is this an urban myth in Thailand

[sanemax]

5 hours ago, JamJar said:

Pointless to discuss the system they utilise. The point is that they do not use a "portable ATM scanning machine"/ portable card machine/card machine.

So your assertion as to the reason for them not doing it is incorrect.

There may be varied reasons, but that isn't necessarily one of them.

 

In my experience , every time that I have made a over the counter withdrawal using  my foreign ATM card (Which I have dones 100's of times) they always use a hand held card reader to enter my banking details and to carry out the transaction

    When I have been into banks and they have been unable to carry out the transaction, they always give the reason that they do not have a hand held ATM card reader , I did go into a bank once to make a withdrawal and they said that they could not do it because the hand held card reader was broken , and he showed it to me and it wasnt working and he was unable to carry out the transaction manually

    Once again, if your bank doesnt use a hand held portable ATM card reader, how do they get your banking details into their system . Do they tap your details into a computer without inserting your ATM card into anything ?

   

[JamJar]

15 hours ago, sanemax said:

In my experience , every time that I have made a over the counter withdrawal using  my foreign ATM card (Which I have dones 100's of times) they always use a hand held card reader to enter my banking details and to carry out the transaction

    When I have been into banks and they have been unable to carry out the transaction, they always give the reason that they do not have a hand held ATM card reader , I did go into a bank once to make a withdrawal and they said that they could not do it because the hand held card reader was broken , and he showed it to me and it wasnt working and he was unable to carry out the transaction manually

    Once again, if your bank doesnt use a hand held portable ATM card reader, how do they get your banking details into their system . Do they tap your details into a computer without inserting your ATM card into anything ?

   

 

Pointless to discuss the system they utilise. 

Not all banks use the same system. Some use a card machine and some do not.

 

Usually not keen on repeating myself. 

[Pib]

In a moment of boredom this Saturday morning I decided to compare the US Dollar to Thai Baht  FX rate from XE.com which represents FX/interbank rates (the really HUGE money traders), Bangkok Bank TT Buying Rate used for incoming wire transfers, Visa USA used for Visa cards other than European bank Visa issued cards, and the Mastercard rate.  I wanted to include the European bank Visa issued card rate also but that site was not working rhis morning...but the Visa Europe rate is always very close to the basic Visa rate.  

 

I did 4 samples for a Tuesday on 2, 9, 16, and 23 May.  To as closely match "time of day" since Thailand/Thai banks are 7 hours ahead in UTC/GMT time used on the XE.com website I used the FX rate as of 0100 or 0200 UTC/GMT which is 0800 or 0900 in Thailand same day.  And then I used Bangkok Bank opening TT Buying Rate for 0830 each date.   For Visa and Mastercard I used the specific date with 0% fees since their rate is for 24 hours/whole day....0% percent fees represents a no foreign transaction fee card issued by a bank.

 

                    FX Rate       TT Buying Rate     Visa Rate      Mastercard Rate

2 May         34.55            34.39                       34.50            34.50

9 May          34.67            34.49                      34.54            34.76

16 May        34.49           34.32                       34.48            34.48   

23 May        34.36           34.20                       34.24            34.41

 

Now this is a limited sample but Mastercard  compares very closely to the FX rate...even beat it on 2 of the 4 days.....but then again Mastercard and Visa and HUGE money traders.  Also keep in mind that Visa/Master set their rates for a 24 hour period and these companies must take into account where the FX market has been and where they think it will go over the next 24 hours compared to FX rate that changes second to second. 

 

I was surprised with the Mastercard rate because a couple years ago when I did some similiar and more extensive sampling the Mastercard exchange lagged behind the Visa rate plus I use one Mastercard credit card and when tracking it closely for a while the MC rate was usually bettered by the Visa card rate.  However, now Mastercard appears to equal or better the Visa rate....but once again this was only 4 samples in May.

 

I think it also goes to show how the rates minus fees are very close to each other and being able to use an bank/money transfer service that gives a "full" rate very close to the FX/interbank rate such as the rates above versus some "reduced customer rate" combined with a sending and receiving fees is the way to go.  Watch out for indirect fees disguised as a lower customer rate, letting your sending bank convert the funds for you (let the Thai bank do the conversion), a DCC transaction, and/or direct/upfront fees. Just ensure all costs/fees and exchange rate is evaluated in your pricing out the best way to transfer/get funds. 

[sanemax]

8 hours ago, JamJar said:

 

Pointless to discuss the system they utilise. 

Not all banks use the same system. Some use a card machine and some do not.

 

Usually not keen on repeating myself. 

You are not repeating yourself, you havent yet stated how they get your details into their banking system, without inserting your ATM card into anywhere

[JamJar]

On 2017-5-27 at 3:33 AM, sanemax said:

You are not repeating yourself, you havent yet stated how they get your details into their banking system, without inserting your ATM card into anywhere

 

Deliberately so.

If you don't believe that they do not use a card machine, I won't make that my concern. I've told you and that should suffice.