China - Chase bank in China?

Just got off the phone with Chase. They claim that my debit card will not work at all in China, though I have heard
From people who are there that it may work. Does anyone have any experience in this department?

tag - curious to know as well.

Just got off the phone with Chase. They claim that my debit card will not work at all in China, though I have heard
From people who are there that it may work. Does anyone have any experience in this department?
I used my chase BA card in china last summer. works fine.

I used my chase BA card in china last summer. works fine.

What bank's ATM did you try?
China commerical? bank of China?

See if this sticky credit card thread over China Forum (http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/china-613/) helps:

Using Credit Cards in China (http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/china/1146772-using-credit-cards-china-great-cc-rip-off-dynamic-currency-conversion.html)

I think the point may have been that the debit functionality won't be there. You can use it as a credit card, as an atm card, but not as a debit card.

As this question is specific to a destination, let's shift this over the China forum for further discussion. Thanks! :) /JY1024, TravelBuzz co-moderator

I think the point may have been that the debit functionality won't be there. You can use it as a credit card, as an atm card, but not as a debit card.

This is the correct interpretation. More specifically, and assuming the card is on the VISA/MC network:
1) A Chase Credit Card can be used as a normal credit card (watch out for DCC, see sticky at top of China forum), or get a cash advance out of an ATM or at an in-person bank teller counter.
2) A Chase Debit/ATM card may be used to get cash out of an ATM (Chase will normally levy a fee for this). But it cannot be used as a debit card.

I rarely used my Chase ATM card because of the fee hit, preferring to use an alternative instead. But it certainly worked fine, as I recall I used it variously at ATM's of Bank of China, ICBC, China Construction Bank, Bank of Communications.

Best ATM option for withdrawing cash (in China) is to use BOA Visa debit card, no fee from any ATM that belongs to China Construction Bank (widely available in most cities in China). If you don't have an account with BOA, you can open a basic no fee checking account (eBanking) then use online ACH at the BOA site to transfer in some money from Chase before you fly out to China. Keep in mind that there is a daily ATM withdrawal limit and the amount could vary, e.g., up to 2500 or 5000RMB/day in Shanghai.

Best credit card option is Discover card (processed via UnionPay in China) or other credit cards that have no foreign exchange fee (but do watch out for DCC as eluded by another poster).

I'm a Chase bank customer. You can certainly use your Chase card at any ATM (unfortunately Chase takes a big bite) but can't use it as a debit card there. I rarely use my Chase ATM card due to the cost but had no choice once when my Schwab card wouldnt work at a BOC ATM.

I personally always just carry cash in China and try to avoid using my credit cards except at hotels.

Best ATM option for withdrawing cash (in China) is to use BOA Visa debit card, no fee from any ATM that belongs to China Construction Bank (widely available in most cities in China). If you don't have an account with BOA, you can open a basic no fee checking account (eBanking) then use online ACH at the BOA site to transfer in some money from Chase before you fly out to China. Keep in mind that there is a daily ATM withdrawal limit and the amount could vary, e.g., up to 2500 or 5000RMB/day in Shanghai.


Note that the daily withdrawal limit on almost all chinese atms is not a daily limit, but rather a 'this withdrawal just now' limit. I often withdraw 10k from an ATM where the limit is 2500, but just 4 times -- don't even need to take my card out, but it won't spit out more than 2500 in one go. For the BoA card, you can set what daily withdrawal limit you want -- and it's fairly generous if you want it to be.

tb

Many Merchants Bank ATM's around China are preprogrammed to give you RMB 3000 per transaction option. There are not as many of them around China as the Big Four State Banks, though. Foreign cards usually work well in them.

Despite having set a higher daily limit (USD$1500/day, verified in online BOA account profile), my experience is that I can only withdraw up to 5000RMB per day (i.e., 2 transactions) from China Construction Bank ATMs in Shanghai. If I try to take another 2500RMB, it fails and tells me that I'm over the limit. Not sure if its because there needs be a larger buffer between USD to RMB daily limits for foreign withdraws, as I don't maintain a high balance in my BOA account -- I use it only to channel thru the cash amounts that I might need while traveling. If I need a larger cash amount for later use, I'd just take cash from the ATM each day for a few days. That said, many purchases in China can be made by credit cards, and my Discover card has been quite useful (I also carry with me the Chase Sapphire Preferred visa card as a backup).

Note that the daily withdrawal limit on almost all chinese atms is not a daily limit, but rather a 'this withdrawal just now' limit. I often withdraw 10k from an ATM where the limit is 2500, but just 4 times -- don't even need to take my card out, but it won't spit out more than 2500 in one go. For the BoA card, you can set what daily withdrawal limit you want -- and it's fairly generous if you want it to be.

tb

Despite having set a higher daily limit (USD$1500/day, verified in online BOA account profile), my experience is that I can only withdraw up to 5000RMB per day (i.e., 2 transactions) from China Construction Bank ATMs in Shanghai. If I try to take another 2500RMB, it fails and tells me that I'm over the limit. Not sure if its because there needs be a larger buffer between USD to RMB daily limits for foreign withdraws, as I don't maintain a high balance in my BOA account -- I use it only to channel thru the cash amounts that I might need while traveling. If I need a larger cash amount for later use, I'd just take cash from the ATM each day for a few days. That said, many purchases in China can be made by credit cards, and my Discover card has been quite useful (I also carry with me the Chase Sapphire Preferred visa card as a backup).

I can't recall what my ratio of 'withdrawn' to 'allowed to withdraw' was: I now earn in RMB, so don't use my BoA visa for those purposes. But I'm pretty sure that I withdrew more than 5000RMB in one day from my BoA account at least once, when getting my rental deposit.

tb

ATM - fine
Use as credit card - fine
Use as debit card - don't expect it to work

Note that the daily withdrawal limit on almost all chinese atms is not a daily limit, but rather a 'this withdrawal just now' limit. I often withdraw 10k from an ATM where the limit is 2500, but just 4 times -- don't even need to take my card out, but it won't spit out more than 2500 in one go. For the BoA card, you can set what daily withdrawal limit you want -- and it's fairly generous if you want it to be.

tb

Back in 2009, The CCB ATMs I used in Shenzen has $1500 rmb limit. So I switched back and forth between two ATMs four times using my BOA debit card and withdrew $6000 rmb in one day. It seems trueblu can go around the ATM limit by not even taking the card out. I will definitely try his method in October.

Best ATM option for withdrawing cash (in China) is to use BOA Visa debit card, no fee from any ATM that belongs to China Construction Bank (widely available in most cities in China). If you don't have an account with BOA, you can open a basic no fee checking account (eBanking) then use online ACH at the BOA site to transfer in some money from Chase before you fly out to China. Keep in mind that there is a daily ATM withdrawal limit and the amount could vary, e.g., up to 2500 or 5000RMB/day in Shanghai.

Best credit card option is Discover card (processed via UnionPay in China) or other credit cards that have no foreign exchange fee (but do watch out for DCC as eluded by another poster).

BofA is far from the best ATM card to use in China because it's only fee free at CCB ATMs, which are sometimes hard to find... and, the one's near me in Beijing tend to run out of money every Sunday/holiday.

The best ATM cards are those issued by banks that are fee free everywhere in the world. Schwab is the most popular one here because it is completely free and many of us tied them to our Schwab Visa cards back when they existed. But, there are numerous others out there (e.g. small banks, credit unions, and brokerage companies that don't have their own ATMs).

BofA is far from the best ATM card to use in China because it's only fee free at CCB ATMs, which are sometimes hard to find... and, the one's near me in Beijing tend to run out of money every Sunday/holiday.

The best ATM cards are those issued by banks that are fee free everywhere in the world. Schwab is the most popular one here because it is completely free and many of us tied them to our Schwab Visa cards back when they existed. But, there are numerous others out there (e.g. small banks, credit unions, and brokerage companies that don't have their own ATMs).

I guess I should've phrased that my recommendation was aimed to the OP.
If OP currently has investment or deposit accounts with Schwab or other similar institutions, he/she probably would already be aware of the free ATM withdraw benefit (than asking about Chase debit card). So he probably should consider whether or not to open a new account. From OP's other posts, I gather he/she is located in NYC/NJ metro area, so OP wouldn't need worry about locating a BOA ATM or branch (when necessary) here in the US.

I'm aware of the advantages of Schwab ATM card (if it were me I'd actually go with the equally wonderful Fidelity cash management ATM card since I have my 401(k) and also other investment accounts with them). In my mind, though, I'd opt for "opening" these types of accounts primarily for investment needs - I don't discount the no fee ATM benefit but its a nice silver lining only (it alone isn't going to be the deciding factor for open a new account).

An BOA (e-banking) account, however, is ideal as a supplement bank account for travel cash needs. No minimum balance requirement + no monthly fee, means no cost to open/maintain such an account and there is no further string attached (and its entirely separate from the rest of the financial accounts but easy to transfer in money via ACH), and if necessary one can get to a local ATM or branch location without hassle.

p.s. I have never experienced CCB ATM running out of cash, albeit I only visited those in Shanghai. I never had a problem finding CCB ATM locations in Shanghai either.