Debit Card and Big C.

[pby92]

21 minutes ago, The manic said:

Often at the Nana Hotel they don't bother with a pin number on chip and pin card.  Dunno why.   But it makes no difference to me and the payment goes through as normal.  I once queried why they didn't need to check my signature or use my pin number but just got a shrug and an enigmatic smile for a reply. Back in the UK in summer I used the 'touch and go' system with my new debit card - despite some misgivings really got into the swing of it. Really useful in pubs - on buses - supermarkets etc.  Really good in busy pubs because it says on queuing time - really fast. Actually - come to think of it - I just bought a new phone at Central Festival Samsung and I dont remember being asked for my Pin number or anything.like a card swiper! 

Yes same for me they not use the chip but magnetic track in most shops 

[Lokie]

I used to always use my Kbank debit card at Big C with no issues at all over last several years, in last year I have been using a UK Halifax Clarity mastercard also with no issues, my big c shops are always over 200 bhat though

[Argus Tuft]

5 hours ago, cooked said:

I have occasionally been told that they won't accept a card for sums under ‎฿1000.-

 

Never ever had this at any Big C store. Simply not the case. They have no minimum purchase requirement for cards

[derator01]

Please stick to the topic and abide by forum rules.  Especially this one:

 

7) You will respect fellow members and post in a civil manner. No personal attacks, hateful or insulting towards other members, (flaming) Stalking of members on either the forum or via PM will not be allowed.

[JDGRUEN]

Bangkok Bank offers at least 3 types of debit cards.   The one with the Visa card endorsement is the one to get.  Forget the others... Union Pay is one to not get. 

[Wake Up]

13 hours ago, RaggaTwin said:

 

... and get yourself a fee free credit card.  I'm onboard the Halifax Clarity Card and don't leave home without it, as Seve Ballesteros would say.

At tesco aw nut they charged me in dollars instead of baht at a terrible exchange rate. Only happened once. I had a Thai friend with me to speak with the clerk. The clerk was sweet and said she did not know how to do charge American credit cards with Thai baht and was newly employed. 

Went to manager on the way out and said we were not upset but please teach that sweet girl how to do credit card charges with baht. My Thai friend tells me that whenever Thais cannot speak good English they just say no have or cannot. Went back to tesco and she does credit cards through baht now and is a pleasure to see. 

I do not totally understand the loss of face culture but I am started to slowly see it has some advantages over being blunt or confrontational. 

[Pib]

The wife and I use our U.S. credit cards in Lotus here in Bangkok "all" the time and they accept the card for any amount (or as of yesterday they did in the 2  Lotus stores I been using for years)....have frequently paid for amounts for less than 200 baht.   Can't speak to Big C as it been a few months since I bought stuff and the last time I did it was for around Bt500...paid paid with credit card.

 

Now, regarding stores in general I have routinely seen signs cards are only accepted for a certain minimum amount.   Bt500 seems to be the most common I've seen but I've also seen Bt400 and in a few places Bt1000....all depends on the store.

 

And, I've seen a few TV posts over the last month or so where a store will accept a credit card or cash but will not accept a debit card (any kind of debit card....Thai or foreign).   Just something about debit cards that can cause issues for merchants sometimes....some airlines and rent-a-car companies will not accept debit cards but gladly accept credit cards.   The Santa Fe restaurants (I've used two Santa Fe restaurants in the last month here in Bangkok) now do not accept debit cards---only cash or credit cards.    I always pay with a credit card. And they have a sign right in front of their cash register checkout that says such...no debit cards...cash or credit cards only....and I'm pretty sure the sign also said use of a card requires a minimum of Bt400.   

 

[orientalist]

15 hours ago, kkerry said:

Private hospitals in Thailand will sometimes offer you this option, and with hospital fees being what they are, it can be an expensive mistake despite logic suggesting you would be better off paying in your home currency.

 

Yes, I got caught with this at Bumrungrad a couple of years ago. I asked why I was being given a choice and what the difference was, but they couldn't tell me.

[Mr0Yallow]

I have a Citibank US Gold Debit card that has always been accepted at Big C LadPhrao, RachadaPhisek and Big C Extra LadPhrao. No min purchase required. I live next to a Tesco/Lotus Express and I have had no problems there either, once I forgot my cash and used it for a 100 baht purchase, no questions asked. But I did discover that MACRO Bangkapi does not accept US Debit Cards, they accept Credit Cards from US I do not know about Thai debit cards there.

[Pib]

27 minutes ago, Mr0Yallow said:

I have a Citibank US Gold Debit card that has always been accepted at Big C LadPhrao, RachadaPhisek and Big C Extra LadPhrao. No min purchase required. I live next to a Tesco/Lotus Express and I have had no problems there either, once I forgot my cash and used it for a 100 baht purchase, no questions asked. But I did discover that MACRO Bangkapi does not accept US Debit Cards, they accept Credit Cards from US I do not know about Thai debit cards there.

Citibank credit cards is the only kind card Macro will accept as far as I know....Citibank and Makro have some kind of special deal.  And I thought it was only if you have their special Citibank Makro credit card, but maybe other Citibank cards also...I don't really know.   Just know I have asked before at Makro if I can use my credit card and they just point to their sign saying if it's this particular Citibank credit card.

https://www.citibank.co.th/th/credit-cards/credit-card-makro-rewards.htm?icid=THCCU9YTHCCSTCB09

[gchurch259]

On 11/19/2016 at 4:47 PM, RaggaTwin said:

 

A card terminal is also a good indicator as to whether they accept cards.

 

Check it out before you get in line ! Why wait for nothing,

[Pib]

The "Cash Only" sign above the checkout might be a hint also.

[Mr0Yallow]

23 hours ago, Pib said:

Citibank credit cards is the only kind card Macro will accept as far as I know....Citibank and Makro have some kind of special deal.  And I thought it was only if you have their special Citibank Makro credit card, but maybe other Citibank cards also...I don't really know.   Just know I have asked before at Makro if I can use my credit card and they just point to their sign saying if it's this particular Citibank credit card.

https://www.citibank.co.th/th/credit-cards/credit-card-makro-rewards.htm?icid=THCCU9YTHCCSTCB09

I do not shop at MACRO often now because of this policy, plus I do not buy items in bulk I live alone & usually waste them. but when I do need something from them, (I recently got an oven at a good price) I pay cash

[JimGant]

Quote

I always pay with a credit card. And they have a sign right in front of their cash register checkout that says such...no debit cards...cash or credit cards only....and I'm pretty sure the sign also said use of a card requires a minimum of Bt400.   

In this chipped world, both chipped cards and chipped readers can be programmed to accept fallback positions. A chipped credit card (some exceptions, I guess, in Europe) is strictly chip and sign -- no PIN. Big C for many years has accepted my US chipped credit cards in this chip and sign mode.

 

Now, a chipped debit card can work as a straight debit card -- chip and PIN -- or be programmed to fall back to the "credit" mode, i.e., chip and sign. This is what we see in the US, when we insert (or swipe, if an older card) and we're asked do we want "debit" or "credit" mode. The former will ride a different circuit, be near real time, and will offer cash back. Not so with credit mode (which the merchants hate, because they pay more -- which is why we can get those nice cash rewards with our credit cards).

 

While not 100% positive (as I've never used my Be1st card for a POS transaction), I think the chipped Bangkok Bank Be1st debit/ATM card, while definitely PIN in the ATM mode, falls back to the chip and sign mode when inserted in a Thai POS machine. As do most (all) other Thai debit cards -- merchants just aren't set up to have you, the customer, insert your card at a machine handy to you at checkout, wait the 5 seconds plus, then punch in your PIN. Their POS machines are invariably located away from you, at the cash register. Inserting your PIN is a non starter.

 

But many foreign debit cards, for obvious security reasons, insist on only chip and PIN mode for their debit cards. So, when inserted in a Thai POS machine, which says, "hey, this is Thailand, we don't have time for PINs at the counter, so let's fall back to chip and sign." When they try that, however, the foreign debit card says, "sorry, I'm only chip and PIN. Period. No fallback." Especially no fall back to "swipe and sign," in case your card shows a faulty chip (a ruse used by clever skimmers).

 

Anyway, easy to see why Thai merchants don't want to hassle with debit cards that insist on a PIN. Kinda curious this also excludes Thai debit cards -- unless some of them are also now demanding PINs.

 

I wouldn't hold your breath about seeing anytime soon in Thailand a US type POS machine handily located at checkout to enter your PIN. Unless, of course, not accepting debit cards cuts into sales. And, not demanding a PIN increases fraud liability on the merchant....

 

[orientalist]

I think the POS machines at the self-service checkouts at Central Chidlom food store are PIN-only. I guess they'd have to be. I see very few people using them, though.

[Pib]

I see self-service POS machines at many of the stores I use like Lotus, Big C, Foodland, Tops, etc., but in my eight years here I've only seen them used once or twice.  The other 99.99999% of the time people hand their card to the checkout clerk for the clerk to insert/swipe and then just hand you the receipt of signature.  Even at McDonald's which has self service POS and Visawave terminals I rarely see them used.

[JimGant]

Quote

I think the POS machines at the self-service checkouts at Central Chidlom food store are PIN-only. I guess they'd have to be. I see very few people using them, though.

 

I guess, then, they wouldn't accept my chipped US credit card, as it has no proviso to insert a PIN for a POS transaction (the US is still way back of Europe, with most US banks still only issuing chip and signature credit cards -- this is slowly changing, however, after the many complaints heard from US tourists to Europe).

 

Do Thai chipped credit cards have PINs for POS transactions at the self-service checkouts? If not, are PINs, then, even needed for self-service? (Like, in the US, PINs certainly aren't needed for credit cards at self-service gas pumps.)

 

For the OP: You mentioned it was a chipped credit card you used. Do you always have to use a PIN for POS purchases with this card? Or will it fall back to a chip and signature mode? (If so, something funky about the programming of the Thai POS machine you had trouble with.)

[orientalist]

I tried my chipped Thai credit card in the Central Chidlom POS machine yesterday and it didn't require a PIN. The card has a PIN because I've used it in the UK before. I'm not why it didn't ask for a PIN. My purchases were only 200 baht and Central has a policy of not requesting a signature for bills less than 1000 baht at the cashier. Maybe they have a similar policy for entering PINs at the self-service checkouts?

[Pib]

36 minutes ago, orientalist said:

I tried my chipped Thai credit card in the Central Chidlom POS machine yesterday and it didn't require a PIN. The card has a PIN because I've used it in the UK before. I'm not why it didn't ask for a PIN. My purchases were only 200 baht and Central has a policy of not requesting a signature for bills less than 1000 baht at the cashier. Maybe they have a similar policy for entering PINs at the self-service checkouts?

It will all depend on what modes of operation your your "card-issuing" bank has set the card to allow such as PIN-only and/or Signature-only at  POS terminal.    Obviously it is encoded to allow Singature-only mode also and even the mode to not require signature/PIN for small amount "if the merchant's POS requests such a mode.    

 

Like at the Tops their POS terminals are set to not require signature for purchases of less than 1000 baht if a Mastercard and 700 baht if a Visa card.  Just you handing them your card to stick in the POS terminal is all the authorization needed....no PIN or signature req'd as long as your card-issuing bank allows such when the merchant's POS request such a transaction.

 

In Thailand (and the U.S. and many other countries) most POS terminals default to requesting/wanting only "signature only" mode transaction for chipped or non-chipped cards.  But in other countries like in Europe, PIN-only mode is preferred.    

 

Yes, PIN-only is more secure but many people prefer just to sign a receipt instead, can't seem to remember their PIN (and merchants don't want to lose a sale due to forgotten PIN), and there is more communications required to process the PIN transaction.   Generally merchants prefer Signature-only mode but some card-issuing banks prefer forcing PIN-only mode to reduce fraudulent transaction losses they may have to pay out.

Edited December 21, 2016 by Pib

[SaintLouisBlues]

I'd like to see the Visa Debit cards in Thailand also have PayWave added to them as they do in some other countries. AFAIK Bangkok Bank's Be1st Smart Rabbit Card is the only one that does (and I think that only because I've seen Rabbit card readers in places like Au Bon Pain but I don't think it carries the PayWave symbol). Certainly none of the debit cards where I bank offer that facility

[Pib]

I see VisaWave terminals in numerous stores in Thailand, but I've never seen anyone use them as in waving their card in front of the terminal.

 

Can't speak to any VisaWave terminals in Bangkok rapid transit terminals as I've never used Bangkok BTS/MRT/BMA as I'm one of those who is creating traffic jams in their car....plus in my part of Bangkok there are no nearby rapid transit terminals.

 

 

 

Edited January 5, 2017 by Pib

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

On 11/21/2016 at 10:59 AM, Mr0Yallow said:

I do not shop at MACRO often now because of this policy, plus I do not buy items in bulk I live alone & usually waste them. but when I do need something from them, (I recently got an oven at a good price) I pay cash

 

There are LOTS of things that can be bought at Makro (that's the actual name) that aren't packaged in bulk, but instead in regular consumer sizes. I shop there all the time, and usually pretty much everything I buy is normal product sizes/quantities.

 

[orientalist]

CIMB Thai debit cards have the PayWave logo.