Why are Bangkok Bank and AIS apps locking foreigners out of their accounts?

My opinion.. just go in up to the bank and get yourself validated move on. this is Thailand not your country. Don't make assumptions and don't judge it by what happens at home. there are some hoops living here that you have to jump through. instead of complaining about it just do it and move on.

6 months ago I got a letter from my bank, I took MRT to the bank with my passport in hand and 30 minutes later most of it waiting for my turn I was done. It wasn't a big deal. they are trying to make sure that their customers are proper. The same you would do if you own a business and had questionable customers.

I lost my ATM card some time ago, so when I went to the bank to replace it, I gave them my telephone info, my visa, and whatever else they needed.

I've been banking with Bangkok Bank and KBank for many years without any problem what so ever. I'm been with dtac for many years,and no hassle.I'm doing transactions online every month,and like I said,no problems.

Thats why cash is king! Ive never has a problem or paid chump fees with cash.

My Thai missus bank Kasikorn refused a transfer through wise and she had a problem opening an account with BBK bank, but let her eventually.

Happened to me as well in pattaya. Took all my money out.

I had the same with kasikorn in April, went and got a new sim for easiness went to kasikorn branch updated all.... now 1st of July same things happened.

It AIS issue .... Updated my pre-paid account on Monday (new passport) ..Message Success... SCB send message last evening advising Easy App will be closed on July 14th because AIS records (when activated SIM the sales assistant didn't include me full middle name) don't match with SCB....

Called SCB they advised it is phone operator related problem...

Can't update via AIS app, so off to see them in person..

SCB said I don't need to send new details to them as it will be done by regulatory authority...

I bought TRUE sim with my passport from 7Eleven not from some hazy agent. I used it 4 years before TRUE send me sms my sim is connected to some other name and soon my bank app stop working

Good ol' Thailand.

I have AIS and SCB have no problems

Thai bs..makes me go to costa rica..

Just banks being overly cautious. Banks have a term called KYC. "Know your customer". Every few years or so, things like this come up. It can be irritating, but better than being victimize by fraud or unknowingly facilitating money laundering/illegal activities etc.

Went to BB 4th July to show printed form from AIS to validate name to mobile number to bank account alp good after walking out of bank come the 8th July locked out of bank account will withdraw monies and f**k them off

Cash is King!

The question now is whether they will also close down the bank accounts after they temporarily suspend service.

I've said for months now that unless you have a specific need for a thai bank account don't get one. I use HSBC Global account. It works with all payment systems like tap and go, line pay, QR payments, google pay, samsung wallet and no ATM fees, lowest rate for the whole month of payment, so if I buy something today and tomorrow the exchange rate is better I'll get that rate. The card also has some benefits like lounge access and its a multi currency account. 12 years in Thailand and never had a thai account except for my marriage visa, that account just sits there and i dont touch it. also I don't need to worry about tax. Maybe this might be worth looking into for some of you.

Same thing happened to me… called my Thai family ( works in mobile phone shop) nothing she could do about this issue. Have to redo all when in Thailand 🇹🇭

The very reason I don't want to risk a big chunk for the retirement visa,in a Thai bank..

I’ve just learned to accept it. It makes things a lot easier.

Used my no problem but updated my info before when they asked

Got the notice from Bangkok Bank. Called their customer service line and told them all my stuff matches. They didn’t have an answer. Someone called me back the next day and said I had to go prove ownership of my number and get a letter from my mobile carrier. Take it to the branch and provide the details and the letter. Wasted my time and spent 3 hours doing this and the bank employee said that, as I suspected, all of my information matched. Bangkok Bank app still locked me out today. Did what they required me to do to keep the app from locking but they still did it anyways.

They don't want people living their, that's why they make things difficult for those that do.

I have the Bangkok Bank app on my phone. The bank account belongs to my Thai son and he installed the app on my phone. I am now in Belgium, using the app from time to time to transfer money to my kids in Thailand with no sim card in my phone. I hope I will not be locked out as well.

Received the notification as well today. Turns out that if you renewed your passport at some point after registering with either your bank or a mobile services provider, you need to update your info with both. My bank account was updated with the new passport number a few years ago because you need to show it everytime you visit for immigration purposes or tiny little changes to your account. But AIS or True or DTAC? I never need to see them, I do everything I need on my app, hence I never updated my passport info with them. It wasn't asked or required.

The thing is, this crossreferencing system by the government to avoid scamming/abuse/cybercrime and to track users was made for Thai nationals, who use a permanent, National ID Card number that never expires. For foreigners, the info they rely on is passport info.

So, if you renew your passport at some point and fail to update both your bank and your mobile service provider, the crossreference will produce a missmatch and will trigger the account freezing notification.

So tomorrow I need to go to AIS, update my passport info, get the letter, and go to the Bank. And when I get a new passport in 7 years, I'll have to update both my bank and my mobile service provider again, as I guess they will do these kind of crossreference between Bank Data and Mobile Phone Data every 6-12 months to root out the possibly fake/scam accounts.

Ideally, long term expats here would get a permanent ID number that would never expire, and we would avoid this kind of issues. We can't blame the banks or the mobile service providers, this was asked of them by the government. And the government doesn't care about non-Thai nationals, it's their problem to fix. At least, that seems to be the mentality.

Perhaps, in the future, Thai government will start issuing some permanent ID with a permanent number for non-Thai nationals, and this number will be used for this kind of stuff, just like Vietnam is doing right now. But at the moment, we're stuck in this imperfect system.

The most annoying thing is that the info we got some months ago was that the NAME had to match in both the Bank and the Mobile service account. They never mentionned the Passport info. I even called Bangkok Bank 3-4 months ago to make sure I wouldn't get flagged, and the lady told me : "As long as your name is spelled the same way and matches in both accounts, you're good to go". I think most of the staff didn't even know about the Passport number having to match. Poor communication, poor transparency from the government doesn't help in this case, obviously.

My two cents.

Same as me. Happened today. Received the same message when I open the bkk bank app. Damn it

A few weeks ago, my visa agent alerted me to go to my account opening Bangkok Bank branch to verify and update all my details. I provided my passport copy, residence certificate copy, Thai driver’s license, home country ID and driver’s licence. Signed a bunch of forms too. Basically to give proof to show I am who I say I am.

There have been warnings about this for several months by the banks

Your a guest here, follow THEIR rules or go.

KYC/AML requirements. Basic bank security updates.

A month or so ago I read about this issue and pre-empted being blocked by calling in at Kasikorn. They knew nothing about it so called the service centre. I was assured there's no problem, my name matched the SIM card details and my bank application.

This week without warning my bank locked me out and a message read I have to attend my bank branch to verify my id which I did. Signed umpteen tablet signature blocks, had a photo taken, showed my passport, spoke to the call centre, had to provide my previous overseas address and was issued a new passbook for some reason. The app worked again. The following day, blocked. Message, call to branch and take letter/form from SIM card provider stating name, address and id document number.

Back to the bank and went through the process again...

So what is triggering this? No issue for me

I have had Bangkok bank for almost 20 years.

I am done with them useless bungling in my opinion. I leave only enough to keep the bank account open.

same happend to me with the Kasikorn bank, i got my Ais number useing my pink ID, that didn`t match with my passport number.

Same problem tried scanning for payment after 00:00 last night what a ballache

On hearing that they were going to do this, I just paid the AIS shop 1 baht for a confirmation slip that I gave to the bank. No problems.

I also got a notification today on SCB app. I immediately transferred all of money to my other bank.

Men that sucks...When and where did you open you bangkokbank account?