For those who use Bangkok Bank

[Krapow]

Seems there's some sort of 'crackdown' or rule changes re banking every other week now, though is this what was posted about on here a few weeks ago?  -

https://www.bangkokpost.com/business/general/3036585/bangkok-bank-cracks-down-on-foreigners-accounts-amid-scam-fears

Bangkok Bank has adopted stricter requirements for opening new deposit accounts in Thailand for foreign customers, affecting tourists and potentially any expats who do not hold long-term visas.

The bank said the tighter conditions align with Thailand’s efforts to improve cybersecurity and combat financial scams.

It said new conditions apply to opening new accounts and applications for credit cards and mobile banking services. The aim is to prevent financial fraud, particularly the use of so-called mule accounts.

The adjustment could affect certain foreigners, it said, and clients experiencing difficulties with financial transactions are encouraged to contact the bank through any of its available channels.

“If a customer is classified as suspicious under regulatory requirements, identity verification with the bank is mandatory,” said a statement issued by Thailand’s largest bank by total assets.

Foreign customers of other commercial banks are also encouraged to contact them if they have any concerns about the status of their accounts, given the likelihood that they too will adopt the new standards.

According to the Facebook page of the Bangkok Community Help Foundation, Bangkok Bank has reportedly begun freezing accounts and blocking the cards of Russian nationals who fail to meet the new eligibility criteria.

“There are also rumours that the bank may apply similar measures to all nationalities that don’t meet the new criteria, raising serious concerns across Thailand’s diverse foreign resident and traveler communities,” it said. “If you have a Bangkok Bank account and don’t meet the requirements we advise to contact the bank as soon as possible.”

Russians having trouble

Some Russian nationals have also posted notes on social media saying they were having trouble accessing their accounts.

The official Russian news agency TASS quoted a BBL spokesperson as saying it stopped opening new accounts for foreign tourists, regardless of where they are from, at the beginning of this year.

“Since January, Bangkok Bank has been operating under new rules. Foreign tourists are no longer allowed to open bank accounts here,” TASS quoted the spokesperson as saying.

“This also applies to holders of the Destination Thailand Visa (DTV), which allows them to stay in the country for up to 180 days, because it is categorised as a tourist one.”

Commenting on reports that some Russians had had their accounts blocked, the spokesperson said: “I can’t confirm that an account being blocked necessarily means it will be closed. In certain cases, bank clients are asked to come to the office to sort out the situation. Sometimes, we need to do a face scan so that we can confirm their biometric data.”

To open new deposit accounts, the bank now requires applicants to hold long-term visas, be married to Thai nationals or own property in Thailand, among other criteria.

“An account with Bangkok Bank can be opened by foreigners present in the country under retirement or non-immigration visas,” she stressed. The latter are issued to foreign nationals who come to the kingdom to work, study or due to family reasons. These people normally have work permits issued by Thai authorities.

Central bank push

Last week, the Bank of Thailand reiterated that in cases where foreigners wish to open deposit accounts in Thailand, banks are required to adopt stricter procedures for verifying identity documents and conducting thorough customer due diligence.

“If the process does not comply with central bank regulations, banks must take immediate corrective action,” said Daranee Saeju, assistant governor for financial consumer protection and payment systems supervision.

The central bank’s move follows a case last week in which four employees of an unidentified commercial bank (not Bangkok Bank) in Pattaya facilitated the opening of accounts that were later used for criminal activities by a call centre scam syndicate.

Ms Daranee said the central bank is preparing to issue new digital fraud management guidelines, enhancing “know your customer” and customer due diligence procedures to reduce the risk of financial scams.

Under the upcoming guidelines, banks will be required to verify not only customers’ identities but also additional information. For instance, banks must cross-check client names against the mule account database of the Anti-Money Laundering Office and assess the risk of misuse.

Furthermore, banks must carry out customer profiling based on risk levels and adopt suitable risk mitigation measures, such as setting daily transaction limits or lowering the deposit amount for accounts opened via facial recognition.

 

[boydeste]

Just the follow on from what's been going on now for some time since the highlighted scams.

If all of your ducks are in order, such as your phone number is registered to the same passport as your bank account, address detail etc, I doubt there will be many problems for people.

It will be a fairly slow process and obviously they can't ''steal'' your money, but if an account isn't verified as legit in a reasonable time frame, I expect the accounts to be frozen and eventually closed.

[Krapow]

43 minutes ago, boydeste said:

Just the follow on from what's been going on now for some time since the highlighted scams.

If all of your ducks are in order, such as your phone number is registered to the same passport as your bank account, address detail etc, I doubt there will be many problems for people.

It will be a fairly slow process and obviously they can't ''steal'' your money, but if an account isn't verified as legit in a reasonable time frame, I expect the accounts to be frozen and eventually closed.

That's what i thought, yea, as mentions other banks to follow suit.

And from reading the below, seems a visit with Passport will hopefully sort out any issues. I have to update my Passport with them in July anyway, so will see if they mention anything about anything!

“If a customer is classified as suspicious under regulatory requirements, identity verification with the bank is mandatory,” said a statement issued by Thailand’s largest bank by total assets.

 

[KWA]

I expect there will be many who visit on tourist visas or visa exempt who opened accounts when the banks weren't so strict will find they get a message to contact their bank soon, and if their contact details aren't up to date they'll find their account suddenly not working.

[fforest]

Any of you guys with a Bangkok Bank app on your phone....You will no longer be able to use it unless you go to the bank in person and have them do what ever they do to get the latest super duper app update working...I had to do this..

[forcebwithu]

39 minutes ago, fforest said:

Any of you guys with a Bangkok Bank app on your phone....You will no longer be able to use it unless you go to the bank in person and have them do what ever they do to get the latest super duper app update working...I had to do this..

Bangkok Bank app still works on my phone.

[Yesitisdakid]

just made a purchase with my phone app no problem

[Stillearly]

 

[fforest]

2 hours ago, fforest said:

Any of you guys with a Bangkok Bank app on your phone....You will no longer be able to use it unless you go to the bank in person and have them do what ever they do to get the latest super duper app update working...I had to do this..

Well the app update I was talking about happened  a number of months ago....When I went to the bank to get them to fix the app... There were 4-5 people in front of me with the same problem.....I could never have gotten the app to work...The old Bangkok Bank app was just simply not working any more.

[fforest]

57 minutes ago, fforest said:

Well the app update I was talking about happened  a number of months ago....When I went to the bank to get them to fix the app... There were 4-5 people in front of me with the same problem.....I could never have gotten the app to work...The old Bangkok Bank app was just simply not working any more.

I am not quite sure whats so funny...But loads of people who did not get the latest app update with the facial recognition had the app deactivated including me....So laugh away Big daddy...

Edited May 29, 2025 by fforest

[Stillearly]

1 hour ago, fforest said:

Well the app update I was talking about happened  a number of months ago....When I went to the bank to get them to fix the app... There were 4-5 people in front of me with the same problem.....I could never have gotten the app to work...The old Bangkok Bank app was just simply not working any more.

Works fine for me on both my phones ✅

[Stillearly]

Just tried to use the dtac top up function in my Bangkok Bank app ... it didn't work , but gave me a phone number to call ... hopefully just a glitch 🙏 will try again tomorrow... 🤞

[Stillearly]

It was just a glitch .. I just tried again and it worked fine ... 😅

[Krapow]

10 hours ago, fforest said:

I am not quite sure whats so funny...But loads of people who did not get the latest app update with the facial recognition had the app deactivated including me....So laugh away Big daddy...

It's very clearly a conspiracy!

You shouldn't be so trusting, try questioning things a bit more.

For example how many people were in the queue, numbers have a more nefarious meaning that most know!

I used to live at 667, the neighbour of the beast!

PM for more details, too many non believers on here 😉

[Yesitisdakid]

13 hours ago, fforest said:

I am not quite sure whats so funny...But loads of people who did not get the latest app update with the facial recognition had the app deactivated including me....So laugh away Big daddy...

I never went into the bank and did the facial recognition thing and as of yet I haven't had any issues. I guess I should probably go do it but I'm from the old school that if it ain't broke don't fix it

[forcebwithu]

15 hours ago, fforest said:

I am not quite sure whats so funny...But loads of people who did not get the latest app update with the facial recognition had the app deactivated including me....So laugh away Big daddy...

Big Daddy probably meant to give you a 👍, but clicked on the wrong emoji. 🙂

Interesting you mentioned facial recognition as that's something I'm not using, nor do I even know where in the app I would go to turn it on.

Just did a top up using the mobile app and no problems there.

Perhaps they're doing a phased rollout of facial recognition and it will only be a matter of time the rest of us have to waste an hour or so of our limited lifespan dealing with the inefficient bank employees.

[KWA]

3 hours ago, forcebwithu said:

Interesting you mentioned facial recognition as that's something I'm not using, nor do I even know where in the app I would go to turn it on.

I've used it a couple of times when I needed to increase the limit of how much I could transfer in one shot/day.  One was for the 800,000 THB in/out at visa time and it was no problem.  The other time I just couldn't get it to work (lighting I think) so went to ibanking instead where no such faffing about was needed.

If you want to play about with it that's where you can do it with no dramatic side effects.

[forcebwithu]

34 minutes ago, KWA said:

I've used it a couple of times when I needed to increase the limit of how much I could transfer in one shot/day.  One was for the 800,000 THB in/out at visa time and it was no problem.  The other time I just couldn't get it to work (lighting I think) so went to ibanking instead where no such faffing about was needed.

If you want to play about with it that's where you can do it with no dramatic side effects.

Saw a post on reddit that mentioned needing to go out in bright sunlight for the facial recognition to work.

[Glasseye]

 

I just slip one of these on before going into the branch....   Works every time !

 

[Blue Streak]

Seems to be a convenient place to drop this snap   Bangkok Bank refurb

by ''Tree Town''......last night at 22.00 hrs

[Yesitisdakid]

35 minutes ago, Blue Streak said:

Seems to be a convenient place to drop this snap   Bangkok Bank refurb

by ''Tree Town''......last night at 22.00 hrs

Do we know if it's a renovation or if it's going to be something else? I read somewhere it was closed for Good

[fforest]

2 hours ago, Yesitisdakid said:

Do we know if it's a renovation or if it's going to be something else? I read somewhere it was closed for Good

Boy I tell you we are in dire need of another weed shop or 7-11 on Soi Bukow....

[Blue Streak]

3 hours ago, Yesitisdakid said:

Do we know if it's a renovation or if it's going to be something else? I read somewhere it was closed for Good

pass...took this a few weeks ago there..........sorry for the thread f...