Opening credit card, foreign national

[new2here]

I thought I'd just share my own recent experiences with applying and being approved for credit cards by Thai banks. As is common, this is vey much a case of YMMV and I don't hold that my experience will be the same as yours.

I tried at 4 banks, three approved; one denied - with a caveat.

As background, I'm at the end of my second year with my employer, have a work permit (also just about 2 years now), rent my residence, am not married, have proven (appears in my bankbook as a "SAL" code) income that exceeds B50,000/mo.

I already have a traditional BBL Visa card, and have paid it per the terms.

I applied at: KBank, UOB, Thanachart and AEON.

I applied in person with each (though AEON really seems to not want to do in-person applications and prefers you mail them in)

I brought copies of:

-passport:

the photo page, plus copies of extensions that go back two years, plus the current extension.

- work permit:

First page, plus all the pages that have any entires printed. This of course shows work going back 2 years.

-bank book:

First page, plus all pages in order going back at least 6 months. Because of where the SAL (salary deposit code) entries appear on the page, I ended up showing 8 months, not 6.

- work contract:

Current contract, plus last one; so that I could show 2 years.

- Residence certificate

Each bank experience was pretty much the same..

I walked in, took a number for new accounts..

A banker (not a traditional teller per se) took, and rather intensely reviewed all my documents- are the the correct ones? Do the cover the right amount of time? Are they signed and stamped as necessary?

This was a pre-check in that I suspect if I didn't have one or more of the required docs, I wouldn't have been allowed to apply (though I think all of the banks do permit you to bypass the branch and mail the application to the credit card department directly, but I think going this route without the right docs would just get you a no answer, just without the banker saying it to your face)

Since all my docs were order, they'd pull out an application and fill in for me - with the information from the docs I handed them. aside from KBank, all the apps were 100% in Thai.

I had to sign multiple times.

A few of the comments I heard more than one time were:

- the minimum income appears to be B50,000 gross per month, AND that must show in your bankbook and with the right deposit code. My salary goes into a BBL account- and my bankbook has a SAL code for salary - as opposed to a more traditional cash deposit of any type.

- you may have more than one job or source of income, but 3 of the 4 banks required that whatever income you were planning to use to support your application, had to be from work-permit based work and had to appear in your bankbook. I casually asked what happens if you have a second job or even a first job that's "either off the books" or is work permitted, but by nature, pays cash. The answer appears to be that the 3 banks won't accept it as it can't really be sourced.

- all four wanted a credit check release from a domestic credit reporting type bureau. Evidentially this is a big deal and is used more and more.

- 3 of the four actually contacted my employer (2 by phone, 1 by fax and one by mail) to verify the amount of salary and dates of emolument.

- I was never asked to or about opening some kind of deposit account as a means of securing the card. I knew that this is sometimes what the bank offers, but on my 4 application experiences, it never came up.

- all four banks closely scrutinized the copies against the originals (passport, bank book, work permit). My BBL book has a page that has a small tear - it got caught in the passbook update printer. This caught the attention of all four bankers and notes were made on the copies, after they looked closely at the original to make sure.

- the salary certification had to be a signed and stamped original. Thankfully, I had 4 originals made, so that was no problem. They also wanted the original residence certificate, but agreed to a copy as I only had one, and the residence certificate seemed to be a take-it or leave-it issue. None of the 4 list it as a "must have" doc anyway.

All four said that I'd get a call from the bank if there was "a problem", a letter of it was a flat out rejection, or the card in the mail if approved.

The credit lines appear to be about 4 times your proven monthly salary.

In the end 3 of the 4 approved me. The one that didn't, said they couldn't contact my employer to verify income or job. I offered to have my employer contact the bank to make verification, but the credit officer said no. The contact had to bank originated.

He did say that he would try again, but that the application had to be either approved or denied within 30 days.

I was given phone numbers of the banks new accounts/ credit decision office, if I wanted to see where my application was at.

What I gather is that is all hinges on:

1) do you have a current work permit that you've held for at least one year? No work permit seems to be a no-go, end of conversation. I think it was UOB that wanted to see 2 years.. But one full year was the minimum from all.

2) can you show a legitimate/coded as salary, monthly deposit of b50,000 (of course it would be a little lower due to tax withholding etc). Lower than 50,000 gross also seems to be a no-go or possibly a secured-only approval account.

3) whats in your credit report? I was not given the chance to see mine, and I did ask if I could just see it. I know I have one, but am not sure what's on it, aside from my payment history with BBL. The only other thing that I have on a "credit" type basis is my mobile they AIS, but don't know if that's on the report or not.

My cards showed up about 3 weeks after I initially applied via certified mail.

Sorry if this is long, but I thought I'd share what it was like for me when I applied.. This was all done at the very end of February 2016. Of course YMMV. Good luck.

Edited March 19, 2016 by new2here

[Prbkk]

Very interesting and useful information. Thanks for posting.

[sunnyjim5]

Interesting

Are you saying that you have obtained 3 unsecured credit cards from banks where you do not have a account ?

[grankboy]

Very interesting thank you

[blackcab]

Very informative. Thank you for taking the time to post.

[new2here]

Interesting

Are you saying that you have obtained 3 unsecured credit cards from banks where you do not have a account ?

Yes. That is correct. My feeling, though I never asked directly, is that when you're talking abou applying for the entry-level card, that there's not a lot of emphasis placed on the relationship you have, or don't have, with that specific bank. It felt that it was all about meeting those magical minimums... Minimum time working, minimum time holding a work permit, minimum salary.

When you move up to the upper middle or upper tier cards, now I think that relationship maters as those cards tend to have more tie-ins with your deposit or investment accounts. But entry-level cards seem to be more transaction based and not relationship based.

Edited March 19, 2016 by new2here

[paulinbkk111]

Credit check is easy. Bank does it, but you can go to Sala Daeng BTS, they have a credit check booth. Cost about 100 baht and is literally a paper that says you dont have any debt.

[Bobotie]

Credit check is easy. Bank does it, but you can go to Sala Daeng BTS, they have a credit check booth. Cost about 100 baht and is literally a paper that says you dont have any debt.

Strange, i get a credit rating letter every year from the Bank and what is entered in the computer at the NCB

It makes no reference to whether you do or dont have any debt...it gives you a rating...

A piece of paper saying you have no debt doesnt really come in play when applying for a cc or loan as it proves nothing, what they really want to see is you have serviced any debt you have on a regular basis and not defaulted on anything....this is how you build your credit rating, not by having no debt

[new2here]

Credit check is easy. Bank does it, but you can go to Sala Daeng BTS, they have a credit check booth. Cost about 100 baht and is literally a paper that says you dont have any debt.

Strange, i get a credit rating letter every year from the Bank and what is entered in the computer at the NCB

It makes no reference to whether you do or dont have any debt...it gives you a rating...

A piece of paper saying you have no debt doesnt really come in play when applying for a cc or loan as it proves nothing, what they really want to see is you have serviced any debt you have on a regular basis and not defaulted on anything....this is how you build your credit rating, not by having no debt

That's what I suspected it would be.. I've heard it mentioned before by banks prior to this, but I've never actually seen my report (or anyone's report) and was unaware of how to see yours (if in fact that's possible here)

The feeling that I got from this part was that more and more banks are now using a persons proven prior credit performance as a larger part of the decision making process.

I'll bet that if (as example) happen to meet all the income, time, etc. minimums, BUT you've got some kind of adverse credit history, that they'd either reject you outright, required a deposit (aka secured card) or some other kind of negative/lesser approval.

One thing I thought that was interesting - because I asked, is all four banks said that if I applied for X card, but was denied for that card, IF I happened to meet the eligibility for a different card, call me card Y, that they'd approve that other "Y" cars instead.

I would of course, be free to refuse that "Y" card, and if I did, the bank said that they'd close the application and that they'd show it as a application denial, not a customer closed account. But of course, if I activated the card or used it, then that was a different matter.

[dotpoom]

I got two credit cards in the post from the K Bank...one Visa and one MasterCard.....and I never even applied for them. I don't even keep a lot of money in it.

[theoldgit]

This topic comes up regularly and there seems to be no set application process and no actual criteria.

Many bank staff seem to use the work permit requirement as an opening gambit, I don't know if this is an actual BoT requirement or a local system to sort out the wheat from the chaff.

I do know of a few retirees, so no work permit, who have Amex Credit Cards, I don't know if they have a different issuing criteria or why they will issue when others wont. Credit Cards are quite useful in this day and age, not necessarily for taking up the line of credit, but for checking into hotels, renting cars and booking into hotels, though not all merchants accept Amex.

[Crossy]

I do know of a few retirees, so no work permit, who have Amex Credit Cards, I don't know if they have a different issuing criteria or why they will issue when others wont. Credit Cards are quite useful in this day and age, not necessarily for taking up the line of credit, but for checking into hotels, renting cars and booking into hotels, though not all merchants accept Amex.

AmEx offered me a card with no WP some years back. At the time I declined but now have one (and a WP) along with Citi and SCB cards (unsecured).

[new2here]

This topic comes up regularly and there seems to be no set application process and no actual criteria.

Many bank staff seem to use the work permit requirement as an opening gambit, I don't know if this is an actual BoT requirement or a local system to sort out the wheat from the chaff.

I do know of a few retirees, so no work permit, who have Amex Credit Cards, I don't know if they have a different issuing criteria or why they will issue when others wont. Credit Cards are quite useful in this day and age, not necessarily for taking up the line of credit, but for checking into hotels, renting cars and booking into hotels, though not all merchants accept Amex.

I agree.. However, what I noticed (and again, this is just my experience and may not reflect others) is that the local bank branches have very little "say" in the approval process/decision.. They just went thru the "must have..." check list.

I have heard, albeit unsubstantiated, is that branches have a quota of apps they should be turning in, so (if true) there may be some incentive for them to accept apps more liberally, or may not have every single doc on the list - even though the actual decision making process isn't at the branch level.

Regarding the work permit mandate, I have never seen, in print, anything that references a BoT mandate that unsecured applicants must have a work permit- though I can see a banks insistence on this, from a credit risk perspective.

My experience overall, was the the process was very, very similar across all four banks, little variance in terms of what they wanted or how the 'acted' during the application process.

[new2here]

I got two credit cards in the post from the K Bank...one Visa and one MasterCard.....and I never even applied for them. I don't even keep a lot of money in it.

How did you (or did you) sign the account terms and conditions? I'd wonder if it's one of those 'you agree to it by using it" kind of stories.

[dominique355]

To get a credit card from a Thai bank is really a strange experience. I have been living on Thailand for 10 years, I am retired and have no job.

I did keep all my credit cards from my home country: Amexco Centurion, VISA Gold and 3 MastetCharge, which I use regularly here in Thailand. I also have 2 debit cards from 2 Thai banks (KBank and BBl).

American Express Thailand once contacted me and offered me a CC, but I declined; I don't need another Amexco, I have 3 Centurion.

But then I asked KBank if they would give me a CC. First it looked like impossible because no working permit, and I didn't really push. But my wife insisted, because many shops offer great deals and discounts when paying with a local CC.

Finally they agreed but I had to buy a life insurance for KBank for THB 100,000. No problem and we got 2 Visa Premiere cards. I seldom use it.

Some time ago the offered us the new Wisdom Card which apparently entitles you you use the 1st Class Lounge at the airport. Big Deal! I declined.

The KBank VISA Card is rather useless with low limit (100,000) and max monthly of THB 500,000.

I am perfectly happy with the debit card and never had any problems.

My advice: Forget about Thai CC. Not worth the trouble.

Now e-banking ...That's another issue.

[Bobotie]

One should note, it seems the OP is about getting an unsecured cc from a THAI bank

AMEX and Aeon are not Thai banks, i stand to be corrected is AMEX card a credit card or a charge card...with the AMEX card, i belive the full balance needs to be paid in full every month

[new2here]

One should note, it seems the OP is about getting an unsecured cc from a THAI bank

AMEX and Aeon are not Thai banks, i stand to be corrected is AMEX card a credit card or a charge card...with the AMEX card, i belive the full balance needs to be paid in full every month

Amex here in Thailand is of course a Thai company - hence the name American Express Thailand Ltd. AEON is also a Thai company thru Thana Sinsap. However, as I recall they are licensed/structured differently than a retail bank, hence some operating differences.

Here in Thailand AMEX does not appear to offer any CREDIT cards, only their flagship CHARGE card- which must be paid in full each month. I wish they did as I've always had good experiences with them as a US card holder.

In know in the US, AMEX (and that would now be the US version of American Express and not the Thai version) does offer several true credit cards along with their flagship charge cards- but I have never seen this credit option offered as a mainstream product in Thailand.

Only one bank I checked with was a no-go from the start - TMB. I contacted their credit card department and was told due to US reporting mandated, they do not (now) issues new accounts to US nationals. I called several larger branches to see if this was a consistent answer; and it was.

For me, I want(ed) these cards mostly for the discount/promotions, which tend to be good (for what I buy) and since none of the cards I got have any annual fees, there's not a whole lot of "cost" to carry the card outside of interest, if I choose to carry a balance.

[fletchsmile]

Just to add a few points:

- OP has done well if only talking 50k gross as salary. 75k is a common threshold for foreigners. 15k for Thais. For some nationalities 50k is below what they need for a Work Permit

- WP isn't a BOT requirement. Banks like to see one though as it gives comfort as to being here legitimately, source of income, intention to stay etc. It's all about building a credit case.

- If someone already has a credit card you should automatically get an annual statement of account for this credit card showing your account status and how much you paid each month. Paying on time every time by direct debit is a good discipline to keep your status as normal. This is a useful doc to copy and show original to any bank when applying for a new card

- The National Credit Bureau (NCB) gets used more and more in Thailand. Applying for credit of any kind it's obviously useful. Some employers also use it as a credit check when applying for jobs. You can get one by paying 100 baht or so at any of the branches / outlets. If I remember rightly there's an outlet at Sala Daeng and one of the Sukhumvit BTS stations where you can request them.

Like in other countries, many Thai banks have "scorecards" where they assess your credit worthiness for their internal use. Work permit, salary, credit history, etc all affect your score. Different bank have different criteria. There will also be points in time where their credit criteria are stricter than others, eg point in the economic cycle, whether they're looking to aggressively grow business, historic level of bad debts and factors driving that, etc

Edited March 21, 2016 by fletchsmile

[Bobotie]

One should note, it seems the OP is about getting an unsecured cc from a THAI bank

AMEX and Aeon are not Thai banks, i stand to be corrected is AMEX card a credit card or a charge card...with the AMEX card, i belive the full balance needs to be paid in full every month

Amex here in Thailand is of course a Thai company - hence the name American Express Thailand Ltd. AEON is also a Thai company thru Thana Sinsap. However, as I recall they are licensed/structured differently than a retail bank, hence some operating differences.

Here in Thailand AMEX does not appear to offer any CREDIT cards, only their flagship CHARGE card- which must be paid in full each month. I wish they did as I've always had good experiences with them as a US card holder.

In know in the US, AMEX (and that would now be the US version of American Express and not the Thai version) does offer several true credit cards along with their flagship charge cards- but I have never seen this credit option offered as a mainstream product in Thailand.

Only one bank I checked with was a no-go from the start - TMB. I contacted their credit card department and was told due to US reporting mandated, they do not (now) issues new accounts to US nationals. I called several larger branches to see if this was a consistent answer; and it was.

For me, I want(ed) these cards mostly for the discount/promotions, which tend to be good (for what I buy) and since none of the cards I got have any annual fees, there's not a whole lot of "cost" to carry the card outside of interest, if I choose to carry a balance.

I never said AMEX and Aeon where not Thai companies, i said they are not Thai banks, significantly different rules they are operating under

[theoldgit]

One should note, it seems the OP is about getting an unsecured cc from a THAI bank

AMEX and Aeon are not Thai banks, i stand to be corrected is AMEX card a credit card or a charge card...with the AMEX card, i belive the full balance needs to be paid in full every month

Amex here in Thailand is of course a Thai company - hence the name American Express Thailand Ltd. AEON is also a Thai company thru Thana Sinsap. However, as I recall they are licensed/structured differently than a retail bank, hence some operating differences.

Here in Thailand AMEX does not appear to offer any CREDIT cards, only their flagship CHARGE card- which must be paid in full each month. I wish they did as I've always had good experiences with them as a US card holder.

In know in the US, AMEX (and that would now be the US version of American Express and not the Thai version) does offer several true credit cards along with their flagship charge cards- but I have never seen this credit option offered as a mainstream product in Thailand.

Amex do offer both options here, mine is an unsecured credit card with none of that deposit or work permit malarkey.

They also do their normal charge card in fact they did a recent campaign amongst their credit card holders to encourage them to add their charge cards to their collection, maybe not a hard sell but the initial invitation pack was followed up by emails and phone calls.

As I said before not everyone takes Amex, I was told they charge retailers 5%, I don't know how true that figure is, but by playing the points game we've had a number of free flights and discounts on meals out.

[bazza40]

Much ado about nothing. I have savings passbooks with two Thai banks, transfer and withdraw cash when required. An ATM card with an Australian organisation, infrequently used. A debit/credit card with same, used for online transactions such as buying flights and/or accommodation. Works for me.

Given the number of hoops to jump through with a Thai bank, why bother? Can anyone tell me they have full confidence in Thai credit card security?

[new2here]

Much ado about nothing. I have savings passbooks with two Thai banks, transfer and withdraw cash when required. An ATM card with an Australian organisation, infrequently used. A debit/credit card with same, used for online transactions such as buying flights and/or accommodation. Works for me.

Given the number of hoops to jump through with a Thai bank, why bother? Can anyone tell me they have full confidence in Thai credit card security?

It all depends on your situation, what you have and what you need.. For some, it may be "hoops".. For others there may be legitimate reasons why a Thai issues card would be an advantage. Each persons case is unique.

In your case it sounds like your set up works for you and/or your situation makes the issuance of an unsecured Thai-issues a low-odds probability (and this is not meant cast any dispersions about you or your case as I don't know it).... Therefore you've found a setup that better works for you- great.

My post is just to tell others what it was like me for me and in my situation.

I have sufficient confidence in that my risks are limited and any issues I have had in the past with my first card has been more than satisfactory.. I agree that ive not yet had a "worst-case" scenario here - so that end I can't factually how good their systems are in those kinds of cases, but so far it's been a net good experience.

Edited March 21, 2016 by new2here

[new2here]

One should note, it seems the OP is about getting an unsecured cc from a THAI bank

AMEX and Aeon are not Thai banks, i stand to be corrected is AMEX card a credit card or a charge card...with the AMEX card, i belive the full balance needs to be paid in full every month

Amex here in Thailand is of course a Thai company - hence the name American Express Thailand Ltd. AEON is also a Thai company thru Thana Sinsap. However, as I recall they are licensed/structured differently than a retail bank, hence some operating differences.

Here in Thailand AMEX does not appear to offer any CREDIT cards, only their flagship CHARGE card- which must be paid in full each month. I wish they did as I've always had good experiences with them as a US card holder.

In know in the US, AMEX (and that would now be the US version of American Express and not the Thai version) does offer several true credit cards along with their flagship charge cards- but I have never seen this credit option offered as a mainstream product in Thailand.

Amex do offer both options here, mine is an unsecured credit card with none of that deposit or work permit malarkey.

They also do their normal charge card in fact they did a recent campaign amongst their credit card holders to encourage them to add their charge cards to their collection, maybe not a hard sell but the initial invitation pack was followed up by emails and phone calls.

As I said before not everyone takes Amex, I was told they charge retailers 5%, I don't know how true that figure is, but by playing the points game we've had a number of free flights and discounts on meals out.

Thanks. That's good to know.. I did a cursory look on their site (the .th site) and don't recall seeing a credit version, only the flagship charge cards..

While AMEX does not have the overall acceptance rate that visa/mc does here in Thailand, given what I purchase, I'd give some serious consideration to taking up an AMEX *credit* card.. Plus in my experience (as a US-card holder) they've always had a good customer service function.

[Don Mega]

I got two credit cards in the post from the K Bank...one Visa and one MasterCard.....and I never even applied for them. I don't even keep a lot of money in it.

Same here but mine are from UOB, I dont even bank with them. both have 500,000b credit limit though which is a bit sucky.

[blackcab]

I got two credit cards in the post from the K Bank...one Visa and one MasterCard.....and I never even applied for them. I don't even keep a lot of money in it.

Same here but mine are from UOB, I dont even bank with them. both have 500,000b credit limit though which is a bit sucky.

If you keep maxing out the limit you will soon get a credit increase or a different card with better privileges. Thai banks are very used to dealing with high net worth individuals.

My employers are Thai and they are extremely wealthy. I often see how they are treated by their banks. For starters, the bank manager goes to their home to conduct business. And I do mean the manager, not a junior.

They get all kinds of gifts, from bags of black rice to piles of moon cakes and every branded toy you can think of. For some reason one of them got sent a tea pot from SCB for their birthday.

They also get invited to rather nice sounding private dinners and entertainment

events all paid for by the banks.

I can't complain. I got to try one of their moon cakes. It was disgusting.

[HampiK]

...

Some time ago the offered us the new Wisdom Card which apparently entitles you you use the 1st Class Lounge at the airport. Big Deal! I declined.

The KBank VISA Card is rather useless with low limit (100,000) and max monthly of THB 500,000.

The Wisdom Card have much more benefits. You are actually entitled to become a Priority Pass, so you can use Airport-Lounges all over the world. And you have a free Yearly Health checkup and some other benefits. The card is free as well no monthly or yearly fees for the card as well. So why not take the card...

[orientalist]

30 years ago I got a no-questions-asked AMEX card through a promotion for FCCT members. 3 years ago I got a no-questions-asked K-Bank Premier card because I had 2 million baht on deposit with them. The card allows me free access to True Fitness, which I guess would be worth at least 60K over 3 years. Unfortunately, I no longer have much money at K-Bank and I don't want their life insurance cum savings account, so I'm going to lose the card. Basically, it is valid for 3 years and then they review your financial situation.