU card is used in an ATM in Europe the machine reads the chip data, the stripe is redundant. However a skimmer can still capture the data and a camera the pin. This data is useless in Europe but works just fine in Thailand and other Asian countries so the cards are increasingly being cloned and used in Thailand.With the US it's somewhat different as the industry works differently but the hack at Target this year hit some 40 million cards, without the pin they can't be used in ATM's but but a lot of them are being used at POS terminals in Asia, I would bet that many of the cards not working in ATM's will also not work at POS terminals. Also on the Belgium banks post, what is known as "geoblocking" is increasingly being used by some card issuers to stop their cards being used in countries that don't comply with the current EMV (chip & PIN) standards and this will only increase.

This pic relates to ATM fraud on European cards, as you can see Thailand is an important destination for the fraudster.