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Accessing Cash
[top]ATM
For simplicity’s sake, and assuming you aren’t going to be earning any money locally, the best
thing to do is probably use your bank card from home – obviously check you’ll be able to, but
there can’t be many cards that can’t be used abroad nowadays. It might be worth opening a new
account at home with a bank that offers good rates on overseas transactions.
Many banks charge an international transaction fee, in addition to an ATM withdrawal charge. These
charges can be substantial.
However, if you shop around, you may find banks that don’t charge such fee. Nationwide in UK is
one. Bank of America (US) has a relationship with China Construction Bank, and there is no fee for
withdrawing from Construction Bank ATMs with Bank of American ATM cards.
If you are from Germany, your EC card will work in China and you can withdraw cash. The fees are
quite low too
[top]Wire Transfer
Wire transfer, also known as T/T, is the fastest way to receive a large amount of money. You need
the destination bank’s number, also know as the swift code and your account no. Banks usually
charge from USD20-USD40 one time for outgoing transfer. There is no limit as far as I know to how
much you can transfer. Large corporations transfer millions all the time through wire. Incoming
transfers have no charges.
Transferring out of China, however, is more complicated (to be discussed).
For wire, Bank of China is the quickest. Some of the other banks wire through Bank of China and
will take much longer. Bank of China transfer usually get through the next day.
One thing to note: make sure your name matches that in your passport! If you have a middle name on
your passport, but no middle name on your wire transfer, the transaction may not go through.
Exchange rates through the Bank of China is close to the market rate. If you try to withdraw your
cash in your native currency before exchanging to RMB, they will charge you 1%. If you convert
first to RMB, then there is no charge.
[top]Opening a Bank Account
If you are in China for China for a long-term stay, it may be more convenient to open up a local
bank account. The biggest banks in China are Bank of China (中国银行), Industrial and
Commercial Bank (ICBC – 工商银行), Agricultural Bank (农业银行), Construction Bank (CCB -
建设银行), Bank of Communications 交通银行, and China Merchants Bank (CMB – 招商银行).
Although probably all of the above banks can receive foreign wire transfers and exchange your
foreign currency, Bank of China (BoC) has special authority in deal in foreign currency. In
particular, for depositing a check from a foreign bank account, BoC charges a much lower
processing fee (about RMB10) than the other local banks and the processing time is much shorter
(5-6 weeks vs. 8 or more weeks), though still too long.
Bank of China accounts were always limited to the province/region where you opened them.
All you need to open a bank account is your passport, an address and a phone number. It could even
be a friend’s address. They don’t check and won’t be mailing you anything. Though it might be
intimidating if you don’t know Chinese, BofC has staff that speaks English and has many
non-Chinese-speaking customers..
For a long-term stay, it may be preferable to open a local bank account and use the debit card
they issue. To transfer money from foreign accounts, you can either wire them over or deposit a
personal check paid to yourself. Wire probably can happen within a day. Depositing a personal
check takes much longer, about a 1-month turnaround, but the fee is much less for a personal
check, less than US$10 paid to BofC vs. US$30 you would have to pay the banks on the two ends for
the wire. Once the foreign currency is in your BofC, you can convert it into RMB as needed.
Many banks have nowadays online banking. ICBC has an English interface, which makes handling
easier. CMB has Chinese only. HSBC has also an English interface, but it is not really a “local”
bank. Their deposit minimum now is RMB 100,000 – or you pay RMB 150/month account fees.
For sending money within China check the transfer fees. They are different from inner city and out
of city. They can be as high as 1%, usually capt at RMB50
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Contributors: flameproof, gato
Created by gato, 10th October 2007 at 01:08 PM
Last edited by flameproof, 22nd October 2007 at 04:24 PM
21 Comments , 2968 Views
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