ATMs infuriating lately

ផោមក្លិនស្អុយ · Post by **ផោមក្លិនស្អុយ** » Mon Jul 03, 2017 8:02 am

I rarely use an ATM in Cambodia. I have a card but it's only used for emergencies.
I use my Khmer bank account and transfer money from the UK. I go into the branch and lift enough money to last a couple of weeks - asking for whatever denominations of note I want.

Before I had my Khmer account it was a pain in the ass travelling around looking for the ATMs with cheapest withdrawal rate. And if I wanted to make a big purchase I had to withdraw money on 3 or 4 consecutive days.
I can't be bothered with all that.

Lucky Lucan · Post by **Lucky Lucan** » Mon Jul 03, 2017 8:05 am

Going into a bank and waiting on a counter to withdraw is a total waste of time unless you need something special done.

ali baba · Post by **ali baba** » Mon Jul 03, 2017 8:23 am

You can get a larger sum of money and get it split up into multiple denominations, which can be useful.

drwahwah · Post by **drwahwah** » Mon Jul 03, 2017 8:55 am

slavedog wrote:I'm a fan of ABA, but their fees for receiving inbound transfers seem rather high. I closed my anz account recently, but am considering opening another one with them just for the purpose of receiving overseas payments. I will be doing it grudgingly.

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ALso a ( recent) fan of ABA but wasshocked to laern they charge min of $5 to transfer to another Cambodia Bank. Even ANZ do not charge this amount.

Miguelito · Post by **Miguelito** » Mon Jul 03, 2017 9:16 am

billythekid wrote:I am one of the old guard, having never in all my live used credit / debit cards nor ATM cards to withdraw money. If I need dollares, I ask my wife and in general she is my willing finance minister.
Of course nowadays I am not changing this beautiful working arrangement.

Saying "I don't used credit/debit/ATM cards, but my wife does, so she gives me the money", is like saying "I don't use FB, but my wife does, so add her as a friend and I'll message you on that later on."

Miguelito · Post by **Miguelito** » Mon Jul 03, 2017 9:28 am

violet wrote:Not a requirement of my countries, and I was not aware it was a requirement of the USA. Glad I'm not a Kennedy.

I'm sure there have been a few discussions of that on here. It wasn't a big deal for expats in Cambodia, for a while, as the banks here didn't report back to the U.S. That all changed last year with an agreement signed by the government. It is a massive pain in the ass for the banks here, and has caused some to not allow U.S. citizens from signing up.

United States persons are required to file an FBAR if:

1. the United States person had a financial interest in or signature authority over at least one financial account located outside of the United States; and
2. the aggregate value of all foreign financial accounts exceeded $10,000 at any time during the calendar year reported.

United States person includes U.S. citizens; U.S. residents; entities, including but not limited to, corporations, partnerships, or limited liability companies, created or organized in the United States or under the laws of the United States; and trusts or estates formed under the laws of the United States.

As you see, it also applies if you are a signatory on an account, let's say your work account. However, if someone wanted to open an account here, say with ABA, and use it for local transactions and ATMs, they can just keep it under $10k to avoid the filing requirements.

violet · Post by **violet** » Mon Jul 03, 2017 9:33 am

I probably didn't give attention to previous discussions, as it didn't affect me, and I wouldn't have general interest while living out of the country

ផោមក្លិនស្អុយ · Post by **ផោមក្លិនស្អុយ** » Mon Jul 03, 2017 9:50 am

Lucky Lucan wrote:Going into a bank and waiting on a counter to withdraw is a total waste of time unless you need something special done.

Stay away from Mondays and Fridays and i'm normally in and out within ten mins.

I've just arrived at the bank now (for different purposes) and looks like I'll have a 20-30 minute wait

Alex · Post by **Alex** » Mon Jul 03, 2017 2:58 pm

I use ABA and Wing, for different purposes. I think that's a great combination and it was dead easy for me to open these accounts, even NOT living in Cambodia (i.e. being merely a frequent visitor). Beats walking around with loads of cash or having to pay outrageous ATM fees for using foreign ATM cards.

Post by **Felgerkarb** » Mon Jul 03, 2017 6:48 pm

Alex wrote:I use ABA and Wing, for different purposes. I think that's a great combination and it was dead easy for me to open these accounts, even NOT living in Cambodia (i.e. being merely a frequent visitor). Beats walking around with loads of cash or having to pay outrageous ATM fees for using foreign ATM cards.

Ya, I am leaning towards banking at ABA as my business is picking up and I like their bill pay and wing connections. Now that their majority holder is a Canadian bank and they are expanding everywhere, I feel a bit more confident.

RBD · Post by **RBD** » Mon Jul 03, 2017 10:56 pm

Felgerkarb wrote:
violet wrote:How about opening an ABA account and doing international transfers into it? If you have an aba debit card you can withdraw 1000 a day, with a visa platinum you can withdraw 10000 a day

Have been considering it. Maybe easier and less fees at this point. I just don't relish the paperwork to the American government for daring to have a foreign bank account.

You actually live here, but don't have a local bank account and use a US account for all withdrawals? Hmmmm - sounds like a very bad case of Khmerophobia.

Lucky Lucan · Post by **Lucky Lucan** » Mon Jul 03, 2017 11:10 pm

I think you need to read (back over?) the thread, all is explained.