TotallyOz Posted September 4, 2010 Posted September 4, 2010 As you may have been informed already, VISA has suspended their connection with the ePassporte VISA program. According to those in California, this is a problem with Visa and not the bank. They say it should be resolved next week. If you were sending your BF money via Epassporte, he may not be able to use it. Just a heads up for anyone who uses Epassporte. Quote
Guest Posted September 4, 2010 Posted September 4, 2010 E-mail from them: Dear ePassporte Account Holders, Please be advised that, at 12:00 PM PDT today, September 2, 2010, we were notified that effective immediately, Visa International has suspended our banking partner's (St. Kitts Nevis Anguilla National Bank) ePassporte Visa program. The ePassporte e-Wallet program continues to be up and running, except funds cannot be transferred between your Visa Account and your e-Wallet. At this time ePassporte can no longer issue Visa Cards, and the ability for our Account Holders to make point of sale purchases and withdraw funds from ATMs has also been suspended. At this time we do not know why this drastic action was taken by Visa. To us, it is unconscionable that such action would be taken without the opportunity for ePassporte to fully understand Visa's reasons and to be able to take all steps necessary to keep our program running the way it has so successfully done for over 7 years. But that is what Visa has done. As soon as we have more information we will be in contact with you. In the meantime please be assured that your funds are safe. We are very sorry for the short notice and apologize for any inconvenience this may cause. The ePassporte team is working diligently to rectify this situation. We kindly ask you to bear with us while we work through this issue. Please feel free to contact us via the message center or at our call center, should you have any questions, comments or concerns. Thank You, Christopher Mallick Quote
PattayaMale Posted September 4, 2010 Posted September 4, 2010 Something a bit similar has happened with capital one. A friend told me last night that he had sent $5000 to Bangkok bank. The money was refused by Bangkok bank even though this friend had use this system many times. The problem seems to be a computer glitch in capital one system. Apparently it gets some of the initials of the person's name wrong. Bangkok bank will not accept the transfer unless the name is exactly the same as they have on record. Quote
Guest cdnmatt Posted September 8, 2010 Posted September 8, 2010 Yeah, this actually affects me quite negatively. I'm sitting up in Issan, and about 80% of my income comes in via ePassporte right now. Now all of a sudden, I can't get any money. Then getting setup with additional processors while living in Thailand is a pain in the ass. You have to use someone you know in Canada as a proxy, get everyone done through their address, have them FedEx everything to Thailand, etc. ePass is just such a convienient way to get paid. Now I'm screwing around giving everyone deals & discounts, trying to convince them to send Western Union. Kim thinks it's great though, and is loving it. He gets sent off to Western Union every couple days now by himself to collect. Makes him feel like a big man. (And no, he's not stealing any money). Quote
Guest travelerjim Posted September 8, 2010 Posted September 8, 2010 Yeah, this actually affects me quite negatively. I'm sitting up in Issan, and about 80% of my income comes in via ePassporte right now. Now all of a sudden, I can't get any money. Now I'm screwing around giving everyone deals & discounts, trying to convince them to send Western Union. Kim thinks it's great though, and is loving it. He gets sent off to Western Union every couple days now by himself to collect. Makes him feel like a big man. (And no, he's not stealing any money). Damn! Western Union IS EXPENSIVE!! Maybe I am not fully understanding what the problem is...but, Is there not another less expensive way to receive $$$ ...Baht etc ? Have you tried PayPal? They can be set up here in Thailand, linked to you Thai bank account. tj Quote
Guest beachlover Posted September 9, 2010 Posted September 9, 2010 Yeah, what about PayPal? Didn't TravelerJim just set up a PayPal account for donations? Is there an issue linking your Thai bank account to PayPal? That's the only obstacle I can think of. Quote
Moses Posted September 9, 2010 Posted September 9, 2010 There are MoneyBookers and WebMoney systems - they work in Thailand as well... Quote
Guest cdnmatt Posted September 10, 2010 Posted September 10, 2010 Damn! Western Union IS EXPENSIVE!! I know. They pickup the fee though, but I generally have to throw something extra for free in. Have you tried PayPal? They can be set up here in Thailand, linked to you Thai bank account. Canadian PayPal account is currently locked, but working on getting that resolved. Thailand one will be impossible. Had one a few years back, and not only does it take about 10 days to receive funds (versus 3 days to Canada), they're alot more stringent on verification & restrictions. They'll require a proof of address in my name, which I don't have. The lease is in Kim's name (and all in Thai), and the utility bills don't have a name on them at all. They're just a small 4x6 slip of paper with account#. That, and the utilities are in the previous tenants name, not ours. It's fine, and just temporary. Got a couple accounts and debit cards already setup, and being sent to Canada right now. My friend will FedEx them to Thailand once he gets them. Much easier to setup accounts if you use a Canadian address, versus a Thai address. Besides, as the old saying goes, there's a silver lining in every storm. That's most definitely true in this case. Quote
Guest travelerjim Posted September 10, 2010 Posted September 10, 2010 Yeah, what about PayPal? Didn't TravelerJim just set up a PayPal account for donations? Is there an issue linking your Thai bank account to PayPal? That's the only obstacle I can think of. bl, Yes, but I set it up for USA, not Thailand due to time constraints. Much easier for USA set up, have funds received in US$, then withdraw using AEON here in Thailand with NO usual 150 baht fee found at most all Thai banks for withdrawal. My USA bank has NO charges...as I can use Capital One Bank to withdraw US$ here in Thailand...using AEON ATM's... CapOne charges NO fees - so I can bring US$ to Thailand with zero fees. tj Quote
Guest beachlover Posted September 11, 2010 Posted September 11, 2010 Ah, fair enough. I guess PayPal is actually pretty challenging for Thailand then. No wonder so many people use Western Union. Quote
