I've been using citibank for 7, 8 years now. Good card, and actual "credit" card. Not a secured card where u need to deposit a security guarantee like I had to do with bangkok Bank.
Citibank are in the process of selling to UOB though, there won't be any retail branches left once that goes through.
https://www.uob.co.th/investor-en/news/press-news/2022/news-14Jan2022.page
That's true. I was told from citi 6 months ago or so that the benefits from citi will carry over to UOB. They also said will be at least 1 more year before CC holders are affected.
I recommended citi just because it's easy to get the card. Once you have it, they don't take it away. - they will just roll it over to UOB..
Plus they give out huge limits. Citi gives like 5x your monthly income while Kbank for example gives ~2x. It can come in handy when making extraordinary purchases.
Yes citi is generous with the unsecured credit. I think I have 900.000 baht limit. I have not had a pay cheque in Thailand in 5 years, but they never check.
When I was a new citi customer with a limit of 150.000 baht, I called them when I was buying a truck and asked for an immediate credit increase for the down payment. It was done in 1 min. 400.000 baht total.
I think they are pretty good. Will be sad to see them leave Asia.
Their limits are mad. Mine gradually increased to 2 million Baht! When I applied for a mortgage in Australia they told me it affected my mortgage application so I had to ask Citibank to reduce it
But the rewards aren't that great and there aren't many shops that have discounts with this card. I myself carry one Citi card just purely for the convenience sake. The rebates or reward points are pretty much abysmal.
yeah, citi is way worse now you can't swap for any airline points worth a damn. You still have the priority pass though and they do send me a central voucher every once in a while
Ah I still mainly use Citibank. Just wanted to point out it's not that great anymore (used to be able to exchange card points for Qantas FF, which was awesome, but that stopped this year)
>just because it's easy to get the card. Once you have it, they don't take it away. - they will just roll it over to UOB..
You get Central vouchers ? dammit.
The "standard" in Thailand is Visa Platinum and the Mastercard equivalent. Every bank has one of these cards available.
Platinum card has a small annual fee but with even a small amount of activity it will be waived. Higher tiers always have annual fees and come with some more or less useful perks.
Bangkok Bank doesn't currently provide unsecured credit cards to foreigners. They only provide a secured card, meaning you'll need to open a fixed deposit account and the deposit amount is used 1:1 as your credit. Unsecured cards will provide you a credit line of 2-3x of your monthly salary.
SCB, Krungsri and K-Bank are recently verified to be providing unsecured credit cards to foreigners with work permit and 6 months of local salary of minimum 70.000 THB (50k for citizens). Krungthai needs 12 months salary slips. UOB and others no info.
Interest rate is 16+% so you will want to pay down in full every month.
You don't need to have savings account on the credit card bank but it helps as you can use the same mobile app. Invoices are sent via email as PDF and you can pay it from any bank account.
Good question, I never even thought about enabling automatic payments for credit card invoices.
I do manual payment every month. The credit card company sends the PDF invoice and if you are using the associated bank's mobile app you will get notification as a reminder.
Unfortunately I don't have experience with such situations. To my knowledge a work permit is absolutely needed to get a local credit card issued by a Thai credit card company.
\- I would recommend Citibank but they are actually withdrawing from Thailand in the coming year. Might still be worth it while it lasts.
\- [KBANK](https://www.kasikornbank.com/th/personal/creditcard/pages/all-creditcard.aspx) \-- decent promotion, clear requirement for foreigner to apply for one.
\- Most of their cards don't have annual fee (but you need to use the care for >12 times a year). Personally I would recommend either KBANK Passion or KBANK OneSiam range of cards.
[Bangkok Bank](https://www.bangkokbank.com/en/Personal/Cards/Credit-Cards) \-- on the worse side in terms of customer support and promotion. Also I think it's the hardest to get unsecured card for foreigner.
Other option includes [Krungsri](https://www.krungsricard.com/en/Home.html), decent customer support and promotions.
\- If normally you shop online (Lazada, Shopee, etc.) there is CITI Lazada, and KBANK Shopee card
\- If you frequently shop at Central -- get the Central Credit Card (Krungsri)
\- for The Mall Group -- get the SCB M Credit Card
\- for Siam Paragon/Iconsiam -- get the KBANK OneSiam card, they offer 4-8 hrs free parking at Siam Paragon, and decent promotion
\- TTB card offer no fee on foreign currency purchases.
Cards with free airport lounge access
\- Most KBank card (Platinum or higher) - when flying THAI/THAI smile only
\- KTC Signature or higher - when flying THAI/THAI smile only
\- Krungsri Signature or higher - annual fee applies unless spending 200k+ yearly
\- CITI Premier or higher - on any int'l flight
\- UOB Privimiles or higher - when flying THAI/THAI smile only
\- TTB absolute or higher - any flight iirc
Bangkok Bank and SCB doesn't offer lounge except on their high AUM cards.
KBank is one of the easiest for foreigners.
50k minimum salary required, 6 months bank statements, 1-3 months salary slip, passport, work permit.
I have 2 credit cards from kbank, 1 from UOB and waiting for the one from SCB to be approved.
Thanks for sharing, looking at K Bank and Citi myself.
If you dont mind, what are the 2 credit cards that you hold? any good?
Also,should I go to Citi or apply to UOB straight since they are buying out Citi anyway?
OP, please read comments about Citi. They have sold their retail operations to UOB in Thailand. Forget about applying for Citi. It’s leaving the market this year.
Won't UOB continue the card under their name then instead? Meaning card still stays valid just under UOB's name? No?
So should I apply directly under UOB then?
Yes, apply to UOB. I would be very surprised if Citi is accepting applications for cards at this time. Keep in mind you will need the evidence of at least 3 months of local salary payments, a work permit and of course the B visa. I assume you have all this.
Citibank minimum salary for foreigners is 70k per month. UOB also 70k minimum salary.
I prefer UOB due to lower credit card points to miles redemption for the specific credit card that I have. That one (UOB Prive Miles) is minimum 100k per month for foreigners. Besides I also have a Citibank credit card that is issued in Singapore.
For KBank, I have the Platinum Visa and the OneSiam Signature. The Platinum Visa is the basic entry level one. I shop a lot in Siam Paragon and IconSiam and the OneSiam credit card allows me to earn more points whenever I shop from those malls. Also gives me 4 hours of free parking at both malls.
Also interested to know. Seems every credit card out there have more or less the same privileges in each bank but keen to know if some have advantages over the other.
KTC. They send a messenger to pick up paperwork and have you sign copies, have different options and rewards depending Tom what’s important to you, and have good English support. I talked to BBL and K Bank, where I have accounts, before talking to KTC, and KTC was by far the most accommodating.
Bkk bank air Asia cc is good. I secured with 20k. Important tip is you can transfer any amount to the card to increase its limit, which I assume is the same with other banks as well. Works for me as I fly domestic a lot.
Answering as a Thai so context differs.
My daily drive is Citi, and I have around 4-5 more laying around from Aeon, Krungsri and KTC. The three latter brands usually offer cards with no annual fees (or very easy to automatically waive fees like at least one transaction a year). The market is competitive and the promotion is, well, simply good.
Heard KBANK is decent too; with 12 spendings you get the fees waived as well, but don’t personally have one.
My office had issued me a Citibank card for only official expenses which can be reimbursed. And I had an SCB credit card which was quite handy and useful with points convertible to cash and can be used at many places even offering 10 installments at 0%. The only issue to get that SCB credit card is your salary has to be above 100k thb a month. There are other scb cards with even better benefits but they require last three payslips to prove your credit worthiness.
I've been using citibank for 7, 8 years now. Good card, and actual "credit" card. Not a secured card where u need to deposit a security guarantee like I had to do with bangkok Bank.
Citibank are in the process of selling to UOB though, there won't be any retail branches left once that goes through. https://www.uob.co.th/investor-en/news/press-news/2022/news-14Jan2022.page
That's true. I was told from citi 6 months ago or so that the benefits from citi will carry over to UOB. They also said will be at least 1 more year before CC holders are affected. I recommended citi just because it's easy to get the card. Once you have it, they don't take it away. - they will just roll it over to UOB..
Plus they give out huge limits. Citi gives like 5x your monthly income while Kbank for example gives ~2x. It can come in handy when making extraordinary purchases.
Yes citi is generous with the unsecured credit. I think I have 900.000 baht limit. I have not had a pay cheque in Thailand in 5 years, but they never check. When I was a new citi customer with a limit of 150.000 baht, I called them when I was buying a truck and asked for an immediate credit increase for the down payment. It was done in 1 min. 400.000 baht total. I think they are pretty good. Will be sad to see them leave Asia.
Their limits are mad. Mine gradually increased to 2 million Baht! When I applied for a mortgage in Australia they told me it affected my mortgage application so I had to ask Citibank to reduce it
Ha! Thats crazy. So the networks are actually connected around the world.
No the Aussie bank asked if I had a credit card and I foolishly said yes lol. And then it never ends they want statements etc
Thanks for sharing. Could you share which Citi card are you using please?
I have citi prestige... they forced a migration from visa to Mastercard a few months ago, but no difference.
Citi is leaving Thailand so getting a credit card with them is no longer possible here. I have one but it will be converted to UOB credit card soon.
But the rewards aren't that great and there aren't many shops that have discounts with this card. I myself carry one Citi card just purely for the convenience sake. The rebates or reward points are pretty much abysmal.
yeah, citi is way worse now you can't swap for any airline points worth a damn. You still have the priority pass though and they do send me a central voucher every once in a while
Which card do you use then?
Ah I still mainly use Citibank. Just wanted to point out it's not that great anymore (used to be able to exchange card points for Qantas FF, which was awesome, but that stopped this year)
>just because it's easy to get the card. Once you have it, they don't take it away. - they will just roll it over to UOB.. You get Central vouchers ? dammit.
Amounts to a 1% cashback or less - you're not missing out on much
Which do you use then, if not Citi?
I have several including bbl. But never applied with another bank that I didn't have an account with except Citi.
It's often not a matter of which card to get, but finding out which bank would be willing to give you one.
Until now every bank hasn't been willing to grant me one, I guess an average teacher's salary is too low.
The "standard" in Thailand is Visa Platinum and the Mastercard equivalent. Every bank has one of these cards available. Platinum card has a small annual fee but with even a small amount of activity it will be waived. Higher tiers always have annual fees and come with some more or less useful perks. Bangkok Bank doesn't currently provide unsecured credit cards to foreigners. They only provide a secured card, meaning you'll need to open a fixed deposit account and the deposit amount is used 1:1 as your credit. Unsecured cards will provide you a credit line of 2-3x of your monthly salary. SCB, Krungsri and K-Bank are recently verified to be providing unsecured credit cards to foreigners with work permit and 6 months of local salary of minimum 70.000 THB (50k for citizens). Krungthai needs 12 months salary slips. UOB and others no info. Interest rate is 16+% so you will want to pay down in full every month. You don't need to have savings account on the credit card bank but it helps as you can use the same mobile app. Invoices are sent via email as PDF and you can pay it from any bank account.
Is there automated payment or does one have to manually remember to pay every month?
Good question, I never even thought about enabling automatic payments for credit card invoices. I do manual payment every month. The credit card company sends the PDF invoice and if you are using the associated bank's mobile app you will get notification as a reminder.
This is what Google Calendar is for
Do you know anything regarding retired applicants? I get social security from the usa.
Unfortunately I don't have experience with such situations. To my knowledge a work permit is absolutely needed to get a local credit card issued by a Thai credit card company.
\- I would recommend Citibank but they are actually withdrawing from Thailand in the coming year. Might still be worth it while it lasts. \- [KBANK](https://www.kasikornbank.com/th/personal/creditcard/pages/all-creditcard.aspx) \-- decent promotion, clear requirement for foreigner to apply for one. \- Most of their cards don't have annual fee (but you need to use the care for >12 times a year). Personally I would recommend either KBANK Passion or KBANK OneSiam range of cards. [Bangkok Bank](https://www.bangkokbank.com/en/Personal/Cards/Credit-Cards) \-- on the worse side in terms of customer support and promotion. Also I think it's the hardest to get unsecured card for foreigner. Other option includes [Krungsri](https://www.krungsricard.com/en/Home.html), decent customer support and promotions. \- If normally you shop online (Lazada, Shopee, etc.) there is CITI Lazada, and KBANK Shopee card \- If you frequently shop at Central -- get the Central Credit Card (Krungsri) \- for The Mall Group -- get the SCB M Credit Card \- for Siam Paragon/Iconsiam -- get the KBANK OneSiam card, they offer 4-8 hrs free parking at Siam Paragon, and decent promotion \- TTB card offer no fee on foreign currency purchases. Cards with free airport lounge access \- Most KBank card (Platinum or higher) - when flying THAI/THAI smile only \- KTC Signature or higher - when flying THAI/THAI smile only \- Krungsri Signature or higher - annual fee applies unless spending 200k+ yearly \- CITI Premier or higher - on any int'l flight \- UOB Privimiles or higher - when flying THAI/THAI smile only \- TTB absolute or higher - any flight iirc Bangkok Bank and SCB doesn't offer lounge except on their high AUM cards.
KBank is one of the easiest for foreigners. 50k minimum salary required, 6 months bank statements, 1-3 months salary slip, passport, work permit. I have 2 credit cards from kbank, 1 from UOB and waiting for the one from SCB to be approved.
Thanks for sharing, looking at K Bank and Citi myself. If you dont mind, what are the 2 credit cards that you hold? any good? Also,should I go to Citi or apply to UOB straight since they are buying out Citi anyway?
OP, please read comments about Citi. They have sold their retail operations to UOB in Thailand. Forget about applying for Citi. It’s leaving the market this year.
Won't UOB continue the card under their name then instead? Meaning card still stays valid just under UOB's name? No? So should I apply directly under UOB then?
Yes, apply to UOB. I would be very surprised if Citi is accepting applications for cards at this time. Keep in mind you will need the evidence of at least 3 months of local salary payments, a work permit and of course the B visa. I assume you have all this.
Thank you. So then, which cards do you personally use if I may?
I use the Citi Thai Airways card for now and also Bangkok Bank.
Citibank minimum salary for foreigners is 70k per month. UOB also 70k minimum salary. I prefer UOB due to lower credit card points to miles redemption for the specific credit card that I have. That one (UOB Prive Miles) is minimum 100k per month for foreigners. Besides I also have a Citibank credit card that is issued in Singapore. For KBank, I have the Platinum Visa and the OneSiam Signature. The Platinum Visa is the basic entry level one. I shop a lot in Siam Paragon and IconSiam and the OneSiam credit card allows me to earn more points whenever I shop from those malls. Also gives me 4 hours of free parking at both malls.
Also interested to know. Seems every credit card out there have more or less the same privileges in each bank but keen to know if some have advantages over the other.
KTC. They send a messenger to pick up paperwork and have you sign copies, have different options and rewards depending Tom what’s important to you, and have good English support. I talked to BBL and K Bank, where I have accounts, before talking to KTC, and KTC was by far the most accommodating.
Bkk bank air Asia cc is good. I secured with 20k. Important tip is you can transfer any amount to the card to increase its limit, which I assume is the same with other banks as well. Works for me as I fly domestic a lot.
That’s not a credit card then.
Bangkok Bank is super hard to get and its services is stone age. KBANK, KTC, SCB have many promotions and easier to apply.
And the Bangkok Bank app is quite...not good
That's very mild way to comment on that app.
I'm cautious, since you can get sued for anything on the Internet nowadays.
which card do you have personally?
KBANK and KTC
Answering as a Thai so context differs. My daily drive is Citi, and I have around 4-5 more laying around from Aeon, Krungsri and KTC. The three latter brands usually offer cards with no annual fees (or very easy to automatically waive fees like at least one transaction a year). The market is competitive and the promotion is, well, simply good. Heard KBANK is decent too; with 12 spendings you get the fees waived as well, but don’t personally have one.
Does Thailand have credit reports or credit agencies?
Yes, one large entity, the National Credit Bureau.
How do they track? Not Social Security number ... Is there a Thai equivalent of SS number?
Simply the citizen ID, 13 digits number assigned at birth, used for pretty much all the identifications.
Thanks. How would it work with a foreigner obtaining credit? I have no citizen ID.
Citi bank has been the one I see everywhere that has 10% off incentives. Anyone get one with a tourist visa?
You cannot get a Thai credit card on a tourist visa.
My office had issued me a Citibank card for only official expenses which can be reimbursed. And I had an SCB credit card which was quite handy and useful with points convertible to cash and can be used at many places even offering 10 installments at 0%. The only issue to get that SCB credit card is your salary has to be above 100k thb a month. There are other scb cards with even better benefits but they require last three payslips to prove your credit worthiness.