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Fix For ATM Not Reading "Chipped" Card


forcebwithu

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1 hour ago, forcebwithu said:

Over the last couple of months first my Kasikorn and then Bangkok Bank ATM card were getting rejected from some ATM machines with the message they could not read the chip. It was strange as the same machine that would reject one card would read the other bank's card. I just figured it was due to the typical Thai lack of maintenance on anything and that the ATM chip reader was getting flaky.

Today I had occasion to stop in at a Bangkok Bank branch office for another banking matter, so while there mentioned the problem with the reading of my ATM card's chip. Without another word she took my card, pulled out of a drawer a big eraser and proceeded to clean the chip with the eraser. After the cleaning the card worked fine.

I never really looked closely at the chip embedded in the card. I just figured the chip used RFID technology, which doesn't require physical contact with the chip to read its contents. Looking more closely now I can see there are obvious contact points the reader needs to touch in order to read the chip's contents. Over time they either get oxidized or gunked up, which an eraser can quickly clean off.

Hope this helps others with the same problem.

Was it the Bangkok Bank branch on Soi Khoa Noi by any chance ? I had the same issue with my card and took it in there to have a word with them and she did exactly the same........and it worked !

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13 hours ago, mrcharliemofo said:

Was it the Bangkok Bank branch on Soi Khoa Noi by any chance ? I had the same issue with my card and took it in there to have a word with them and she did exactly the same........and it worked !

It was the branch on Buakhao. Good to hear I'm not the only one who experienced the same problem. Happy there's a quick and easy fix.

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21 minutes ago, Toy Boy said:

I'm not sure I want to know the answer to this, but where exactly do you guys keep your ATM cards to get the chip covered in so much gunk, lol?

I keep mine in my wallet. Don't think it was gunk, but oxidation of the contacts that caused the problem. Use of an eraser to clean the contacts is an old trick that I used many times in the past on flaky circuit boards in desktop computers. Pull the board, use an eraser on the board's contacts, plug back in and usually whatever ailed the computer goes away.

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4 hours ago, KWA said:

Brand new to you maybe, but could have been sitting on a shelf for a while oxidising away.

not really as I order them with name on them, takes 2 weeks but fresh printed and useable to rent cars and in hotels in europe, which cards without names cant often do

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