Ridiculous Bank Charges Going Up For Farangs

[Thunderbirds20]

they usually require a letter from Immigration as well, ...... the rules and regulations are just getting to be too much. I am ending 11 years here and going back to my own country. Thailand can wallow in the flood of Russians and Chinese as the exodus of decent Expats continues to leave Thailand for more welcoming destinations. Land of Smiles!! Bye Bye!!

[Terdsak]

I've had Kasikorn pull this one on me twice - once when I first opened the account and again after I changed to the basic card which was subsequently eaten by an ATM; I went to the local bank for a replacement and I was dozy enough to let them issue the damn high-charge card again, so I had to change to the basic card a second time. 

They will issue a farang some sort of business, VIP ATM card by default unless you insist on a standard debit card. As someone says above, this VIP card supposedly comes with some benefits, but nothing ninety-nine out of a hundred foreigners would find useful, and I think they charged me six hundred for the pleasure each time.

It's all about bank staff commissions. You have a perfect right when you open the account to tell them you only want the basic, ATM debit card, they may try to pull some excuse like they're out of stock etc, but just keep insisting or take your business to another branch which has them in stock.

[whaleboneman]

6 hours ago, 4MyEgo said:

I opened an account with Siam about 9 years ago originally, the annual fee is pretty much the same, have never had to change cards and when the time comes for the bank wanting to charge me for a new card, with a new chip for their security, the bank will hear my voice load and clear, on the low side, e.g. you want to protect me from fraud, but you do not compensate customers for fraud related matters, so you pay the fee or I close the account and go to someone who will, simple really, do business, or lose business, oh I can also say my wife's account and her families accounts will also be going else wheres too.

And they will say "up to you", which I believe is the polite form of "F@#$ off".

[Kabula]

On September 24, 2016 at 4:03 PM, KittenKong said:

The high debit card fee is for extra insurance and other "benefits" that it carries. You can refuse it and go for a cheaper card, but the staff may not be keen as they wont get the same commission.

 

The initial deposit is just that: you can withdraw it instantly.

There is an age limit on the insurance and many seniors are paying for the insurance not aware they are not even covered because they exceeded the age limit.

 

I paid for years until I realized they sneaked the insurance in.

 

When I questioned it they lied and said I had no insurance.

 

I wrote to the President of the bank alleging fraud and they called me into the branch office and handed me a refund check, and gifts with an apology .

[nickcar]

7 hours ago, Kabula said:

There is an age limit on the insurance and many seniors are paying for the insurance not aware they are not even covered because they exceeded the age limit.

 

I paid for years until I realized they sneaked the insurance in.

 

When I questioned it they lied and said I had no insurance.

 

I wrote to the President of the bank alleging fraud and they called me into the branch office and handed me a refund check, and gifts with an apology .

 

Bravo, if everybody  did that they might behave better.

 I developed the computer system for the human resources department of a large hospital here.  This included the payroll system and of course the development of an export to the bank to pay the employees.  Only one bank possible. So quite normal to have to change banks if you're new employee does not use the same bank. 

[Kabula]

Yesterday, Kasikorn bank told me they could not update my savings account with yesterday's date unless I made a deposit!

 

After making the deposit they said there was a commission fee...20%!

 

I deposited 100 THB.  Fee 20 THB.

 

I called customer service today and the recording said they are not available.

 

For those wiring in 800,000 + for retirement will be shocked!

 

Unless, I'm missing something.

 

It appears to be a type of bank bail in.

[4MyEgo]

13 hours ago, whaleboneman said:

And they will say "up to you", which I believe is the polite form of "F@#$ off".

 

Doubt it, too many zero's combined, people power, but would welcome the suggestion with withdrawn funds in hands.

[Pib]

 

5 hours ago, Kabula said:

Yesterday, Kasikorn bank told me they could not update my savings account with yesterday's date unless I made a deposit!

 

After making the deposit they said there was a commission fee...20%!

 

I deposited 100 THB.  Fee 20 THB.

 

I called customer service today and the recording said they are not available.

 

For those wiring in 800,000 + for retirement will be shocked!

 

Unless, I'm missing something.

 

It appears to be a type of bank bail in.

 

Something is missing from your story.   Kbank, or any Thai bank, does not charge a 20% commission or even 20 baht when depositing money.   

 

I believe they may not be able (or know how) to make today's date appear on a passbook update when the balance has not changed.  Krungsri Bank is the same way....you must deposit or withdraw Bt100 (or any amount I expect) and then the passbook will show the update with today's day.  Happened to me over the last month when getting my retirement extension of stay from Krungsri....the rep just pointed out to get my passbook updated to reflect "today's" date I would need to make a deposit "or withdrawal" and she happen to mention Bt100.   I gave the rep Bt100 for deposit, my balance was increased by Bt100 (no commission or fee for this deposit) and she updated the book, and also issued my  bank letter.  The bank letter cost Bt100....not to be confused with the Bt100 I deposited.

 

Now Bangkok bank charges Bt200 for their letter and you do not need to make any deposit/withdrawal and they do a "Balance Forward" action to force a passbook update with today's date.

 

Yeap, some important detail is missing in your story.   Whatever the Bt20 charge was for it was not for merely depositing Bt100. 

[Kabula]

28 minutes ago, Pib said:

 

 

Something is missing from your story.   Kbank, or any Thai bank, does not charge a 20% commission or even 20 baht when depositing money.   

 

I believe they may not be able (or know how) to make today's date appear on a passbook update when the balance has not changed.  Krungsri Bank is the same way....you must deposit or withdraw Bt100 (or any amount I expect) and then the passbook will show the update with today's day.  Happened to me over the last month when getting my retirement extension of stay from Krungsri....the rep just pointed out to get my passbook updated to reflect "today's" date I would need to make a deposit "or withdrawal" and she happen to mention Bt100.   I gave the rep Bt100 for deposit, my balance was increased by Bt100 (no commission or fee for this deposit) and she updated the book, and also issued my  bank letter.  The bank letter cost Bt100....not to be confused with the Bt100 I deposited.

 

Now Bangkok bank charges Bt200 for their letter and you do not need to make any deposit/withdrawal and they do a "Balance Forward" action to force a passbook update with today's date.

 

Yeap, some important detail is missing in your story.   Whatever the Bt20 charge was for it was not for merely depositing Bt100. 

It was Kasikorn Bank and yes they charged me a 20 % commission as depicted on the receipt and in my bank book.

 

 I filed a complaint with the bank this morning and they wrote to me, but they ignored my question about the commission, and wanted to know the name of the representative and her description. 

 

 Prior to going to kasikorn Bank I called customer service and ask what the charge was for a savings, balance, certification letter and I was quoted 100 THB. However, 

when I arrived at the bank branch they informed me that the charge was 200 THB.   It appears the bank is investigating that portion of the transaction. 

 

The receipt at the bottom states total cash 100, fee amount 20, the rep referred to it as a commission, deposit amount 80.

 

I've lived here for 10 years and have multiple accounts at Kasikorn Bank, Siam Bank and Bangkok Bank.

 

I've never see this before.

 

What is concerning is their 24 hour customer service line was not available all day.

 

I hope it's not the beginning of bank bail ins and future bank holidays.

 

Two giant Euro Banks, Deutsche bank and Credit Swiss were kicked off the stock market due to massive sell offs. I read that today.

 

This may start a domino affect worldwide with all their derivative and bond problems.

[Pib]

Sounds like they charged the fee for the service/letter you were asking for which also just required a deposit to allow their system to show and update for today.  But the fee was not due to the deposit.

 

Why don't you just go to the same branch or another branch to just deposit some money and see what happens.  I'm sure there will be no deposit commission/fee.  Just sounds like there was some confusion/miscommunication on the service you were asking for.  Hopefully the bank's investigation will clear up everything.

[elgenon]

Don't mean to co-opt the thread but I need to know if I can still open an account at Bangkok Bank with a tourist visa. Need to get money in and out of Thailand reasonably cheaply.

[Pib]

See below Bangkok Bank webpage and page sublinks for more info.   How strict each branch is on requiring doc "so-in-so" varies from branch-to-branch.  But it does seem to be getting a harder to open a bank account with any Thai bank on a tourist visa "unless" you at least bring along a Certificate of Residence from your home country embassy.  A person can also get a Certificate of Residence from immigration if you are doing 90 day address reporting which means you would be on on long term visa versus a short term visa like a Tourist Visa or a 30/15 entry stay you get at the airport/border entrance.   If one branch turns you down, just go try another branch....how farang friendly branches are varies from branch to branch.

 

http://www.bangkokbank.com/BangkokBank/PersonalBanking/SpecialServices/ForeignCustomers/Pages/Openinganaccountnew.aspx

 

 

 

 

[zaZa9]

On 9/26/2016 at 3:35 PM, RBOP said:

Not all branches offer opening accounts to foreigners and other have limited what they can offer. Go to one of the bigger branches. Fees depend on what type of ATM you get. Some include personal accident insurance (K-Max) which is 550 baht annual fee. The other K-My is a standard atm/debit card for 250baht annual fee.  

 

Ok this interesting. On K-Bank website the K-Max card is 650 baht/annual with application/card replacement of 150 Baht. There's your 800 Baht. http://www.kasikornbank.com/EN/Personal/Debit/Pages/KMaxPlus.aspx

 

I had a K-Bank , "K-SME" card thrust upon me when I last lost my atm card.

Without any 'quote' , and after it was issued , I was told it cost 800 baht.

I was a bit surprised , but staff insisted that was the only plastic cards they had on hand.

 

I was well miffed later when I saw the receipt said 'Annual Fee'.

This business card is supposed to allow me loans ( yeh right ! ) if I apply by the looks  ... at the bargain rate of 20% annum..

 

http://www.kasikornbank.com/EN/Search/Results.aspx?k=SME annual fees

 

Anyway , I think its pretty shabby to have the charge changed from 300 to 800  with no alternatives , while offering no interest on my annual $40,000 aud...

[Kabula]

On September 27, 2016 at 5:38 PM, Kabula said:

It was Kasikorn Bank and yes they charged me a 20 % commission as depicted on the receipt and in my bank book.

 

 I filed a complaint with the bank this morning and they wrote to me, but they ignored my question about the commission, and wanted to know the name of the representative and her description. 

 

 Prior to going to kasikorn Bank I called customer service and ask what the charge was for a savings, balance, certification letter and I was quoted 100 THB. However, 

when I arrived at the bank branch they informed me that the charge was 200 THB.   It appears the bank is investigating that portion of the transaction. 

 

The receipt at the bottom states total cash 100, fee amount 20, the rep referred to it as a commission, deposit amount 80.

 

I've lived here for 10 years and have multiple accounts at Kasikorn Bank, Siam Bank and Bangkok Bank.

 

I've never see this before.

 

What is concerning is their 24 hour customer service line was not available all day.

 

I hope it's not the beginning of bank bail ins and future bank holidays.

 

Two giant Euro Banks, Deutsche bank and Credit Swiss were kicked off the stock market due to massive sell offs. I read that today.

 

This may start a domino affect worldwide with all their derivative and bond problems.

Update...I filed a formal complaint with Kasikorn Bank.  They investigated the matter and I was informed that they charge more for confirmation letters in Pattaya.  They sent me a receipt that they failed to give me when I was in their office.  Just prior to the completion of their investigation, I went to another Kasikorn Bank branch in Bangkok and asked a bank representative if I wired in 800,000 THB from the U.S. to Kasikorn bank would there be a 20% commission fee?  She said yes!

 

I was later informed by the bank that they do not charge a 20 % deposit commission, but only 10 THB and 10 THB for a total of 20 THB, out of the district for deposits!

 

The link for their fee disclosure is below.

 

Now you can see why I was so confused.

 

I believe the problem was representatives struggling with the English language.

 

They did not understand the definition of commission.

 

 

[lopburi3]

That cash deposit across clearing districts is for internal Thailand charges.  There will always be the normal 1/4% fee in range of 200-500 baht taken from foreign transactions by most banks before deposit here.  

[Pib]

Yeap, K-bank fee to receive international transfers is 0.25% (Bt200 min, Bt500) which is the same fee charge by most other Thai banks....a few charge a slightly different amount amount, but not much different.  

 

Now when you get into transfer funds across banking regions like from a K-bank branch in Bangkok to a K-bank branch in Pattaya for example then you get into domestic transfer fees which usually increases X-amount per Bt10K increase of amount.

 

Banks have a wide range of fees for their products/service and unfortunately many now only publish their detailed/complete fee schedule in Thai on the websites where they use to do Thai and English.  Looks like K-bank only publishes their fee schedules in Thai and that's how Bangkok Bank does it now also although  there are areas on their website where some of the fees are listed in English but their complete/detail fees schedules are in Thai only.  And the K-bank website is pretty weak in terms of info...a person needs to contact the call center or a branch and try to determine the fee for service XYZ unless they can read the Thai language fee schedules.

 

So, with fee schedules in Thai only and the every present Thai-English communication problem it's real easy for miscommunications and misunderstandings to occur....real, real easy.    Not only do the bank representatives struggle with English, their farang customers struggle with Thai--probably more so than the bank reps with English.   

[sailorEd]

KASIKORN FEES GOING UP?

From the posting/attachment on there web site, a new fee schedule is effective 1 Oct 2016. 

 

I made a $2000 USD deposit on the 2nd week of Oct. and for the first time, now see a service fee of 83 Baht on my account.  I have been doing this transfer monthly for over five years and this is the first time I have been charged a service fee for transferring USD into my account.  WOW, guess they need a new revenue stream from farang.

[Kabula]

I've been banking and wiring funds from and to the U.S. with Kasikorn bank for 10 years.

 

Last week I was told I could not wire funds to the U.S. because I do not have a work visa!  I explained with a retirement extension I'm not allowed to work and at 69, I doubt I could get a work visa.  After a very long argument with three reps and a Supervisor, combined with clearance from the Main Office they wired the funds.  I was also told if I close the account I could only open a new one with a work visa!