Terrible exchange rate from kasokorn atm USD

[chang beer]

Hi. Just realized that keskorn ATM gives the worst exchange rates for USD. I took out 15,000 baht and my bank states $446 which is actually 16,363 baht. So. I'm short -1,363 baht that's $37 per transaction. It was never this high. I was under around $5 per transaction in Philippines for getting 10,000 pesos out but 1,363 baht,$37 seems a little high. Used the ATM in central festival. Am I missing something here.

Happy mongering

[Kale]

Did you select the option to allow the local bank do the conversion?  If so don't do that next time.  If you didn't then that exchange is being done by your US bank.

Edited September 14, 2022 by Kale

[tsec]

16 minutes ago, chang beer said:

Hi. Just realized that keskorn ATM gives the worst exchange rates for USD. I took out 15,000 baht and my bank states $446 which is actually 16,363 baht. So. I'm short -1,363 baht that's $37 per transaction. It was never this high. I was under around $5 per transaction in Philippines for getting 10,000 pesos out but 1,363 baht,$37 seems a little high. Used the ATM in central festival. Am I missing something here.

Happy mongering

[Oops]

Edited September 14, 2022 by tsec
Oops

[chang beer]

6 minutes ago, Kale said:

Did you select the option to allow the local bank do the conversion?  If so don't do that next time.  If you didn't then that exchange is being done by your US bank.

Hi Kale . I sent u a text directly. Thanx man. I did click on that. Fxxxk.i know better nextime. Thanx dude. Happy mongering

[Garzan]

29 minutes ago, chang beer said:

Am I missing something here.

Back when I was was withdrawing from ATM machines I learned that walking into the bank branch and going to the counter to make my credit card withdrawal saved me a bunch of fees. My suggestion for next time would be to walk past the ATM machine and walk up to the teller window to do your currency exchange.  

[AngelCty2Nit]

Heres my two cents:

I'm not at all sure I agree with @Garzan and I have  quite a bit of experience here. First if youre trying to get money from a credit card (as garzan) suggests then you might as well bend over and take your medicine - you'll be hit with bad exchange rate, added fees, and potentially an 'international conversion fee at your end in addition to a cash advance fee) and none of that has anything to do with going to an ATM , the teller window, or getting the guy selling Kamagra to convert it.

That being said.....I read your post as trying to get money from an ATM with a DEBIT card which is a whole different animal.

Every ATM (or bank ATM) will attack your card differently, When I first came I got a bit of cash from an SCB ATM and they gave me a really strong exchange rate-until I read in fine print that they took 5% off the top for their own needs.

Your best bet is to use a BANK ATM where the bank sends a bill to your home bank in THB, and doesnt take a fee-then your bank will convert you, hopefully at a fair rate. In that scenario you only lose the ATM transaction fee and if you have a Schwab card or something similar then you lose nothing because they cover THAT fee.

Solution.....take your DEBIT card to a Bangkok Bank ATM.....they wont fuck you with conversion BECAUSE THEY DON'T CONVERT IT...if you take 15000 they will add 220b ATM fee and send your bank a bill for 15220. Then your bank converts it, pays them and charges you. Your bank is YOUR friend right? Let them do the business.

I would then go to WISE and see what they would charge you at the same time for 15220 and compare the two. They should be close, if they arent then YOUR bank is taking too big a piece and theres nothing you can do about that.

At 13:20 09/14/22 WISE charges me 418.90USD for 15220...now that rate fluctuates and is likely  a bit better than when you did your transaction, if you were charged 446USD then you just had a $27 learning experience. Next time with better information you'll do better.

Theres my two cents

 

[Garzan]

1 hour ago, Garzan said:

Back when I was was withdrawing from ATM machines I learned that walking into the bank branch and going to the counter to make my credit card withdrawal saved me a bunch of fees. My suggestion for next time would be to walk past the ATM machine and walk up to the teller window to do your currency exchange.  

Okay, to make an after the limit edit--for the OP talking about taking money out of an ATM machine, my experience has been that the machine will levy fees on your withdrawal--credit card, debit card, whatever, if you use the machine you will likely have additional fees tacked onto the withdrawal. My experience has been that by walking inside the bank to make your withdrawal at the counter--credit card, debit card, whatever--those fees will not be added into the withdrawal. Depending on the bank you use, your exchange rate may or may not suck--may not suck as much. 

My opinion, which the OP observed in his initial message, ATM withdrawals are awful. I think they should only be a last resort rather than a first resort, but a short term tourist visitor may not have that many other options. 

My point being that ATM fees, added in because you are using an ATM can be eliminated by walking inside the bank and using the teller instead of the ATM. That doesn't change the conversion rate, just the ATM machine transaction fee. Anyway, that has been my direct experience to reduce the cost of getting money out of your plastic card in Thailand. 

[Just Browsing]

American guys are lucky in that they can get a Charles Schwab account which refunds all ATM fees & apparently gives a pretty decent exchange rate - I believe us Brits can get something similar with one of the smaller UK banks but I'm just grateful to be able to hold on to the (Barclays) bank account that I have (I don't tell them that I don't live in the UK anymore even though they were the ones who sent me to work in Singapore 15 years ago ). 

Going into the branch instead of using the ATM will save you the 220 THB ATM fee but a lot of branches are pushing back on doing this so you need to tell them that you have a problem with your card & the ATM isn't working for you.

 

 

Edited September 14, 2022 by Just Browsing

[Revanchist]

25 minutes ago, Just Browsing said:

American guys are lucky in that they can get a Charles Schwab account which refunds all ATM fees

Apparently PNC Bank does the same, but you have a lot of hoops to jump through to get and maintain offshore usage. Monthly confirmations of overseas status I was told.

[Perseus]

On 14/09/2022 at 07:22, AngelCty2Nit said:

Heres my two cents:

I'm not at all sure I agree with @Garzan and I have  quite a bit of experience here. First if youre trying to get money from a credit card (as garzan) suggests then you might as well bend over and take your medicine - you'll be hit with bad exchange rate, added fees, and potentially an 'international conversion fee at your end in addition to a cash advance fee) and none of that has anything to do with going to an ATM , the teller window, or getting the guy selling Kamagra to convert it.

That being said.....I read your post as trying to get money from an ATM with a DEBIT card which is a whole different animal.

Every ATM (or bank ATM) will attack your card differently, When I first came I got a bit of cash from an SCB ATM and they gave me a really strong exchange rate-until I read in fine print that they took 5% off the top for their own needs.

Your best bet is to use a BANK ATM where the bank sends a bill to your home bank in THB, and doesnt take a fee-then your bank will convert you, hopefully at a fair rate. In that scenario you only lose the ATM transaction fee and if you have a Schwab card or something similar then you lose nothing because they cover THAT fee.

Solution.....take your DEBIT card to a Bangkok Bank ATM.....they wont fuck you with conversion BECAUSE THEY DON'T CONVERT IT...if you take 15000 they will add 220b ATM fee and send your bank a bill for 15220. Then your bank converts it, pays them and charges you. Your bank is YOUR friend right? Let them do the business.

I would then go to WISE and see what they would charge you at the same time for 15220 and compare the two. They should be close, if they arent then YOUR bank is taking too big a piece and theres nothing you can do about that.

At 13:20 09/14/22 WISE charges me 418.90USD for 15220...now that rate fluctuates and is likely  a bit better than when you did your transaction, if you were charged 446USD then you just had a $27 learning experience. Next time with better information you'll do better.

Theres my two cents

 

Keep your two cents, what a load of nonsense!

[Perseus]

On 14/09/2022 at 06:03, Garzan said:

Back when I was was withdrawing from ATM machines I learned that walking into the bank branch and going to the counter to make my credit card withdrawal saved me a bunch of fees. My suggestion for next time would be to walk past the ATM machine and walk up to the teller window to do your currency exchange.  

+1

Definitely that. 👍🏻

[Kale]

Just use a service like XE.com and transfer money to yourself.  It avoids most of the fees you get hit with when using ATMs. Works just as well for short term millionaires and long term expats alike. 

I tried it myself to see how well it would work and it was brilliant.  You have to use their app for cash pickup transactions.  You can't do that from their desktop for some reason.  I think they charged me a $1 CDN flat fee for the transaction and that was it.  Exchange was a lot better than I would get if I used my debit card in an ATM. 

It took me about 15 minutes total from transferring the money from my bank account to going to a local bank here in Pattaya to pickup the cash. No Thai bank account needed. They use Siam Commercial Bank here in Thailand.  Awesome service that gives me yet another option.

Edited October 1, 2022 by Kale