Answereda year ago

What should I do if my Thai eVisa payment keeps failing despite using a valid international debit card?

Thai eVisa Payment Issues Charles Schwab Travel Notice International Debit Card Banking Problems

Vanessa ******

asked Jul 14, 2025

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I finally submitted my application now that I landed in Vietnam but it keeps saying payment failed or canceled. I only have one international debit card with Charles Schwab that I’ve taken and used in over 12 different countries with no issue. I have a travel notice set for both Vietnam and Thailand and I am currently using it for other purchases.

I’ve tried safari, chrome, DuckDuckGo, laptop and mobile and keep getting failed payment. I’m so stressed out does anyone have a solution please? I’m on hold with my bank but their headquarters are in Texas and no one has answered yet. I want to give up.

EDIT: the Thai eVisa payment processing center is a Thai bank however its address is located in HONG KONG. I called my bank and they approved the charge and added Hong Kong to my travel alerts in addition to Vietnam and Thailand. 

According to the Schwab representative I called, the eVisa website also used the current address zip code for the billing address - which is so nonsensical bc if I have to be in the country of the embassy I’m applying to why would they use the current address zip code for the billing zip code? Why not ask for that when taking down payment information? 

Anyway, hope this helps any future applicants

Answer summary

The user is experiencing repeated payment failures on their Thai eVisa application from Vietnam, despite having alerted their bank about their travel status. They have tried multiple devices and browsers without success. A representative from Charles Schwab has suggested that the eVisa site's payment processing might be impacted due to its Hong Kong location. Commenters advise ensuring that travel notifications are updated for all relevant locations and suggest alternative payment methods or contacting the bank for transaction approval.

14 repliesnewest first

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Anonymous ******************

I dont know if you have apple product but I used apple pay credit card because all my normal credit cards were flagging the unusual purchase. I would try calling schwab to single out the exact transaction and ask them to approve this vendor and it should work on the next try. Good luck!

a year ago

Vanessa ******

Anonymous participant 396 that’s exactly what I did. Thank you

a year ago

Mark *******

@Vanessa *****

set your schwab card travel notification to Hong Kong, Vietnam and Thailand just in case. I had the same issue.

a year ago

Vanessa ******

@Mark ******

yes this turned out to be the problem.

a year ago

Anonymous ******************

Have you tried contacting Charles Schwab to see if they can pre-approve the transaction?

a year ago

Vanessa ******

Anonymous participant 623 yes it was bc the payment processing company is located in Hong Kong and not Vietnam or Thailand

a year ago

John *********

It does that sometimes, their systems especially regarding payment are clunky to say the least. Check if the payment has gone through your bank account yet.

Have you got vpn on?

a year ago

Vanessa ******

@John ********

it’s turned off on both my phone and laptop

a year ago

Dnatjugweme ************

Their payment processing institution is not in Thailand nor Vietnam. I'm not sure, but I think I've heard Hong Kong.

a year ago

Vanessa ******

@Dnatjugweme ***********

tysm for this because I called my bank and they denied it bc I didn’t have Hong Kong on my travel alerts AND the website was using my current address zip code which is the zip code of the hotel I’m staying at in Vietnam and it didn’t match my address on file with Schwab. They overrided that for me and it went through.

a year ago

Jonas *************

@Vanessa *****

well zip code thing seems strange because only American companies use zip code when they charge a credit card. But for foreign transaction no other country use zip codes or anything else.

International credit card transactions are done purely the credit card number the expiry date and the "secret" three digits on the back... Secure. Lol

a year ago

Jonas *************

@Vanessa *****

or debit card (visa mastercard etc)... What did you use?

a year ago

Vanessa ******

@Jonas ************

I didn’t use a credit card

a year ago

Dnatjugweme ************

@Vanessa *****

No worries, I wasn't sure anymore if it was in Hong Kong, but I knew it wasn't in Thailand, and obviously not in Vietnam either. All's well that ends well.

a year ago