Obtaining a Credit Card in Thailand

[bangkokairportlink]

21 hours ago, al007 said:

I am staying at Dusit  ( only 5 star deluxe)  opposite Lumpini Park,and a stones throw from hospital, and they would not take it for extras, I then said Ok take what you want off it but give me cash refund  at the end, they said no

 

I will get even when I file my trip adviser report, also requested high floor but did not get

 

Simple next time take more obliging and way cheaper hotel, we are only here for six nights while going to Chulalongthorn for more reviews and tests 

 

My UK cards went when my UK address ceased

 

Regardless of many minor irritations my last ten yrs here the best in my life, and before I came here I lived very well

 

Keep smiling

 

 

I would have told them the F work instantly if they tried to make this kind of problem.

 

How stupid can be these big hotels. They deserve all the cheaters of the world.

 

Thank you for the message, I will never go there and will tell all my friends to never go there.

 

If more people were accepting the stupid rules of these companies they would shut up and accept OUR conditions.

 

 

 

 

[nontabury]

Needing  a C/C to hire a car when I visit the UK later this year. My wife heard it would be possible for me to piggy-back off her C/C. So she inquired at SCB, where the cashier,warned her not to do it, because I'm a Farang,and might abscond( been together 10yrs +. All her money is my money)leaving her to pay the bill. Anyhow she filled in the forms,but after a month no answer, tel SCB H/O to be informed they had no record of the application. So we drove to Bangkok,200km, went directly to the H/O filled in the forms again. The girl took the forms upstairs and informed us that it would take two weeks to process. Waited four weeks, no card, so we telephoned SCB H/O, when again they told us that they had no record of receiving the form.

 "Oh" the joys of living in Thailand.

[lkn]

3 hours ago, Pib said:

A debit card can be used for a preauthorization....a hold put on X-amount of money awaiting the final transaction to come through.  See below website.  Now what is not mentioned in the website is a hold on funds will only last X-days depending on your bank's policy before the hold falls off if the final transaction does not come through […]

The problem seems to be that the “X days” for Thai debit cards is 90-150 days.

 

I have experienced this twice. Once, a hotel actually did “pre authorize” an amount on my Thai debit card, and this wasn’t cleared until the hotel sent a letter to their bank asking them to “fix this” (after several complaints from me), another time I used my Thai debit card for a a subscription service where the vendor did a “test” transaction when I added my card (pre-authorizing a small amount) and it took at least 3 months before this charge was “refunded”.

 

So there most certainly is an actual problem with Thai debit cards!

[lkn]

22 hours ago, al007 said:

I am staying at Dusit  ( only 5 star deluxe)  opposite Lumpini Park,and a stones throw from hospital, and they would not take it for extras, I then said Ok take what you want off it but give me cash refund  at the end, they said no

See my previous comment, if they had taken your debit card, they would most likely have ended up with a complaint from you about the charge not disappearing (after your checkout).

 

The reason they would not charge your card and refund you in cash is most likely because they would have to pay a 3% transaction fee on the charge.

 

I’ve been in your situation many times, I normally tell them I only have my Thai debit cards, sometimes they forego the deposit, other times they want a cash deposit. If this is more than 5-10,000 baht I tell them that I am leaving Thailand after this stay, so I do not want that many cash returned during checkout, which generally results in them lowering the deposit to something more reasonable.

 

[richard_smith237]

This is an issue for many foreigners here in Thailand. But I also understand the banks. Foreigners are a flight risk. They can build up debt and disappear. 

 

I don't have a Thai Credit Card anymore. I'm simply an additional card holder on my Wife's account, which I feel is a good work around. 

 

Banks have also come up with the simple and elegant solution of secured credit cards. 

If you want the convenience of a credit card, but don't have a work permit and have difficult applying for a credit card, the secured card is a reasonable solution for someone who is prepared to have xxx amount (i.e. 100,000 baht) locked.

 

OR, you can pay for everything in cash and use Cash as a deposit... 

OR, pay in advance for your room with a debit card, and withdraw the deposit at an ATM and use Cash as a deposit.

 

If you find the simple solutions above an issue I can understand why the hotel is a little unhelpful.

 

IF you don't have the money for a secured credit card, I can understand why the Banks wouldn't issue you with a credit card. 

 

 

Personally, I find credit cards a necessary - especially when booking flights etc, some airlines will not accept debit cards. 

These days my Wife and I use our (her) Credit Card as much as possible and use the points for air-miles. 

 

 

[nontabury]

10 minutes ago, richard_smith237 said:

This is an issue for many foreigners here in Thailand. But I also understand the banks. Foreigners are a flight risk. They can build up debt and disappear. 

 

I don't have a Thai Credit Card anymore. I'm simply an additional card holder on my Wife's account, which I feel is a good work around. 

 

 

 

 

 With which bank do you and your wife hold these credit cards? 

 

 As per my post 32, I was not as successful.

[richard_smith237]

9 minutes ago, nontabury said:

 With which bank do you and your wife hold these credit cards? 

 

 As per my post 32, I was not as successful.

 

Citibank... my Wife already had the Card for a number of years and simply added me to her account after we got married. 

 

You should have no issues 'piggy backing' on your Wife's existing Credit Card... I'm not sure why you are getting the run around from SCB, but it seems highly unprofessional. Keep trying. 

 

 

Edit: I forgot that I also have another Credit Card from Bank of Ayudhya - its locked away in the safe and has never been used or unlocked. 

[bangkokairportlink]

Credit cards are the best way to be even more tracked. I pay all cash like in 1870 and I never feel the need of any credit card !

 

 

[richard_smith237]

8 minutes ago, bangkokairportlink said:

Credit cards are the best way to be even more tracked. I pay all cash like in 1870 and I never feel the need of any credit card !

 

 

 

Why would someone fear being tracked through their credit card ?.... the convenience outweighs any foreseeable 'foil hat paranoia'...  you can also be tracked via your IP address... I hope you are using a VPN !!!.... But what about your cash withdrawals?... Mobile phone use? etc... 

 

For the last 3 years in a row my Wife, Son and I have had flights to Japan using Air-miles. Flights which would otherwise cost about 51,000 baht (we did have to pay tax). 

 

 

 

 

[TheFishman1]

I use Bangkok Bank for C C I only tie up 20000 bht and use it when I need to easy

[bangkokairportlink]

14 hours ago, richard_smith237 said:

 

Why would someone fear being tracked through their credit card ?.... the convenience outweighs any foreseeable 'foil hat paranoia'...  you can also be tracked via your IP address... I hope you are using a VPN !!!.... But what about your cash withdrawals?... Mobile phone use? etc... 

 

For the last 3 years in a row my Wife, Son and I have had flights to Japan using Air-miles. Flights which would otherwise cost about 51,000 baht (we did have to pay tax). 

 

 

 

 

 

This is my rule, nobody tracks me whatever I do. Yes, proxies, vpn, cash, mobile phone in other names and much more.

 

 

[al007]

2 hours ago, bangkokairportlink said:

 

This is my rule, nobody tracks me whatever I do. Yes, proxies, vpn, cash, mobile phone in other names and much more.

 

 

Wow!  must be a full time occupation

 

Might this be described as being on the run

 

Keep smiling, good luck, and obviously I do not need add watch your back

[mrfaroukh]

You are a foreigner living in foreign country with no job so how you think they should secure their money. What if you just use the credit card and then go back to your country without paying back the money? They lock the money so that they take it in case you can't pay back. But I guess if you have a job they can give you credit card.

[mrfaroukh]

9 hours ago, bangkokairportlink said:

 

This is my rule, nobody tracks me whatever I do. Yes, proxies, vpn, cash, mobile phone in other names and much more.

 

 

Well you may have something to hide, we don't have.

[nontabury]

On May 17, 2017 at 11:01 AM, Pib said:

A person can use below MoneyGuru to possible find a Thai credit card that might suit them.

https://www.moneyguru.co.th/en/credit-card

 

The site use to just list/compare  bunch of Thai credit cards without needing to answer any questions, but now you apparently need to put in some basic info to find a card.   Very early in the info request the following question was asked...notice it asks if you are Thai or Foreigner with Work Permit which implies a Foreigner without work permit might SOL.  But as already post in this thread there are exceptions.

This would possible be O.K. If you are a foreigner with a work permit.

With due respect, you could be a foreign teacher with a monthly earnings of 30,000 bht. And be acceptable. But if you have no work permit,yet have 300,000bht monthly income,you will be refused. It would therefore follow,if Bill Gates or Warren Buffet came to retire in Thai, they would also be refused. This is Crazy,especially if you are piggy backing off a Thai citizen,who in effect would be guaranteeing your card.

 

[nontabury]

On May 17, 2017 at 11:47 PM, bangkokairportlink said:

Credit cards are the best way to be even more tracked. I pay all cash like in 1870 and I never feel the need of any credit card !

 

 

Have you never had the need to hire a car, or buy something from a foreign country over the Internet?

[al007]

28 minutes ago, nontabury said:

Have you never had the need to hire a car, or buy something from a foreign country over the Internet?

Nontabury talks a lot of sense

 

This thread has full helped me with my frustration, on the issue of credit cards

 

Originally my solution was going to be to piggyback on my wife, she has substantial assets but no job, also when I am dead she is going to need to travel outside Thailand once a year to access funds and meet with advisers, so she too needs a credit card, for emergencies

 

To overcome the no income for a year I funnelled 100,000 a month through her account, still failed, to get a card for her, and normally I do not fail

 

I shouted in previous years she had had car loans and repaid them, still failed

 

Then I realised Thais generally do not like to repay loans, so this credit card thing is not just re foreigners it is against all without stable government jobs

 

At this stage I accept I am unlikely to beat the system

 

The solution becomes simple, (with help from this thread)  lock up 10,000baht get a card with a low limit, then before travelling stack money onto it, also simple like topping up cell phone, done in two minutes on the internet, just will need to see how long it takes for the money to appear on the card, probably very quick, but need to check

 

Problem solved and no 200,000/300,000 of blocked funds

 

 

[lkn]

3 hours ago, al007 said:

3 hours ago, nontabury said:

Have you never had the need to hire a car, or buy something from a foreign country over the Internet?

Nontabury talks a lot of sense

 

[…] when I am dead she is going to need to travel outside Thailand once a year to access funds and meet with advisers, so she too needs a credit card, for emergencies […]

 

There seems to be some misunderstandings here.

 

I have a Thai VISA/Debit card and I have used this in several countries, both in ATMs and in shops, I have also used it online for many purchases, and it is also used for my Netflix and iCloud subscriptions plus it’s added to my Uber account.

 

If your VISA/Debit card cannot be used online or abroad, then you can most likely just enable this via your bank or even your bank’s ATM. These are just default security precautions and has nothing to do with whether or not it’s a debit or credit card (as long as it has the VISA logo).

 

There are only two issues with a Thai debit card, one is that it obviously does not allow you any credit, and the other, which I believe was what the OP ran into, is that pre-authorizing a transaction seems to take forever to clear again, and for this reason, Thai hotels will often refuse to pre-authorize the deposit on a Thai debit card.

 

This does seem specific to Thai debit cards, because most of Europe uses debit cards as well (instead of credit cards), and we do not have this problem.

 

Oh yeah, and for some reason, Index Living Mall decided that they no longer accept debit cards. It used to be accepted in the past, and I have no idea about what motivated this rather stupid company policy, or if it is still in place (it was introduced 4-6 months ago).

[lkn]

4 hours ago, nontabury said:

It would therefore follow,if Bill Gates or Warren Buffet came to retire in Thai, they would also be refused. This is Crazy […]

So instead of having some fixed rules that each branch must follow, you would prefer if each branch did a case-by-case judgement call when foreigners enter their branch? :)

 

[Gloucester]

On Wednesday, May 17, 2017 at 9:39 AM, Pib said:

I would say you are one of the exceptions.  But an annual 10K baht (approx $300 USD) fee is very pricey.  I expect with that high annual fee UOB is buying some insurance to cover themselves from any possible losses.

Agree. Especially if it is for standby reasons. Maybe USD10 per month or $120 per year is more reasonable. $300 means you pay for 30 months next year at $10/ month?

Besides; most banks can waive the annual fee if you call up. Especially if you use the card/give them some earnings.

I was previously happy that there were ATMs at BTS stations like Thonglor, Ekamai etc. The machines at branches are not sufficient for cash withdrawals and do break down. UOB removed the ATMs last year..their choice to reduce longstanding goodwill to focus on immediate returns.

 

I dislike banks and insurance companies whose bait/marketing tactics try to catch customers when their guard is down.

 

They are on the unethical spectrum sitting not far from MLM companies facing lawsuits in the USA etc.

 

Far better to use the money to buy food/snacks for those that are hungry.

[Pib]

"All" of my credit cards have no annual fee.  But they are all U.S. credit cards.  Me don't do credit cards with annual fees.

[SABloke]

On 5/17/2017 at 8:18 AM, jacko45k said:

Standing on principle on this is like cutting off your nose to spite your own face.

 

I have locked up 300,000 baht to enable me to have credit cards. Some other banks only issue them to foreigners with work permits. If you don't need the credit, per say, but want the convenience, I say go with it.

 

So how does it work with the locked up 300k? From what I understand they will give you equivalent credit: So you spend 50k on something and you replace the money too late - now the bank will charge you interest...on basically your own money! It's BS. (Not your statement - the banks' policy)

[Techno Viking]

3 minutes ago, SABloke said:

 

So how does it work with the locked up 300k? From what I understand they will give you equivalent credit: So you spend 50k on something and you replace the money too late - now the bank will charge you interest...on basically your own money! It's BS. (Not your statement - the banks' policy)

 

Yeah, the banks charge interest on credit card. If this does sit well with you don't get a credit card.............. not a hard concept is it.

[SABloke]

Just now, Techno Viking said:

 

Yeah, the banks charge interest on credit card. If this does sit well with you don't get a credit card.............. not a hard concept is it.

I fully understand the concept of how I got and how to use my credit cards 

 

I think you miss the point of the locked deposit "credit" cards in Thailand that I was talking about: You give the bank x amount of your money and they will then issue you a "credit" card with the exact same value as your deposit. You may not withdraw your deposit until you return the card and pay off any outstanding charges. So you pay credit interest charges to basically use your OWN money...get it now?

[Techno Viking]

15 minutes ago, SABloke said:

I fully understand the concept of how I got and how to use my credit cards 

 

I think you miss the point of the locked deposit "credit" cards in Thailand that I was talking about: You give the bank x amount of your money and they will then issue you a "credit" card with the exact same value as your deposit. You may not withdraw your deposit until you return the card and pay off any outstanding charges. So you pay credit interest charges to basically use your OWN money...get it now?

you money is securing the credit card, not funding.

 

Best is to get a visa debit card if you want to self fund and avoid interest.

[jacko45k]

17 hours ago, SABloke said:

 

So how does it work with the locked up 300k? From what I understand they will give you equivalent credit: So you spend 50k on something and you replace the money too late - now the bank will charge you interest...on basically your own money! It's BS. (Not your statement - the banks' policy)

Actually the money is auto debited from my savings account and the fixed deposit doesn't get touched. Yes I have an equivalent 'credit' limit. So I never pay interest and that is what I prefer.

If I pay interest on any 'credit' I will of course still be receiving interest on the Fixed Deposit full amount so what you say is not 100% true.

Not even sure what the interest rate is on the credit card, but probably more than I am comfortable with.

It is a convenience, useful for online purchases, flight ticket purchases and spurious purchases when I haven't got sufficient cash on me. Also useful for any hotel check-in.

[wgdanson]

On 5/30/2017 at 5:18 AM, jacko45k said:

If I pay interest on any 'credit' I will of course still be receiving interest on the Fixed Deposit full amount so what you say is not 100% true.

But of course, the interest on Credit borrowing is always more than that on Savings. Why have a Credit Card if you do not need credit?

[Ks45672]

On 5/29/2017 at 11:44 AM, SABloke said:

I fully understand the concept of how I got and how to use my credit cards 

 

I think you miss the point of the locked deposit "credit" cards in Thailand that I was talking about: You give the bank x amount of your money and they will then issue you a "credit" card with the exact same value as your deposit. You may not withdraw your deposit until you return the card and pay off any outstanding charges. So you pay credit interest charges to basically use your OWN money...get it now?

There are much more benefits to a credit card in the event of fraud etc 

 

Reason being is the fraudster has taken the banks money and not yours so they will not think twice about reversing the charge to get their own money back

 

Thai Visa debit card do not work in some hotels, rental agencies, and airlines, mine was useless in the UK 

 

 

[bravo19]

Why don't you just use your debit card when checking into the hotel, that's what I do.

Because not all hotels accept debit cards


Sent from my iPhone using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

[Ks45672]

On 8/26/2018 at 4:58 PM, wgdanson said:

But of course, the interest on Credit borrowing is always more than that on Savings. Why have a Credit Card if you do not need credit?

Safe online shopping with fraud protection 

Hotel booking and car rentals  

Unexpected Medical emergency services 

Free cash withdrawal from national and international atms 

Small % cashback each month

Builds your credit score

Airmiles and other free gifts

10-30% off some restaurants if you pay with card xyz etc

 

There is more upsides than downsides to be honest

 

(there is no "expensive interest" on the credit as long as you pay it back by the agreed date in full BTW) 

 

A few more benefits I forgot from https://www.investopedia.com/articles/personal-finance/050214/credit-vs-debit-cards-which-better.asp :

 

Advantage: Credit Cards

Rewards. Credit card users can reap cash, discounts, travel points and many other perks unavailable to debit card holders by using rewards cards. Smart consumers who can pay off their cards in full and on time every month can profit substantially by running their monthly purchases and bills through them.

Credit scores. Credit card use is also reflected on the customer’s credit report, which allows responsible spenders to raise their scores with a history of timely payments.

 

Warranties. Credit cards can also provide additional warranties or insurance for items purchased that may exceed those of the retailer. If an item bought with a credit card becomes defective after the manufacturer’s warranty has expired, for example, it's worth checking with the card company to see if it will provide coverage.

Legal protection. These are also notably different, with credit cards offering more security.

Liability for lost or stolen cards. Credit cards still offer much greater protection in most cases. As long as the customer reports the loss or theft in a timely manner, his/her maximum liability for purchases made after the card disappeared is $50. The Electronic Funds Transfer Act gives debit card customers the same protection from loss or theft – but only if the customer reports it within 48 hours of discovery. After 48 hours, the customer’s liability rises to $500; after 60 days there is no limit.

Disputing transactions. The Fair Credit Billing Act allows credit card users to dispute unauthorized purchases or purchases of goods that are damaged or lost during shipping. But if the item was bought with a debit card, it cannot be reversed unless the merchant is willing to do so. What's more, debit card victims don't get their refund until due process has been completed. Credit card holders, on the other hand, are not assessed the disputed charges; the amount is usually deducted immediately, and restored only if the dispute is withdrawn or settled in the merchant's favor. While some credit and debit card providers offer zero-liability protection to their customers, the law is much more forgiving for credit card holders.

Car rentals. If you need to rent a car, most credit cards provide some sort of waiver for collisions. Even if you want to use a debit card, many car rental agencies require customers to provide credit card information as a backup. The only way out for a customer may be allowing the rental agency to put a hold of perhaps a few hundred dollars on his or her bank-account debit card as a form of suretydeposit.