From November 15th, people who want to deposit cash viacash deposit machines (CDMs) in Thailand will be required to identify themselves by inserting their credit or debit cards and entering their Personal Identification Number (PIN) or password.
The new measure has been introduced by the Anti-Money Laundering Office and will be applied to all commercial banks, to prevent the laundering of money earned from drug trafficking, illegal gambling or other criminal activity.
According to AMLO, the alternative for those who do not have a credit or debit card PIN or password for their bank accounts is to deposit their money and show their ID cards tobank tellers in the branch, which will incur service charges.
Many bank customers have expressed disagreement, via social media, with AMLO’s new measure, claiming that itunnecessarily increases the financial burden and inconvenience, because they will have to apply for debit cards.
The state-owned Krung Thai Bank is the first commercial bank to confirm the role-out of this new measure and a channel through which the public can seek more information.
So far, 11 commercial banks have approved the new measure, among them are the Krung Thai Bank, Siam Commercial Bank, Kasikorn Bank, Bangkok Bank, Bank of Ayudhya, TMBThanachart Bank, UOB Bank, CIMB Bank, the Government Savings Bank, the Government Housing Bank and Kiatnakin Phatra Bank.
