spending in Thailand

socrates

booler wrote: »

A "few" times? You must be desperately unlucky. I hardly know a soul that that has happened to on a single occasion. If I were you I would be looking at my banking practises.

It is made more possible when you travel in SE Asia - one of the risks of using cards

NiftyDigits

booler wrote: »

A "few" times? You must be desperately unlucky. I hardly know a soul that that has happened to on even a single occasion. If I were you I would be looking at my banking practises.

Perhaps you hardly know a soul.
I've been travelling independently for twenty one years. Up to ten trips per annum.
The last incident was at Galeão.

Thank you for your almost entirely useless post. We spell practice with a 'c' here in the UK.

booler

Love you!
:kisses:

socrates

NiftyDigits

What is your opinion on a Charles Schwab One International Account - which you can open in person or by post in London, UK

$10k to open - can be reduced to $1k minimum to keep the account open

Benefits include:

Commission free withdrawals from any ATM in the world as well as any local ATM charges refunded at the end of every month

$1k a day withdrawal limit - to be be drawn in 2 transactions - can be increased to $2k on application

Preferential Share Dealing rates at $8.95 per trade

Exchange rates in line with best rates of the day as its a Visa Debit Card

I was hoping you would run your expert eye over it and tell me your thoughts - good and bad .....

hanwellmike

I am also a regular visitor to Thailand (mainly Pattaya). Last trip (March) I opened a Kasikorn bank account. I was surprised that I could do so without a permanent address but anyway. It cost 800 baht (for the ATM card apparently). I deposited 500 baht and I have not yet topped it up. I had intended to fund the account straight away from my UK Halifax account but was unable to do so unless I phoned the Halifax to confirm the details of the new "payee". Couldn't be bothered to phone Halifax from Thailand so I left it. So I hope to use it on my next trip (November?). Hoping this turns out to be a money saver.
So if you are going on a long trip to Thailand it may be worth opening a Thai bank account but you may have problems arranging for funding from your UK bank whilst you are in Thailand.

NiftyDigits

socrates wrote: »

NiftyDigits

What is your opinion on a Charles Schwab One International Account - which you can open in person or by post in London, UK

$10k to open - can be reduced to $1k minimum to keep the account open

Benefits include:

Commission free withdrawals from any ATM in the world as well as any local ATM charges refunded at the end of every month

$1k a day withdrawal limit - to be be drawn in 2 transactions - can be increased to $2k on application

Preferential Share Dealing rates at $8.95 per trade

Exchange rates in line with best rates of the day as its a Visa Debit Card

I was hoping you would run your expert eye over it and tell me your thoughts - good and bad .....

From where do you get the US$? There is some cost attached to that.
Also didn't see anything about the ATM fees being refunded.

socrates

NiftyDigits wrote: »

From where do you get the US$? There is some cost attached to that.
Also didn't see anything about the ATM fees being refunded.

You lose about $95 dollars in exchange costs to get from £10,000 to the corresponding dollar amount - they work very close to the spot rate

The ATM costs are refunded its the main feature of this card

I know you use AEON but there are only 3 of those in total in Pattaya and they are not in the central tourist zone

NiftyDigits

socrates wrote: »

You lose about $95 dollars in exchange costs to get from £10,000 to the corresponding dollar amount - they work very close to the spot rate

The ATM costs are refunded its the main feature of this card

I know you use AEON but there are only 3 of those in total in Pattaya and they are not in the central tourist zone

I think that you may be filling in the blanks. Where exactly is it written that ATM costs are refunded?
It's not the card that refunds the costs, but specific accounts. Is this one of those accounts? I can see that the High Yield account allows for this, but the One International Account does not include this feature within it's description.

socrates

NiftyDigits wrote: »

I think that you may be filling in the blanks. Where exactly is it written that ATM costs are refunded?
It's not the card that refunds the costs, but specific accounts. Is this one of those accounts? I can see that the High Yield account allows for this, but the One International Account does not include this feature within it's description.

It may not say it there but all of their cards refund the charges which is why outside of the UK it regularly gets voted Best ATM Card for Travellers or such awards

For arguments sake lets just say it does refund charges - any more critique?

NiftyDigits

NiftyDigits wrote: »

I think that you may be filling in the blanks. Where exactly is it written that ATM costs are refunded?
It's not the card that refunds the costs, but specific accounts. Is this one of those accounts? I can see that the High Yield account allows for this, but the One International Account does not include this feature within it's description.

If you are staying in Pattaya for long periods, then what does it matter whether the ATMs are not in the 'Central Tourist Zone'?
Big C Extra is hardly off the beaten track.
You might have a stronger point if you were staying on Koh Chang or perhaps Phuket.

As to sticking close to the spot rate; it seems that they take at least 1% from your £10000. So that's £100 gone straight away. Then what if the US$ devalues against the £ in the meantime?

Though none of these are insurmountable problems, what does appear to be a difficulty is that ATM refunds are nowhere to be seen.
Can you locate it within the T&C?

Schwab Bank High Yield Investor Checking Account


Pay no ATM fees worldwide with our popular online checking account.1 There are no monthly service fees, you’ll earn interest on your balance, and your account is FDIC-insured

No such blurb for the One International.