Internaut

My life in the U.K. is probably quite recognisable to anyone living a modern life in one of the major Chinese cities. Between Google Pay, electronic travel tickets and contactless credit cards I’m pretty much cashless. No longer does worrying old me have to worry about having the correct change to get on a bus. When in China, I suspect I’ll be burning through a lot of the paper stuff, yet I have little idea how this works:

- What sort of denominations to the ATMs spit out?
- Are the denominations good for typical everyday spending situations, or am I going to end up being the British bad will ambassador?
- What’s the best way of getting change (I’m hoping by buying Metro tickets, if the machines will take the notes I have)?

synthkeys

If you are coming to China for a short term stay, then you most certainly need to be using cash. Predominant e-Pay systems are WeChat and AliPay, which nowadays require a linked Chinese bank account/debit card. Although some places may take Apple Pay, not sure about the requirement to have it linked with a Chinese debit card, I have never seen Google Pay accepted anywhere in China. Hotels and many higher end restaurants can accept foreign Visa/MC and sometimes even AMEX but outside of that unless you've got WeChat/AliPay you'll need to use cash. The denomination of notes is as follows - 100, 50, 20, 10, 5, 1. There are also 1RMB coins as well as smaller coins.

The ATMs will only distribute 100 RMB notes, which converts to around 11 GBP or 14 USD. This is the largest note in Chinese currency, but it is easily accepted especially when you look like a foreigner. The only time I've had complaints about 100RMB notes was with taxi drivers when there fare was 20RMB or less but the will take it and change accordingly if you've got nothing else. Most stores and restaurants won't bat an eye at an 100RMB note. The smaller mom-and-pop stores might fuss a bit, like the taxi drivers.

Although in China, I have transitioned to almost all e-Pay, this is only in the last year. Before that, on arrival, I'd withdraw RMB from the ATM and get smaller notes with purchases from a convenient store or a supermarket. But, if you're strategy is to break up 100RMB notes, don't go pulling your whole cash wad out of your pocket. I've had many store clerks grab smaller notes out of my hand, possibly thinking they are speeding along the transaction.

Instead of buying individual Metro tickets, I would suggest getting a Metro card and using cash to load it up depending on the length of your stay. Not sure how to obtain these in BJ or SH, but in SZ there are machines or they can be purchased at the manned booths. Some local help would be beneficial for this.

The thread here - Opinion: without Alipay and Wechat Pay, you are screwed in Shanghai has a lot of info, but don't believe the title. You'll be just fine with cash and using foreign credit card where accepted. Having some form of e-Pay is great but you may not be able to get this done if you're making a single, short term visit.

moondog

1. It's been 10 years since I've encountered an ATM that spit out anything other than 100s

2. Bearing in mind that I rarely use cash, I usually keep around 3 red notes (100s) and <100 in smaller bills on me
-I typically refuse 1 mao coins in change (i.e. ask the FamilyMart people to hold on to them for other customers)
-Y1 (and even 5 mao) coins come in handy for single journey metro tickets and vending machines that still accept coins/bills

3. 100s are fine in most situations, though I occasionally run into taxi drivers who claim they don't have change. That having been said, I don't drop 100s on Y6 orders of xiaolongbao and the like.

Honestly, there's not much point in overthinking this stuff.

JPDM

trueblu

I agree that China is moving to a cashless economy (the OP will be shocked that China is way, way, way ahead of the UK on this). But unlike the UK or elsewhere, the entire ecosystem is tied to just two methods/ APPs, which are both closed off to the casual visitor.

I don't even bother carrying cash with me anymore...even the "snack shop" in my building, which used to be based around an honour payment system has a WeChat QR code!! (although cash is still accepted too). BUT, having said that, I think the average tourist will be _absolutely_ fine with just cash...I would break up a 100 RMB note as soon as practical, for very small (e.g. road-side snack) transactions, but for most stuff tourists do, cash is absolutely fine.

tb

uanj

As everyone has said, you'll get 100 yuan notes out of ATMs. I can only imagine two scenarios where cash would not work out. Maybe a small street market vendor or a taxi who just does not have a lot of change. I have never heard of anyone refusing cash if you have the right change (or close to it). So just make sure you have enough small bills and you will be fine, really.

You can ask your hotel to break a 100 yuan note and any convenience store accepts cash. They are everywhere and you just need to go in, buy a bottle of water or whatever and pay with a 100 yuan note. If you have 100-200 yuan in 10s and 20s in addition to 100 yuan notes I doubt you will have any trouble.

Enjoy your trip!

889

I have seen vending machines and at least one food court that were QR code only. Also a restaurant that expected you to scan a code and order off their mini-app.

trueblu

True: and yes, if the OP is really craving a McD at a limited-space airport outlet or similar, they will be disappointed. But it's unlikely to have "major" impact on a short business trip or holiday.

tb

username

I just got back from a quick vacation to Beijing. I find that "not being able to pay like the locals" really annoying and inconvenient (and also the phone problem: No Local Mobile Number = Can't Do Much in China?). Whether by foreign credit card or cash, it adds to the transaction time. It also meant I could not explore/experience all these advanced way of paying.

I wonder if there are regulatory hurdles / government control that are stopping companies from making these things easier for foreign visitors. I know the US wants China to open up the financial industry access - would that make things better? Couldn't companies like Bank of China issue credit cards in countries where it has business to foreigners that enable them to link to the payment systems, etc.?

If I am on a business trip, I really want to use credit card for everything as the transactions would convert back to USD and make expense reporting easier.

moondog

I think this (bolded text) is a large part of the issue, but limitations on cross border banking are hardly unique to China. It's also worth noting that product managers typically don't put a great deal of effort into addressing the needs of "1 in 10,000" market segments.

My approach is to accept the hurdles as a fact of life, and work around them. For example, I bank mostly with Schwab (US) and HSBC (HK), but I rely on ICBC to bridge the gap between the foreign and Chinese system, which extends to Wechat and Alipay. This setup honestly isn't especially difficult to manage, and rarely requires physical interaction with people from any of the aforementioned banks.

JPDM

The system is designed to be efficient for people living there, not to accommodate a fraction of 1% who nay visit.

seanpodge

Like others have said, banks in China aren't likely to see the point in adapting a system for foreigners that is both easy to use and meets government requirements when that market is probably fractions of a percent of the local market. On a slight tangent, I saw on WeChat an article that the government was planing to implement a sort of ID card for foreign workers/students etc. that would allow them to access services as though they had a Chinese ID card. I'll believe it when I see it.

That said, while WeChat/Alipay are certianly popular, I think the "Cash is dead" talk is pretty overblown. Sure the little shop/taxi driver might not like having to give change for a ¥100 on a small purchase, but try buying a lollipop with a £€$100 in the west and see if the one behind the counter doesn't grumble a bit. Overall, the coloured bits of paper with Mao on the back will do you just fine.

889

There is an official regulatory hurdle to using payments on Wechat and Alipay, since the government requires real-name verification by Chinese bank account, with a possible exception for HK people.

So far as I know, there is no regulatory rule against banks opening accounts for foreign tourists, it's a commercial decision.

Hopefully we'll soon get a first-hand report whether the kissing-cousins option on Wechat/Alipay works without name verification and a Chinese mobile number.

username

Has there been any major outage of these systems that cause big inconveniences?

moondog

I've never heard of such. What makes you fearful that this is any more likely with these systems than any of their lesser developed competitors (e.g. Apple Pay, G Pay)?