My Schwab withdrawal strategy is to use ATMs; my default limit is $1,000 per day, but if I need to raise it for a 24 hour period, a 2 minute phone call is all it takes. I withdraw from ICBC CDM machines, and instantly deposit into my ICBC account; the entire drill takes less than a minute (unless I'm moving a lot of money). While it's true that Schwab does free SWIFT wires, receiving foreign currency in a Chinese bank account is a major pita (i.e. requires a branch visit, a boatload of forms, and sometimes a justification for the wire). I wouldn't be surprised if other countries in Asia had similar hurdles.