limbo Posted March 17, 2004 Report Share Posted March 17, 2004 Hi guys, Mods, feel free to move this to Finances, but I'm looking at this from a social POV, and if I could from a legal one as well! Trying to apply for a Thai credit card since a while, and after 7 weeks of waiting for my Bank of Ayudhaya application (the BKK office will call you when accepted or declined, NOT) I found out that the application has been declined. Reason, not enough salary. On my question what kind of salary was needed, I was answered with 100.000Baht, well, OK< I don't have that much, but how much for Thai people, oh Sir, 20.000Baht. 20.000Baht! I almost exploded on the phone. After waiting for 15 minutes I finally got to talk to a supervisor and told her I thought this was a very racist policy and gave her more crap. She came up with another way of applying which should guarantee me a card with a 40.000B limit, which should be fine by me. Anybody has similar experiences? Anybody knows of any banks which will grant cards easier? I'm still fuming :onfire: and upset and some stuff should be better when talking with me about this. I'm ready to close all my account with this bank if I just knew of a bank that will grant me a credit card. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
torrenova Posted March 17, 2004 Report Share Posted March 17, 2004 I am currently talking to Citibank about a credit card in baht as they offer it in LOS and I have worldwide Citibank accounts. Not about credit cards but about mortages. One guy I know, married to a Thai girl and living with business interests in Thailand had some trouble getting a mortgage. Apparently, the bank wanted him to deposit the same amount as he wanted for the mortage in an account which he could not access !!! I think that this is probably due to the fact that they do not have any advanced form of credit approval or vetting system in LOS. Their risk management is likely to be way behind the times and as such, they do not feel able to advance credit, particularly to non Thai nationals. Looking at their fees and interest charges, this seems likely as they are probably having to factor in a huge amount of bad debt and non performing loans. Sorry I can't help. I'll post if I get any sense from Citibank. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nervous_Dog Posted March 17, 2004 Report Share Posted March 17, 2004 Yep - same bank too. I had enough wages, but they didn't like my work visa being one year old. They don't like to give us credit cards, seems they feel we may just go home one day and never return! Don't they know we are adicted to Nana and Cowboy and can never leave like some old Eagles song! That said , a mate fo mine has been here less than 6 months and has already got a AMEX and some other visa card from K Bank. Agin he had to earn of 100 K. Hmmm - maybe a gov regulation? JB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThaiHome Posted March 17, 2004 Report Share Posted March 17, 2004 If you look at from the bank's point of view, you would see it makes more sense to have a much higher income limit for a foreigner then a Thai. Notice the word "Foreigner". Despite any wishful thinking, you are a foreigner; you can up and leave the country anytime. You cannot prove any permanent ties, and if you have a low paying job, the chances of you up and leaving are greatly increased. Until (or if) the laws are changed to allow easier permanent residence status and own land, we will always be "expats" not immigrants and subject to different standards. TH Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
limbo Posted March 18, 2004 Author Report Share Posted March 18, 2004 Hi Thaihome, are a wife, baby and a house ties? It doen't make sense to me to give Thais a cc with an income of 20K though. It does piss me off a bit. The conomy goes belly up and hen they have handfulls of Thais with debts. Great one. There's seems to be another way Jimmy, where I can get a cc at Ayudhaya with a 40K limit. That'ld be ok, since that's all I need. I'll keep reporting on progress on this one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grabii Posted March 18, 2004 Report Share Posted March 18, 2004 They are definitely factoring in a huge amount of bad debt and non-performing loans. When the crash hit in 1997 everybody who was anybody simply ceased paying, and they're still shuffling the old debts around trying to collect what they can and writing most of it off. The foreclosure laws have been updated since then, but it's still a new and relatively un-tested system, and the 'VIP buddy-system' still makes it relatively easy for 'influencial' people to borrow and relatively difficult to collect from if they don't want to repay. The average person pays the price for this and, as at the museums, parks, and historical sites, the foreigner pays 10 times the price. Grabii torrenova said:... Looking at their fees and interest charges, this seems likely as they are probably having to factor in a huge amount of bad debt and non performing loans. ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soongmak Posted March 18, 2004 Report Share Posted March 18, 2004 Limbo, if it makes you feel any beter, they do the same tricks back in the Netherlands. I wanted to make my GF joint beneficiary of my bank account, but it was refused since she was on a temporary visa. My bank account had a credit facility of 2,500 euro's and they didn't want to give credit to foreigners on a temporary visa. When I protested that I was also beneficiary of the bank account and that they would have two persons instead of one personally liable for paying back a possible (!) debt, didn't make a difference either. I guess it's impossible to share a bank account. So much for the civilized west. Cheers, soongmak Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThaiHome Posted March 18, 2004 Report Share Posted March 18, 2004 "are a wife, baby and a house ties?" No, I would not consider them ties. I doubt the house is in your name. You tried to say this decision was based on racism and what I am saying it is not, it is their version of risk management. If you were a banker in your home country, would you loan money to someone that is on, at most a one year visa, working at job that pays maybe a quarter of what that person could make in their home country? From an objective, non-emotional point of view, you would have to question why the person is there in first place and certainly would expect to leave at some time, sooner then later. TH Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lopburi3 Posted March 18, 2004 Report Share Posted March 18, 2004 I guess it's impossible to share a bank account. So much for the civilized west. Why not just get a joint account without credit? Have had no problem getting joint account in USA; with wife living in Thailand. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nervous_Dog Posted March 18, 2004 Report Share Posted March 18, 2004 I have a mate who has a joint account with his wife. Any cheques he wanted to deposit had to be in both names! This was even though they could both withdraw independantly! Have to agree with HighThai though, it is not racism, but a form of credit risk. JB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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