Union Pay - Bangkok bank

[Putu94]

Many years I use Bangkok Bank all the time good service

now had a problem with my Visa debit Card , so I needed a new one.

It turns out Bangkok bank has no Visa anymore but Union Pay ( Chinese )

 Can not say I am happy with that

is only to use in Atm's in Asia

all supermarkets , Thai Watsadu etc etc not possible

Only Cash.

AirAsia not accept

if you want to travel outside Asia you can not use the card anymore.

most be a problem for many people, is no use to look a other bank

 

what is a good advise

it looks to me back to the old times

 

thanks

[Crossy]

Yup, a few threads on this issue, not a lot you can do, change to another bank, get a secured Visa credit card.

 

 

[cliffspab]

I lost my card two weeks ago and they gave me a Visa

 

I lose my card a lot (damn cash then card system at the ATMs over here) and let them talk me into a Union Pay a while back.  Totally useless, nowhere takes it. 

 

As far as I know Bangkok Bank will still give you Visa if you ask/insist

 

They still list a Visa card on their website

 

http://www.bangkokbank.com/bangkokbank/personalbanking/dailyBanking/Be1stVisaDebitCard/Be1stCard/Pages/default.aspx

 

Maybe something changed in the last two weeks?

[Pib]

Yeap...Visa card still being issued as noted in other recent threads (e.g., the wife and I got others in Dec 16) but depending on the branch you may have to insist and/or listen to excuses that the Visa card is not longer available (untrue).   Bangkok Bank branches are indeed pushing the TPN (Thai Payment Network)-UnionPay co-branded card since Bangkok Bank owns 50% of TPN and UnionPay owns the other 50%.    The more people and merchants Bangkok Bank can get on the TPN-UnionPay logo card the more profit they make....no to less need to split the profit with Visa.

 

Below is one recent thread regarding the UnionPay card....below link takes you to the end of that thread where you see several people just got their Visa card....some after initially being given a UnionPay card which didn't work very well for purchases since a lot of Thai merchants still don't accept UnionPay logo cards.

 

[Putu94]

Thanks for all reply.

Been to Bangkok bank this morning.

in one week I will have Smart Rabbit Card ( Visa)

at least we know now what Union pay is, for everybody who read this

never accept this useless card.

thanks

[KhunBENQ]

It's sad that Thai bank methods get more and more similar to western bangsters.

Pushing/mislead customers to what brings best commission.

"Mandatory" insurance, overpriced accounts with unasked features and now this "Union pay".

 

Some two years or so ago, one of my German banks introduced another card type ("VPay") without alternative.

It was advertised with it's great use for payment in Europe.

(that it was no more usable in rest of world was deep in the fine print or implicit only).

Useless plastic dump when living here.

[abab]

People love so much to be tacked whatever they do that they need to use cards...

 

 

[55Jay]

31 minutes ago, abab said:

People love so much to be tacked whatever they do that they need to use cards...

 

 

I presume you mean "tracked"?   How do you access your money?

[Pib]

4 hours ago, Putu94 said:

Thanks for all reply.

Been to Bangkok bank this morning.

in one week I will have Smart Rabbit Card ( Visa)

at least we know now what Union pay is, for everybody who read this

never accept this useless card.

thanks

You are another one which has said it will take one week.  I've seen several posts saying it took their branch a week to get the Visa card.  Now the wife and I got our Visa cards immediately in Dec 16 when we went in to swap our old style non-chipped Visa card for the chipped Visa card.....got our cards at the branch in the HQ Bangkok Bank building on Silom Rd in Bangkok.

 

I'm thinking that at many Bangkok Bank branches they may not be allowed to keep the Visa card "in stock" in order to push them more to push the TPN-UnionPay card.  But when a customer insists on a Visa card they will order it, get it in a week or so, and then you good to go with a Visa card again.

[cliffspab]

1 hour ago, Pib said:

You are another one which has said it will take one week.  I've seen several posts saying it took their branch a week to get the Visa card.  Now the wife and I got our Visa cards immediately in Dec 16 when we went in to swap our old style non-chipped Visa card for the chipped Visa card.....got our cards at the branch in the HQ Bangkok Bank building on Silom Rd in Bangkok.

 

I'm thinking that at many Bangkok Bank branches they may not be allowed to keep the Visa card "in stock" in order to push them more to push the TPN-UnionPay card.  But when a customer insists on a Visa card they will order it, get it in a week or so, and then you good to go with a Visa card again.

They had Visa cards in stock at the Phra Khanong branch two weeks ago.

[Myshkin]

My Bangkok Bank Visa card was eaten by an ATM and discarded a few months ago, and when I requested a new one at my branch office they also told me they do no longer provide Visa and gave me a Union Pay card. Then, I informed my health insurance (Bupa) to withdraw the monthly premium in the future on this new card, they told me they only accept Visa. I went back to my BB branch office, explained the situation, and was then provided a new Visa card on the spot.

[ignis]

Looking at the Pay signs, only shows  Union Pay card on the K Bank stickers..

 

Been with BKK Bank since 2001,  my new  Union Pay card  issued November is useless, BBK Bank said [been into my Branch many times to complain] that all machines will be upgraded to accept Union cards by mid Jan !! as of yesterday could not pay at Red Cross Hospital, and later at a large Tesco Lotus..

 

OK have SCB account since 2005, so now have a Visa card from them, but a pain as both my Pensions are paid into BBK Bank.

 

 

 

 

[Pib]

Point of Service (checkout payment) payment machines in Thailand have been capabile of accepting chipped cards, to include Union Pay cards, for years....and over the last year most ATMs have been upgraded to accept chipped cards.

However whether or not a merchant (or ATM operator) signs up to accept Union Pay cards or any logo card such as American Express, Visa, Mastercard, etc., is purely up to the merchant since that will just be another set of card network rules, regulations, and fees to deal with.

Plus UnionPay requires PIN entry to complete a purchase...many merchants simply do not want to utilize Chip & PIN transactions...they only want to use Chip & Signature.

[lopburi3]

41 minutes ago, ignis said:

Looking at the Pay signs, only shows  Union Pay card on the K Bank stickers..

 

Been with BKK Bank since 2001,  my new  Union Pay card  issued November is useless, BBK Bank said [been into my Branch many times to complain] that all machines will be upgraded to accept Union cards by mid Jan !! as of yesterday could not pay at Red Cross Hospital, and later at a large Tesco Lotus..

 

OK have SCB account since 2005, so now have a Visa card from them, but a pain as both my Pensions are paid into BBK Bank.

 

 

 

 

They are talking about ATM machines - and from my experience most, if not all, fully accept UnionPay cards now.  So there is no issue using for ATM transactions and getting cash from them using BBL or ATM Pool machines.  What is limited are the number of merchants accepting any card that requires PIN entry (and UnionPay does require).  I have had no problem using at Bangkok Hospital but at Vejthani Hospital they did not know how to process so just paid cash rather than wait (not knowing if they would accept in the end or not).  As I do not normally using for anything else works OK even if not ideal (and spend a lot less time inspecting ATM's then when using mag strip card).  For those that use cards for shopping/dining UnionPay would likely not be acceptable at this point and customers should obtain the Visa card.

Edited February 11, 2017 by lopburi3

[wherma22]

i went today to bangkok bank located in huai kwang, very friendly staff. I explained them the situation and they immediately changed it for a visa card without any problem. I did have to pay 690 for the first year and then 590 per year. It comes with accident coverage of 5000bht. They still had alot of visa cards available. Hope it helps!

 

here is the location: https://goo.gl/maps/GC89hGNzsSH2

 

[lopburi3]

1 hour ago, wherma22 said:

i went today to bangkok bank located in huai kwang, very friendly staff. I explained them the situation and they immediately changed it for a visa card without any problem. I did have to pay 690 for the first year and then 590 per year. It comes with accident coverage of 5000bht. They still had alot of visa cards available. Hope it helps!

 

here is the location: https://goo.gl/maps/GC89hGNzsSH2

 

That is a premium card.  (My best attempt to keep this a civil reply).  But at least you did get a Visa logo (even if you had to pay a lot extra).

[wherma22]

9 minutes ago, lopburi3 said:

That is a premium card.  (My best attempt to keep this a civil reply).  But at least you did get a Visa logo (even if you had to pay a lot extra).

premium or not its a visa card. that's the whole point off my post. Take it or leave it. Hope thats civil enough for you...

[lopburi3]

1 hour ago, wherma22 said:

premium or not its a visa card. that's the whole point off my post. Take it or leave it. Hope thats civil enough for you...

The issue was not with you and I thank you for the information - it is with the bank taking advantage of their customers - have never appreciated these hard sell cards regardless of the bank.

[wherma22]

On 17/01/2018 at 8:08 PM, lopburi3 said:

The issue was not with you and I thank you for the information - it is with the bank taking advantage of their customers - have never appreciated these hard sell cards regardless of the bank.

Apologise for my quite harsh reply. I misunderstood your post. I guessed already they still had the basic VISA cards while in the bank but off course they didn't understood what i was talking about so i thought i just take it and get out. We cannot win every fight :)

[touch]

The other week I got a new ATM card at BKK Bank. Got an ATM card with Visa and Rabbit for an extra fee of 100Baht.

The Rabbit ATM cards should be available at most branches YMMV

[Pib]

1 hour ago, touch said:

The other week I got a new ATM card at BKK Bank. Got an ATM card with Visa and Rabbit for an extra fee of 100Baht.

The Rabbit ATM cards should be available at most branches YMMV

I expect what you mean by the "extra fee of Bt100" is the "one-time" issue fee for a replacement card which Bangkok Bank has always applied.  They charge this fee if you lose, damage, etc., your card and need a replacement.  And they might even charge that Bt100 fee now when upgrading from the magnetic strip card to the chipped card.   They do not charge the fee if your old card expired or an ATM ate it.   And yea, the Visa card issued by Bangkok Bank now comes with Rabbit capability built-in.   Or the Bt100 fee might be the Bt300 annual fee for a Visa chipped card compared to the Bt200 annual fee for the old magnetic strip only card.

 

But your post along with others still getting the Visa card just reinforces the fact Bangkok Bank is still issuing the cards although most branches will push hard to issue you a UnionPay card, give some excuse Visa cards are no longer available, etc.  Greatly depends on the branch and how persistent a person is when going in to get a card.

 

But there is one thing regarding the Bangkok Bank Visa debit cards and that is how long they will truly continue to function regardless of the expiration date on them which might be approx 10 years from now if getting a card today.  According the the Bangkok Bank website you can continue to use them until 2019 (don't know if that means until the first day of 2019 or some other date in 2019).  Then you would need to get the UnionPay card which is not accepted by many merchants in Thailand.   Then again that 2019 reference may really refer to when the old Visa magnetic strip only cards will stop working as although the note on the page does also say their "smart" card which means their chipped card.

 

http://www.bangkokbank.com/BangkokBank/PersonalBanking/DailyBanking/Be1stVisaDebitCard/Pages/B1stnewdefault.aspx

 

And here's a Bangkok Bank webpage link that still talks their Visa cards.  It's one of the Download link mentioned in above snapshot. 

http://www.bangkokbank.com/BangkokBankThai/Documents/Site Documents/Other/be1stdue2019_en.pdf

 

 

 

 

Edited January 21, 2018 by Pib

[KhunFred]

Does anyone have a list of merchants who accept Union Pay?  Apparently, Foodmart and Tesco/Lotus do not. I have not tried at Villa Market, but I suspect it's the same situation.

[KhunFred]

The statement that if you "insist", that Bangkok Bank will issue you a Visa card, is not borne out in my experience. My fiancee accompanied me, so there was no possibility of being misunderstood. They simply said "no hab Visa". I noticed that 7-Eleven accepts it, but practically no one else. 

[lopburi3]

17 minutes ago, KhunFred said:

Does anyone have a list of merchants who accept Union Pay?  Apparently, Foodmart and Tesco/Lotus do not. I have not tried at Villa Market, but I suspect it's the same situation.

But they all have ATM's machines that do accept UnionPay so not a big issue for instore paying as cash is accepted anywhere. 

 

Not so good for home delivery or online ordering however.  And often a PIA even at places that accept for direct payment as most of their card readers will not work for UP cards.  That should be better over time but still a big negative.

[wordchild]

My local branch told me that MasterCard  would be introduced alongside Union Pay, in the near future. No idea if that’s true, but that is what she said.