Visa debit card

[GeKoSc]

I have difficulties to use my VISA Debit card with the cash machines (all cards accepted) in Thailand, the cash machines do not accept my PIN which I have used in other countries without any problem. 

What possibly could produce this difficulty? I have not yet a permanent address neither a bank account established in Thailand. If I cannot get rid of this problem soon, what other options are available to get hold of cash by the debit card or are there other means?

[stevenl]

I have difficulties to use my VISA Debit card with the cash machines (all cards accepted) in Thailand, the cash machines do not accept my PIN which I have used in other countries without any problem. 
What possibly could produce this difficulty? I have not yet a permanent address neither a bank account established in Thailand. If I cannot get rid of this problem soon, what other options are available to get hold of cash by the debit card or are there other means?

Are you from a country that requires you to activate the card for foreign transactions, specifically Thailand?

sent using Tapatalk

[petedk]

5 minutes ago, stevenl said:

Are you from a country that requires you to activate the card for foreign transactions, specifically Thailand?

sent using Tapatalk
 

The first thing I would do is contact Visa in your home country. 

[KhunBENQ]

Moved to ... banking ... forum.

 

Do you really get a message that says the PIN is wrong or just some generic decline/fail message?

Probably with an unusual delay?

 

And post #2 might be the clue.

I read that some users e.g. from UK have to explicitly inform their bank beforehand.

Thailand is a top spot for skimming (ATM fraud) so that some banks disallow use in Thailand by default.

 

11 minutes ago, petedk said:

The first thing I would do is contact Visa in your home country.

Issuing home country bank.

[Doiger]

It will probably be your bank blocking it, you will need to tell them where you are and request that you can use it in Thailand.

just because it says all cards accepted doesn't mean that your specific bank will authorize it.

Edited February 10, 2017 by Doiger

[Ahab]

My Visa and Debit cards (issued in the USA) will not work in a foreign country unless I notify them that I will be out of country. I can do it from the banks website but only for 30 days at a time.

[GeKoSc]

2 hours ago, stevenl said:

Are you from a country that requires you to activate the card for foreign transactions, specifically Thailand?

sent using Tapatalk
 

My card is activated. 

[GeKoSc]

2 hours ago, KhunBENQ said:

Moved to ... banking ... forum.

 

Do you really get a message that says the PIN is wrong or just some generic decline/fail message?

Probably with an unusual delay?

 

And post #2 might be the clue.

I read that some users e.g. from UK have to explicitly inform their bank beforehand.

Thailand is a top spot for skimming (ATM fraud) so that some banks disallow use in Thailand by default.

 

Issuing home country bank.

Yes, the message says that the PIN is wrong. You are right, I think they bloqued the card. Will have to call them up.

[GeKoSc]

2 hours ago, Doiger said:

It will probably be your bank blocking it, you will need to tell them where you are and request that you can use it in Thailand.

just because it says all cards accepted doesn't mean that your specific bank will authorize it.

You are right, I think they blocked the card. Will have to call them up.

[GeKoSc]

1 hour ago, Ahab said:

My Visa and Debit cards (issued in the USA) will not work in a foreign country unless I notify them that I will be out of country. I can do it from the banks website but only for 30 days at a time.

You are right, I think they blocked the card. Will have to call them up.

[Chicog]

I find certain Banks' ATMs will not accept one of my cards, but if I use it in another it's fine.

I suspect it's just poor programming.

[SaintLouisBlues]

The thing that annoys me about Visa Debit in Thailand is that it doesn't support Visa Paywave unlike my Visa debit card from a 1st World country. I can't see the point of having one without that feature

[Pib]

13 hours ago, GeKoSc said:

Yes, the message says that the PIN is wrong. You are right, I think they bloqued the card. Will have to call them up.

Yea, the "PIN is wrong" message is misleading...it implies you just entered the wrong PIN,  But in fact, your card-issuing bank and/or Visa have probably just blocked your card so even the correct PIN will cause an error of wrong/incorrect PIN.    I expect in the same PIN is wrong message it also said contact your card-issuing bank.

 

Now if you call Visa they may unblock the card temporarily but they should also tell you that you will need to call your "card-issuing bank" to get them to lift the block for x-period....or Visa may connect you your card-issuing bank depending on the time of day/night.  X-period possibly being permanently, for 90 days, for XYZ days.....whatever policy is implemented by your card-issuing bank.

 

Visa/Mastercard have a lot of "flags" set in their system to spot/block "possibly fraudulent transactions" but many flags are set/selected by the card-issuing bank.  Like notification of travel required....automatically blocking "certain" countries, etc.   Some banks seem to block "many" countries while other banks block "few" countries....all depends on the card-issuing bank. 

 

It would be best for you to contact your "card-issuing bank" although contacting Visa might give some temporary relief.

[Pib]

8 hours ago, SaintLouisBlues said:

The thing that annoys me about Visa Debit in Thailand is that it doesn't support Visa Paywave unlike my Visa debit card from a 1st World country. I can't see the point of having one without that feature

Don't blame Visa for that...blame the Thai bank issuing the card and/or the merchant not wanting to use Paywave.  

 

Visa/Mastercard are always coming up with new ways to use a card....new ways that all too often require upgrade costs to merchants,  banks, etc.,....costs which the merchants/banks do not want to pay....feel are not cost effective for them at this point in time. 

[Langsuan Man]

15 hours ago, Ahab said:

My Visa and Debit cards (issued in the USA) will not work in a foreign country unless I notify them that I will be out of country. I can do it from the banks website but only for 30 days at a time.

Same now with my Debit Card issued by Schwab, once again for my protection

 

I can do the thirty days notice online but if I want more than 30 days I have to make a phone call

 

Strange that Capital One Visa Credit card no longer requires overseas travel notifications, since they feel that their chip technology is up to the task 

 

 

[Pib]

3 minutes ago, Langsuan Man said:

Same now with my Debit Card issued by Schwab, once again for my protection

 

I can do the thirty days notice online but if I want more than 30 days I have to make a phone call

 

Strange that Capital One Visa Credit card no longer requires overseas travel notifications, since they feel that their chip technology is up to the task 

 

 

I've been using my Schwab debit card for around 6 years now....using it an average of once a month.....never provided any notice of being in Thailand although they do have my military APO address as my mailing address.  Only one time has Schwab blocked my card and that was about 2 years ago.   I initially called Visa who unblocked it temporarily although they did not tell me it was only a temporary unblock....while unblocking my card, Visa just said I should also call Schwab (my card-issuing bank) which I didn't.   About two weeks later the card stop working again, this time I called Schwab instead of Visa, got it unblocked and it's been fine since.  I last used the card about a month ago...will use it again this month sometime.

[Langsuan Man]

They may have just coded the card for use overseas since you have an APO address.  Here is the notice / notification form for Schwab

 

 

Contacted my "account" manager about it, thus my dig about for my protection 

[Pib]

Yea, I remember us talking about this Schwab notification 6 months or more ago in another related thread....I think JimGant was involved in that conversation.   During that thread I even had a hard time finding the notification selection/screen on the Schwab website/ibanking, but found it after looking several times.  If I remember right the notification link was in the lower right hand of one of the screens.   With me having an APO mailing address that could be the reason why....and when it comes to the possibility of any of my debit/credit cards being blocked out of the blue I'm no longer surprised (only pissed) when that happens occasionally.    Fortunately so far for me blocks of any of my debit/credits cards has been very rare....knock on wood (my head).

[Ahab]

This (blocking of cards for overseas transactions) seem to be a trend to prevent fraud. I don't think it will be going away anytime soon. For someone in Thailand long term a better solution is to get a Thai bank account and wire transfer money into that account then use the Thai banks' ATM while in country (avoids the international fees on foreign ATMs). For USA citizens the Bangkok Bank branch routing number in NYC can be used with the Thai account number and my credit union charges zero fees to transfer any amount (there is a small fee on the Thai side, but compared to the foreign ATM fees they are very small, and you can transfer larger amounts).

 

Just something to look at.

[GeKoSc]

On 2/11/2017 at 4:11 AM, SaintLouisBlues said:

The thing that annoys me about Visa Debit in Thailand is that it doesn't support Visa Paywave unlike my Visa debit card from a 1st World country. I can't see the point of having one without that feature

I have not heard about such feature Paywave...please explain.

[GeKoSc]

On 2/12/2017 at 2:12 AM, Ahab said:

This (blocking of cards for overseas transactions) seem to be a trend to prevent fraud. I don't think it will be going away anytime soon. For someone in Thailand long term a better solution is to get a Thai bank account and wire transfer money into that account then use the Thai banks' ATM while in country (avoids the international fees on foreign ATMs). For USA citizens the Bangkok Bank branch routing number in NYC can be used with the Thai account number and my credit union charges zero fees to transfer any amount (there is a small fee on the Thai side, but compared to the foreign ATM fees they are very small, and you can transfer larger amounts).

 

Just something to look at.

I assume this transfer by Bangkok bank branch routing No. works also for none US citizens but with an account in the USA?

[GeKoSc]

On 2/11/2017 at 1:46 PM, Langsuan Man said:

They may have just coded the card for use overseas since you have an APO address.  Here is the notice / notification form for Schwab

 

 

Contacted my "account" manager about it, thus my dig about for my protection 

I must admit I have not paid attention o this travel notification... 

[Ahab]

2 hours ago, GeKoSc said:

I assume this transfer by Bangkok bank branch routing No. works also for none US citizens but with an account in the USA?

Don't see why it wouldn't work for anyone with a US Bank account. My credit union offers domestic transfers for free to members, I am not sure if other banks offer this service for no charge.

[Ahab]

I also think this is something that came into effect within the last two years. The last time we traveled I did not have to notify my bank, and they worked just fine.

[Crossy]

3 hours ago, GeKoSc said:

I have not heard about such feature Paywave...please explain.

 

Contactless payment https://www.visaeurope.com/receiving-payments/contactless

 

And it is available in Thailand http://visa.co.th/personal/features/visapaywave.shtml

 

Tesco Rangsit have Paywave terminals at the checkouts, but they don't like my UK card and none of my Thai cards have it yet.

[lkn]

1 hour ago, Crossy said:

Tesco Rangsit have Paywave terminals at the checkouts, but they don't like my UK card and none of my Thai cards have it yet.

Another thread had me look at Kasikorn’s card options, and strangely they have a contactless credit card, but no contactless debit cards: https://www.kasikornbank.com/en/personal/credit-card/Pages/k-wave.aspx

 

Also of interest, they specify requirements to get the credit card (there have been many threads about people struggling to get a credit card), it seems for expatriates one will need an income of at least 50,000 baht/month, but it also has an option for people who have had a savings account for more than half a year with a balance of at least a million.

 

[Pib]

Yea, I see the Paywave terminals in Tesco's that I frequent here in Bangkok but have never-ever seen anyone use them....and I'm talking about standing in Tesco lines hundreds of times over the years where I pay with my credit card via the clerk "inserting my card into the POS machine."     I also see Paywaves at McDonalds I frequent....once again, never seen anyone use them.  Now at both Tesco and McDonalds I've seen people use their credit/debit cards to pay via the "insert/swipe the card method" (like me)....just never saw anyone "waving their card in front of a terminal to pay for anything"  in stores.  

[Ahab]

On ‎2‎/‎11‎/‎2017 at 9:12 AM, Ahab said:

This (blocking of cards for overseas transactions) seem to be a trend to prevent fraud. I don't think it will be going away anytime soon. For someone in Thailand long term a better solution is to get a Thai bank account and wire transfer money into that account then use the Thai banks' ATM while in country (avoids the international fees on foreign ATMs). For USA citizens the Bangkok Bank branch routing number in NYC can be used with the Thai account number and my credit union charges zero fees to transfer any amount (there is a small fee on the Thai side, but compared to the foreign ATM fees they are very small, and you can transfer larger amounts).

 

Just something to look at.

So we have made the move and have decided we will need to buy a truck (new or nearly new), and we discovered a limitation in using the Bangkok Bank method of transferring funds from the USA. You are only allowed $5000 USD per day and $15000 USD per week according to US regulations with this method. So if making a large purchase some planning in advance is required.

 

Not a limitation that will affect most people on a day to day basis, but something to consider.

[Langsuan Man]

3 hours ago, Ahab said:

So if making a large purchase some planning in advance is required.

Or you can use SWIFT wires for large amounts, some US banks charge as little as $20 for International Wires

[Pib]

4 hours ago, Ahab said:

So we have made the move and have decided we will need to buy a truck (new or nearly new), and we discovered a limitation in using the Bangkok Bank method of transferring funds from the USA. You are only allowed $5000 USD per day and $15000 USD per week according to US regulations with this method. So if making a large purchase some planning in advance is required.

 

Not a limitation that will affect most people on a day to day basis, but something to consider.

It is "not" caused by U.S. regulations; your limitation is set by your U.S. bank/credit union.   And it not a limit just to Bangkok Bank...it's a limit to any external bank as set by "your" bank.   Those limits will vary from bank to bank.   I sure know they vary among my U.S. banks/credit unions....and they vary greatly.   Now your U.S. bank may be trying to put the blame on U.S. regulations but the limit is established by your bank.  These two websites give an overview of how banks vary ACH transfer limits.

 

https://www.depositaccounts.com/blog/2012/06/internet-banks-with-small-ach-transfer-limits.html

 

https://www.mybanktracker.com/news/2011/12/06/transfer-limits-holding-money-hostage/

 

However, a $5,000 daily limit is not an uncommon daily limit used by many U.S. banks.  One of my primary banks has a daily $5,000 but I submitted an email request via ibanking secure mail to increase that.  It was approved...I now have a $15,000 daily transfer limit.   One of my other primary banks has a daily external bank transfer limit of $100,000...and I made no request for that amount.

 

Yeap, varies greatly from bank to bank....but $5,000 is not an uncommon amount an many banks/credit unions when using ibanking.

 

And when I still had a Bank of America account they had some really high daily & monthly ibanking limits as long as you had mobile or SafePass card verifiction setup.  And below quote from the Terms & Agreements probably best describe their outbound transfer policy.

 

• Quote

  You will not have specific limits for outbound transfers, but all Transfers Outside Bank of America are subject to internal review by Bank of America based on to and from accounts, the amount of the transaction, your relationship with Bank of America, a successful fraud screening and such other factors that Bank of America may determine to apply from time to time. In the event we determine that there are risks associated with a transfer or if we determine you are subject to a "Disqualifying Event," as defined below, we may delay or cancel the transfer and notify you, or direct you to contact us to provide additional details on the transfer before it is initiated or funds are released.

   

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited March 1, 2017 by Pib