International Bank Card Not Working

[allane]

I have had my current Canadian ATM card for several years, and last used it in Thailand in late 2016. It has not expired, and there is no damage to the card.   A week ago, I attempted a balance enquiry at three different ATM's of three different Thai banks. All said "Transaction cancelled, contact your bank", or "Timed out, contact your bank" (unlikely, the elapsed time was normal). I called my bank in Canada; there was nothing on their end to indicate why the card wasn't working.

Same problem again today, also on three different bank's ATM's, one of which I did not try a week ago. No one at a Thai bank is going to know nor care why a Canadian bank card doesn't work in their ATM's.  Any insights here ?

[colinneil]

allane have you thought about it correctly?

I have a Krung Thai bank card, after i came out of hospital after 7 months, i got my wife to use my card.

Same thing transaction cancelled contact your bank, which i did, and i was told, you have not used the card in over 6 months, so it was locked.

Maybe the same, maybe not, but as my bank said it was done to protect the customer.

[theoldgit]

55 minutes ago, colinneil said:

I have a Krung Thai bank card, after i came out of hospital after 7 months, i got my wife to use my card.

Same thing transaction cancelled contact your bank, which i did, and i was told, you have not used the card in over 6 months, so it was locked.

Maybe the same, maybe not, but as my bank said it was done to protect the customer.

 

But the OP says he called his bank and they indicated it should be working, surely if they'd locked it they would have known.

[speedtripler]

30 minutes ago, theoldgit said:

 

But the OP says he called his bank and they indicated it should be working, surely if they'd locked it they would have known.

Sometimes the left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing.... I had two credit cards stop working for no reason last week

 

I hate calling the helpline so I went into a branch and they did it for me, no explanation, just "fixed now mister" :) 

 

 

Edited July 11, 2017 by speedtripler

[perthperson]

1 hour ago, allane said:

A week ago, I attempted a balance enquiry

International cards do not usually permit balance enquiries when used in Thai ATMs..........

Edited July 11, 2017 by perthperson
typo removed

[colinneil]

11 minutes ago, theoldgit said:

 

But the OP says he called his bank and they indicated it should be working, surely if they'd locked it they would have known.

I agree with you, but when have you ever known a bank take responsilility for their actions.

[NanLaew]

8 minutes ago, colinneil said:

I agree with you, but when have you ever known a bank take responsilility for their actions.

Been in Thailand too long....

[NanLaew]

13 minutes ago, perthperson said:

International cards do not usually permit balance enquiries when used in Thai ATMs..........

Correct.

 

Some ATM's throw up a generic bad communications/transaction canceled/call your bank prompts when it can be any number of simple things including requesting an unsupported function (like balance checking a foreign card) or only having small bills remaining in the machine for dispensing. Bangkok Bank ATM's are the worst for this in my experience. The OP should attempt to make the minimum withdrawal to eliminate card error. This is assuming he asked his bank what his balance was when he called them.

[perthperson]

10 minutes ago, NanLaew said:

Correct.

 

Some ATM's throw up a generic bad communications/transaction canceled/call your bank prompts when it can be any number of simple things including requesting an unsupported function (like balance checking a foreign card) or only having small bills remaining in the machine for dispensing. Bangkok Bank ATM's are the worst for this in my experience. The OP should attempt to make the minimum withdrawal to eliminate card error. This is assuming he asked his bank what his balance was when he called them.

Or better make a counter withdrawal ---------

[tonray]

Also there are sometimes 2 choices given: You must select Savings or Current Account. Selecting the wrong one throws an error.

 

Since you have not used in a while...I would reset my PIN.

Edited July 11, 2017 by tonray

[allane]

It's me, the OP.

- I have never had any problems doing balance enquiries in the past.

- I am smart enough to know Savings from Chequing, but will retest, on the off chance my bank switched this. If I have ever made the wrong choice in the past, I have received a "Selected account does not exist" message.

- there is plenty of money in the acct., as I ascertained from my phone call a week ago. Even if there wasn't, I think a balance enquiry would tell me "Available balance B 0.00"

The most likely explanation is Post # 2 above; I will call the bank again if I get no other ideas here within a few hours.

[Morch]

I get this from time to time on all my international cards. Usually nothing to worry about, just hassle. Always seems to happen at the least convenient time.

 

Two main reasons tracked down are (1) as posted above, communication issues between banks or even within the specific Thai bank used. Dunno that Bangkok Bank is worst, had more trouble with others. Reason (2) is more to do with security monitoring by issuing credit company/bank - if they have alerts (and apparently there are many) specifying Thailand, some restrictions may be placed on card activity, same if out of the ordinary activity associated with the card appears on their end. Solution for (1) is just wait and try again, or head to another ATM. If (2) contact security center and they sort it out in no time (if it's a reoccurring issue, ask politely for a direct access number or extension).

[cnx355]

2 hours ago, NanLaew said:

Correct.

 

Some ATM's throw up a generic bad communications/transaction canceled/call your bank prompts when it can be any number of simple things including requesting an unsupported function (like balance checking a foreign card) or only having small bills remaining in the machine for dispensing. Bangkok Bank ATM's are the worst for this in my experience. The OP should attempt to make the minimum withdrawal to eliminate card error. This is assuming he asked his bank what his balance was when he called them.

I agree, he should try to  withdraw some money for the ATM.  Not request the balance from Canada !

[pacovl46]

I had the same problem two weeks ago. I ended up trying an ATM from Siam Commercial Bank at Asia City as a last resort after ATMs from 5 other banks told me the same as they told you, and Siam Commercial bank worked. 

[speedtripler]

26 minutes ago, pacovl46 said:

I had the same problem two weeks ago. I ended up trying an ATM from Siam Commercial Bank at Asia City as a last resort after ATMs from 5 other banks told me the same as they told you, and Siam Commercial bank worked. 

 

Scb must be using different or less secure atms than the other banks, they were  in the news a few days ago for being the only bank  whose atms were attacked by the latest round of card skimmers... 

[Pinot]

The bank in Canada should be able to see that the transactions were declined. My money (well...actually your money) is on the card has a block on it from non-use or something. Check again. 

 

Periodically my Schwab ATM card stops working. Thailand transactions often raises the red flag. My card gets closed from transactions with Lazada. 

[lordblackader]

As others have said it could be an issue with not being able to obtain a balance from a Thai ATM, but alt is something wrong with the card - can you use it for withdrawals? 

Had 2 cards from my Australian bank a few years back both absolutely not frozen, one worked, one gave a similar message to you on every ATM I tried. Turned out there was a problem with the card, canceled it, got a new one sent, new one worked. 

[allane]

SCB was the first one I tried this morning.  I am now waiting for tomorrow to come. Repeated attempts on the same machine(s) are not a good idea. They think you must have stolen the card, and don't know how to use it. I live in a rural area, so not a lot of ATM's nearby.

[NoshowJones]

7 hours ago, colinneil said:

allane have you thought about it correctly?

I have a Krung Thai bank card, after i came out of hospital after 7 months, i got my wife to use my card.

Same thing transaction cancelled contact your bank, which i did, and i was told, you have not used the card in over 6 months, so it was locked.

Maybe the same, maybe not, but as my bank said it was done to protect the customer.

"but as my bank said it was done to protect the customer".  Banks are never interested in protecting the customer, they are only interested

in getting as much money as they can from them.

[RBOP]

Sometimes ATM cards go bad and need replacing. Has happened a couple time to me.

[David Walden]

Have several cards from different banks.  It's the only way to be sure when away from your home country.

[searcher22]

1 hour ago, David Walden said:

Have several cards from different banks.  It's the only way to be sure when away from your home country.

This is absolutely the best advice. I had one of my Canadian ATM cards blocked. I never found out why. When I called my bank, they told me that my card was blocked, but could not say why. They told me to go to my bank. I told them I was in Thailand and not coming back soon. They said sorry can't help you. It's a good thing I had other ATM cards.

[nasanews]

Call your bank again and again till they fix your ATM problem, you never know costumer service personnel are too human and some are in bad mood or stupid to understand your problem at that time especially when you are overseas.  And the worst it is an ATM card can not be replaced unless you get it your self.

Edited July 11, 2017 by nasanews
ADDED

[speedtripler]

13 hours ago, possum1931 said:

"but as my bank said it was done to protect the customer".  Banks are never interested in protecting the customer, they are only interested

in getting as much money as they can from them.

If you can't withdraw your money, they are making money every day they get to keep it.... 

[bobbin]

Ok....I had the same problem with a Canadian Debit card earlier this year. At first it would work in some ATM machines but not in others. I called Customer Services in Canada and was told no problems with my account.

 

I went to Krung Thai bank as they allow counter withdrawals with a Debit card and a Passport. I had never done this before but was curious about the process because you avoid the 220 Baht ATM fee. As my Debit card did not show my name, they declined to do the transaction.

 

At this point I was unable to get any money because it did not work in any ATM. Not a complete disaster as I have money in a Thai account but usually I withdraw money with the Debit card. Kasikorn said the problem was a scratch on the magnetic strip. It was a very small scratch and the card had a chip as well.

 

I called Customer Services for my bank again and explained the problem. The rep said that it was current practice not to show the name on a debit card for security purposes. Also said that the bank systems in developing countries were less than robust. They replaced the card, with my name on it, and sent it to Thailand by DHL/FedEx at no cost to me. They said it would take 5 working days but I received it in 3 working days. Great service and I now have no problems.

[Pinot]

37 minutes ago, bobbin said:

Ok....I had the same problem with a Canadian Debit card earlier this year. At first it would work in some ATM machines but not in others. I called Customer Services in Canada and was told no problems with my account.

 

I went to Krung Thai bank as they allow counter withdrawals with a Debit card and a Passport. I had never done this before but was curious about the process because you avoid the 220 Baht ATM fee. As my Debit card did not show my name, they declined to do the transaction.

 

At this point I was unable to get any money because it did not work in any ATM. Not a complete disaster as I have money in a Thai account but usually I withdraw money with the Debit card. Kasikorn said the problem was a scratch on the magnetic strip. It was a very small scratch and the card had a chip as well.

 

I called Customer Services for my bank again and explained the problem. The rep said that it was current practice not to show the name on a debit card for security purposes. Also said that the bank systems in developing countries were less than robust. They replaced the card, with my name on it, and sent it to Thailand by DHL/FedEx at no cost to me. They said it would take 5 working days but I received it in 3 working days. Great service and I now have no problems.

No charge for pulling money with a debit card with your name on it and a passport at Krung Thai? Is that still going on? How many other banks do that? 

 

I'm reimbursed for ATM charges by Schwab but other people could be saving themselves a substantial amount of money every month/year/decade. 220 baht for every transaction is a usury rate, ridiculous. Eff these banks. 

[David Walden]

I have a Citibank Debit Card issued in Australia.  You can use it at any ATM anywhere in the world free of all ATM fees and charges.  It's available to any Australian Citizen, you can use it at any ATM in the world.  You no longer have to advise them when leaving Aus or skipping one country to the next, it works.  I have had this card for 8 years and have never been charged any fee for it.  Look around, other large international banks may have similar deals...PS it's is a Debit Card not a Credit Card. 

I also have a back up card from ING Bank and ANZ Bank in Australia...ANZ charges the ATM fee in Thailand Bt220, $6 per transaction in Aus and 3% also of the transaction...it's only a back up I can't afford to use it.  With ANZ in Thailand to takeout Bt 10,000 it cost me about Bt 670, Citibank it cost nothing...get your thinking caps on you blokes (and girls) and sava de money!!

[Pib]

OP, 

   Be sure the ATMs you are using and are not working for you are not in the same mall or if not in a mall not relatively close together because all these ATMs/banks may be on the same "trunk communications" line feeding that mall/area....and that trunk line for whatever reason is not allowing connection to your bank on the other side of the world.

 

   A year or so ago, my U.S. Schwab debit stopped working in Krungsri and TMB ATMs in this one mall which I always frequent.  I use Krungsri and TMB ATMs since they allow Bt30K per withdrawal compared to almost all other Thai bank ATMs that only allow Bt20K or Bt25K per withdrawal.   The Schwab card use to work fine in these two ATMs in this one mall, but then either didn't work or were intermittent.  Talked to Schwab about my problem...their system didn't even show any attempts/rejects on the days I was having the problem....they said it was probably a communications problem with those particular ATMs.  But they sent me a replacement card to play it safe....replacement card arrived a few weeks late but did not help the situation.

 

    And one time when I was having the problem with the Krungsri and TMB ATMs giving me rejects (i.e, contact your card-issuing bank error message) I called Scwhab to work the problem while still using the ATMs...attempting another withdrawal while the Schwab rep was watching his real time monitoring system....I was getting rejects and he was seeing no attempt to withdrawal.  He asked me if there were any other ATMs nearby...I said yes, several from different banks.  With the rep still on the line I tired a KrungThai bank ATMs....success...withdrew money.    With the rep still on the line I went back to the Krungsri ATM to attempt another withdrawal....failure...got the reject message again.   The Schwab rep said it a communications problems with those ATMs...said he gets a good amount of calls from Schwab customers around the world with similar problems with foreign ATMs...and he confirmed again my card was not blocked in any way.   

 

   I tried the Schwab card in another Krungsri ATM in "another mall" about 10Km away the next day....withdrawal was a success.   A few days later I tried the Schwab card in the Krungsri ATM in the mall that almost always gave me a reject and once again got a reject..   About a month later I tried the Schwab card in the Krungsri and TMB ATMs again in the mall I  frequent and it worked fine and has worked fine since whenever using an ATM.   What changed?....I don't know....maybe communication problem fixed....maybe an ATM firmware/software update.....I don't know?   But for the last few years I have mostly done counter withdrawals with the card to prevent the Thai bank from getting the Bt220 fee and save Schwab a Bt220 reimbursement to me.

 

  Yeap, sometimes your card not working is simply a "local communication problem" where the ATM being used not making a solid connections to the Visa/Mastercard network which in turn interfaces with your bank.....or maybe there is a software/firmware issue with the ATM.  Just be sure to try some ATMs that are not in the same mall, banks which happen to be close together, etc.   But if you can't get it to work anywhere, you card is "blocked" regardless of what your bank's rep tells you on the phone as some reps are really clueless about some problems (although they will not admit it) or unknowingly give incorrect information based on my personal experience over many years of talking to bank reps.

 

 

 

 

[puck2]

Pib, I don't know about your banking contract concerning ATM withdrawals in foreign countries.

You gave us details of successful and unsuccessful withdrawals. Obviously contradicting. Because one day you have got the money, the other day not – from the same bank ATM.

 

This rises the question if your bank has a daily limit for ATM withdrawals?

 

I.e.: your limit is 900 US$.

 

Yesterday's US$-VISA-rate was 1 THB = 0,029461

on ATMs - withdrawel limit 20.220 in US $ = 595,70

on ATMs - withdrawel limit 30.220 in US $ = 890,31

 

Assumed, Yesterday's US$-VISA-rate was 1 THB = 0,029820

on ATMs - withdrawal limit 20.220        -   in US $ = 602,96

on ATMs - withdrawal limit 30.220        -   in US $ = 901,16

 

This means: because of the constantly changing exchange rates, today your 30.220 withdrawal is under your ATM-withdrawal-limit of 900 US$ (set by your bank), the other day the withdrawal of the same amount (30.000 THB + 220 THB for ATM fee) is exceeded.

[Pib]

No...I was not exceeding my 1000 USD per day/per transaction limit. It was just bad communications between the ATM and Visa/Schwab.