CDN bank card chip, can check if working from Canada distantly ?

[Mahdrek]

hi I have a canadian bank card which the man at thai bank says chip doesn't work. I'm not sure if he is just lazy or confused as it says visa on it although it's a debit card.

I had to take a block off my card today which involved talking to my CDN bank, I was told the chip works.

Is my CDN bank able to tell if a chip works via their pc ?

If so why is Thai bank ....

Thank you

[casualbiker]

Best thing to do is go to tesco lotus.. Buy something and try and use your card.. If it works, sorted! If not pay for your item in cash and contact your bank again!

I have a chip in my thai Thanachart bank card.

I don't think chip and pin works here.. But the card should still work without the pin.

Edited May 30, 2015 by casualbiker

[KhunBENQ]

Misunderstanding?

Do you have a card with ONLY a chip?

Still many bank machines/ATMs can't handle the chip.

Still clinging to the unsafe magnetic strip.

[BB1950]

I have a Bangkok Bank debit card that has a chip. I was told the chip only worked at Bangkok Bank ATMs. There's also a magnetic strip on the card. I presume the magnetic strip is used by card readers that don't have the capability to read the chip (i.e. other banks ATMs, stores, and restaurants).

I can't see how anyone could tell if a chip was working without a reader that connects via the contacts on the chip!

[RichCor]

In Thailand, "Chip doesn't work" probably means "Chip cards don't work here" or more accurately, "Our card reading terminals won't work with your chipped card".

Thailand still relies on the magnetic strip.

Too much cost involved to retailers to upgrade to the higher security technology.

Too much money to be lost in preventing bank fraud (Millions and millions come into Thailand by not adopting increased security)

[casualbiker]

As I said. Tesco has card machines that read chip cards. I know because my card is a chip card!

[Crossy]

Best thing to do is go to tesco lotus.. Buy something and try and use your card.. If it works, sorted! If not pay for your item in cash and contact your bank again!

I have a chip in my thai Thanachart bank card.

I don't think chip and pin works here.. But the card should still work without the pin.

Easy test at Tesco, but it may not work at all if it's a debit card.

Chip and PIN certainly works here in HomePro and MegaHome at least on my UK credit cards, they don't ask for the PIN on my Thai cards.

[Mahdrek]

I have a Bangkok Bank debit card that has a chip. I was told the chip only worked at Bangkok Bank ATMs. There's also a magnetic strip on the card. I presume the magnetic strip is used by card readers that don't have the capability to read the chip (i.e. other banks ATMs, stores, and restaurants).

I can't see how anyone could tell if a chip was working without a reader that connects via the contacts on the chip!

Thanks.

That's what I thought too is chip needs contact with a scanner but wasn't sure.

My CDN debit card has both magnetic and chip

Thai bank teller used to let me take money out using it.. Now I'm not sure if it's a new uneducated confused teller who thinks its a credit card or ???

My card still works in ATM, that uses the magnetic strip though ?

Reason I go in bank is because I can only do 20,000 baut via ATM at a time, and sometimes I want large amounts. Like when I had to deposit 400,000 bt in my own thai bank account. If I need to use ATM, I'm going to have to do 20k x 20 transactions

[Petchou]

I use Canadian bank card with chip without any problem.

Edited May 30, 2015 by Petchou

[Pib]

It very well could be the chip is not working...the chip itself may be good but your bank does not have it properly activated. Happened to me a just a few months ago with the replacement PenFed "credit" card I got (a U.S. card)...the old one was magnetic stripe only...the replacement had a chip and magnetic stripe. When trying to pay for an item at Lotus, Big C, Foodland, PTT fuel station, etc., when the clerk saw the card had a chip they would insert the chipped end of the card into their Point of Service (POS) machine. It wouldn't work even after reinserting a few times and pushing a variety of buttons. Then they would try swiping the card's magnetic stripe and it would work. The card arrived activated and I even called before using it for the first time to confirm activation.

After this occurred around a half dozen times (i.e., only the magnetic stripe was working; not the chip also) I called PenFed. They felt it was probably a bad chip but I pressed the customer service rep hard about "are you sure it just not setup properly on your end?" They spent about 5 minutes doing this and that....and then said they was mailing me a replacement card since the chip may be bad. Next day I tried the card again...the chip worked fine....continued to use it at Lotus, Big C, PTT fuel station, anywhere I used it...and even worked fine for a cash advance counter withdrawal at the bank (the card is a no foreign transaction fee and no cash advance fee card) with no problems using the chip portion...the bank clerk inserts the card, receipt for signature prints out, I sign it, done.

Stores in Thailand have no problem processing chipped cards for purchases...in fact the great majority of Thai "credit" cards already have chips although the majority Thai "debit" cards do not....pretty much only the Bangkok Bank Be1st Smart debit card has a chip. Summary: Thai POS checkout machines work with chip and/or magnetic stripe.

Anyway, the chip was magically working after the call to PenFed customer service. The replacement card did arrive about 10 days later but I never used it since the first card they sent me was now working fine after the phone call to PenFed....that 2nd card they sent me now lives in the darkness of my safe as a spare card. What this told me is the apparently the chip portion and the magnetic stripe portion can be activated/setup separately on the card-issuing bank end. Since the card is setup to default to Chip & Signature as first choice assuming the seller/bank has their device setup to accept Chip & Signature (some may want Chip & PIN like common in Europe), the receipt of signature prints out in about 2 seconds after the card is inserted, whether I"m doing a purchase like at Lotus, Foodland, etc., or doing a cash advance counter withdrawal at Bangkok Bank or Krungsri Bank....sign the receipt....transaction done.

Have you tried using the card for a purchase where the check clerk just swipes the card? If your card works that way then it's just a chip issue...or chip activation/setup issue. But since you said you have called your bank to have the block taken off, the problem was just an issue with you using the card outside of Canada and your bank block all or most foreign use....some banks do that automatically and you must call them in advance to inform them of your travel plans to other countries.

Now if you are talking a "debit" card which I think you are talking about quite a few Than bank branches will not accomplish a counter withdrawal for a debit card, but no problem for a credit card. For debit cards some banks will just point you to their ATMs where they get that Bt180 fee.

And depending on how your "card-issuing" bank has authorizations setup for use of the chip and magnetic stripe, it could be setup to only authorize cash withdrawals with use of the Chip (like how the Bangkok Bank Be1st Smart/chipped debit card is setup)...and use of the Chip could be either Chip & PIN or Chip & Signature.

All the Thai bank can tell you the message that returned on their POS/terminal when trying to process the card...that message is just a short few words of like "OverLimit" if trying to ask for more money that the card allows per day/transaction, Authorization Declined, Invalid Transaction, Contact Visa/Mastercard, etc., which means there is something wrong with the card or the account it's linked to....all the Thai bank can tell you is to contact your card-issuing bank. They can only tell you the card is not working for the transaction they are trying to do....they can't tell you whether the chip is good or bad, if the card is activated, etc.

Your card problem is not Thai bank, Thai ATM, or Thai POS machine related; your problem is all related to authorizations and use limits established by your "card-issuing" bank in Canada so don't waste anytime on bad-mouthing folks on the Thailand end...save those words for your Canadian bank end.

[Mahdrek]

It very well could be the chip is not working...the chip itself may be good but your bank does not have it properly activated. Happened to me a just a few months ago with the replacement PenFed "credit" card I got (a U.S. card)...the old one was magnetic stripe only...the replacement had a chip and magnetic stripe. When trying to pay for an item at Lotus, Big C, Foodland, PTT fuel station, etc., when the clerk saw the card had a chip they would insert the chipped end of the card into their Point of Service (POS) machine. It wouldn't work even after reinserting a few times and pushing a variety of buttons. Then they would try swiping the card's magnetic stripe and it would work. The card arrived activated and I even called before using it for the first time to confirm activation.

After this occurred around a half dozen times (i.e., only the magnetic stripe was working; not the chip also) I called PenFed. They felt it was probably a bad chip but I pressed the customer service rep hard about "are you sure it just not setup properly on your end?" They spent about 5 minutes doing this and that....and then said they was mailing me a replacement card since the chip may be bad. Next day I tried the card again...the chip worked fine....continued to use it at Lotus, Big C, PTT fuel station, anywhere I used it...and even worked fine for a cash advance counter withdrawal at the bank (the card is a no foreign transaction fee and no cash advance fee card) with no problems using the chip portion...the bank clerk inserts the card, receipt for signature prints out, I sign it, done.

Stores in Thailand have no problem processing chipped cards for purchases...in fact the great majority of Thai "credit" cards already have chips although the majority Thai "debit" cards do not....pretty much only the Bangkok Bank Be1st Smart debit card has a chip. Summary: Thai POS checkout machines work with chip and/or magnetic stripe.

Anyway, the chip was magically working after the call to PenFed customer service. The replacement card did arrive about 10 days later but I never used it since the first card they sent me was now working fine after the phone call to PenFed....that 2nd card they sent me now lives in the darkness of my safe as a spare card. What this told me is the apparently the chip portion and the magnetic stripe portion can be activated/setup separately on the card-issuing bank end. Since the card is setup to default to Chip & Signature as first choice assuming the seller/bank has their device setup to accept Chip & Signature (some may want Chip & PIN like common in Europe), the receipt of signature prints out in about 2 seconds after the card is inserted, whether I"m doing a purchase like at Lotus, Foodland, etc., or doing a cash advance counter withdrawal at Bangkok Bank or Krungsri Bank....sign the receipt....transaction done.

Have you tried using the card for a purchase where the check clerk just swipes the card? If your card works that way then it's just a chip issue...or chip activation/setup issue. But since you said you have called your bank to have the block taken off, the problem was just an issue with you using the card outside of Canada and your bank block all or most foreign use....some banks do that automatically and you must call them in advance to inform them of your travel plans to other countries.

Now if you are talking a "debit" card which I think you are talking about quite a few Than bank branches will not accomplish a counter withdrawal for a debit card, but no problem for a credit card. For debit cards some banks will just point you to their ATMs where they get that Bt180 fee.

And depending on how your "card-issuing" bank has authorizations setup for use of the chip and magnetic stripe, it could be setup to only authorize cash withdrawals with use of the Chip (like how the Bangkok Bank Be1st Smart/chipped debit card is setup)...and use of the Chip could be either Chip & PIN or Chip & Signature.

All the Thai bank can tell you the message that returned on their POS/terminal when trying to process the card...that message is just a short few words of like "OverLimit" if trying to ask for more money that the card allows per day/transaction, Authorization Declined, Invalid Transaction, Contact Visa/Mastercard, etc., which means there is something wrong with the card or the account it's linked to....all the Thai bank can tell you is to contact your card-issuing bank. They can only tell you the card is not working for the transaction they are trying to do....they can't tell you whether the chip is good or bad, if the card is activated, etc.

Your card problem is not Thai bank, Thai ATM, or Thai POS machine related; your problem is all related to authorizations and use limits established by your "card-issuing" bank in Canada so don't waste anytime on bad-mouthing folks on the Thailand end...save those words for your Canadian bank end.

Now if you are talking a "debit" card which I think you are talking about quite a few Than bank branches will not accomplish a counter withdrawal for a debit card, but no problem for a credit card. For debit cards some banks will just point you to their ATMs where they get that Bt180 fee.

im not trying to bad mouth but i am frustrated ^^^

im aware of limits and had them raised on my bank "debit" card which is the card in mention.

i did not have a block prior to yesterday.

i want to know why i was able to do large sums via counter withdrawal in the past but now since ive been pointed to the ATM for smaller amounts, why i cant seem to go back to large amounts via teller

[Mahdrek]

It very well could be the chip is not working...the chip itself may be good but your bank does not have it properly activated. Happened to me a just a few months ago with the replacement PenFed "credit" card I got (a U.S. card)...the old one was magnetic stripe only...the replacement had a chip and magnetic stripe. When trying to pay for an item at Lotus, Big C, Foodland, PTT fuel station, etc., when the clerk saw the card had a chip they would insert the chipped end of the card into their Point of Service (POS) machine. It wouldn't work even after reinserting a few times and pushing a variety of buttons. Then they would try swiping the card's magnetic stripe and it would work. The card arrived activated and I even called before using it for the first time to confirm activation.

After this occurred around a half dozen times (i.e., only the magnetic stripe was working; not the chip also) I called PenFed. They felt it was probably a bad chip but I pressed the customer service rep hard about "are you sure it just not setup properly on your end?" They spent about 5 minutes doing this and that....and then said they was mailing me a replacement card since the chip may be bad. Next day I tried the card again...the chip worked fine....continued to use it at Lotus, Big C, PTT fuel station, anywhere I used it...and even worked fine for a cash advance counter withdrawal at the bank (the card is a no foreign transaction fee and no cash advance fee card) with no problems using the chip portion...the bank clerk inserts the card, receipt for signature prints out, I sign it, done.

Stores in Thailand have no problem processing chipped cards for purchases...in fact the great majority of Thai "credit" cards already have chips although the majority Thai "debit" cards do not....pretty much only the Bangkok Bank Be1st Smart debit card has a chip. Summary: Thai POS checkout machines work with chip and/or magnetic stripe.

Anyway, the chip was magically working after the call to PenFed customer service. The replacement card did arrive about 10 days later but I never used it since the first card they sent me was now working fine after the phone call to PenFed....that 2nd card they sent me now lives in the darkness of my safe as a spare card. What this told me is the apparently the chip portion and the magnetic stripe portion can be activated/setup separately on the card-issuing bank end. Since the card is setup to default to Chip & Signature as first choice assuming the seller/bank has their device setup to accept Chip & Signature (some may want Chip & PIN like common in Europe), the receipt of signature prints out in about 2 seconds after the card is inserted, whether I"m doing a purchase like at Lotus, Foodland, etc., or doing a cash advance counter withdrawal at Bangkok Bank or Krungsri Bank....sign the receipt....transaction done.

Have you tried using the card for a purchase where the check clerk just swipes the card? If your card works that way then it's just a chip issue...or chip activation/setup issue. But since you said you have called your bank to have the block taken off, the problem was just an issue with you using the card outside of Canada and your bank block all or most foreign use....some banks do that automatically and you must call them in advance to inform them of your travel plans to other countries.

Now if you are talking a "debit" card which I think you are talking about quite a few Than bank branches will not accomplish a counter withdrawal for a debit card, but no problem for a credit card. For debit cards some banks will just point you to their ATMs where they get that Bt180 fee.

And depending on how your "card-issuing" bank has authorizations setup for use of the chip and magnetic stripe, it could be setup to only authorize cash withdrawals with use of the Chip (like how the Bangkok Bank Be1st Smart/chipped debit card is setup)...and use of the Chip could be either Chip & PIN or Chip & Signature.

All the Thai bank can tell you the message that returned on their POS/terminal when trying to process the card...that message is just a short few words of like "OverLimit" if trying to ask for more money that the card allows per day/transaction, Authorization Declined, Invalid Transaction, Contact Visa/Mastercard, etc., which means there is something wrong with the card or the account it's linked to....all the Thai bank can tell you is to contact your card-issuing bank. They can only tell you the card is not working for the transaction they are trying to do....they can't tell you whether the chip is good or bad, if the card is activated, etc.

Your card problem is not Thai bank, Thai ATM, or Thai POS machine related; your problem is all related to authorizations and use limits established by your "card-issuing" bank in Canada so don't waste anytime on bad-mouthing folks on the Thailand end...save those words for your Canadian bank end.

Now if you are talking a "debit" card which I think you are talking about quite a few Than bank branches will not accomplish a counter withdrawal for a debit card, but no problem for a credit card. For debit cards some banks will just point you to their ATMs where they get that Bt180 fee.

im not trying to bad mouth but i am frustrated ^^^

im aware of limits and had them raised on my bank "debit" card which is the card in mention.

i did not have a block prior to yesterday.

i want to know why i was able to do large sums via counter withdrawal in the past but now since ive been pointed to the ATM for smaller amounts, why i cant seem to go back to large amounts via teller

[Pib]

i did not have a block prior to yesterday.

i want to know why i was able to do large sums via counter withdrawal in the past but now since ive been pointed to the ATM for smaller amounts, why i cant seem to go back to large amounts via teller

I expect it's due to two factors: man-hours expended by the bank personnel and fees.

Obviously it takes X-amount of time for a bank teller to accomplish a counter withdrawal, making copies of documents like your passport and front of your card, then have you sign the copies, processing the transaction, etc. But using an ATM no teller man-hours are expended...much faster process.

Now what about the fees. Below is a cut and paste showing Visa fees which the bank collects from your bank when issuing you money via an ATM or manually (counter withdrawal) whether you are using a debit or credit card. I expect Mastercard's fees are very similar. When you withdrawal cash using a debit/credit card the local processing bank/ collects fees from your card-issuing bank; it's reversed when doing a purchase transaction in that your card-issuing bank gets to collect a fee from the merchant via Visa/Mastercard.

Let's say you want Bt20,000. Using an ATM the local bank collects Bt180 (fee for foreign card) + $0.50USD (approx Bt17) + Bt30 (the 0.15%) which totals Bt227 in fees via an ATM withdrawal. But a counter/teller withdrawal collects no ATM fee + $1.75USD (approx Bt59) + Bt66 (the 0.33% part) which totals Bt125 in fees via counter withdrawal. So, an ATM withdrawal is much less man-hour intensive for the bank and also gets them more in fees.

Now since a debit or credit card collects the same in fees when used in an ATM, why don't the bank point people to their ATM when wanting to use a credit card. I guessing but I expect the bank knows credit cards do not reimburse ATM fee like some debit cards do, people are much less likely to know their PIN for a credit card, and usually the daily transaction limit on a credit card is much higher than at debit card which would drive higher fees. So, knowing a person might not do any cash withdrawal if they can't use their "credit card" to do a counter withdrawal, then the bank wouldn't collect any fees since no transaction would be done since the person probably won't use the card in an ATM. I also expect it has something to do with needing to accept certain card transactions like credit card transactions to keep Visa/Mastercard off the bank back in case the customer complains. I also expect since almost every credit card carries a cash advance fee of 3% and starts charging interest from day one for a cash advance, that most people just will not use a credit card for a cash advance....therefore, the Thai bank knows there will probably be few people asking for a counter withdrawal using a credit card....so, the Thai bank just needs to concentrate on steering debit cards to their ATMs.

I don't know what you classify as "larger amounts" but unless it's significantly over Bt20-30K the bank probably just considers it amount available from their ATM since Thai bank ATMs issue Bt20K to Bt30 depending on the bank.

Regarding you didn't have the block until yesterday, that the way it works sometimes...you may have been using your card for years for foreign withdrawals and then one day your bank blocks the card. Happenned to me around 18 months ago...had been using my Schwab debit card for years in Thailand...then one day the ATM rejected it...ATM said contact your bank....I first called Visa...Visa said I needed to call Schwab as Scwhab had blocked it not Visa...I called Schwab...reconfirmed it was me and yes I'm currently living in Thailand...Schwab unblocked the card...been good since and I use it once or twice a month. Now other banks you have to contact every 90 days or so otherwise the card gets blocked again...some banks are just very picky about foreign transactions due to fraud.

Based on ThaiVisa posts I've read and my own experience you won't find a lot of consistency among Thai banks regarding acceptance of debit and credit cards for counter withdrawals....seems credit cards are not an issue...but at some branches for a debit card they just politely point you to their ATMs. I know the one Bangkok Bank branch I use for counter withdrawals will not accept a debit card but gladly do it for a credit card. And I think some recent posts said SCB has fairly recently stopped accepting debit cards for counter withdrawals.

Edited May 30, 2015 by Pib

[JDGRUEN]

As I said. Tesco has card machines that read chip cards. I know because my card is a chip card!

My chipped card - Mastercard Credit Card works at Homepro, at Big C and at some Tescos but not all - I found this out traveling all over Thailand. It also works at some name brand oil stations but not others...