Vent: 3 weeks to fix a bank card issue that should have taken 30 minutes

I moved to Chiang Mai back in March and figured my online bank would be fine since I'd been using it for work for years. Then my card got flagged for fraud because I bought a bus ticket in Bangkok and a coffee in the same hour. The bank locked everything, and their video call support kept dropping me because of my hotel wifi. I spent 11 different chat sessions over 22 days trying to prove I was actually me, sending passport photos and utility bills from a place I don't even own. Finally got it unlocked yesterday after a manager reviewed my case, but I had to borrow money from a friend to pay my co-working desk fee. Has anyone else dealt with a bank that treats moving around like a crime scene? What do you use for primary banking that actually works overseas?

1 comments

1 Comment

sarah22927d ago

Banks are stuck in this weird mindset that anyone moving around is automatically suspicious, but nomads and remote workers are like a whole normal part of the economy now. I watched a friend get frozen out of his account for two weeks just because he logged in from Seoul after using it in Manila for a year. The real problem is these systems are built for people who stay put, so any change in pattern trips the fraud alarm, and then you're stuck proving you're you while they hold your money hostage. It's like they never updated their idea of what a customer looks like, even though half the people in Chiang Mai are doing exactly what you're doing. Have you looked into getting a local Thai account as a backup, or do you have a second online bank that might be less jumpy?