Kasikorn Bank vs Bangkok Bank

[ronthai]

Yesterday I went to open a Kasikorn bank account (green bank),

Went to immigration for the residence paper (20 minutes in and out)

After that to the Kasikorn bank, because close to home and immigration and beach.

Ridiculous what they wanted:

10.000 baht deposit

800 baht for standard debit card (yearly)

MUST get a insurance at 2500 baht.

Guess what, I told them to shove it, where???

Now got an easy Bangkok bank:

500 baht deposit

300 baht debit card B1st (internet payments ready)

Even got great internet banking with BB

[lovetotravel]

I've found different branches operate differently. Been to one and it's great! Went to another branch and the service was horrible. And the rules were different! At one bank, had to call the corporate headquarters so they could figure out it was OK to do what we were asking. Unreal. They had no idea and argued with us about it for 30 minutes.

[billd766]

I haven't needed to open a bank account in a long while but I am with Kasikorn Bank here in rural Thailand.

Quote

Ridiculous what they wanted:

10.000 baht deposit. Normal for KBank and you can take it out just after you open the account

800 baht for standard debit card (yearly) Normal for KBank. That works out at just over 2.6 baht a day

MUST get a insurance at 2500 baht. I was never asked to do this so it may be new in the last couple of years

For me the nearest KBank branch is 6 km away in the village and there are 3 ATM machines, 1 cash deposit machine and a bank book updater. Some of the staff speak a little English and some don't. When I go in quite often I get offered cold water or a soft drink.

The nearest BKK bank is 65km away in Khampaeng Phet abd there are no BKK Bank ATM machines any closer that I know of. If you use any other ATM there is a fee of 20 baht per transaction.The only alternative bank is the BAAC Bank 15 km away.

From what I have seen about banking in Thailand is that it is a sort of pt luck depending on where you live, which bank you want to use, and even as lovetotravel says in post #2 even in what branch of a particular bank you use.

[Pib]

Been seeing a lot of posts describing K-bank tactics to push their insurance and pricier debit card products during new account opening by farangs.

[NancyL]

Kaskikorn means "farmer" in Thai, so I'm not surprised that it may be the "preferred bank" in rural Thailand. However, for most of the cities, including provincial capitals, Bangkok Bank would be a better choice. Bangkok Bank is the only Thai bank with branches in New York City and London, England making it much easier for U.S. and U.K. nationals to transfer funds into Thailand and direct deposit pensions, etc.

Edited May 1, 2015 by NancyL