Whats the best THAI credit card for online purchases?

[Ganador]

Whats the best THAI credit card (or debit card) for online purchases in other currencies (eg international airline tickets, hotels)?

I think Visa and Mastercard are accepted everywhere by most vendors, but there could be extra fees if the sale price is first converted into USA dollars, and then back into Thai baht.

Some online vendors use Dynamic Currency Conversion. Air Asia, for example, gives you the option to pay in Malay Ringgit or Thai baht, and several other currencies.

I have been using Mastercard... but could Visa currency conversion fees be lower?

[Pib]

The currency conversion fees between Visa and Mastercard are very, very, very similar due to competition between the two...it's going to average around 1%.

However, it's the "card-issuing bank" fees you need to be concerned about...that is, which card charges higher foreign transaction/currency conversion fees---that's determined by the card-issuing bank and not Visa/Mastercard.

Some card-issuing banks completely absorb the approx 1% foreign transaction/currency conversion fee charged by Visa/Mastercard; others do not and pass that fee along to the customer plus an additional percent or two for pure profit. Not uncommon to see a 3% foreign transaction fee which really consists of the approx 1% fee of Visa/Mastercard (which the card-issuing bank is not absorbing) plus another 2% added by the card-issuing bank for pure profit.

For those cards which have a 0% foreign transaction fee that means the card-issuing bank is absorbing the Visa/Mastercard fee and not adding on any other fee....but don't worry, the card-issuing bank is still making a handsome profit from the fee paid by the merchant for accepting the card to pay for your purchase.

For Thai cards, a conversion fee of 2.5% seems to be popular which means 1% of that is Visa/Mastercard currency conversion/foriegn transaction/currency risk fee (they have different names for the fee) and the additional 1.5% is pure profit/their additional fee before they crank in their fee paid by the merchant.

Don't concern yourself with whether it go a Visa or Mastercard log on it....concern yourself with the overall fee structure which is controlled by the card-issuing bank/company.

Here's a link where you can compare various That credit cards but the info provided at this site is more summary data on each card and may not get into the fine-print of currency conversion fee charge...for that you would need to go review the card's webpage.

http://www.moneyguru.co.th/en/credit-card

[BrainLife]

Just get from almost any Thai bank a debit card with a Visa or Mastercard logo on it. As long as you have funds on the account internet payments will be no problem.

I use Bangkok Bank Be1st card (comes standard when opening an BB account) and purchase many things online from shops in and outside of Thailand for over 10 years. I have NEVER been refused payment.

Also very handy in conjunction with a Thai PayPal account might you need one.

I can not speak for other Thai banks, just BB is great and also the online banking feature.

Edited June 14, 2016 by BrainLife

[Hammock]

Strange.. I was searching this forum, looking for information about Thai credit cards for a couple of days and this new topic about "best Thai credit card" has appeared today. Coincidence must be. Thanks for the information. :-))

[RayD]

I have a KTB (Krung Thai Bank) Visa debit card that works perfectly on-line. (i.e. Amazon UK&US, Lazada, Cambodia eVisa)

On the other hand SCB issue a debit card that does NOT work online although it has a Mastercard logo.

[orientalist]

I've used a Citibank VISA credit card online for years - ever since I had problems with my (now-cancelled) Amex card. It's linked to a Paypal account. Never had any problems with it, and they've never blocked the card for any reason while I've been travelling.

[rasg]

My favourite that I can use from the comfort of my chair in the UK is Entropay. It's a virtual card. Lazada accepts it and if I want to buy something of a particular value I just transfer money onto the Entropay "card" and use it without issues. Sent the GF's dad a watch for his birthday with no problems. The watch was about £25 and the top up fee from a Mastercard was £1.09. Maybe less to top up from a debit card. I haven't tried. The bonus was free delivery from Lazada which seems to be the Amazon of Thailand and they seem to carry everything.

Much better from my point of view as I prefer to send the GF's family items rather than cash. Stops her dad from spending the cash on whisky...

[MadMuhummad]

Kbank debit is the best....slightly off topic but could not help myself to post here. My Father always said, "Son if you have the money, buy it if you don't, do not buy" and so credit cards strict no no

My mum was the same.

This attitude was fine when the most expensive thing you bought in an average week was $25 and all wages were paid in cash.

If you were to do this today you'd be living in a concrete box with no vacations or mod cons

[B1TcoinLife]

Kbank debit is the best....slightly off topic but could not help myself to post here. My Father always said, "Son if you have the money, buy it if you don't, do not buy" and so credit cards strict no no

Some hotels and car rentals and airlines only take credit cards for some reason

A debit card is certainly less advantageous in most situations, I have multiple credit cards and get bonuses and discounts for using them, never be late for your payments

People who overspend on credit cards and get into 25% debt are just too dumb to manage money and shouldn't have them but for everyone else they have obvious benefits

[PocoLoco]

For online purchases i only use virtual creditcards. I have one with kasikorn bank.

I can set a max. daily limit to the card, and when i want to buy something more expensive i just raise it.

Edited June 15, 2016 by PocoLoco

[rasg]

Kbank debit is the best....slightly off topic but could not help myself to post here. My Father always said, "Son if you have the money, buy it if you don't, do not buy" and so credit cards strict no no

My dad used to say the same and the reason he and my mum never bought a house from the day they got married for over 30 years was because he was so cautious. The only reason they were eventually able to buy a house was when they got a monster discount in the very early 1980s. It cost them a fortune in rent over the years. My mum's sister bought her house around the same time and paid £800 for it back in the early 1950s. It sold for £800,000 about ten years ago.

Nothing bad about credit cards if you use them and pay the balance off every month. Very hard to be without them nowadays if you want to buy online, rent a car, book a hotel or get a UK visa for your Thai partner. The idea that I would ask a friend or relative to use their card and give them cash is quite laughable.

One of the reasons I like Entropay is that I only stick money on it when I want to buy something in Thailand or the US.

I uses a similar virtual Wells Fargo card in the US if I want to buy things like US books from Barnes & Noble which are unavailable in the UK or web services that require a US address to access them. The virtual card gives you an address in Seattle.

[longball53098]

I believe the SCB has created a Virtual Pre-paid card system on their internet banking site. The new SCB Smart ATM/Debit cards cannot be used for online payments as far as I know.

[cocorico2558]

The currency conversion fees between Visa and Mastercard are very, very, very similar due to competition between the two...it's going to average around 1%.

However, it's the "card-issuing bank" fees you need to be concerned about...that is, which card charges higher foreign transaction/currency conversion fees---that's determined by the card-issuing bank and not Visa/Mastercard.

Some card-issuing banks completely absorb the approx 1% foreign transaction/currency conversion fee charged by Visa/Mastercard; others do not and pass that fee along to the customer plus an additional percent or two for pure profit. Not uncommon to see a 3% foreign transaction fee which really consists of the approx 1% fee of Visa/Mastercard (which the card-issuing bank is not absorbing) plus another 2% added by the card-issuing bank for pure profit.

For those cards which have a 0% foreign transaction fee that means the card-issuing bank is absorbing the Visa/Mastercard fee and not adding on any other fee....but don't worry, the card-issuing bank is still making a handsome profit from the fee paid by the merchant for accepting the card to pay for your purchase.

For Thai cards, a conversion fee of 2.5% seems to be popular which means 1% of that is Visa/Mastercard currency conversion/foriegn transaction/currency risk fee (they have different names for the fee) and the additional 1.5% is pure profit/their additional fee before they crank in their fee paid by the merchant.

Don't concern yourself with whether it go a Visa or Mastercard log on it....concern yourself with the overall fee structure which is controlled by the card-issuing bank/company.

Here's a link where you can compare various That credit cards but the info provided at this site is more summary data on each card and may not get into the fine-print of currency conversion fee charge...for that you would need to go review the card's webpage.

http://www.moneyguru.co.th/en/credit-card

.

Thanks so much Pib for your detailed answer. I was just wondering about that 2.5% 'currency risk' fee which Bangkok Bank charges on Visa and Master Credit Card whenever we pay something which is not in Baht.

Now, do you happen to know if they do the same lovely practice when using a Debit Card?

[dhream]

On 6/24/2016 at 6:06 PM, cocorico2558 said:

Thanks so much Pib for your detailed answer. I was just wondering about that 2.5% 'currency risk' fee which Bangkok Bank charges on Visa and Master Credit Card whenever we pay something which is not in Baht.

Now, do you happen to know if they do the same lovely practice when using a Debit Card?

I happen to know Thai Air Asia, one of the most common online sites TVF members visit, are no longer accepting DEBIT cards. It's credit card, 7/11 payment (maybe?) or catch the bus!

 

[MissAndry]

I use 7-11 for Air Asia, dead easy (or was that Thai Smile?).

Edited September 5, 2016 by MissAndry