Free Thai bank account?

[onthesoi]

 

I'm looking to open a Thai bank account, but notice many are not free to use, monthly/yearly charges, insurance, transfer charges etc etc.

 

It will mainly be used for deposits/savings so atm card not really needed & maybe the odd transfer to/from another Thai bank account.

 

Recommendations?

[mogandave]

I have accounts at K-bank and B of A and they are all free and interest bearing.

They do charge for ATM cards, but only a one-time fee per card


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[mogandave]

Transfers to banks other than their own charge a fee


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[Pib]

You will not find a bank totally free of fees.  If you get an account with no debit card then you'll just be dealing with the fee associated with the occasional transfer you said you would be doing.   But hey, at some banks they have no annual fee debit cards (save yourself aorund Bt200 per year) but the bank normally offsets that with a lower interest rate or maybe requiring SMS service at around Bt20/month.  

 

You can pick most any bank....they all have basic debit cards (i.e., allow ATM usage and purchases) that only cost around Bt200 to 300 per year (or less)...these cards do not come with insurance.  If you want a card with insurance (which the bank will try to push upon you), then you'll be paying approx Bt500 to 1000/year annual fee.  Remember, the bank may push their pricier cards but you don't have to accept them....just get one of their lower end cards that does not come with insurance.

 

Your biggest problem will not be deciding on a debit card, but possibly getting a bank branch to open an account for you....only about a zillion posts on ThaiVisa where people have a hard time finding a branch which will open an account for them.    If they open an account for you, while doing that they may try to get you to accept one of their pricier debit cards...or worst yet the more evil branches may say you must take a pricey card in order to open the account---that is a total lie if they say that...that's just a hard sell tactic.

[mogandave]

You can get an ATM with no annual fee, but you have to be insistent and have a native speaker with you.

 

You will however, have to pay for the card, and each time you need a new one.

[Pib]

It all depends on the cards the bank has....it will vary from bank to bank.   And when I say bank to bank I mean like Krungsri, Bangkok Bank, SCB, etc....I'm not talking branch to branch.  

 

For example, the link/chart below provides a summary of Krungsri deibt cards initial issue/replacement and annual fees.   But it don't include the details/fine print unless you review each card.   Like their no annual fee card (which I have), but the fine print will show it requires the Bt19/mo SMS service which adds up to B228 per year and I don't have an issue with.   

 

https://www.krungsri.com/bank/en/PersonalBanking/CardProducts/KrungsriDebitcard/debit-card-fees.html

 

 

[lkn]

13 hours ago, mogandave said:

You can get an ATM with no annual fee, but you have to be insistent and have a native speaker with you.

The banks I have looked at list their card options on their website with issuing fee and yearly price and/or conditions.

 

A minimum yearly fee of 200 baht seems to be the norm, as Pib says, there is a free card (Krungsri), but it will require you to commit to something that costs 228 baht/year (SMS Banking). Possibly other banks have a similar “free” card, but read the fine print.

 

I don’t think you can negotiate any of this, even if you are insistent or have a native speaker with you :)

 

[mogandave]

The banks I have looked at list their card options on their website with issuing fee and yearly price and/or conditions.
 
A minimum yearly fee of 200 baht seems to be the norm, as Pib says, there is a free card (Krungsri), but it will require you to commit to something that costs 228 baht/year (SMS Banking). Possibly other banks have a similar “free” card, but read the fine print.
 
I don’t think you can negotiate any of this, even if you are insistent or have a native speaker with you :)
 

I did not say it was negotiable, I said it was available.

I have two k bank accounts (one is joint) both with no annual fee ATM cards, and both pay interest.

I have two B of A accounts that have no fees, but neither has an ATM card so I don't know about them..

[lkn]

3 hours ago, mogandave said:

I did not say it was negotiable, I said it was available.

I have two k bank accounts (one is joint) both with no annual fee ATM cards, and both pay interest.

I have two B of A accounts that have no fees, but neither has an ATM card so I don't know about them..

 

 

The debit cards offered by Kasikorn are listed here: https://www.kasikornbank.com/en/personal/Debit-Card

 

The K-Debit has the standard 200 baht/year fee. Only the K-Web Shopping Card is free, but this appears to be a virtual card.

 

Which card do you have?

 

As for your B of A accounts, in Thailand, the (yearly) fee is generally on the card, not the account itself.

[mogandave]

I am not sure. It says K-Debit Card, has a visa logo, and claims me to be a "Privileged Member"

I'll check the passbook for fees when I get to the office, but I do not think there are any.


Live, love, laugh

[Pib]

17 minutes ago, mogandave said:

I am not sure. It says K-Debit Card, has a visa logo, and claims me to be a "Privileged Member"

I'll check the passbook for fees when I get to the office, but I do not think there are any.


Live, love, laugh

The Kbank website says the K-Debit Card has a Bt200 annual fee.

https://www.kasikornbank.com/en/personal/debit-card/Pages/K-Debit.aspx

 

[Pib]

Here's a Kbank fee link that summarizes K-bank debit cards/fees.   See section 1.1.  

 

All debit cards have an annual fee ranging from Bt200 to Bt650.

 

https://www.kasikornbank.com/en/rate/fee/ChargesDoc/FeeService_EN_25012017.pdf

Edited February 12, 2017 by Pib

[mogandave]

According to the document THB100


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[lkn]

1 hour ago, mogandave said:

According to the document THB100

Sounds like the native speaker you brought with you to the bank was afraid you would cause a scene (when you started to be “insistent”), so they just told you what you wanted to hear :)

 

 

I think the Thai word for this is graeng jai (เกรงใจ).

 

[Pib]

12 hours ago, mogandave said:

According to the document THB100


Live, love, laugh

Maybe you have an ATM card (originally gotten years earlier) vs Debit card.   Below partial quote from the earlier link I gave regarding fees saying the ATM card annual fee is normally Bt200, however, there is a double asterisk note that says it's Bt100 if application was before 10 Mar 07.

 

From notes of earlier K-bank fee document

Quote

- ATM Card** - 200 Baht per card for annual fee

 

** ATM Card

- Application before March 10, 2007, the annual fee is 100 Baht per card.

- Application from March 10, 2007 onwards, the annual fee is 200 Baht per card.

 

 

But as you said earlier your card does say K-Debit card.  Maybe for your debit card, when you originally signed up, there was a special promotion giving you lifetime or X-years annual fee of Bt100 vs the standards Bt200 for the K-Debit card.   But for a person walking in the door now to get a debit card the debit card fee will start around Bt200 (barring any unadvertised promotion).....and higher for some of their debit cards.

 

And unless Kbank has changed their apparent unwritten policy, there are quite a few posts on ThaiVisa telling the story of how Kbank branches did a very hard sell of their higher priced insurance laden debit cards.  Although branches from many different Thai banks seem to push their pricier debit cards that come with insurance, it seemed like Kbank was getting more than a fair share of ThaiVisa posts complaining about this hard sell tactic. And maybe that was because the ThaiVisa posters were  probably in the Pattaya/Chonburi area where Kbank seems to enjoy a lot of farang customers and possibly seem more expat-friendly towards opening accounts for farangs.

 

[mogandave]

I opened the account in 2001 and have had a couple replacement cards since then.


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[KhonKaenKowboy]

CIMB does free chip protected card and first year free....100 per year after that..Club access at Swampy...need 1 million for preferred, but currently paying 1.5% st, payable monthly,no withholding. Over age 55 with   one year FD, with monthly tax free interest up to 30,000 THB  per year at 2.15%.

Edited February 19, 2017 by KhonKaenKowboy