Foreign debit cards not accepted at Aeon

[pizzachang]

My experience today: Used the Aeon atm at Big C Extra - everything normal until I pressed the last "continue" to complete the transaction. Machine did nothing, just the page screen that usually precedes getting the cash. After 2 or 3 minutes, I cancelled the transaction and got a grye screen with "SYSTEM ERROR". Tried another bank's atm and got "INVALID AMOUNT" meaning I exceeded my set limit. Went to Aeon's branch at Central Fest and talked to someone on the phone - during the 30 minutes between getting to Aeon's branch, I called my USA bank and found that the transaction had "registered and then reversed". Out no money but 24 hours until I can re-access my acct. Aeon "bank" person informs me that they no longer accept foreign debit cards( I had previously used my debit card at Aeon banks) I suggested that they add a key informing users that foreign debit card aren't accepted because your machines trigger my daily limit (set by me) So I would be interested to hear other falang experiences along these lines.

[TheAppletons]

I seriously doubt the validity of what you were told. Sounds like a machine malfunction and then, because the bank employee didn't know what else to say, made up the "no foreign debit cards" accepted story.

If you go to the AEON website, it pretty clearly states that that they impose a 150 thb fee for foreign bank-issued card transactions:

http://www.aeon.co.th/aeon/en/fee-payment/aeon-atm-fee

[Assurancetourix]

Or maybe the ATM was nearly empty and cannot give you the sum you were wanting ..

[LivinLOS]

I use a non thai debit at aeons without issue..

[northernjohn]

I use a non thai debit at aeons without issue..

I strongly suspect the OP meant MY Debit card today did not work.

Just as a double check was it today yours worked fine?

I suspect as has been stated the machine malfunctioned and the person didn't know what to say.

[FolkGuitar]

I try never to use the machines at all, mostly for security reasons. Waaay too many card skimmers working the Chiang Mai area these days.

Instead, I go inside a bank and have a teller run my card through their counter machine. This not only takes care of possibly empty machines and possible card scanners, but I also avoid the ATM charge against my account PLUS there is NO DAILY LIMIT on my card this way!

[WinnieTheKhwai]

Is withdrawing funds from foreign sources via ATM still a thing?

I thought banks pretty much ended that with fees that make it no longer a sensible thing to do. (Well, maybe for tourists or in an emergency or something.)

[Dante99]

Is withdrawing funds from foreign sources via ATM still a thing?

I thought banks pretty much ended that with fees that make it no longer a sensible thing to do. (Well, maybe for tourists or in an emergency or something.)

Some people have cards that have no charges or all charges refunded.

Other people, like Folk Guitar above, find other ways to avoid the fees.

So yes it is still a thing and a very valid effective thing, not just for emergencies.

[uhhh ohhh]

I don't try to use the Aeon machine at Big C Extra anymore. I had trouble numerous times withdrawing with a U.S. debit card.....broken/needs service/malfunction/whatever....several times beginning about 6 or 7 months ago. Maybe each time it was just a bad time but it was frustrating. I've had no problem with Aeon at Central Festival, Tesco Lotus, Airport Plaza and Siam TV. There is a 150 baht service fee but I'm reimbursed by my U.S. Bank and broker. My last withdrawal was December 24th and no problem.

[williet98248]

I try never to use the machines at all, mostly for security reasons. Waaay too many card skimmers working the Chiang Mai area these days.

Instead, I go inside a bank and have a teller run my card through their counter machine. This not only takes care of possibly empty machines and possible card scanners, but I also avoid the ATM charge against my account PLUS there is NO DAILY LIMIT on my card this way!

Smartest post here. I have been skimmed/scammed twice. I try not to ever use a card in a machine if possible. I never use a card for large purchases either. Get cash from the bank and pay cash to the vendor.

[SOUTHERNSTAR]

Is withdrawing funds from foreign sources via ATM still a thing?

I thought banks pretty much ended that with fees that make it no longer a sensible thing to do. (Well, maybe for tourists or in an emergency or something.)

If you withdraw B 20 k and you pay B 180 fee, it is 0,9% costs which in many cases are lower than the transaction fee on changing currency or a credit card transaction. In Thailand cash is king, unlike western countries.

[realenglish1]

If they noted the transaction then reversed it in your account that means the machine was out of money so did not debit the amount

They still allow foreighn transaction the under educated bank teller knows nothing

[ThaiWai]

I seriously doubt the validity of what you were told. Sounds like a machine malfunction and then, because the bank employee didn't know what else to say, made up the "no foreign debit cards" accepted story.

If you go to the AEON website, it pretty clearly states that that they impose a 150 thb fee for foreign bank-issued card transactions:

http://www.aeon.co.th/aeon/en/fee-payment/aeon-atm-fee

Right! And Thai websites are always totally up to date and accurate just like the embassies and consulates. Gotta be a faulty ATM or a global conspiracy to prevent the OP from accessing his money but definitely the website is correct. That we know.

[Langsuan Man]

Happened to me the other day at both at Krungsri and TMB exactly as the OP described

Also called my US bank and they stated that there was a communications error from the Krungsri machine so no cash was dispensed but their

US system saw it as a debit and locked my account since that was my daily limit thus TMB would not work

They re-set it but I wasn't about to fight the traffic to try it again then, but a few days later no problems

And as far as AEON not accepting foreign ATM cards that is pure BS, for many months they were the only ATM's in Thailand that did not charge

the Foreign ATM access fee so you can imagine they were the ATM of choice for most expats with foreign cards

AEON is OK if you only want 20,000 THB per 150 fee, but I would rather pay TMB a 180 fee and get 30,000 THB

[Lampang2]

My experience today: Used the Aeon atm at Big C Extra - everything normal until I pressed the last "continue" to complete the transaction. Machine did nothing, just the page screen that usually precedes getting the cash. After 2 or 3 minutes, I cancelled the transaction and got a grye screen with "SYSTEM ERROR". Tried another bank's atm and got "INVALID AMOUNT" meaning I exceeded my set limit. Went to Aeon's branch at Central Fest and talked to someone on the phone - during the 30 minutes between getting to Aeon's branch, I called my USA bank and found that the transaction had "registered and then reversed". Out no money but 24 hours until I can re-access my acct. Aeon "bank" person informs me that they no longer accept foreign debit cards( I had previously used my debit card at Aeon banks) I suggested that they add a key informing users that foreign debit card aren't accepted because your machines trigger my daily limit (set by me) So I would be interested to hear other falang experiences along these lines.

Happened to me also in udon Thani, about 4 days ago.

3 different banks.

All 3 ATM seized / froze / rebooted.

Last one at krung Sri did not return card.

Had to wait hours for atm personel to show up to have it returned.

Brand new card with chip and NFC.

Near field communication, for blip payments.

Maybe to new?

Seems atm got "confused'

Edited December 30, 2015 by Lampang2

[Lampang2]

I try never to use the machines at all, mostly for security reasons. Waaay too many card skimmers working the Chiang Mai area these days.

Instead, I go inside a bank and have a teller run my card through their counter machine. This not only takes care of possibly empty machines and possible card scanners, but I also avoid the ATM charge against my account PLUS there is NO DAILY LIMIT on my card this way!

Inside bank get a worse rate.

No free lunch I am told.

Can't say 100% but that's what I was told.

[NoshowJones]

I try never to use the machines at all, mostly for security reasons. Waaay too many card skimmers working the Chiang Mai area these days.

Instead, I go inside a bank and have a teller run my card through their counter machine. This not only takes care of possibly empty machines and possible card scanners, but I also avoid the ATM charge against my account PLUS there is NO DAILY LIMIT on my card this way!

there is NO DAILY LIMIT on my card this way! Are you sure about that? I do this, but I keep my limit to 25.000 Bt.

Are you saying I could walk in to a Thai bank with my foreign debit card and draw out say 50.000 Bt?

I tried this and was told my foreign bank has a limit on how much I can withdraw.

Unless it's a case of me notifying my foreign bank and setting a limit of say 50.000Bt.

[Tywais]

I try never to use the machines at all, mostly for security reasons. Waaay too many card skimmers working the Chiang Mai area these days.

Instead, I go inside a bank and have a teller run my card through their counter machine. This not only takes care of possibly empty machines and possible card scanners, but I also avoid the ATM charge against my account PLUS there is NO DAILY LIMIT on my card this way!

there is NO DAILY LIMIT on my card this way! Are you sure about that? I do this, but I keep my limit to 25.000 Bt.

Are you saying I could walk in to a Thai bank with my foreign debit card and draw out say 50.000 Bt?

I tried this and was told my foreign bank has a limit on how much I can withdraw.

Unless it's a case of me notifying my foreign bank and setting a limit of say 50.000Bt.

Yes, the limit would be at your foreign bank end. For example, I've done a withdrawal with my card at the counter for nearly 100k Baht, the limit at that time of my US account.

[soc]

Slightly off topic, but l used my Australian Credit Card to withdraw cash from an ATM in China & not only was there no problem, the machine was far quicker than any ATM l've ever used & l got a great rate on the conversion. Even taking into account the transaction fee, l was still better off!

Won me over.

[pizzachang]

Thanks to all for your responses. It may be a case of saving face or a lack of acknowledgement about a malfunctioning machine. The person in Aeon Central Festival was polite and immediately called the main office - I am just relating what I was told on the phone - specifically applying to foreign debit cards. The supervisor stated: " Aeon no longer accepts foreign debit cards but we do accept foreign credit cards."

As far as skimming - I suspect this is more of a problem in streetside ATM's and not nearly as much a problem inside malls or outside the bank itself. I am sure it can happen, just much less likely. "Folk" - isn't there a fee for any bank service [unless you have an active account at that bank?] I do not transfer all my funds to a Thai bank but do have small accounts[savings] at a couple of banks here. So far, I haven't found any effective way to avoid fees, so am open to hearing others methods.

Also to once again clarify: The Aeon ATM machine functioned perfectly until the moment I pressed the last "continue" [to actually receive the cash] Then...nothing. No blank screen until I canceled the transaction. Then a gray screen message that said "system error". I called my bank after the next bank's machine messaged : "invalid amount". As I stated, the transaction was immediately debited to my account and then immediately reversed - according to my banker. "System error" does not mean - none sufficient funds inside the machine - that seems to be reserved for the term "invalid amount" or I've even seen "insufficient funds available for this transaction." - I suppose that one could also mean the machine itself is out of cash but it is usually more clear about that.

[pizzachang]

If they noted the transaction then reversed it in your account that means the machine was out of money so did not debit the amount

They still allow foreighn transaction the under educated bank teller knows nothing

It seems more reasonable to give the message to the user first, that the machine is out of money, instead of debiting a foreign account and then giving an error message. In fact, this has been my experience with numerous bank machines here in Thailand - even though some things are unreasonable sometimes.

[pizzachang]

Slightly off topic, but l used my Australian Credit Card to withdraw cash from an ATM in China & not only was there no problem, the machine was far quicker than any ATM l've ever used & l got a great rate on the conversion. Even taking into account the transaction fee, l was still better off!

Won me over.

"Won you over" to what exactly? Being in China instead of Thailand? Just curious.

[Rama]

Went to Aeon at Siam Electronics today, the 31st. No problem. They won't cut off foreign cards, they're a Japanese based company with presence around Asia. If you go to the one on Sukhumvit, it's in a small store catering to Japanese expats next to a Japanese restaurant, because many Japanese have Aeon cards from Japan....

[soc]

Slightly off topic, but l used my Australian Credit Card to withdraw cash from an ATM in China & not only was there no problem, the machine was far quicker than any ATM l've ever used & l got a great rate on the conversion. Even taking into account the transaction fee, l was still better off!

Won me over.

"Won you over" to what exactly? Being in China instead of Thailand? Just curious.

l probably should have explained it better.

l took my daughter with me to the Shanghai Motor Show.

Before l left Australia l bought some Yuan(Chinese currency)from 2 local banks.

The rate that they gave me was 4.45 Yuan to the Aust $.(l remember when it was 6.2!)

When l withdrew cash in China they gave me 4.91 Yuan to the dollar.

You get quite a few extra Yuans when you change a large amount of dollars.

l think that l was charged $11 for a transaction fee.

The reason that l used 2 Aust banks was that the first one would only supply Y100 notes(about $22)& l wanted some smaller denominations for coffee, taxis etc.

Thieving Australian banks want it all their own way!

Recommend Shanghai.

[northernjohn]

My experience today: Used the Aeon atm at Big C Extra - everything normal until I pressed the last "continue" to complete the transaction. Machine did nothing, just the page screen that usually precedes getting the cash. After 2 or 3 minutes, I cancelled the transaction and got a grye screen with "SYSTEM ERROR". Tried another bank's atm and got "INVALID AMOUNT" meaning I exceeded my set limit. Went to Aeon's branch at Central Fest and talked to someone on the phone - during the 30 minutes between getting to Aeon's branch, I called my USA bank and found that the transaction had "registered and then reversed". Out no money but 24 hours until I can re-access my acct. Aeon "bank" person informs me that they no longer accept foreign debit cards( I had previously used my debit card at Aeon banks) I suggested that they add a key informing users that foreign debit card aren't accepted because your machines trigger my daily limit (set by me) So I would be interested to hear other falang experiences along these lines.

Happened to me also in udon Thani, about 4 days ago.

3 different banks.

All 3 ATM seized / froze / rebooted.

Last one at krung Sri did not return card.

Had to wait hours for atm personel to show up to have it returned.

Brand new card with chip and NFC.

Near field communication, for blip payments.

Maybe to new?

Seems atm got "confused'

I try to always go in the bank. If I use a machine I make sure it is at a bank so if there is a problem I can deal with it there. Or in the morning.

[northernjohn]

Thanks to all for your responses. It may be a case of saving face or a lack of acknowledgement about a malfunctioning machine. The person in Aeon Central Festival was polite and immediately called the main office - I am just relating what I was told on the phone - specifically applying to foreign debit cards. The supervisor stated: " Aeon no longer accepts foreign debit cards but we do accept foreign credit cards."

As far as skimming - I suspect this is more of a problem in streetside ATM's and not nearly as much a problem inside malls or outside the bank itself. I am sure it can happen, just much less likely. "Folk" - isn't there a fee for any bank service [unless you have an active account at that bank?] I do not transfer all my funds to a Thai bank but do have small accounts[savings] at a couple of banks here. So far, I haven't found any effective way to avoid fees, so am open to hearing others methods.

Also to once again clarify: The Aeon ATM machine functioned perfectly until the moment I pressed the last "continue" [to actually receive the cash] Then...nothing. No blank screen until I canceled the transaction. Then a gray screen message that said "system error". I called my bank after the next bank's machine messaged : "invalid amount". As I stated, the transaction was immediately debited to my account and then immediately reversed - according to my banker. "System error" does not mean - none sufficient funds inside the machine - that seems to be reserved for the term "invalid amount" or I've even seen "insufficient funds available for this transaction." - I suppose that one could also mean the machine itself is out of cash but it is usually more clear about that.

I go in the bank get enough money for the month and take some walking around money and deposit the rest into an account there. I have an ATM card for them so no problem. I use a Visa card because they are the ones who set the rates not the bank.

I don't see the advantage in using several different banks. I know from time to time each bank comes uop with a different scheme that offers more interest. Do you invest in each one of them?

[Lampang2]

Thanks to all for your responses. It may be a case of saving face or a lack of acknowledgement about a malfunctioning machine. The person in Aeon Central Festival was polite and immediately called the main office - I am just relating what I was told on the phone - specifically applying to foreign debit cards. The supervisor stated: " Aeon no longer accepts foreign debit cards but we do accept foreign credit cards."

As far as skimming - I suspect this is more of a problem in streetside ATM's and not nearly as much a problem inside malls or outside the bank itself. I am sure it can happen, just much less likely. "Folk" - isn't there a fee for any bank service [unless you have an active account at that bank?] I do not transfer all my funds to a Thai bank but do have small accounts[savings] at a couple of banks here. So far, I haven't found any effective way to avoid fees, so am open to hearing others methods.

Also to once again clarify: The Aeon ATM machine functioned perfectly until the moment I pressed the last "continue" [to actually receive the cash] Then...nothing. No blank screen until I canceled the transaction. Then a gray screen message that said "system error". I called my bank after the next bank's machine messaged : "invalid amount". As I stated, the transaction was immediately debited to my account and then immediately reversed - according to my banker. "System error" does not mean - none sufficient funds inside the machine - that seems to be reserved for the term "invalid amount" or I've even seen "insufficient funds available for this transaction." - I suppose that one could also mean the machine itself is out of cash but it is usually more clear about that.

I go in the bank get enough money for the month and take some walking around money and deposit the rest into an account there. I have an ATM card for them so no problem. I use a Visa card because they are the ones who set the rates not the bank.

I don't see the advantage in using several different banks. I know from time to time each bank comes uop with a different scheme that offers more interest. Do you invest in each one of them?

My card do not charge anything above nominal exchange rate so only difference between atm/bank is 150/180/200 baht fee.

I couldn't be bothered to find AOEN at the time to save 50/30 baht.

Always worked before, but not that day.

[uhhh ohhh]

UPDATE: Today I used 2 debit cards at the Aeon in Central Festival....a U.S. Bank and a brokerage account. NO PROBLEM! Happy New Year to ALL!!!!!!!

[krung]

Hi, on Friday at Siam TV Aeon ATM it didn't give out the money but still withdrew from my UK bank account. The ATM just came up with a red screen and said offline connection. Is this AEON problem or my bank in the UK? Phoned the bank in the UK and they didn't say anything about contacting AEON? Thank for any advice.

[northernjohn]

Hi, on Friday at Siam TV Aeon ATM it didn't give out the money but still withdrew from my UK bank account. The ATM just came up with a red screen and said offline connection. Is this AEON problem or my bank in the UK? Phoned the bank in the UK and they didn't say anything about contacting AEON? Thank for any advice.

That makes three different AEON machines. One poster has had it happen at several other banks.

I would suggest not using AEON machines. The cost is the same at another machine. Or as has been stated if you go

inside you pay no cost and if it is your Visa card Visa will set the exchange rate. My Visa card charges me a $5 user fee and that is it. A ridiculous low rate for the money I withdraw. Besides which I can get it all in one transaction not 3 or 4. I have no limit on my Visa card for a withdrawal I can withdraw all at once of the available amount remaining on it. My Debit card has a limit on it that I set and can raise if I so desire.