USAA Credit Cards Now Fee Free

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

13 minutes ago, Pib said:

Yeap, St Farm reimburses ATM User Fee up to any amount if you have a monthly ACH direct deposit going to them monthly. Otherwise the reimbursement is limited to $10/month.

 

 

Pib, thanks for posting the screen caps above.

 

Re the general discussion about no fee AND fee-reimbursing debit cards, I'm trying to recall: at the available nationwide level, do we know of any others besides Schwab, Fidelity and State Farm?

 

There still is Service Credit Union in the New England area that has a checking account that, with direct deposit, refunds foreign ATM fees and their own 1% foreign currency fee. But they're only open to those who have some current or former military affiliation, even though they are available nationwide.

 

Quote

 

ATM surcharges from other financial institutions will be refunded up to $20 a month and Visa International Service Assessment (ISA) fees on debit and credit cards combined will be rebated up to $20 monthly. Eligibility requirements are Student Checking or direct deposit of entire net pay into a Service Credit Union checking account and maintaining a positive balance in all your SCU accounts. Refunds will be applied to account on first business day of the following monthly cycle that the rebate eligibility requirements were met.

 

https://www.servicecu.org/personal/content/ServicePlusChecking.asp?pID=395&MId=550&expr=personal

 

Quote

Anyone who has worked or is currently working for the Department of Defense, including active duty military, veterans and their families are also eligible.

 

[Pib]

Those financial institutions are about all I remember.  Last year I applied for a SCU account (figured getting another debit card that reimburse would be a good thing)...applied online with U.S. IP address via VPN....they initially approved me, but a day later they sent me an email saying final approval required me to provide document proof that I lived at my address in the U.S.  I need to use my U.S. address as a physical/residential address to open the account....common with the majority of U.S. banks...but not all.  Anyway, they wanted something with my name on it like a property tax bill...rental/lease agreement....and maybe a utility bill with my name on it was OK also.   Gave me 48 hours to email/fax in the proof or they would cancel the application.  Well, I couldn't provide that proof so they cancelled the application/pre-approval two days later.  Yea, if applying to SCU they definitely run a credit agency check and may require documented proof of your "U.S. physical/residential address."  

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

9 hours ago, Pib said:

Those financial institutions are about all I remember.  Last year I applied for a SCU account (figured getting another debit card that reimburse would be a good thing)...applied online with U.S. IP address via VPN....they initially approved me, but a day later they sent me an email saying final approval required me to provide document proof that I lived at my address in the U.S.  I need to use my U.S. address as a physical/residential address to open the account....common with the majority of U.S. banks...but not all.  Anyway, they wanted something with my name on it like a property tax bill...rental/lease agreement....and maybe a utility bill with my name on it was OK also.   Gave me 48 hours to email/fax in the proof or they would cancel the application.  Well, I couldn't provide that proof so they cancelled the application/pre-approval two days later.  Yea, if applying to SCU they definitely run a credit agency check and may require documented proof of your "U.S. physical/residential address."  

 

I'd be interested to know whether that kind of hard address verification is an automatic thing for all applicants with them these days, or just a situation that developed in your case, perhaps because of your Thailand-tinged credit report???  I'm guessing, it's not an automatic, across the board thing for new applicants.

 

The fact you were approved initially and then got flagged a day later kind of suggests they saw something that raised a question when they ran your credit report. And if I'm remembering right, I think you've indicated in the past that you've used your Thailand mailing address for some of your financial connections???

 

As best as I can recall (it was a few years ago), I didn't have any difficulty with SCU and wasn't asked to provide the kinds of documentation that Pib's mentioning above.

 

But it may reinforce the value of something I've long maintained here for Americans --  keep all your official addresses, phone numbers and other connections for the U.S. IN THE U.S.  Unfortunately, lots of places in the U.S. aren't especially friendly or welcoming if you happen to be a crazy American who's decided for some unfathomable reason to live outside the country.

 

PS - But I do find Pib's experience with SCU kind of odd, because SCU is specifically set up to serve the military community, and they even have formal branches outside the U.S. in some military-oriented locations to support that role. So why they would be fussy about an American proving they're living in the U.S., I don't quite follow.

 

 

 

Edited February 25, 2017 by TallGuyJohninBKK

[Pib]

Actually back in 2011 when I applied for my Schwab account/debit card with my U.S. residential address and my APO mailing address, Schwab once again initially approved the openings but after a few days they still had not initiated the ACH transfer pull to fund the accounts.  I called....asked why the ACH pull had not been done yet.  They said final approval was on-hold because the credit report they pulled did not show any recent spending/purchasing around the area of my U.S. physical/residential address.    Recent spending like monthly utility bills, a property tax record, in-store credit/debit card purchases, etc. 

 

At that point I didn't have to mail in anything additional/proof like SCU asked for, but I was given a 4 question quiz based on public records to prove it was really me....I needed to answer all four question correctly...just getting 3 of 4 correct was not good enough. One of the questions they asked me dealt with where I was stationed in the military over 30 years earlier as to the location I opened a credit card account with another person. I chose the answer of none of the above...I didn't open any such account with another person.  They said that answer was wrong.  I told them firmly the credit record was just wrong and the CSR believed me...the CSR got her supervisor involved who also believed me and a few minutes later they approved me..accounts opened....been fine since.

 

I think what may have happened is a girl I lived with for x-months during that time just used my name without telling me with hers in opening some account and that got into the public credit records....or the info was just miss-linked to my credit reports.  Shortly later I requested/got credit reports from the 3 major credit reporting agencies and saw no account record of what the Schwab CSR rep was asking.  Apparently Schwab was accessing public records/data that went farther back than what credit reports used or used financial data that never made it to the credit reporting agencies.

 

Beyond me....opening accounts can become problematic as an expat...best to open accounts before you depart farang land.  Now days with commercial and government databases maintaining data on anything and everything (to include info on your activities on this Earth), computers with extremely smart software evaluating the data, use of IP Addresses (I used a VPN U.S. IP address to open the Schwab accounts), and just other things that would surely amaze us, it's getting harder to mask certain things about your life and true location on this Earth whether you are a God-fearing person who also pays all his taxes/bills on time....or  a person/crook on-the-run trying to dodge/hide a lot of things (not to imply anything).....and this is with or without VPN and mail forwarder addresses.   Yeap, that's what me thinks.

 

 

Edited February 26, 2017 by Pib

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

2 hours ago, Pib said:

Actually back in 2011 when I applied for my Schwab account/debit card with my U.S. residential address and my APO mailing address, Schwab once again initially approved the openings but after a few days they still had not initiated the ACH transfer pull to fund the accounts.  I called....asked why the ACH pull had not been done yet.  They said final approval was on-hold because the credit report they pulled did not show any recent spending/purchasing around the area of my U.S. physical/residential address.    Recent spending like monthly utility bills, a property tax record, in-store credit/debit card purchases, etc. 

I never had any issue like that with Schwab. But I also never used a foreign APO or any other foreign mailing address on any of my financial records. That's what I meant when I said Thailand-tinged credit report.

 

2 hours ago, Pib said:

 

At that point I didn't have to mail in anything additional/proof like SCU asked for, but I was given a 4 question quiz based on public records to prove it was really me....I needed to answer all four question correctly...just getting 3 of 4 correct was not good enough. One of the questions they asked me dealt with where I was stationed in the military over 30 years earlier as to the location I opened a credit card account with another person.

I got one of those online quizzes a week or so ago (can't recall at the moment what it was for or what triggered it). At any rate, one of the 4 questions was what year I had last taken out a car loan (and then the website gave me a choice of 3 or 4 specific years and none of the above as answers -- and ALL of the year choices were 25+ years ago. YIKES!  Had a similar question awhile back about the birthdate year of a past GF I haven't seen for 20+ years...

 

But, one thing I've learned to do over the years is keep a folder in my home office with current and past copies of my credit reports (you're entitled to get a free copy of each of your 3 major credit reporting agency reports each year). And, after getting stumped by some of those 25-30 year old questions in past quizzes, I sat down one day and put together a cheat sheet of the answers to the common kinds of non-memorable questions that tend to crop up -- when was your last home loan and/or what year, when was your last car loan and/or what year,  what was the lender name for your last home or car loan, etc.  So I keep a sheet summarizing that info from my credit reports in my folder. And as soon as that question popped up last week, pulled the file, found the answer in 1 minute, and was off to the races!!!

 

If I remember right, (and I think this has been discussed here before), it's better if you have any choice to do those kinds of quizzed with a live person over the phone vs. the web version. With the web version, if you get any answer wrong, typically, your application is sent to review hell. But if you're doing the quiz with a live person on the phone, what they told me last time I went thru it was if you don't remember something, you can just tell them, I don't remember, and they'll ask you a different question instead.  The problem only arises when you answer a question wrong, but apparently not if you ask for a different question and then answer that one correctly.

 

2 hours ago, Pib said:

Beyond me....opening accounts can become problematic as an expat...best to open accounts before you depart farang land.  Now days with commercial and government databases maintaining data on anything and everything (to include info on your activities on this Earth), computers with extremely smart software evaluating the data, use of IP Addresses (I used a VPN U.S. IP address to open the Schwab accounts), and just other things that would surely amaze us, it's getting harder to mask certain things about your life and true location on this Earth whether you are a God-fearing person who also pays all his taxes/bills on time....or  a person/crook on-the-run trying to dodge/hide a lot of things (not to imply anything).....and this is with or without VPN and mail forwarder addresses.   Yeap, that's what me thinks.

 

Ya, but EXCLUSIVELY using U.S. mail addresses and U.S. IP addresses -- and not mixing in any foreign ones -- certainly has to at least help vs. the alternative.

 

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

Just on the subject of bank counter credit card cash advances and the fees charged by U.S. card issuing banks:

 

Happened to be looking at some BofA info today, and see that their current credit card fee for cash advances (over the counter or at the ATM) is FIVE PERCENT of the amount advanced, minimum charge of $10.

 

So if you did a 30,000 baht credit card cash advance at the bank counter, for example, the BofA fee would be 1,500 baht!!!!

 

Helped me remember why you have to be very careful about what U.S. credit card you might choose to attempt a bank counter credit card cash advance with -- in peoples' quest to avoid the 220 baht Thai ATM fee.

 

[Pib]

Over the last year I've seen more credit cards changing their cash advance fee from 3 to 5%...seems to be the more fee evil banks...and BoA is one of the more fee evil banks for many various fees. Guess the card banksters felt 5% is a more pleasing number "especially for profits" and the higher fee will not deter people who really need the cash advance.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

13 minutes ago, Pib said:

Over the last year I've seen more credit cards changing their cash advance fee from 3 to 5%...seems to be the more fee evil banks...and BoA is one of the more fee evil banks for many various fees. Guess the card banksters felt 5% is a more pleasing number "especially for profits" and the higher fee will not deter people who really need the cash advance.

 

Well, in a sad kind of way, it might actually be a bit of an improvement with BofA for us expats.

 

Because, if memory serves, until a year or two ago, their credit cards USED to have a 3% foreign currency fee and then what at the time would have been a 3% cash advance fee, for a total of a 6% fee if doing the cash advance abroad. But then BofA for some reason eliminated their FCF on their Cash and Travel credit cards. And then thereafter they hiked the cash advance fee to 5%.  So think of it as a kind of BofA special 1% discount!!!  

[Pib]

14 hours ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

 

PS - But I do find Pib's experience with SCU kind of odd, because SCU is specifically set up to serve the military community, and they even have formal branches outside the U.S. in some military-oriented locations to support that role. So why they would be fussy about an American proving they're living in the U.S., I don't quite follow.

 

Me neither, but from looking at their online application again today it has changed.....it's different from 18 months ago when I first applied. It apparently "now" allows APO addresses where it did not when I applied before....and it apparently allows them as a residential address like how USAA does.   And it even supposedly allows your mailing address to be the same as the residential address from looking at there application.  Yes, their online application has changed from 18 months ago....sure appears I could get by simply by using my APO address.

 

But I have not walked myself all the way through the complete application yet to see if it flags some error at the very end just before hitting the submit button like how tax software will do a review of your tax return just before you hit the File Return button.    I'm doing some more review of the SCU website to refresh my memory, but I just may resubmit a application but this time it will only have my APO address versus my east coast U.S. address like before.   All they can do is reject me (again).

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

27 minutes ago, Pib said:

 

Me neither, but from looking at their online application again today it has changed.....it's different from 18 months ago when I first applied. It apparently "now" allows APO addresses where it did not when I applied before....and it apparently allows them as a residential address like how USAA does.   And it even supposedly allows your mailing address to be the same as the residential address from looking at there application.  Yes, their online application has changed from 18 months ago....sure appears I could get by simply by using my APO address.

 

But I have not walked myself all the way through the complete application yet to see if it flags some error at the very end just before hitting the submit button like how tax software will do a review of your tax return just before you hit the File Return button.    I'm doing some more review of the SCU website to refresh my memory, but I just may resubmit a application but this time it will only have my APO address versus my east coast U.S. address like before.   All they can do is reject me (again).

 

Just make sure you first brush up on who your GF was 30 years ago, what year she was born, and what year did you take out your first car loan...

[Langsuan Man]

22 hours ago, Pib said:

 

At that point I didn't have to mail in anything additional/proof like SCU asked for, but I was given a 4 question quiz based on public records to prove it was really me....I needed to answer all four question correctly...just getting 3 of 4 correct was not good enough.

Sounds like why I sparingly use State Farm.   One of their questions was how much my house in the US cost when it was initially built, not when I bought it,  but when the original owner built it.  I scoured all my credit reports and could not find this information so I complained to SF that this was a stupid  question.  Their suggestion was for me to go to the county court house and get the information.  I replied that it was easier to not use State Farm going forward.  And with them you had to answer all 4 questions correctly and they changed everytime you were queried

 

I joined SCU because , at the time 2007 , they offered unlimited $ amout of International Wires (SWIFT) for a flat fee of $20 .  At the time Bangkok Bank had not started their EFTS program or at least I was not aware of it.   The $20 was the cheapest way to get large amounts of cash into Thailand (now $25).   Used them when buying a condo, car, and later a house.  They had a standardized form that you had to email them but the Wire would go out the same day if you got it to them before  4 PM EST.  Never went through the scrutiny that Pib did but then again I was a State Department Annuitant so it was easy to check my bonafides as well as having a physical US address

[Pib]

LSM,

   If you are talking the public record challenge questions St Farm use to present at most ibanking logons, I was presented some of those type questions for a while....it was just something St Farm implemented for everyone in trying to improve logon security.   But apparently that did not go over well with customers and they stopped doing that after 3 months or so...or at least they stopped it for me.  I haven't seen those type of public record challenge questions for way over a year...or maybe longer since time seems to fly.   Heck where I initially though my Service Credit Union (SCU) application rejection occurred around 9 months ago, looking at the emails I sill had on fill it was a little over 19 months ago....gosh, how time flies.

 

The 4 questions I was taking about with Schwab was just to get my application approved since my credit reports didn't show any spending around the U.S. address on the application.   I guess that just triggered some flag to Schwab that Pib may not really be Pib.  I expect they would have mailed me something about the issue if I hadn't contacted them via phone about the delay on the final approval which I would have seen by them pulling funds from another bank account to fund the new Schwab accounts.   For whatever reason me getting through their 4 question test satisfied them for application approval.  I know some may think that's standard many times when calling one of your financial companies/banks you deal with or maybe like when calling some govt agency like Social Security..  However, in this case the questions were not for completing a handshake with a CSR during the beginning of a call just so you can then begin talking about the real reason you called, but successfully answering the questions were to allow approval of my application.   

 

But yea, those St Farm logon question using public records really asked some questions sometimes that I had to do some serious head scratching on....had no reason to remember as it was ancient history under the bridge.  Glad they stopped those old public data type questions just to logon.  Do you still get them when logging onto St Farm ibanking?

 

Just to confirm, where you say you joined "SCU" as in Service Credit Union, is that what you meant...or you really meant another bank?

 

 

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

7 hours ago, Langsuan Man said:

I joined SCU because , at the time 2007 , they offered unlimited $ amout of International Wires (SWIFT) for a flat fee of $20 .  At the time Bangkok Bank had not started their EFTS program or at least I was not aware of it.   The $20 was the cheapest way to get large amounts of cash into Thailand (now $25).

 

LSM, that's VERY interesting. I had never really thought about using SCU for wire transfers, and I don't really use or rely on wire transfers anyway. But your post above piqued my interest, so I got on chat this morning with SCU and they confirmed to me that their current SENDING fee for both international and domestic wire transfers is $20 (not $25). And that's a VERY good price for sending an international wire from the U.S.

 

The SCU agent I spoke with said if I was sending the money from my own account to another account in my same name, then I could initiate the wire transfer request any of 3 ways: using their online chat service, calling their customer service line, or sending in a mailed request. That sounds perfectly OK.

 

The odd part was, before I chatted with them, I'd called up their online fee schedule to check it for their wire transfer fees, and at least on the latest fee schedule for 2017 I found online, there was no mention of their SENDING wire transfer fee amount that I could find at all. (Though they did mention there or somewhere else I saw that they do NOT charge a fee for receiving INCOMING wire transfers.

 

So really want to say thanks for the tip!!!  Should I ever need to do a large amount funds transfer in the future, I'll at least have another viable/economical option to consider besides Bangkok Bank's NY routing method! 

 

Put that together with their VISA debit card that reimburses both their own VISA 1% ISA fee and other banks' foreign ATM charges, along with a $1000 daily withdrawal limit, and it makes their checking accounts an even more compelling value -- provided someone can gain membership thru any kind of current or past military affiliation in their family.

 

I've been a member with them for probably almost as long as you, and they've always been fine for me. Never had any complaint or quibble with them.

 

[Langsuan Man]

I just went to the site and the fee chart is very well hidden

 

Go here:  https://www.sdfcu.org/fees

 

scroll down to Miscellaneous, and open it, and then look at the fourth and fifth line:

 

 

There must have been a recent change in their fee structure since when I was going to do a Domestic Wire from my savings account to a Escrow Account last September the fee chart showed $25 for Domestic Wires.    So I just did the Domestic Wire from USAA for $20 (as an aside in looking up USAA's fees noticed that their International wires are now only $25) source: https://www.usaa.com/inet/wc/wire_transfer_instructions_complex_module

[Pib]

Seems we may have a little State Dept Federal Credit Union (SDFCU) and Service Credit Union (SCU) confusion here....two different credit unions. 

 

I think LSM was really talking SDFCU in his post 41 and definitely talking SDFCU in his post 44, but used the SCU acronym in post 41 which drove my question to him and then TallGuy stated talking about SCU.

 

LSM,

   Take a look at post number 41 where you said below.   You used the SCU acronym but I think you meant to say SDFCU?

 

Quote

 

I joined SCU because , at the time 2007 , they offered unlimited $ amout of International Wires (SWIFT) for a flat fee of $20 .

 

 

 

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

Pib's right about that mixup...

 

But despite the confusion between the two, it does turn out to be true that Service Credit Union DOES do international wire transfers for a $20 fee.

 

Which, based on LSM's post above, is better than both $30 by State Department FCU and $25 by USAA.

 

[Langsuan Man]

I did make a typo in post 41 by missing the "D" in the abbreviation

But before I would jump on the Service Credit Union's SWIFT wire program since I would study it further. I have found a few "gotcha's" with them like the fee for transferring funds OUT of your account via EFTS. To get my SS payments I have to "pull" the money out via USAA free EFTS service

Sent from my Nexus 5X using Thaivisa Connect mobile app

[Pib]

Yea, when it comes to funds transfers to external banks, using SCU is like a lot of smaller credit unions where they charge a healthy fee for "outgoing" transfers.  If needing to move money "out" of SCU occasionally you would definitely want to "pull" your money using your other bank that does not charge a fee for money pulls or sends.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

2 hours ago, Pib said:

Yea, when it comes to funds transfers to external banks, using SCU is like a lot of smaller credit unions where they charge a healthy fee for "outgoing" transfers.  If needing to move money "out" of SCU occasionally you would definitely want to "pull" your money using your other bank that does not charge a fee for money pulls or sends.

 

Yep, that's one of the few downsides of SCU IMHO, being that they charge a $7 or so fee for using their online banking to send outgoing ACH transfers.

 

To which I have just a two-word answer: Schwab It!  Thus, I've never paid SCU's ACH fee, and never been concerned about it.

 

Just to be clear for the uninitiated: that means that SCU's online banking system does perfectly fine in allowing the setting up and pulling of funds from external institutions via domestic ACH.

 

 

[Pib]

Me did submit an application again to SCU....only using my military APO address.   This time it was approved.   Welcome package in the mail, account numbers issued by secure email, etc.  Good to go.  Me happy. 

 

You can online chat with them 24/7 to answer any questions you may have.  I did these several times even during their O-dark early/middle of night east coast time hours to test out their customer service via online chat and got a rep online within 30 seconds.   And got quick and good answers to my questions.  So, submitted my online application.   A day later I had to send in/upload 2 forms of ID along with a DD Form 214 (a key document that confirms I was in the military at one time).  Application final approval occurred about a day later.    Me happy.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

Hey Pib, take a spare Chang out of petty cash and enjoy it on me!!!!

 

Plus, I owe you for the MS Office Pro purchase tip anyways!!!

[Berkshire]

Thanks for pointing this out OP.  I too have the new USAA visa card and it never occurred to me as I rarely use credit cards in Thailand.  But good to know. 

[utalkin2me]

That's great. I found my no foreign fee credit cards to be a pain though, as every once in a while a merchant will tack on a weird charge, I think it was that I would pay in dollars at a very unfavorable rate. It just annoyed me so much to always be on the lookout for it every time I used a card so I just got a Thai credit card. 

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

It's called dynamic currency conversion (DCC), something you want to avoid and reject (refuse to sign), and ask them to re-ring only in Thai baht if such a bill is ever presented to you.

 

The way to tell a bill has been rung up using DCC is the bill amount on the credit card slip they're asking you to sign will show the bill amount in your home country currency, such as $XX.XX, in addition to a Thai baht amount.   That's where you get a very poor exchange rate, amounting to a 3-4% overcharge fee.

 

On the other hand, if the credit card slip ONLY references a bill amount in Thai baht, then, it's not DCC and you should get charged at the normal exchange rate.

 

[oldcarguy]

are there still Schwab accounts  with debit card  and no international ATM fees ?

 

or does it need to be a Schwab Credit card ?

 

and how much do you need to deposit when you start the Schwab account ?

and are there any yearly fees ?

 

I have a K-bank debit card for paying in Thailand ,

 

Ohhh and in  the USA  the  ATM charges a $4 fee when you take cash out with the mastercard  Debit card I am using now

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

11 minutes ago, oldcarguy said:

are there still Schwab accounts  with debit card  and no international ATM fees ?

 

or does it need to be a Schwab Credit card ?

 

and how much do you need to deposit when you start the Schwab account ?

and are there any yearly fees ?

 

I have a K-bank debit card for paying in Thailand ,

 

Ohhh and in  the USA  the  ATM charges a $4 fee when you take cash out with the mastercard  Debit card I am using now

Schwab has U.S. domestic accounts and international accounts, which have different features depending on where the account holder's account address is located.

 

For U.S. accounts, yes, there is still the Schwab debit card that has no foreign currency fee for purchases and withdrawals, reimburses other banks' ATM fees and typically has a $1000 daily withdrawal limit as the default. The U.S. accounts basically have no min. deposit amounts or yearly fees. You get the card and its associated checking account by opening the required Schwab brokerage account, which you don't have to actually use unless you choose to.

 

The Schwab international accounts are somewhat different. I think their debit card is pretty similar. But to open the international brokerage account, I believe a $10K minimum initial deposit is required, unlike the U.S. domestic accounts. The international brokerage account also, AFAIK, cannot be used to purchase U.S. mutual fund shares. There may also be a difference in the timing of how ATM fee reimbursements are handled with the international accounts.

 

Unlike Thailand, the ATM use fees in the U.S. are going to vary from bank company to bank company. They're not all the same, unlike Thailand. Typically, if you have a bank card that belongs to Bank A, then you can use any of Bank A's ATMs without any fee. But if other bank company cards try to use Bank A's ATMs, then they'll get charged the fee.  Also unlike Thailand, though, a lot of U.S. banks and credit unions belong to networks that allow shared, fee-free ATM use among their member institutions. That's pretty common with smaller banks and credit unions that don't necessarily have their own individual national ATM coverage, unlike the major MEGA banks that do have their own.

 

 

[utalkin2me]

15 hours ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

It's called dynamic currency conversion (DCC), something you want to avoid and reject (refuse to sign), and ask them to re-ring only in Thai baht if such a bill is ever presented to you.

 

The way to tell a bill has been rung up using DCC is the bill amount on the credit card slip they're asking you to sign will show the bill amount in your home country currency, such as $XX.XX, in addition to a Thai baht amount.   That's where you get a very poor exchange rate, amounting to a 3-4% overcharge fee.

 

On the other hand, if the credit card slip ONLY references a bill amount in Thai baht, then, it's not DCC and you should get charged at the normal exchange rate.

 

THe first time this happened to me I tried that but they would not change it. I just paid in cash and retired my credit card for the most part. 

[Pib]

30 minutes ago, utalkin2me said:

THe first time this happened to me I tried that but they would not change it. I just paid in cash and retired my credit card for the most part. 

Fortunately for the eight years or so I've been heavily using my U.S. credit cards in Thailand running into a merchant that would "only do a DCC transaction" and not charge in baht has been few.  

 

Specifically, two companies....one a large, multi-store tile company here in Bangkok and Global House hardware store in Nakorn Pathom (a next door province to Bangkok).    I got the checkout clerks supervisors involved when the DCC transaction occurred...the supervisors even made some calls to higher up....in both cases it was a no-go...either accept a DCC transaction with my foreign card or pay in cash or with Thai debit/credit card.   I had them cancel the transaction....didn't make the purchase....their loss in my opinion.   I did an online complaint with HQ Global House who called me in a few days to apologize and say the store had made a mistake and been been told not to do DCC....but around two months later when trying my card again at this store they once again refused only to charge in baht and would only do a DCC transaction.   So, I now do not buy from those merchants unless I have no other choice....like it's life threatening or I'll just save a significant amount of money....so far, neither of these conditions have occurred since there as so many other merchants to buy from who don't attempt the DCC (a.k.a., a form of farang tax).

 

But for the many, many other merchants I use my foreign cards with, few attempt DCC "by default" unless you tell them "Not to Charge Dollars, charge Thai baht" when handing them your card...ensure you have direct eye contact...have their attention when telling them this.  Occasionally a checkout clerk will still do a DCC transaction if after telling them to charge in baht but all have easily and without resistance cancelled that DCC transaction and rerun it in baht.

 

As mentioned by TallGuy it easy to see if a merchant used a DCC transaction on the transaction as the receipt for signature will show the purchase amount in both your card-issued currency (i.e., USD, EURO, GBP, etc) and baht.   Just refuse to sign the receipt, have them cancel that transaction, and rerun in baht.   A few merchants from my experience that will always default to DCC unless you tell them to charge in baht when handing them your card is HomePro and Pizza Company...but both will without resistance charge in Thai baht when asking them.   When I'm unsure if a merchant defaults to DCC I tell them to charge in baht when handling them my card just to avoid the possibility of the DCC being initially run, me having to tell them to cancel, and then rerun in baht.  This cancel & rerun the transaction process only takes a total of about 2 minutes based on a half dozen or so such personal experiences over the years at various merchants.

 

So if a merchant says they can not cancel a DCC and rerun in Thai baht, well, it can be easily and quickly done "if the merchant really wants to and is not a greedy merchant implementing a form of farang tax."   If the merchant doesn't want to, well, for me I just don't do business with them with the current transaction and future business (unless I absolutely have to).

 

 

 

 

[Pib]

Regarding the new USAA Limitless Credit Card that carries no foreign transaction fee and pays 2.5% cash-back if you have a qualifying Direct Deposit (at least $1000) going to your USAA checking account, it's now available to USAA members if your registered address with USAA is in one of the following 20 states.   When the card was initially release late 2016 is was available in only 4 states, then it grew to 7 states, and now it up to 20 states.

 

And if  your USAA account registered address is not in one of the below states you can not apply online or by phone....I've tried both....I even tried to get the USAA CSR to force an application via phone but it wouldn't work.  I attempted this application via phone in late 2016 and apparently the card was still so new that particular rep didn't know about the registered address requirement until the rep couldn't get the application to process, had to call someone in the know while I was put on hold for a few minutes, and when the rep found out the hard core requirement she explained it to me...said I would need to wait until it's available to me based on my registered address with USAA.   Now my registered addressed with USAA is an APO address so I expect I will not be able to apply until it becomes available to all USAA members regardless of address/available in all 50 states.  

 

But with no foreign transaction fee, me having a qualifying Direct Deposit already going to USAA (a pension payment), and 2.5% cash back on everything that USAA credit card may just relegate my other no foreign transaction fee U.S. credit cards paying only 1.5% cash-back to infrequent use. 

 

And regarding the miniumum $1000 Direct Deposit requirement apparently it does not need to be a DD for a salary or pension, it could just be a monthly ACH transafer you generate from one of  your other banks to USAA.  For some banks, a DD can only be a salary or pension and not a standard ACH transfer from one of your other banks....and they know the type of deposit it is by coding in the transfer...coding we can not see but only the bank can see.  

 

Quote

1 This product is currently available to members residing in the following states: AL, AZ, CO, GA, HI, ID, IL, IN, KS, LA, MI, NM, NV, NY, PA, RI, SC, TN, TX and WA. It will become available in additional states at a later date.

 

https://mobile.usaa.com/inet/wc/credit_card_limitless_cashback_rewards_terms

 

 

 

 

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

2 hours ago, Pib said:

So if a merchant says they can not cancel a DCC and rerun in Thai baht, well, it can be easily and quickly done "if the merchant really wants to and is not a greedy merchant implementing a form of farang tax."   If the merchant doesn't want to, well, for me I just don't do business with them with the current transaction and future business (unless I absolutely have to).

Following up on Pib's comments:

 

I've rarely encountered insistent DCC in my now many years here. Most of the time when I do encounter it, the clerks seem not to really understand what they're doing, they're just following whatever credit card processing instructions someone has given them.  So, sometimes, if they do it wrong by using DCC, then the clerk will claim they don't know how to reverse it or don't know how to ring it up without DCC. At that point, asking to speak with a manager or supervisor, and declining to sign the slip, usually ends up working out OK.

 

I think the worst experience I ever had with DCC was at a restaurant at the Pullman King Power Hotel, where my wife and I had just enjoyed a very nice dinner and evening out. Check came and I immediately saw DCC. Talked to the waitress, she professed ignorance. Asked to speak with the manager, and a farang guy showed up, who claimed they couldn't ring it any other way. Now that I think back about it, the farang manager also kept insisting to me -- wrongly -- that there was no $ difference between the two methods. Finally, got the hotel's (not restaurant's) finance staff involved, and they quickly understood the problem and told the waitress and farang manager how to ring it in regular baht. Unfortunately, that entire process probably took a good hour from start to finish.  And, because of that, have never ever frequented that establishment since then.

 

Also, FWIW, re Home Pro, at my local outlet in Central BKK, rather than automatically ringing up the charge as DCC, they normally seem to automatically ask me how I want it rung up, and I always answer Thai baht. But it's nice that rather than automatically ringing it up wrong, at least they have the courtesy to ask first, which I appreciate.

 

Most places these days simply ring up the bill automatically using regular Thai baht. Most don't usually ask, and most usually don't use DCC. But there always are a few bad eggs in the basket somewhere.

 

Also, I always have to remind myself that there probably are still some tourists out there who actually think it's good when they see a U.S. $ amount or whatever other home currency they have showing up on their bill, so they don't have to mentally calculate the cost in baht. Unfortunately, what those unknowing tourists don't realize is they're paying 3-4% extra on their bill/purchase for that minor convenience. I'll save the 3-4%, thank you!

 

 

 

Edited March 7, 2017 by TallGuyJohninBKK