Can I pay my rent with credit card?

[too_much_sun]

I am going to be moving to Pattaya at the beginning of March, and am going to stay In Airbnb for the first couple of months.  However, I would prefer a long term lease once I decide where in Pattaya I want to be at.  Is it possible to pay my rent with a credit card? I would prefer this to help manage my cash flow.  Any advice or suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

p. s. Sorry if this was answered elsewhere, my search didn’t bring up a recent post.

[Greg_B]

If you use the service Wise, you can pay directly into an account and a CC is an option.

But you have to set this up in advance

[ChiFlyer]

Might be best to discuss options with the people you intend to rent from.

Also, your most flexible option if you intend to be doing this type of thing long term, is to establish a Thai bank account. I use Bangkok Bank. You can then do bank transfers and establish a Thai credit card from that account. May or may not work well for you. Thai credit cards work differently, but still can be quite beneficial with regard to ease of use for an ex-pat.

As a former board member once said to me shortly after I arrived as a longer term ex-pat -> "This is not a one size fits all country".

[thainet]

6 minutes ago, ChiFlyer said:

Might be best to discuss options with the people you intend to rent from.

Also, your most flexible option if you intend to be doing this type of thing long term, is to establish a Thai bank account. I use Bangkok Bank. You can then do bank transfers and establish a Thai credit card from that account. May or may not work well for you. Thai credit cards work differently, but still can be quite beneficial with regard to ease of use for an ex-pat.

As a former board member once said to me shortly after I arrived as a longer term ex-pat -> "This is not a one size fits all country".

"Thai credit cards work differently"

Why do you say that?

[Gonetothedogs]

5 minutes ago, thainet said:

"Thai credit cards work differently"

Why do you say that?

Thai Credit Cards don’t work differently. They are MasteCard/Visa/JCB/Union Pay branded and follow the international standards of these brands 

[thainet]

Just now, Gonetothedogs said:

Thai Credit Cards don’t work differently. They are MasteCard/Visa/JCB/Union Pay branded and follow the international standards of these brands 

Exactly, so hence my question above. Hopefully CF will enlighten us with his thoughts.

[ChiFlyer]

16 minutes ago, thainet said:

"Thai credit cards work differently"

Why do you say that?

With regard to my Bangkok Bank credit card ->

• It requires that you maintain a deposit in your credit card account. In effect you are prepaying for your credit card purchases.
• Once a month you have to pay the balance to restore your account to it's limit value.
• There is a minimal value that one needs to maintain. If I remember correctly, mine is 10%. If my available funds drops below this value I am charged an additional fee. I keep a close eye on that.
• The paper work to enable this scheme is lengthy. I sat with the bank lady (cute so not so bad) for an hour signing at least 20 times. I later wanted to raise the limit and had to sign again 20 times. She was still cute and starting to giggle a little at my bad jokes.

Using US credit cards here in Thailand is a pain in the ass, as many have instituted text acknowledgments. They will not text to a Thai phone number or a Skype number. The exception to this is American Express, which is expensive. Still that is what I prefer to use. I maintain the Bangkok Bank card as a backup option. 

Edited February 20, 2022 by ChiFlyer

[too_much_sun]

Thank you for clarifying.  I wanted to find out if there was a service like Plastiq here in the states that you can use to pay by credit card and pay a transaction fee.  It doesn’t look like that option exists there.  I may just pay rent via cash monthly, just have funds tied up in crypto right now and didn’t want to liquidate in a down market.  Also, may need to carry a balance at certain times, and need the flexibility of a “regular” credit card, not a debit like card as that defeats the purpose.  I appreciate you giving me the info about Bangkok bank, but it’s not the solution that I need.  But again, much appreciate your response!

[too_much_sun]

I sent a request through Thailand-Property.com that got routed to the listing agent and I got a response that they can do that with a 3% fee, which is what I expected.  I guess it will depend on the listing agent, but I’ll keep checking.

[too_much_sun]

I found another agency, East Coast Real Estate, that will accept Visa/Mastercard for monthly payments with the 3% fee.

[T-T-T]

On 20/02/2022 at 16:11, mattynosocks said:

I am going to be moving to Pattaya at the beginning of March, and am going to stay In Airbnb for the first couple of months.  However, I would prefer a long term lease once I decide where in Pattaya I want to be at.  Is it possible to pay my rent with a credit card? I would prefer this to help manage my cash flow.  Any advice or suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

p. s. Sorry if this was answered elsewhere, my search didn’t bring up a recent post.

long term lease can be had on Airbnb. been using them for last 10 months. if you do over a month rent they charge you monthly if that is any help

I actually use paypal credit as well  to pay airbnb so also get 4 months interest free on each monthly rental payment which is good for my clash flow 🙂 and found the rates on Airbnb comparable or less than long term rates through an agent. 

 

Edited February 24, 2022 by T-T-T

[too_much_sun]

Yes, some of the rates on Airbnb are pretty close to a regular long term rental through an agent.  How has your Airbnb experience been?  I’ve been reluctant to use it thinking that if I wasn’t happy with the neighbors or something about the condo (like construction work) I could always re-book somewhere else.  I did hear back from Paragon Properties that they also accept credit cards (assume Visa/Mastercard as well with the 3%.  Glad to have other options if necessary!

[Buddy Edgewood]

I guess I don't understand how using a CC is a good way to manage your money when living overseas. You've got transaction fees and potentially interest fees to contend with. Maybe doing it for the points?

If you're going to be staying in Thailand long term, I assume you'll be opening a Thai bank account and transfer money into that account.  Once you've done that, you can use the bank's phone app to transfer your monthly rent to the owner, for no extra fees.

[GorGuy RIP]

2 minutes ago, Buddy Edgewood said:

I guess I don't understand how using a CC is a good way to manage your money when living overseas.

 

On 21/02/2022 at 04:00, mattynosocks said:

 have funds tied up in crypto right now and didn’t want to liquidate in a down market. 

 

You can also use a credit card to get funds/baht from a exchange booth or bank, or ATM.

Sometimes when I had money tied up in a property deal, I came over on credit card funds.

No problem

[too_much_sun]

For me, I’ve got money tied up in cryptocurrency and don’t want to liquidate in a down market.  Better for me to pay the 3% transaction fee plus whatever short term interest than sell now.