Dangers of a Debit Card

[m_holmes 93]

Use 2 accounts. 1 with ATM / debit card, one without. Keep all your money in the account without the card and transfer money into other account as needed.

 

Problem solved

 

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[Gary 4,119]

I don't use ANY type of plastic in Thailand. I don't even trust Thai Internet banking. There are ATM's on every street corner so it is easy to have some cash in your pocket. That said, I rarely have more than 5,000 baht in my wallet. As far as plastic, it's simply not worth the risk to use plastic in a third world country.

 

I use a BOA credit card. They have an excellent security plan called Shop Safe. You get a new number for every purchase and specify the amount. This is quickly and easily set up via the Internet. If the vendor tries to charge more than you specify, the transaction is cancelled. Any other purchase using that number is rejected. No purchases since I have been using this system have been rejected. I have instructed the bank that if purchases are attempted not to honor them if Shop Safe is not used.

[jacko 8,822]

I don't use ANY type of plastic in Thailand. I don't even trust Thai Internet banking. There are ATM's on every street corner so it is easy to have some cash in your pocket. That said, I rarely have more than 5,000 baht in my wallet. As far as plastic, it's simply not worth the risk to use plastic in a third world country.

 

I use a BOA credit card. They have an excellent security plan called Shop Safe. You get a new number for every purchase and specify the amount. This is quickly and easily set up via the Internet. If the vendor tries to charge more than you specify, the transaction is cancelled. Any other purchase using that number is rejected. No purchases since I have been using this system have been rejected. I have instructed the bank that if purchases are attempted not to honor them if Shop Safe is not used.

But Gary, what plastic are you using in the ATM machines????

I bet you would have more than 5K in your pocket when you are in Pattaya.....

[nkped 1,208]

I don't use ANY type of plastic in Thailand. I don't even trust Thai Internet banking. There are ATM's on every street corner so it is easy to have some cash in your pocket. That said, I rarely have more than 5,000 baht in my wallet. As far as plastic, it's simply not worth the risk to use plastic in a third world country.

I understand the concern, but the only times I have had credit card numbers go walk-about were in the U.S. and Canada. Last time, I had used the card at a Hilton Hotel in Portland, Oregon and hadn't used it at all for months before that. A week later, the bank called me to ask about charges in Louisiana.

[Gary 4,119]

But Gary, what plastic are you using in the ATM machines????

I bet you would have more than 5K in your pocket when you are in Pattaya.....

 

My ATM card is for using ATM's to get cash. Cash is indeed king for me. A night out in Pattaya is a RARE occasion for me, and yes, I need a bit more than 5,000 baht, but not a lot more.

[Fondles 94]

The problem I see with using debit cards freely and for all sorts of purchases is one that is based on Thai bank's antiquated passbook usage.

 

If you use your debit card frequently for those small daily purchases (and I have no real problem with that, altho I agree that cash is faster), the day you go to update your passbook (and that day will come), you'll find that you've gone into extra pages, and the bank will ask you to get a new passbook.

 

This takes at least a half hour, getting into the right queue (probably not the one you were in), new signatures on the new passbook, copies of your passport (again) and other rigmarole.

 

Just to avoid that, I only put large purchases on my debit or ATM withdrawals.

 

 

Ive been using my K Bank debit card now for 7 years (it has some sort of passbook attached to it) and I have never updated the book as there has been no reason to do so.

[MM 6,562]

Ive been using my K Bank debit card now for 7 years (it has some sort of passbook attached to it) and I have never updated the book as there has been no reason to do so.

 

Some of us need to do that. I have a merchant account (for CC transactions), but do not have electronic access to it, so to move money from that account to my other, I have to update both passbooks...every time. Whenever I move money from that account, I have to use the company stamp...it's a real pain, but will be over soon.

 

I read I can switch to the passbook free e-savings account just by going to a Kasikorn ATM...no need to go tot the branch. I hope they can deal with the transfer

[BigDUSA 71]

Back home, I use my ATM card for almost everything. I find it easier then using cash. I have a separate travel ATM without a Mastercard side. When I travel I only use it to withdraw cash from a ATM attached to a bank. One time the machine ate my card. I went inside the bank and I had my card back in less then five minutes. I always call my credit card companies and let them know I'll be traveling to Thailand. I put a 500USD limit on any purchase. I used my AMEX card at the King Power Duty Free for $100. with no problem. When I get back home AMEX calls and wants to know if I purchased $15,000 worth of jewelry in BKK. I said no and why did you approve the sale. They admitted they made a mistake and didn't read my purchase limit. I wasn't held to be responsible.

[MM 6,562]

Indeed, when I go back to the USA, I seldom use cash at all. w

 

When I first moved here, I used to exchange $100 bills for people who didn't have any Thai baht. I'd put those $100's in a wallet, planning to use them in the USA.H

 

However, every trip, I came back with about the same amount of cash I had left with. Cash just isn't necessary except for things like coffee's and small purchases.

 

Part of that might be what I do in the USA....I don't spend time in bars or gogos, pay barfines, or pay women for sex. Cash is pretty much standard.for all those activities.

 

I do recall an outcall hooker who came to my home in the USA who brought her own credit card imprinting device. She gave me my carbon copy as she left. Now, she probably has a wireless terminal.

[teelack 9,645]

I believe that I have the best of all worlds. I opened a Kasikorn account and most of my cash goes in there on arrival in Pattaya and as there is a Kasilkorn ATM every 100 metres in Pattaya and its free to use, so I have no issues there in cash safety or management. I have in the past simply transferred money from my bank to the Kasikorn before leaving home but have had to accept a lesser rate for the TT of funds than I generally get for cash in Pattaya.

 

Both my credit and debit card are from my home country and I simply transfer money from savings into current account on the internet and get any cash needed from a bank ATM in Pattaya.

 

My credit card is used for the hotel and any purchases such as duty free as well as for ATM funds that I may need in my home country; when I get home penniless! I do advise my bank before leaving about probable card useage before I leave home.

 

These card are carried separate in transit so I will always have access to money other than in some catastrophic screw up.

[Trvlr 50]

What is a "current" account?

[jacko 8,822]

What is a "current" account?

Well in the UK it was a checking account ......

These days less so, an account you can withdraw from without notice.

[teelack 9,645]

Jacko has said it all. Its the one account that I get zero interest on and therefore I try to keep it in balance with my outgoings as this is the account that I have to pay my bills out of. I cannot pay bills out of an interest earning account.

 

What is a "current" account?