ATM fees rise again

[Pib]

And here's another member of the Thai Bankers Assn, Krungsri Bank, announcing the higher fee for foreign cards effective 6 Nov 15. Below cut and paste/quote from their webiste. Thai banks really like us farangs.

https://www.krungsri.com/bank/getmedia/5cd94db4-dc0f-4ca4-a209-dddbbc5c9e0c/Advance-Notification-06102015-EN.aspx

Capture.JPG

"Thai banks really like us farangs."

Well, firstly it affects all foreign cards, not just 'farang' ones.

Secondly, it is signed off by 'Ms. Jaince Rae Van Ekeren. Acting President and CEO."

Doesn't sound like a Thai name to me.

Not uncommon for some Thai bank executives to be farang (foreigner).

[AyG]

Most likely the ladies married name.

As far as I am aware senior banking positions in Thailand are not open to "foreigners"............

Do you know who owns Krung Sri? And does this look like a Thai person to you? https://www.krungsri.com/bank/en/Other/AboutUs/CommitteeStructure/Board-of-Directors/Mrs-Janice-Rae-Van-Ekeren.html

[Pib]

And here's another member of the Thai Bankers Assn, Krungsri Bank, announcing the higher fee for foreign cards effective 6 Nov 15. Below cut and paste/quote from their webiste. Thai banks really like us farangs.

https://www.krungsri.com/bank/getmedia/5cd94db4-dc0f-4ca4-a209-dddbbc5c9e0c/Advance-Notification-06102015-EN.aspx

Capture.JPG

"Thai banks really like us farangs."

Well, firstly it affects all foreign cards, not just 'farang' ones.

Secondly, it is signed off by 'Ms. Jaince Rae Van Ekeren. Acting President and CEO."

Doesn't sound like a Thai name to me.

Most likely the ladies married name.

As far as I am aware senior banking positions in Thailand are not open to "foreigners"............

Here's her profile and picture on the Krungsri Bank website.

https://www.krungsri.com/bank/en/Other/AboutUs/CommitteeStructure/Board-of-Directors/Mrs-Janice-Rae-Van-Ekeren.html

[AyG]

Here's her profile and picture on the Krungsri Bank website.

https://www.krungsri.com/bank/en/Other/AboutUs/CommitteeStructure/Board-of-Directors/Mrs-Janice-Rae-Van-Ekeren.html

I really wish I'd posted that link.

[oncearugge]

And here's another member of the Thai Bankers Assn, Krungsri Bank, announcing the higher fee for foreign cards effective 6 Nov 15. Below cut and paste/quote from their webiste. Thai banks really like us farangs.

https://www.krungsri.com/bank/getmedia/5cd94db4-dc0f-4ca4-a209-dddbbc5c9e0c/Advance-Notification-06102015-EN.aspx

Capture.JPG

"Thai banks really like us farangs."

Well, firstly it affects all foreign cards, not just 'farang' ones.

Secondly, it is signed off by 'Ms. Jaince Rae Van Ekeren. Acting President and CEO."

Doesn't sound like a Thai name to me.

Most likely the ladies married name.

As far as I am aware senior banking positions in Thailand are not open to "foreigners"............

Here's her profile and picture on the Krungsri Bank website.

https://www.krungsri.com/bank/en/Other/AboutUs/CommitteeStructure/Board-of-Directors/Mrs-Janice-Rae-Van-Ekeren.html

Thank you !

One lives and learns

[fletchsmile]

Well, about 20 years ago Siam commercial bank wanted to charge me 100 baht a year. I cancelled my cashpoint card and do all transactions face to face to this day

Well that certainly told them didn't it How's that working out for you? 20 years of queuing up to do face to face transactions each time you need to take money out just to save 100 baht a year

.. and the net result of your protest has been... ?

[Pib]

Here's her profile and picture on the Krungsri Bank website.

https://www.krungsri.com/bank/en/Other/AboutUs/CommitteeStructure/Board-of-Directors/Mrs-Janice-Rae-Van-Ekeren.html

I really wish I'd posted that link.

Notice our posts are the same time...we were passing in the night and didn't know it.

[nidieunimaitre]

Is there a way to complain to the ministry of finance, NCPO, etc?

I like your sense of humour!

[55Jay]

Secondly, it is signed off by 'Ms. Jaince Rae Van Ekeren. Acting President and CEO."

I don't used LinkedIn, but if you do and can use it to send messages to Ms. Van Ekeren, her profile appears to be at https://www.linkedin.com/pub/jan-van-ekeren/6/59/624?trk=pub-pbmap It would be good to hear her justification for this ridiculously high charge.

She went to business school in Al Capone's town.

[BudRight]

But...why only 200 baht? If ATMs users have no choice but to pay it, why not 500 or 1000 baht? If they do have a choice, then charging them at all is stupid. Either way, it's the wrong price.

[Issangeorge]

Overnight Thai banks quietly raised the ATM fees for foreign cards to 200 baht. As if they went gouging enough. Tried kbank and then gsb both stated 200 baht fee. Guess I will use other avenues to get my money. These fees are prohibitive in my opinion. I guess we will now hear from the Thai apologists to justify these excessively large fees. Seriously though, it doesn't really affect me as my us bank reimburses my fees, still not fair though.

Check your statement, if you withdraw ฿10,000 it will go to your US bank as ฿10,200, it doesn't even show up as a fee, I doubt your bank will reimburse you. It seems to me the fee was ฿150 about a year ago, so they have raised it about 33% in a year, what's the justification?

[Pib]

Overnight Thai banks quietly raised the ATM fees for foreign cards to 200 baht. As if they went gouging enough. Tried kbank and then gsb both stated 200 baht fee. Guess I will use other avenues to get my money. These fees are prohibitive in my opinion. I guess we will now hear from the Thai apologists to justify these excessively large fees. Seriously though, it doesn't really affect me as my us bank reimburses my fees, still not fair though.

Check your statement, if you withdraw ฿10,000 it will go to your US bank as ฿10,200, it doesn't even show up as a fee, I doubt your bank will reimburse you. It seems to me the fee was ฿150 about a year ago, so they have raised it about 33% in a year, what's the justification?

Thai banks raised it from Bt150 to Bt180 about a year ago. The are now going from Bt180 to Bt200 which is a 11% increase.

[chiang mai]

The justification is that ATM networks are expensive, ATM usage is down, the economy is lean and banks need to make a profit, just like any other business. Another aspect is that folks have beaten up on banks so much that regulators in many countries are demanding banks reduce their fees on various previously chargeable items. So, if you want to beat up the banks and get them to reduce their charges, be prepared to pay for it somewhere else along the line.

The simple answer is to open a Thai bank account, grow a pair and actually store some money here in Thai banks.

[nidieunimaitre]

The justification is that ATM networks are expensive, ATM usage is down, the economy is lean and banks need to make a profit, just like any other business. Another aspect is that folks have beaten up on banks so much that regulators in many countries are demanding banks reduce their fees on various previously chargeable items. So, if you want to beat up the banks and get them to reduce their charges, be prepared to pay for it somewhere else along the line.

The simple answer is to open a Thai bank account, grow a pair and actually store some money here in Thai banks.

Last sentence should be:

The simplistic answer etc.....

[nidieunimaitre]

Secondly, it is signed off by 'Ms. Jaince Rae Van Ekeren. Acting President and CEO."

I don't used LinkedIn, but if you do and can use it to send messages to Ms. Van Ekeren, her profile appears to be at https://www.linkedin.com/pub/jan-van-ekeren/6/59/624?trk=pub-pbmap It would be good to hear her justification for this ridiculously high charge.

She went to business school in Al Capone's town.

I suppose that the Chicago Boys never offered her a free lunch.

(sorry for this macro economics joke)

[Pib]

The justification is that ATM networks are expensive, ATM usage is down, the economy is lean and banks need to make a profit, just like any other business. Another aspect is that folks have beaten up on banks so much that regulators in many countries are demanding banks reduce their fees on various previously chargeable items. So, if you want to beat up the banks and get them to reduce their charges, be prepared to pay for it somewhere else along the line.

The simple answer is to open a Thai bank account, grow a pair and actually store some money here in Thai banks.

Last sentence should be:

The simplistic answer etc.....

Maintaining money in a Thai bank is definitely a good thing...I konw I do. But a person still needs to get money over from the home country into the Thai bank unless maybe obtaining all their income within Thailand. To get money from your home country to your Thai bank account a person will generally do a wire transfer or do ATM/counter withdrawals, both of which will incur fees for most folks...which one a person uses will depend on how the fees work out.

Personally I have not incurred a wire transfer fee since early 2011 because I've had no need to do a wire transfer since I have some no foreign transaction fee cards which also reimburse ATM fees...they will continue to reimburse this new and improved (higher) Bt200 Thai bank ATM fee.

But since I feel the fee is too high I would prefer not to incur the fee from the get-go nor my home country bank have to reimburse. When they reimburse they are actually paying me back the fee that ended up in the Thai bank's pocket. So, I do counter withdrawals whenever possible to avoid this ATM fee. And if a person wanted to get down into the grass on the fees, the Thai bank still gets a fee from my bank even for a counter withdrawal, but at least it don't include the Bt200 ATM fee.

[nidieunimaitre]

About counter withdrawals:

- do you get the visa / MC exchange rate that you get from the ATM?

- does the bank not tell you to use the ATM instead?

- is the limit 20.000?

[Pib]

About counter withdrawals:

- do you get the visa / MC exchange rate that you get from the ATM?

- does the bank not tell you to use the ATM instead?

- is the limit 20.000?

-You get the Visa/Mastercard exchange rate unless maybe at SCB. SCB's website and posts I read indicate they may attempt to to accomplish a DCC transaction especially if using a credit card...not sure about a debit card. Thai banks will gladly accept credit cards also. I use Bangkok Bank and Krungsri Bank for counter withdrawals (using some no foreign transaction fee and no cash advance fee credit cards which I prepay to avoid interest charge)....and they do not charge a fee. It can be branch dependent regarding their counter withdrawal policy. A small branch like in a mall may not do a counter withdrawal; instead you may need to go to a full service branch. For my withdrawals I get the full Visa/Mastercard exchange rate because my cards do not have a foreign transaction fee...if your home country card-issuing bank applies a foreign transaction fee you need to consider that....don't blame any such fee on the Thai bank; blame that fee on your home country card-issuing bank.

- Some branches will just point you to their ATM if using a debit card; others will not and do the counter withdrawal as requested. Some ThaiVisa posts indicate some may not want to do it if it does not exceed what their ATM will allow....depending on the Thai bank their ATMs will provide Bt20K to Bt30K per transaction so you may want to ask for more than their ATM can issue per transaction.

- I know of no Thai bank limit for a counter withdrawal...I expect branches may have one but it's probably really high. I've seem a few ThaiVisa posts of folks doing counter withdrawals of around $10-15K USD equivalent. I routinely do counter withdrawals for Bt60K to Bt70K. On my very first counter withdrawal I asked for Bt100K but my card rejected as overlimit---not due to a Thai bank limit but my home country card-issuing bank limit per day/transaction which was $2,000 (approx Bt70K). It was my mistake as I made a bad assumption about that particular card's daily limit (i.e., I messed up). I looked at the bank teller and said try Bt65K and the transaction processed. Later that night I contacted my home country bank to find out limits for my card...now I know it Bt2,000 per day/transaction. Summary: the Thai bank probably won't have a limit or it will be very high...but you also need to ensure you don't exceed the limit set by your card-issuing bank.

Edited November 8, 2015 by Pib

[55Jay]

Pib - which bank card do you have that's $2,000/day?

[jadee]

Hi, I think it's funny that the OP is 'complaining' despite his US bank refunding the fee! That's great isn't it?

I'm just curious, but doesn't it all depend on the exchange rate you're getting?

For example, you could just transfer to your Thai bank account and avoid foreign ATM fees altogether (except in emergencies, granted). As to whether 200baht is too high or low, you'd have to look at exchange rates. I have a Bangkok Bank account, so I know that every time I transfer money from abroad via SWIFT, they charge 0.25% - min 200 - max-500. To know whether that was reasonable or not, you'd have to look at exchange rates. I'm just saying in my experience, withdrawing via the ATM has had an unfavorable exchange rate compared with SWIFT.

[Happy Grumpy]

Remember when people were exploding about the nasty Thais when Ocean World were in the media for having such Dual Pricing.

Until it was found out that it was an Australian owned and managed company.

[nidieunimaitre]

Thanks for the info, Pib.

[Pib]

Pib - which bank card do you have that's $2,000/day?

Two different Pentagon Federal Credit Union credit cards...they are no foreign transaction fee and no cash advance cards which I prepay to avoid any interest charge....no annual fee also. Actually, that $2,000 limit is for a transaction with a teller...I could also then slide over to the ATM and pull another $1000 but the Bt200 fee would not be reimbursed. When using an ATM I use a couple of no foreign transaction fee debit cards which do reimburse...one of them is the Schwab card. And with the PenFed card I can also do another $2,000 cash advance online. All total I could withdrawal $5,000 per day with the PenFed cards...all of their credit cards are like that. And I also use one of the PenFed cards regularly for purchases since it pays 1.5% cash back on all purchases monthly.

[55Jay]

Pib - which bank card do you have that's $2,000/day?

Two different Pentagon Federal Credit Union credit cards...they are no foreign transaction fee and no cash advance cards which I prepay to avoid any interest charge....no annual fee also. Actually, that $2,000 limit is for a transaction with a teller...I could also then slide over to the ATM and pull another $1000 but the Bt200 fee would not be reimbursed. When using an ATM I use a couple of no foreign transaction fee debit cards which do reimburse...one of them is the Schwab card. And with the PenFed card I can also do another $2,000 cash advance online. All total I could withdrawal $5,000 per day with the PenFed cards...all of their credit cards are like that. And I also use one of the PenFed cards regularly for purchases since it pays 1.5% cash back on all purchases monthly.

I remember now you told me this a year ago but I didn't pursue, still on the $1,000/day Schwab Debit card. Thanks, J.

[tropo]

It's easy, have a thai bank account.

It's not always that easy. I have money that I cannot access any other way... other than flying to that country and manually withdrawing it from my bank... or using a linked MasterCard debit card, which isn't much use when I need cash.

200 baht was inevitable and it is not surprising at all. It was the whole point of the 180 bridge between the initial 150 when they first introduced the fee several years ago and 200... softening the blow. I told my wife last week it probably won't be long before it is 200 baht.

This must have just happened as I took money out a few days ago at 180 baht.

Why would 180 baht be affordable and 200 baht not? I reduce the cost by taking 25,000 at a time, so 20 baht is insignificant. There used to be 40k ATM's, but 25k is the highest limit I can find now... most are 20k.

[tropo]

No, get a thai bank account. It's easy, so please stop whining about a few bob.

That's not really an option for tourists. It's not so easy.

These fees are a windfall for Thai banks. They'd be silly not charging it and charging as much as possible. Tourists are not going to boycott Thailand because of this fee.

On the plus side, is there any other place on earth with so many ATMs, on nearly every street (in Pattaya)?

[CNXSTEVE]

No, get a thai bank account. It's easy, so please stop whining about a few bob.

That's not really an option for tourists. It's not so easy.

There is plenty of advice for tourists. An example in the link.

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/travel/cheap-travel-money

How is this link helpful in explaining how to avoid ATM fees in Thailand?

[guru]

It's easy, have a thai bank account.

It's not always that easy. I have money that I cannot access any other way... other than flying to that country and manually withdrawing it from my bank... or using a linked MasterCard debit card, which isn't much use when I need cash.

200 baht was inevitable and it is not surprising at all. It was the whole point of the 180 bridge between the initial 150 when they first introduced the fee several years ago and 200... softening the blow. I told my wife last week it probably won't be long before it is 200 baht.

This must have just happened as I took money out a few days ago at 180 baht.

Why would 180 baht be affordable and 200 baht not? I reduce the cost by taking 25,000 at a time, so 20 baht is insignificant. There used to be 40k ATM's, but 25k is the highest limit I can find now... most are 20k.

Krungsri (yellow atm) will let you take out 30k.

[nidieunimaitre]

Remember when people were exploding about the nasty Thais when Ocean World were in the media for having such Dual Pricing.

Until it was found out that it was an Australian owned and managed company.

Sure.

But.

How many decision making members of the Thai Bankster Cartel do you think are foreigners?

Not that the foreign Banksters Gangs are any better of course.

Is there no limit to apologizing / to masochism?

[jippytum]

if you have a card from overseas bank contact the foreign exchange counter at any thai bank with your passport and request the amount of Thai baht you require. If you have a debit card there is no limit to the amount and no fee charged providing of course the funds requested are available in your foreign account . This is a more secure way to obtain funds and full documentation is provided.Downside it take a bit longer .