AGLV0121 Posted June 29, 2017 Share Posted June 29, 2017 For now a few weeks at Bank of Bangkok and KrungsriATMs, I have no longer been prompted about conversion. This means the bank decides on conversion rate and it's awful, on 10K bahts, that's 2% they rake in the dough ! For one I am not sure whether NOT letting customer decide on which end they want the conversion to be applied is legal or not, and then, anyone knows which bank may have different policies? TIA Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roamer Posted June 29, 2017 Share Posted June 29, 2017 Can't comment on your experience as not used one for a while. However, Visa/Mastercard rules state that if currency conversion used the customer MUST consent to it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
observer90210 Posted June 29, 2017 Share Posted June 29, 2017 If it's possible for you, open a bank account, bring in the cash with you when you travel to Thailand (that has a bit of risk naturally in case of loss) to cover your expenses during stay, change your cash at a SuperRich Money Exchange booth at Suvar Airport (ground floor near the train station), you will not be ripped off in the bank fee and exchange rate racket, and finally deposit the THB in your account. This would save you the rip offs that all banks world wide practice on currency transfers/withdrawls abroad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kwasaki Posted June 29, 2017 Share Posted June 29, 2017 3 hours ago, AGLV0121 said: This means the bank decides on conversion rate and it's awful, on 10K bahts, that's 2% they rake in the dough ! Not quite sure your on about. At ATM's Thai banks charge 200 or 220 on a 500 baht withdrawal. If you go inside a bank counter say SCB e.g. you can get money at 180 baht. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pib Posted June 29, 2017 Share Posted June 29, 2017 OP, A 2% fee sounds more like a home country "card-issuing bank" foreign transaction fee, which is typically 1, 2 or 3% for many cards and is not DCC related. DCC rates are typically around 3 to 4% lower. Also, don't confuse the Thai ATM foreign card usage fee of Bt220 with DCC or foreign transaction fee....the Bt220 user fee works out to 2.2% on a Bt10K withdrawal and when hitting your home country bank account your bank may not breakout that fee separately which can make it look like you got a 2.2% lower exchange rate on the amount withdrawn. If no screen appeared "talking in vague, warm-fuzzy terms" about a conversion....maybe calling it Bank Rate, Home Rate, We Converted the Funds for You, etc., no DCC transaction occurred. And beware of those conversion choice screen as the wording can actually trick you into pushing the wrong selection...you end up pushing the selection that accepts the ATM operator's exchange rate....that is, accepting their DCC rate. Like below Krungsri DCC screen where they say they say they have accomplished the conversion for you. Well, they have "not" accomplished the conversion (i.e., a DCC transaction) until you push/select the "Continue With Conversion" selection which is their vague/misleading words for a DCC transaction. Current screen may not look the same but it's what they looked like before with their vague, warm-fuzzy wording in hopes of confusing the person in accepting a DCC transaction. But if selecting the "Continue Without Conversion" selection, that means I do not want you the ATM owner/operator to accomplish the conversion (I don't want a DCC transaction)...continue on so I get the Visa/Mastercard//card network exchange rate "minus any card-issuing bank foreign transaction fee. I have U.S. Visa debit cards that I use in Krungsri ATMs every month or so....and have occasionally used Bangkok Bank ATM and I've never been offered DCC transaction....and I always get the full Visa exchange rate since my U.S. card-issuing banks do not charge a foreign transaction fee. Also, it appears Mastercard is much more likely to be offered a DCC screen versus Visa. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NoshowJones Posted June 30, 2017 Share Posted June 30, 2017 16 hours ago, observer90210 said: If it's possible for you, open a bank account, bring in the cash with you when you travel to Thailand (that has a bit of risk naturally in case of loss) to cover your expenses during stay, change your cash at a SuperRich Money Exchange booth at Suvar Airport (ground floor near the train station), you will not be ripped off in the bank fee and exchange rate racket, and finally deposit the THB in your account. This would save you the rip offs that all banks world wide practice on currency transfers/withdrawls abroad. I have always found Super Rich very good, do all their branches in Bangkok give the same exchange rates, including the one at Swampy? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TerryLH Posted June 30, 2017 Share Posted June 30, 2017 "If you go inside a bank counter say SCB e.g. you can get money at 180 baht." We use TMB in one of their small mall banks and there is no charge. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KhunBENQ Posted June 30, 2017 Share Posted June 30, 2017 21 hours ago, roamer said: Can't comment on your experience as not used one for a while. However, Visa/Mastercard rules state that if currency conversion used the customer MUST consent to it. I also have some doubts about the conclusion from the OP. Not being offered a choice was the norm before this rip-off called DCC was invented. "2%": what did you compare to get to this number? What was the math? And you say that you were give no choice AND did not see an amount in your home currency by the ATM? It would be helpful if you could state: date of transaction amount of Thai Baht requested/received amount in your currency deducted from your CC account. 2% overall(compared to foreign exchange rates?) does not sound like DCC which is much worse. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AGLV0121 Posted June 30, 2017 Author Share Posted June 30, 2017 On 6/29/2017 at 5:58 AM, roamer said: Visa/Mastercard rules state that if currency conversion used the customer MUST consent to it. Exactly! I know the familiar screen. But recently I no longer had this option at the same ATM at my condo. Hence my question. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AGLV0121 Posted June 30, 2017 Author Share Posted June 30, 2017 On 6/29/2017 at 6:40 AM, observer90210 said: If it's possible for you, open a bank account, bring in the cash with you when you travel to Thailand (that has a bit of risk naturally in case of loss) to cover your expenses during stay, change your cash at a SuperRich Money Exchange booth at Suvar Airport (ground floor near the train station), you will not be ripped off in the bank fee and exchange rate racket, and finally deposit the THB in your account. This would save you the rip offs that all banks world wide practice on currency transfers/withdrawls abroad. Thank for the advice. But I live here part of the year and not working. I am OK with the 220 Bahts transaction fee - although I think it's a bit too much. But not with the absence of choosing where the conversion will occur Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lopburi3 Posted June 30, 2017 Share Posted June 30, 2017 Are you sure you are not getting the normal Visa/Master Card exchange rate? There is no extra screen required if bank not trying to use DCC. Could be they have stopped doing that? Without date/card type/foreign usage fee/amount in foreign and local currency kind of hard to be sure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AGLV0121 Posted June 30, 2017 Author Share Posted June 30, 2017 6 hours ago, KhunBENQ said: "2%": what did you compare to get to this number? What was the math? The object of the post is about not being offered the same screen with a choice of exchanging at my CCs bank's rate. I'll use TMB from now on as TerryLH suggested and will ask a clerk to confirm that the option is still offered. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AGLV0121 Posted June 30, 2017 Author Share Posted June 30, 2017 1 minute ago, lopburi3 said: There is no extra screen required if bank not trying to use DCC At the end of the transaction, I was prompted with th same screen PIB offered. Now, no longer. I think I got my answers here, Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KhunBENQ Posted June 30, 2017 Share Posted June 30, 2017 9 minutes ago, lopburi3 said: Are you sure you are not getting the normal Visa/Master Card exchange rate? There is no extra screen required if bank not trying to use DCC. Could be they have stopped doing that? Without date/card type/foreign usage fee/amount in foreign and local currency kind of hard to be sure. As I wrote. There was no option until some banks (like Krungsri) introduced this rip-off. I have not used foreign cards since more than 3 years or so. Always got the exchange rate set by VISA. Without concrete numbers further discussion is useless for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AGLV0121 Posted June 30, 2017 Author Share Posted June 30, 2017 Thanks KhunBenq, I am good enough at Math - I even got a PhD in computational something - and know what the figures tell me - all without making it a two-hour tirade. Oh well, was last week in Dubai, no 220 Bahts there, only AED's and no fees at most ATMs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bangkok Barry Posted June 30, 2017 Share Posted June 30, 2017 On 6/29/2017 at 5:40 PM, observer90210 said: If it's possible for you, open a bank account, bring in the cash with you when you travel to Thailand (that has a bit of risk naturally in case of loss) to cover your expenses during stay, change your cash at a SuperRich Money Exchange booth at Suvar Airport (ground floor near the train station), you will not be ripped off in the bank fee and exchange rate racket, and finally deposit the THB in your account. This would save you the rip offs that all banks world wide practice on currency transfers/withdrawls abroad. Why is it a rip off? They charge a fee for their service. Do you work for free? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TallGuyJohninBKK Posted June 30, 2017 Share Posted June 30, 2017 50 minutes ago, AGLV0121 said: Exactly! I know the familiar screen. But recently I no longer had this option at the same ATM at my condo. Hence my question. What brand of card are you using now, VISA or MC, and did you ever change from one to the other? The reason I ask is, normally in Thailand in the past, the only cards that would spur DCC screen at the Thai ATMs were MC logo cards. I've never heard of a VISA logo debit card drawing a DCC prompt at a Thai ATM. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
observer90210 Posted June 30, 2017 Share Posted June 30, 2017 27 minutes ago, Bangkok Barry said: Why is it a rip off? They charge a fee for their service. Do you work for free? ..well if it is for a friend, have done it before for free!!.... But more seriously, many banks in the world do not charge if you use their own ATM machines, do not charge for the ATM card and service if your account is, say, "healthy"...and some even don't charge if it is the neighbouring bank's ATM. As for exhange rates, banks usually give a less favourable when buying local currency in comparison to a good money changer. I agree it's all part of the game or service, whatever you would call it, but if one can outwit these expenses here and there, my point would be "why not?"... And allow me to confess, that banks would be the last people on earth to benfit from any form of philanthrophy on my behalf Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bandito Posted July 1, 2017 Share Posted July 1, 2017 Banks are legalized criminal institutions and should be treated as such. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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