Debit Card (foreign) Cash Withdrawals Over the Counter @ Thai Banks

[NoshowJones]

I recently withdrew from my Bangkok Bank ATM with my UK bank debit card, the rate they gave me was app 2.50 Baht below the rate the bank was offering which was app 55.5 Baht.

That could be due to several different reasons, but probably the most likely is:

--your UK bank is taking their extra cut via a foreign currency conversion fee, since most UK banks do charge that for foreign transactions.

--

Thanks, I think that's what it is. I will be in touch with them about it.

[VBF]

I don't think a fee of 180 baht is unreasonable for this service.

There is a good argument for the 'over the counter' fee to be higher than the automated ATM withdrawals.

I cannot see how you work that out Jip99.

The staff are sitting there to serve the customers, the bank still has to pay their salaries regardless.

I could ALMOST agree with you if you said 180 Baht is reasonable for those who don't have an account at the bank but even that's pushing it!

[IMA_FARANG]

You do realize, don't you, that debit cards, are offered by the bank for you because THEY, the bank, can make a small profit by supplying you the service of providing you access to your money.

That's called customer service.

The American comedian, George Carlin, has a skit on Youtube about that and explains clearly what the banks mean by the term, "servicing their customers".

It's a bit explicit.

[Pib]

I recently withdrew from my Bangkok Bank ATM with my UK bank debit card, the rate they gave me was app 2.50 Baht below the rate the bank was offering which was app 55.5 Baht.

That could be due to several different reasons, but probably the most likely is:

--your UK bank is taking their extra cut via a foreign currency conversion fee, since most UK banks do charge that for foreign transactions.

--

Yea, could have been several things...and not just because it was a Bangkok Bank ATM...could have occurred at any Thai bank ATM or even an ATM in another country.

2.5 of 55.5 works out to about 4.5%. Pretty stiff reduction. Could have been the home country "card-issuing" bank applying a foreign transaction fee(s), a percentage fee and maybe even a flat fee....and maybe the Bt180 fee was included in the cash amount which further lowered the effective rate.

Or worst yet, a DCC transaction was offered by the ATM, the customer unknowing accepted it versus declining which gives a several percent lower exchange rate, and then the card-issuing bank still applied its foreign transaction fee not because they were involved in the exchange/conversion but simply because it was a foreign transaction in any currency.

A person really needs to understand possible fees and methods of transactions (i.e., DCC or non-DCC) on the ATM end and his card-issuing bank end; otherwise, they just turn into cash cows. And just using a card with a foreign transaction fee and does not reimburse any local ATM fee pretty much automatically has a person by the short hairs.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

I think I had posted previously, that recently I was surprised to have gotten a DCC offer when I used a MC logo debit card to withdraw funds from a BKK Bank ATM. So, Bangkok Bank definitely does have its feet in the Dynamic Currency Conversion business.

However, Possum didn't mention anything in his posts above about his ATM withdrawal amount being displayed on the ATM screen as his home country currency instead of Thai baht, which is the simplest way to know you're getting DCC'd. Nor did he mention whether he was using a VISA or MC logo card. AFAIR, DCC for ATM withdrawals is only done for MC logo cards. I don't think it's done for VISA logo cards.

Nor did he mention asking about being ASKED via the ATM screen whether he wanted to accept the transaction in his home country currency. That's another element of getting DCC'd -- that the ATM screen has to ask you, and you have to agree, to have the transaction done in your home country currency. If you don't agree to that, the withdrawal will just go through as a regular Thai baht withdrawal at the normal VISA or MC networks rates.

So perhaps Possum's recollection of what happened with the details of that ATM withdrawal will end up explaining just how/why he got shortchanged. In other words, if he used a VISA logo card, I think that would rule out DCC. Or if he recalls no display of his home country currency, that would rule out DCC.

But, I suppose, it's equally possible it could have been a combination of both DCC and a FCC charge by his UK bank. Particularly since, AFAIK, there are VERY few UK banks that have debit cards that don't carry a FCC charge for ATM withdrawals or purchases made in foreign countries.

Edited September 7, 2015 by TallGuyJohninBKK