ICBC US Union Pay credit card experience
Feb 19, 2017, 11:10 pm
#2
Join Date: Feb 2017
Posts: 7
Can't comment on the ISBC US issued UnionPay credit card but I have a Bank of China Australia issued Unionpay Card as well as a Load and Go Union Pay card (Aussie post and BOC collaboration) and they don't work with online payment systems like Wechat pay and Alipay. Also can't use the ATM to transfer money out of these cards.
They work fine for withdrawing cash. I haven't tried them with in store POS terminal payments but that's exactly what they're designed for so there should be no problems there.
I think you will have a similar experience with your card. Have you attempted to register it onto Wechat Wallet or Alipay? Give it a try and let me know how it goes, I'm curious about that.
They work fine for withdrawing cash. I haven't tried them with in store POS terminal payments but that's exactly what they're designed for so there should be no problems there.
I think you will have a similar experience with your card. Have you attempted to register it onto Wechat Wallet or Alipay? Give it a try and let me know how it goes, I'm curious about that.
Feb 20, 2017, 2:31 am
#3
Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: SJC
Programs: AA, AS, Marriott
Posts: 6,061
I made one purchase to test it out in Hong Kong, and it worked well. I'll have a more complete post on this thread. In short, I couldn't get QuickPass to work. The regular chip works, and there is no worry about DCC. While the card offers no foreign transaction fee, in practice the exchange rate with UnionPay is around 0.25-0.50% above the wholesale rate based on other reports and the posted transaction amount for my purchase.
Mar 7, 2017, 8:02 pm
#5
Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: SJC
Programs: AA, AS, Marriott
Posts: 6,061
Mar 23, 2017, 1:36 am
#6
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: PVG
Programs: MU Platinum, HH Diamond
Posts: 827
No problem using the card in China but can confirm it doesn't attach to wechat, etc.
I can safely say though that their systems are the worst I've seen in any credit card I've used. The operation is a joke.
Here's an example related to my first bill:
1. I can't make electronic payment through Bank of America bill pay.
2. I sent them a physical check from Bank of America billpay
3. 11 days later they have no record of it
4. I receive an email reminding me of my late payment
5. I reply to that email with a screenshot showing proof I paid
6. I get an out of office reply from [firstname] [last name] that she is out, and to contact [name] for underwriting, [name] for operations, etc. without their email addresses. This is clearly an outlook out of office message intended for internal audiences
7. I search on linkedin and this person is listed as "SVP, Card Businesses"
d'OH!
The good news is I have her work email now and can correspond directly with an SVP.
I can safely say though that their systems are the worst I've seen in any credit card I've used. The operation is a joke.
Here's an example related to my first bill:
1. I can't make electronic payment through Bank of America bill pay.
2. I sent them a physical check from Bank of America billpay
3. 11 days later they have no record of it
4. I receive an email reminding me of my late payment
5. I reply to that email with a screenshot showing proof I paid
6. I get an out of office reply from [firstname] [last name] that she is out, and to contact [name] for underwriting, [name] for operations, etc. without their email addresses. This is clearly an outlook out of office message intended for internal audiences
7. I search on linkedin and this person is listed as "SVP, Card Businesses"
d'OH!
The good news is I have her work email now and can correspond directly with an SVP.
Mar 23, 2017, 10:49 am
#7
Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: SJC
Programs: AA, AS, Marriott
Posts: 6,061
I haven't logged in for awhile, but they were looking to enable external ACH transfers last month. What I do is transfer money to a checking account I opened with them then do the immediate payment. With their poor website functionality, I didn't trust mailing a check or initiating the bill pay from my financial institution when electronic payment wasn't available.
Mar 24, 2017, 9:29 am
#8
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: SIN / SFO
Programs: UA GS, SQ PPS, Hyatt Globalist, Marriott Titanium, Hilton Diamond, Accor Gold
Posts: 1,215
I haven't logged in for awhile, but they were looking to enable external ACH transfers last month. What I do is transfer money to a checking account I opened with them then do the immediate payment. With their poor website functionality, I didn't trust mailing a check or initiating the bill pay from my financial institution when electronic payment wasn't available.
Now, just need to chase down my signup bonus, which has failed to post...
Jan 1, 2018, 1:03 pm
#10
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: New York, NY
Programs: DL DIAMOND, AA/US TBD
Posts: 57
I've recently traveled to China quite a bit and have been able to use my ICBC USA Gold UnionPay credit card everywhere. No issues at all, and never have had to enter my PIN. Their website to pay the bill is a bit clunky, but payments always go through.
The ICBC UnionPay card also has a NFC chip, which also worked for swipe-less payments in China at those terminals.
The ICBC UnionPay card also has a NFC chip, which also worked for swipe-less payments in China at those terminals.
Jan 2, 2018, 4:56 am
#11
Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: SJC
Programs: AA, AS, Marriott
Posts: 6,061
I've recently traveled to China quite a bit and have been able to use my ICBC USA Gold UnionPay credit card everywhere. No issues at all, and never have had to enter my PIN. Their website to pay the bill is a bit clunky, but payments always go through.
The ICBC UnionPay card also has a NFC chip, which also worked for swipe-less payments in China at those terminals.
The ICBC UnionPay card also has a NFC chip, which also worked for swipe-less payments in China at those terminals.
Jan 2, 2018, 12:42 pm
#13
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: SIN / SFO
Programs: UA GS, SQ PPS, Hyatt Globalist, Marriott Titanium, Hilton Diamond, Accor Gold
Posts: 1,215
Jan 4, 2018, 9:34 pm
#14
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: PVG
Programs: MU Platinum, HH Diamond
Posts: 827
More than a year of using the card, and I would say the benefits are:
- no chance of DCC
- some POS machines that don't work with other international cards will take this card
- NFC (swipeless) function at Family Mart stores, even for very small purchases
Some things I don't like:
- does not link to wechat
- sub-par (but acceptable) exchange rate
- does not work everywhere
- website interface / functionality
- physical card: it's pretty cheap (digits are printed not embossed); the expiration date has rubbed off and they won't tell me what it is over the phone so I can't make purchases on the internet
Jan 4, 2018, 10:15 pm
#15
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: SIN / SFO
Programs: UA GS, SQ PPS, Hyatt Globalist, Marriott Titanium, Hilton Diamond, Accor Gold
Posts: 1,215
I got a friend who is an engineer at Alipay to link it to my account last year because he was curious if it would work, and it's still working now. I don't think this is replicable at scale, unfortunately; my understanding from him was that it wasn't the type of thing that could be done by a customer service person since it required low-level access that essentially would skip all the verification.
The important caveat that makes it less useful than it sounds is that many things you might want to pay for don't take credit cards at all (domestic or otherwise)—you can't charge your wallet with a UnionPay credit card, only a debit card, for instance; bike deposits are the same deal.
The important caveat that makes it less useful than it sounds is that many things you might want to pay for don't take credit cards at all (domestic or otherwise)—you can't charge your wallet with a UnionPay credit card, only a debit card, for instance; bike deposits are the same deal.