Atm Charge Increased...............

[Chupup 512]

Can't you just go into the bank ( with your passport and card and draw cash without paying a charge )

[v2drinkers 1]

Can't you just go into the bank ( with your passport and card and draw cash without paying a charge )

yes.

I do this all the time. A few banks claim they don't have the machine to do it and tell you to us the ATM. I just walk to the next bank

[TallGuyJohninBKK 25,671]

I last withdrew funds from an AEON ATM in BKK on May 23 (four days ago) and then did another withdrawal on May 24 (three days ago), both times using standard U.S. bank VISA debit card from two different banks.

And there was NO withdrawal fee -- not 150 baht or 180 baht -- just the same as there hasn't been ever since the Thai banks (which AEON is NOT) began charging the 150 baht fee on foreign cards a couple of years ago.

I suppose it's possible they made a major fee change in the past three days, but I'd tend to doubt it.

Every so often, someone chimes in complaining about AEON ATMs charging a fee. And in the past, every time, at least up until now, it's ended up being their home country bank that's been charging the fee -- not AEON.

Edited May 27, 2013 by TallGuyJohninBKK

[Just1Voice 24,314]

My Veteran's Disability and Social Security are both done by direct deposit to Bangkok Bank, NY branch. Available for withdrawal and transfer from the D.D. account to joint acct I have with my wife after 12:30 the next day. No transfer fees.

[TommyHellsten 9]

Why use ATM and loose money? go in to the bank use the smart ship on your Bankcard, transfer money true TelexTransfer,.... Better exchange and no 180thb :-)

I do this for years now ;-)

[bkk_mike 431]

As far as I can tell, there are the following options for avoiding the 150 baht...

1. Foreign debit card with Visa or Mastercard

Use Aeon ATMs - saves the 150baht fee and you get the current visa/mc exchange rate (less whatever spread your bank applies.)

Go into the bank and try taking out money over the counter. (I've never had a problem doing this with credit cards, some banks don't seem to like debit cards though and don't offer the service on debit cards - or for one particular branch I used, only offered the service with a debit card once, so I assume the lack of charges on debit card transactions meant it ended up costing them money...

2. Foreign credit card with Visa or Mastercard...

Again Aeon ATMS avoids the 150 baht fee, but be careful as your bank can charge up to 5% (HSBC in HK for instance) for the cash advance charge, UK banks often double-dip here, by applying a spread on the FX rate, and then also charging something like 3% for the cash advance.

Again, you can go into the bank and take out cash, but that just avoids the 150 baht ATM fee.

3. Foreign debit card without Visa or Mastercard

i.e. Plus - With these, you can find that certain banks only charge 50 baht rather than 150. (Siam Commercial Bank and UOB for instance), so better than a visa debit if you can't get to an Aeon ATM.

Known problems

- Some Aeon ATMs don't like cards if you've got a PIN longer than 4 digits. (i.e. 6 digits is the norm in Hong Kong). i.e. An AEON ATM manufactured by NCR that I've used assumes you've finished entering the PIN after the 4th digit. This is particularly annoying because it's the nearest Aeon ATM to my house. No such problems with the ones made by Hitachi.

[SunsetT 1,762]

For those of you taking a 'farang' debit or credit card into a bank, what exchange rate do they give you -The Visa/Mastercard rate, or their own exchange rate? When I tried this just once when they first introduced the 150 baht fee Im sure they said they would charge 3%. Maybe I was mistaken.

[easyride 32]

I got this from the Kasikorn website:

From May 17, 2013 - The service charge on cash withdrawal of all
international or foreign credit cards via KBank's ATM machines will be
charged at 150 Baht per transaction for VISA card , 180 Baht per
transaction for MasterCard, 50 Baht per transaction for China UnionPay
(CUP) card and 20 Baht per transaction for all electronic cards issued
by card issuer company in Thailand (Non Bank).

http://www.kasikornbank.com/EN/RatesAndFees/Charges/Pages/Charges.aspx

[Tywais 12,116]

And from Bangkok Bank's site:

Cash withdrawal using an electronic card issued by a foreign bank 150Bt per transaction

(Transaction fee will be waived for ATM withdrawals using AMEX cards and cards within the MEPS/ATM Pool network.)

Cash withdrawal using an electronic card issued by a foreign bank within the China UnionPay (CUP) network 50Bt per transaction

Cash withdrawal using an electronic card issued by a foreign bank within the MasterCard network 180Bt per transaction

Bangkok Bank

[TallGuyJohninBKK 25,671]

So the ATM fee structure listed on the BKK Bank website appears to mirror/match the Kasikorn Bank info posted just above. So this apparently is a new, more differentiated fee scheme than the Thai banks had in the past.

From BKK Bank's website:

Cash withdrawal using an electronic card issued by a foreign bank or non-bank card issuer in Thailand and not an ATM Pool member

Cash withdrawal using an electronic card issued by a foreign bank

(Transaction fee will be waived for ATM withdrawals using AMEX cards and cards within the MEPS/ATM Pool network.)

150Bt per transaction

Cash withdrawal using an electronic card issued by a foreign bank within the China UnionPay (CUP) network

50Bt per transaction

Cash withdrawal using an electronic card issued by a foreign bank within the MasterCard network

180Bt per transaction

Cash withdrawal using an electronic card issued by a non-bank card issuer in Thailand

20Bt per transaction

In the past, whatever schemes the Thai banks adopted didn't spill over and impact AEON's ATMs, since AEON is not a Thai bank.

I guess we'll have to see if this new fees scheme impacts AEON ATMs or not.

FWIW, the Kasikorn website dates the new fee scheme as effective May 17, 2013. And my two most recent AEON ATM withdrawals were May 23 and 24, and had no foreign card fee. So perhaps that's a good sign that AEON ATMs will continue to be exempt from these Thai bank ATM fees.

Edited May 27, 2013 by TallGuyJohninBKK

[TommyHellsten 9]

For those of you taking a 'farang' debit or credit card into a bank, what exchange rate do they give you -The Visa/Mastercard rate, or their own exchange rate? When I tried this just once when they first introduced the 150 baht fee Im sure they said they would charge 3%. Maybe I was mistaken.

You get the T/T TelexTransfer on that bank I have Ayudhya Bank and don't pay any 3%

[kokesaat 810]

My Veteran's Disability and Social Security are both done by direct deposit to Bangkok Bank, NY branch. Available for withdrawal and transfer from the D.D. account to joint acct I have with my wife after 12:30 the next day. No transfer fees.

Things may have changed in the past 6 months, but: when I had my veteran's disability and military pension sent over through NY, I was charged $5 for the disability payment and $10 for the pension, as per their website (fees). Additionally, Bangkok Bank lops 0.25% off the exchange rate that it gives you.

I'm not saying the Bangkok Bank fees are a bad deal.....but transferring through the NY branch is not free.

[TallGuyJohninBKK 25,671]

Most people really ought to think hard before using any foreign country credit card for a cash advance at a Thai bank, whether by ATM or at the bank counter.

The reasons are, most credit card companies will charge a cash advance fee based on the amount you withdraw, sometimes a flat 3%, or a little less or more. Then, in addition, they'll begin charging interest on the amount withdrawn from the first day until the amount withdrawn is repaid in full. And, in addition, depending on the credit card issuing, they may also charge a foreign currency fee on top of everything else. Thus that credit card cash advance can be very expensive.

Debit cards can be a little bit better for cash advances. Since it's your own funds, you won't be paying interest on the amount withdrawn. Some debit card issuing banks, though, have begun charging cash advance fees on counter withdrawals using debit cards, though I'd say that's still not so common. And of course, depending on the bank, there may or may not be a foreign currency fee charged by your home bank as well.

An ATM withdrawal in Thailand from a Thai bank using a foreign debit card is now likely to incur the 150 or 180 baht fee. A cash advance using that same debit card at the counter inside the Thai bank won't incur that 150-180 baht fee. But the user still has to be careful that their home bank isn't charging its own cash advance fee, or at least, be aware of how the resulting fee would compare to the flat 150-180 baht Thai bank ATM fee.

Of course, there's still a good chance that using an AEON ATM will incur no ATM fee and certainly no cash advance fee since those don't apply to ATM withdrawals. Thus the only question would be whether one's home country bank is charging a foreign currency fee and how much. If they are, it would be charged equally on a counter withdrawal as an ATM withdrawal.

[Gerald14 101]

My Veteran's Disability and Social Security are both done by direct deposit to Bangkok Bank, NY branch. Available for withdrawal and transfer from the D.D. account to joint acct I have with my wife after 12:30 the next day. No transfer fees.

This is true but the exchange rates are terrible. I would never ever use Centrelink to send money to me. I collect it at my bank in Aussie and transfer when I have a few thousand Dollars in the bank

[Gerald14 101]

Basically I would never use an ATM to withdraw cash from overseas because of the charges and the exchange rates. I transfer the cash from time to time and use only my local ATM card to get cash