Which bank offers best rate for money withdrawal?

[Requiem]

Hi,

Need to withdraw 20,000 thb from my VISA (euros) card.

I know that AEON offers lowest money withdrawal fee (150 thb) compared to other banks. However, I don't think it offers the best currency exchange rate - I have EUR in my card.

I know that Kasikorn bank offers pretty good rates, are you guys aware of which bank offers the best rates for EUR to THB? I wonder how much can be saved when taking out 20,000 thb.

[Pib]

All ATMs offer the Visa/Mastercard exchange rate unless the ATM offers a Dynamic Currency Conversion (DCC) transaction which is that local bank's rate which will usually be around 4% lower than the Visa/Mastercard exchange rate. Now if the ATM offers a DCC transaction which probably will not be called DCC but something warm & fuzzy like Bank Rate, Home Rate, etc., decline that offer and continue on to get the Visa/Mastercard rate.

And of course don't forget any foreign transaction fee your "card-issuing bank" may apply that effectively lowers the exchange rate. Blame that on your card issuing bank and not the Thai bank ATM, Visa/Mastercard, etc., that's purely your card-issuing bank making profit off you.

[Requiem]

All ATMs offer the Visa/Mastercard exchange rate unless the ATM offers a Dynamic Currency Conversion (DCC) transaction which is that local bank's rate which will usually be around 4% lower than the Visa/Mastercard exchange rate. Now if the ATM offers a DCC transaction which probably will not be called DCC but something warm & fuzzy like Bank Rate, Home Rate, etc., decline that offer and continue on to get the Visa/Mastercard rate.

And of course don't forget any foreign transaction fee your "card-issuing bank" may apply that effectively lowers the exchange rate. Blame that on your card issuing bank and not the Thai bank ATM, Visa/Mastercard, etc., that's purely your card-issuing bank making profit off you.

Thanks for informative reply.

So it means that it does not matter which ATM I will use - their bank currency exchange rate has nothing to do with this and I will get charged the same if I use AEON or Kasikorn or any other ATM? (apart from the 150 - 200 thb withdrawal fee)

I do understand the extra amount i pay to my local bank for this. There's nothing I can do about it, opening a thai bank account is now not an option and I would still endure similar costs if I transfer my salary from my local bank to thai bank account every month.

[Pib]

Just from some googling, example of a Thai ATM DCC offer. Remember, decline and continue on without conversion (i.e.,not accepting the bank's rate) to get the higher card-network rate....let Visa/Mastercard accomplish the exchange rate conversion. Based on what I've read in ThaiVisa posts, a Mastercard logo card is more likely to draw a DCC offer than a Visa logo card. I've used my Visa logo debit cards in Krungsri ATMs and other Thai ATMs (i.e., TMB, AEON, Bangkok Bank, etc.) and have never been offered a DCC transaction. But if some day I am offered a DCC transaction, I will decline....why accept a lower rate other than to enrich banksters.

[Pib]

So it means that it does not matter which ATM I will use - their bank currency exchange rate has nothing to do with this and I will get charged the same if I use AEON or Kasikorn or any other ATM? (apart from the 150 - 200 thb withdrawal fee)

The Visa/Mastercard network exchange rate is the same for any ATM....just don't accept a DCC offer as that rate is set by the local bank that operates the ATM and that rate will be approx 4% lower than the Visa/Mastercard rate.

And here's the real bitch, if your home country card-issuing bank applies a foreign transaction fee say of a few percent (3% seems to be common for many cards), just because you allowed the local Thai bank to accomplish the exchange and Visa/Mastercard nor your card-issuing bank was involved in the currency exchange, your card-issuing bank may still charge the foreign transaction fee simply because it was a foreign transaction in "whatever currency...even your home country currency." That is a double whammy, rubbing salt in your fee wound...banks can be very sadistic in the pursuit of fees/profits.

[Requiem]

So it means that it does not matter which ATM I will use - their bank currency exchange rate has nothing to do with this and I will get charged the same if I use AEON or Kasikorn or any other ATM? (apart from the 150 - 200 thb withdrawal fee)

The Visa/Mastercard network exchange rate is the same for any ATM....just don't accept a DCC offer as that rate is set by the local bank that operates the ATM and that rate will be approx 4% lower than the Visa/Mastercard rate.

And here's the real bitch, if your home country card-issuing bank applies a foreign transaction fee say of a few percent (3% seems to be common for many cards), just because you allowed the local Thai bank to accomplish the exchange and Visa/Mastercard nor your card-issuing bank was involved in the currency exchange, your card-issuing bank may still charge the foreign transaction fee simply because it was a foreign transaction in "whatever currency...even your home country currency." That is a double whammy, rubbing salt in your fee wound...banks can be very sadistic in the pursuit of fees/profits.

Thanks, that's very useful.

So far I have only used AEON, as they have the lowest transaction fee (150 thb) and AEON never asks to use DCC.

Yup, local banks are bitches, with every 20,000 thb withdraw I lose about 10 EUR to my local bank + the loss for currency conversion + 150 thb.

But as I said, the solution of opening a thai bank account will produce similar costs as I would have to wire transfer my salary from my local bank's account to my thai bank account.

Oh well..

[Pib]

For the lowest fee (Bt150) use an AEON ATM however AEON ATMs limit each withdrawal to Bt20K. Some Thai banks also have Bt20K limits but some have a Bt25K limit like Bangkok Bank with a Bt200 fee, and Krungsri and TMB allow Bt30K with a Bt200 fee....and some TMB ATMs may still be at a Bt180 fee.

Now you still may run into some ATMs which normally allow Bt30K, like most Krungsri and TMB ATMs, but some ATMs may be low on cash and automatically lower the limit until refilled with cash....or they are high-use ATMs and by exception have been set to a lower limit for everyone to keep them from always running out of cash.