Sending Money to Thailand

[colmx]

HI All
BF has been using an ATM card of mine for 5+ years to withdraw money that i send to thailand. The card is associated with an account that hangs off my main account

My Bank has upgraded their ATM systema nd the new card that has been issued to his account doesn't seem to work

Have had 2 replacement cards and they don't work either...
The bank are blaming the Thai ATMS, these are the same ATMs that let mewithdraw without any problems

In the meantime buffallos are dying and sisters are having babies so i need to send money until i can get this issue sorted with my bank

I know this issue has been spoken about before - but interested in hearing how others send money to their BFs...

I'm thinking western union - but their 10% commission i ridiculous!

Any other suffestions?
Thanks in Advance!

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If I were you I would (if you live in the UK normally) I would open up a Nationwide Flex Account and give your bf the Flexcard to withdraw out the money (as you have given him cards before I assume you trust him). Nationwide are totally free from charges and has been said on here again and again, its a brilliant service. If the rate is 64 in Thailand, you will get 64 and absolutely no charges. Generally the daily limit is around 15,000 bht per day (┬г250.00), and I can do that every day, in local currency wherever I am in SE Asia but you are specifically talking about Thailand I assume.

Otherwise no matter how you do it, you will pay hefty charges. I suppose the credit crunch hasn't helped as credit card companies (although I assume you wouldn't be so stupid to withdraw money out on credit cards) have put their charges up recently for transactions of the like.

Similarly, if you are send a remittance from the UK and it is substantial, say ┬г2,000, you will only be charged a fixed fee as low as ┬г10 and and if you do it "bank account to bank account" you will benefit from the commercial rates provided. However, be very careful doing it this way as I suspect if they do the "exchanging" in the UK, you will probably get the offshore rate which is lower as opposed to the onshore rate which is higher when exchanged in Thailand. Be careful on this one.

yeah both my brother and I had similar problems in November - both bank with different UK banks - both had the same problem - we couldnt withdraw a single Baht from any ATM, yet our cards had been working at Heathrow. My brother had to phone through to the UK (huge expense because of course the call is answered by an automatic queue sort system while your bahts disappear from the mobile balance!). When he did get through to he was told that due to high levels of fraud in Thailand ATM withdrawals were blocked unless the account holder requested the block lifted, and the bank was satisfied it was a genuine request.

I had to do the same with my bank - I am still unsure why Thailand has been labelled this way, because I havent read anything in the press to suggest there is a higher level of card fraud/cloning in Thailand compared to other countries.

[Marsilius]

In my experience, all banks like you to tell them in advance if you are going abroad and are likely to be using your cards. They then make a note of it on their system. If you do that, you should have no trouble with foreign ATMs.

In my experience, all banks like you to tell them in advance if you are going abroad and are likely to be using your cards. They then make a note of it on their system. If you do that, you should have no trouble with foreign ATMs.

Agree totally with that. I inform my UK bank of the exact dates I will be in Thailand just in case I need to draw cash at an ATM and also my credit card company so that they do not put a stop or limit on me using the c/c to pay for shopping/hotel bill etc because their system has detected what they term an 'unusual transaction' in Thailand. Never had any problems with either bank card or credit card as a result.

I don't think it just Thailand either - banks/c/c companies are boosting their security measures because of the huge increase in ATM and credit card fraud abroad. My next door neighbours had similar problems with ATM withdrawals when they went to Portugal on holiday.

I havent read anything in the press to suggest there is a higher level of card fraud/cloning in Thailand compared to other countries

Card cloning is a common occurence in Thailand and has been for several years. Many retail outlets will only accept cards once the card holder inputs the PIN number into the card reader, but this is apparently now just as problematic since the cashiers (who were often the ones "double swiping" the cards for cloning) are almost always able to see the number being put in. Never let your card out of you sight.

... that when withdrawing money from an ATM, the money comes out of the machine before your card - hence, on one occasion a few years ago in BKK I left my card in the machine. If it was the other way, like in the UK, where the card is returned to you before you collect the money, then you would remember. Unless you take the card and leave the money in the machine hehehehe - I've done that an all. No win situation eh.

[colmx]

Hi All
Thanks for your responses so far

Unfortunatley i'm in Ireland , not UK... so can;t use a UK based account...
Also despite hours on the phone to my bank over the last few weeks they are unable to solve the connundrum....

BF can login and check balance with new ATM card -but simply can not withdraw any cash, despite there being sufficient funds

Bank says they don't stop any ATM from withdrawing in any particular country - so its nothing to do with thailand...

I can use a similar "maestro" type ATM card to withdraw from my main account in any machine in thailand- so its not the card type or the Thai bank brand. It Just seems to be an anomoly with the acccount...

So i'm going to have to set up another account for BF to withdraw money from...

In the meantime would appreciate any suggestions for the cheapest ANF quickest method of sending money to Thailand...

Surely there must be better methods than Western union and their 10% commission?

... if so, do it via that method via your bank account in Ireland, it will cost you a one-off fee, ensure that it is "exchanged" when it arrives in Thailand.

Colmx, I have tried just about every way there is to transfer money to the BF.

My bank ATM works best and is the cheapest. Another service that is almost as good is IKOBO.

https://www.ikobo.com/

Western Union screws you everytime on fees and exchange rate. However, WU is a reliable backup.