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Banks that do not charge for ATM card


AussieBob

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Planning ahead for living in Thailand and the issue of which bank accounts to get is on the agenda.

Does anyone know of a bank in Thailand that does not charge an annual fee for an ATM card?

I remember that both Siam and Bangkok bank charged a fee for the ATM cards when we lived there - annoyed me a lot.

So have things progressed and there is a bank in Thailand that provides the ATM card for free these days?

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None that I'm aware of. The fee I pay is 200B/year, so not a big hit to the wallet. 

One change for the better, there is no longer a fee for withdrawing money from an ATM that isn't one owned by the bank you have an account with, as long as the number of withdrawals doesn't exceed 4/month.

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26 minutes ago, AussieBob said:

Planning ahead for living in Thailand and the issue of which bank accounts to get is on the agenda.

I agree with @forcebwithu in that ATM costs are no real biggie.

I don't know where you are thinking of settling down nor on what visa you will use but certainly I would check the following information as priority over 200 or 300 baht ATM costs.

- Driving times to the nearest Immigration Office. (My last town was a 2 hour drive)

- Branch opening times, including the time that the authorizing manager starts work. (My last town was 10am opening but the Manager would dawdle in some time past 10:30)

- Do they have the authority to issue the  required documents for your visa.(In my last town they had to call Bangkok International office to obtain confirmation)

Of course all of these hurdles can be crossed but it costs a lot more than the cost of an ATM Card!

 

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33 minutes ago, Derek Dangleberries said:

I agree with @forcebwithu in that ATM costs are no real biggie.

I don't know where you are thinking of settling down nor on what visa you will use but certainly I would check the following information as priority over 200 or 300 baht ATM costs.

- Driving times to the nearest Immigration Office. (My last town was a 2 hour drive)

- Branch opening times, including the time that the authorizing manager starts work. (My last town was 10am opening but the Manager would dawdle in some time past 10:30)

- Do they have the authority to issue the  required documents for your visa.(In my last town they had to call Bangkok International office to obtain confirmation)

Of course all of these hurdles can be crossed but it costs a lot more than the cost of an ATM Card!

 

Thanks for all that - much appreciated.  We used to live in Chiang Mai for some years so I know about the annual extension 'problems' - although these days they seem even more ridiculous - judging on forum discussions. 

We do intend to live in/near a major City with all the services and amenities and Govt offices - and not too far to the selected golf course we will probably join. But it is just one of those things that annoyed me - paying for a card to be able to withdraw my own money at one of their ATMs.  No biggie - that is for sure. But if one bank does do it (no charge for card) then I reckon they will get a lot of customers from other banks - maybe they are all in collusion not to remove the fee - 60,000,000 times 200/300 baht a year is a lot of money - is collusion illegal in Thailand - LOL.

 

 

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Another thing that you may be unaware of is the rate at which smaller branches are closing!

Last week I was stood like a piffy on a rock bun outside my local Kasikorn branch on Suk because it had closed down and was being stripped out. The nearest one turned out to be the one near Tucom ...A further 4km walk from where I was !

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9 minutes ago, Derek Dangleberries said:

Another thing that you may be unaware of is the rate at which smaller branches are closing!

Last week I was stood like a piffy on a rock bun outside my local Kasikorn branch on Suk because it had closed down and was being stripped out. The nearest one turned out to be the one near Tucom ...A further 4km walk from where I was !

Bugger - hope you enjoyed the exercise 🙂

I hear there are a lot of small branches closing in Thailand - in the tough times even the rich banks will cut costs. Hopefully, though, when things turn back around, because of the cheap and easy costs of doing it in Thailand, there will be more branches opened back up.  Here in Aust due to the GFC there was a lot of small places closed - especially in the smaller towns - the costs and rules and regulations here makes opening a new one extremely cost prohibitive, so most stayed closed. Online banking and all the modern payment methods and ATM options also made the need for branches to open much less than before - except for the older folks who could not/would not change the way they banked.  It worries me that in Thailand the banks will try to 'impose' all those online and app payment methods, in a system that is inefficient at best and downright incompetent a lot - with nil consumer rights or a watchdog authority that actually does the job. Like the vast majority of Thais I will not use anything but cash on a day to day basis - I do not trust the Thai banks or their systems as far as a Russian or Chinese hacker could throw them. 

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..... And there's more....

The number of times I have gone to different ATMs and seen that it is out of order has increased too....... I don't mean those that have been switched off ready for removal at 7/11s but those that you expect to be up and running..... Last week I was at "The boat 7/11" ATM on Pattaya Tai which appears to be very popular and the fucker just died on me !!

I did my transfers, did my cash withdrawal and the screen suddenly went blank with just a sort if light blue hazy screen that slowly ... very slowly ... died away .....without pushing out my card !

I was half expecting it to sing "A bicycle made for two" .. and when I was pleading with it to give me my fucking card back I'm damn sure it said "I'm sorry Derek. I'm afraid I can't do that!"

 

EDIT = Some words changed in case there are any 2001 addicts out there.

 

Edited by Derek Dangleberries
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16 minutes ago, Derek Dangleberries said:

..... And there's more....

The number of times I have gone to different ATMs and seen that it is out of order has increased too....... I don't mean those that have been switched off ready for removal at 7/11s but those that you expect to be up and running..... Last week I was at "The boat 7/11" ATM on Pattaya Tai which appears to be very popular and the fucker just died on me !!

I did my transfers, did my cash withdrawal and the screen suddenly went blank with just a sort if light blue hazy screen that slowly ... very slowly ... died away .....without pushing out my card !

I was half expecting it to sing "A bicycle made for two" .. and when I was pleading with it to give me my fucking card back I'm damn sure it said "I'm sorry Derek. I'm afraid I can't do that!"

EDIT = Some words changed in case there are any 2001 addicts out there.

What Dave did is nothing to using the Thai banking system.

I was warned many years ago about what happened to you, so I had two bank accounts. We were on holiday down south and the same thing happened - except it gave my card back.  Tried another ATM and the card was 'blocked'.  Went to the nearest branch and they said the account was 'locked' - but they could not help me - told me  I had to go back to Chiang Mai branch !!  Online worked, so I transferred money for the holiday over the the other bank account, and withdrew cash from one of their branches as required.  

 

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4 minutes ago, AussieBob said:

What Dave did is nothing to using the Thai banking system.

I was warned many years ago about what happened to you, so I had two bank accounts. We were on holiday down south and the same thing happened - except it gave my card back.  Tried another ATM and the card was 'blocked'.  Went to the nearest branch and they said the account was 'locked' - but they could not help me - told me  I had to go back to Chiang Mai branch !!  Online worked, so I transferred money for the holiday over the the other bank account, and withdrew cash from one of their branches as required.  

 

Yup!

I have a Bangkok Bank account and a Kasikorn bank account (spawned from my Thai Farmers account).

I don't know if I have special sweat or not but I have found that just swiping the card across my sweaty shirt seems to alleviate most problems!

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18 minutes ago, Derek Dangleberries said:

Yup!

I have a Bangkok Bank account and a Kasikorn bank account (spawned from my Thai Farmers account).

I don't know if I have special sweat or not but I have found that just swiping the card across my sweaty shirt seems to alleviate most problems!

Posted awhile back how the metal contact points on the card oxidize over time and require a periodic cleaning. A pencil eraser works quite well for that.

 

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4 hours ago, Derek Dangleberries said:

Another thing that you may be unaware of is the rate at which smaller branches are closing!

 

Same in the UK, I live in a town with population of approx 17,000. All 3 banks have closed. My Lloyds bank has closed 3 branches near to me.

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Not particularly Thailand but U.K. and Europe, I find it convenient to use very little cash, relying on my visa credit cards.  Not only do I get cash back on one of my Visa cards but there are also protections.  That said anywhere out of U.K.I always take two credit cards plus wise card.

 

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  • 4 weeks later...

Schwab bank in the U.S. provides free AMT charges (all ATM charges, the machines and the Banks) anywhere in the World. I have also had great service from them (most other banks I have used service sucks).

 

The ATM charges are reimbursed back into your account at the end of the month. It is brilliant. It has literally saved me 100's of dollars over the years.

 

In order to get one you have to open a Schwab on-line brokerage account (easy to do and you don't have any minimum balance to keep or service charges). There is also no minimum or service charge on the checking account either which is what your debit card is attached to.

I have been told that those with a U.S. address and phone # can open an account. I have also been told that in the U.K, there are no banks that offer such a service. I do not know if this is still the case.

Check with brokerage type banks also have the free ATM cards, in order to compete with Schwab.

 

VERY IMPORTATNT - always have multiple (4,5, or 6 cards of different sources). Update them when at home, some companies may not send replacement cards outside of your home country. Keep in mind that when you make a bank to bank ACH transfer it can take 1-4 (usually) days for the money to be available. If you lose your primary card you can end up f***d for days or even weeks (I know, believe me). 

 

I plan to also take with me pre-paid debit cards that I will stash for "emergency" use. I also plan to purchase a couple grand$$$ of gold. You never know what can happen in a cyber stressed World that we live in. With laws changing all the time. I cannot stress this point enough. Whatever diversity you think you have - DOUBLE OR TRIPLE IT !

When you travel make sure home banks know what country you will be using your card. If they lock you out you might not be able to get back in (because often the phone number you are using then doesn't match for the verification check and the computer bots don't like all the red flags they are getting). A real pain in the ass when it is 4 am back home and you can only get through on the phone to some idiot in India.

The computer bots are very sensitive when doing ANY overseas transactions, transfers or purchases. They will lock you out in a heartbeat and then refuse to unlock you or send a new card. It can be a real nightmare. If you are able to get it fixed it can sometimes take days or even weeks, while you sit there with your dick in your hand.

CASH - (HOME COUNTRY AND THAI BAHT, MAYBE EVEN A FEW YEN)

AT LEAST 2 CREDIT CARDS (3 BETTER)

AT LEAST 2 DEBIT CARDS FROM DIFFERENT HOME BANKS ( AND AT LEAST ONE FROM A THAI BANK)

AT LEAST 1 PREPAID CARD

GOLD

ALWAYS KEEP THE CARDS SEPARATED AND NEVER CARRY THEM ALL IN THE SAME BAG OR ALL ON YOUR PERSON ------ BACK UP, BACK UP, BACK UP

 

 

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14 hours ago, Glasseye said:

When you travel make sure home banks know what country you will be using your card. If they lock you out you might not be able to get back in (because often the phone number you are using then doesn't match for the verification check and the computer bots don't like all the red flags they are getting). A real pain in the ass when it is 4 am back home and you can only get through on the phone to some idiot in India.

The computer bots are very sensitive when doing ANY overseas transactions, transfers or purchases. They will lock you out in a heartbeat and then refuse to unlock you or send a new card. It can be a real nightmare. If you are able to get it fixed it can sometimes take days or even weeks, while you sit there with your dick in your hand.

Yupp, the retards at HSBC UK just figured that since I received money from a Norwegian bank account and tried to transfer the amount back to the exact same account whilst in Thailand, that was an obvious fraud case, so they just blocked the account. Spent over two months trying to open the account again, spoken to countless people in India who do not give a rats ass about helping you... still not solved.

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16 hours ago, Glasseye said:

When you travel make sure home banks know what country you will be using your card.

Both Lloyds and Halifax in the UK say there is no need to let them know nowadays. To me, this implies it will make no difference.

When I asked in the Halifax about secondary authorisation with a UK mobile that doesn't work abroad, they said change number to Thai but must remember to change back to UK number while the Thai mobile is still functioning.

I'm not sure he fully understood the process.

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18 minutes ago, bob lt said:

Both Lloyds and Halifax in the UK say there is no need to let them know nowadays. 

I've seen it recommended that you use your card at the airport so that they can see that you are leaving the country.

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4 hours ago, Pingrones said:

Yupp, the retards at HSBC UK just figured that since I received money from a Norwegian bank account and tried to transfer the amount back to the exact same account whilst in Thailand, that was an obvious fraud case, so they just blocked the account. Spent over two months trying to open the account again, spoken to countless people in India who do not give a rats ass about helping you... still not solved.

 

 

Make the call to the direct HSBC fraud dept. Might have to stay up late becuase of the time difference. I spent many late nights trying to get through on the phones to the proper people - (with banks, phone companies, etc.). During covid reduced staffing made things even more difficult. Even had a foul up with Turbo Tax - couldn't get unlocked with them... took 2 months to get it fixed. Really created massives problems for me.

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17 hours ago, Pingrones said:

Yupp, the retards at HSBC UK just figured that since I received money from a Norwegian bank account and tried to transfer the amount back to the exact same account whilst in Thailand, that was an obvious fraud case, so they just blocked the account. Spent over two months trying to open the account again, spoken to countless people in India who do not give a rats ass about helping you... still not solved.

HSBC screwed me over many years ago - cost me about $20 from memory.  In the end I withdrew all but $1 and have kept the account open ever since. It has been over a decade and I have cost them a lot - I demand statements in writing mailed to me - and I have had 3 replacement ATM cards.  Feels good to know I am at least getting something back at the bast***s. 

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20 hours ago, AussieBob said:

HSBC screwed me over many years ago - cost me about $20 from memory.  In the end I withdrew all but $1 and have kept the account open ever since. It has been over a decade and I have cost them a lot - I demand statements in writing mailed to me - and I have had 3 replacement ATM cards.  Feels good to know I am at least getting something back at the bast***s. 

 

HSBC, Chase, Citi, Capital One, and the winner for most corrupt shit banks goes to - Wells Fargo.

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2 hours ago, Glasseye said:

HSBC, Chase, Citi, Capital One, and the winner for most corrupt shit banks goes to - Wells Fargo.

Agree on Wells Fargo. Surprised they're still in business.

Wells Fargo Agrees to Pay $3 Billion to Resolve Criminal and Civil Investigations into Sales Practices Involving the Opening of Millions of Accounts without Customer Authorization

“Our settlement with Wells Fargo, and the $3 billion monetary penalty imposed on the bank, go far beyond ‘the cost of doing business.’  They are appropriate given the staggering size, scope and duration of Wells Fargo’s illicit conduct, which spanned well over a decade,” said U.S. Attorney Andrew Murray for the Western District of North Carolina. “When a reputable institution like Wells Fargo caves to the pernicious forces of greed, and puts its own interests ahead of those of the customers it claims to serve, my office will not sit idle.  Today’s announcement should serve as a stark reminder that no institution is too big, too powerful, or too well-known to be held accountable and face enforcement action for its wrongdoings.”

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50 minutes ago, forcebwithu said:

Agree on Wells Fargo. Surprised they're still in business.

Wells Fargo Agrees to Pay $3 Billion to Resolve Criminal and Civil Investigations into Sales Practices Involving the Opening of Millions of Accounts without Customer Authorization

“Our settlement with Wells Fargo, and the $3 billion monetary penalty imposed on the bank, go far beyond ‘the cost of doing business.’  They are appropriate given the staggering size, scope and duration of Wells Fargo’s illicit conduct, which spanned well over a decade,” said U.S. Attorney Andrew Murray for the Western District of North Carolina. “When a reputable institution like Wells Fargo caves to the pernicious forces of greed, and puts its own interests ahead of those of the customers it claims to serve, my office will not sit idle.  Today’s announcement should serve as a stark reminder that no institution is too big, too powerful, or too well-known to be held accountable and face enforcement action for its wrongdoings.”

That's just the tip of the iceberg. Fucking criminals !

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On 4/8/2022 at 9:09 AM, forcebwithu said:

Agree on Wells Fargo. Surprised they're still in business.

Wells Fargo Agrees to Pay $3 Billion to Resolve Criminal and Civil Investigations into Sales Practices Involving the Opening of Millions of Accounts without Customer Authorization

“Our settlement with Wells Fargo, and the $3 billion monetary penalty imposed on the bank, go far beyond ‘the cost of doing business.’  They are appropriate given the staggering size, scope and duration of Wells Fargo’s illicit conduct, which spanned well over a decade,” said U.S. Attorney Andrew Murray for the Western District of North Carolina. “When a reputable institution like Wells Fargo caves to the pernicious forces of greed, and puts its own interests ahead of those of the customers it claims to serve, my office will not sit idle.  Today’s announcement should serve as a stark reminder that no institution is too big, too powerful, or too well-known to be held accountable and face enforcement action for its wrongdoings.”

Pity this has never (yet?) happened in Thailand.

 

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