ATM withdrawal limit at PVG?
 

Background: I go to China a lot, but I generally exchange small amounts of currency with a friend or at local exchange places. However, I recently got a Chase Sapphire Checking account that seem to give fairly good foreign exchange rates and no ATM fee (but only 2 fee-free foreign withdrawals per month) I guess I can make 2+ withdraws and eat the ATM fee, but would be nice if I can withdraw $6900rmb (just below my bank's limit) in 1 shot at the airport. I need to pay off a friend soon and also happen to be arriving with not enough cash for taxi to my hotel either... (I usually take the metro, but I happen to be bringing 2 big suitcases and arriving at 7:30pm on a monday)

By searching, I found the following foreign-friendly bank ATMs. My question is: Can someone tell me what withdrawal limits should I expect at these ATMs (or other more advantageous ATMs)

ATM of Foreign Banks for automatic withdrawal - using foreign credit or debit cards:
South of the north walkway in the reception area of the Domestic Arrival Hall (Hang Seng Bank);
South of the middle walkway in the reception area of the International Arrival Hall (Citibank);
Next to the Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan Landing Visa Desk in the International Arrival Hall (HSBC Bank); and
East of baggage carousel 27 in the International Arrival Connection Corridor (HSBC Bank)

Some are 2500 some are 3000 and there may even be some that are 5000 per time. I think there are placards affixed to the ATM that say the limit. They are all in Chinese but you can look for the numbers to get and idea.

I haven’t withdrawn cash from an ATM for a few years in China but used to do at PVG all the time. I think ICBC had the highest limits then. Look into getting the Alipay for foreigners thing they just introduced and it will make life easier on the mainland.

Thank you! I'll try the ICBC first (I only listed the foreign ones in my original post)... I'll report back on my experience later.

I use ATM's all the time. The limits posted are usually higher than I can take out and well below my card limit. I don't know why. Most I've ever taken out is 3,000 but then been back to the same bank and then could only take out 2,500.

It's all hit and miss.

When you say the "same bank", do you mean the exact same bank location? I ask because I did something similar in Canada, and found that a Scotia Bank let me take out $1200cad while another Scotia bank ATM only allow $1000cad. One was in North York (suburb of Toronto) and the other was in Richmond Hill (another suburb)

Anyway, $3000, or $5000 are both not ideal for this particular case, but even with a $5 fee, better than hotel/airport exchange...and much more convenient.

Yes, same bank and same branch, just on different days. Some ATM's don't work at all so I just stick to the ones I know work. I even use the same card, since I have a HSBC account with no fees. I've had the same problem in Nepal with not being able to take out up to the limit of both the bank and my card.

For the banks I know, the location of the ATM determines the limit. For example, BOC in a metro station allows only 3000 RMB in a single draw but a bank location allows more, like 5000 or 10000. For domestic cards the limit is 20k per day and you can withdraw that in multiple consecutive transactions regardless of the single draw limit. Don't know if that applies for foreign cards but it may be similar. If you want more than the single transaction limit, just try a second time.

In Shenzhen, I've not seen an ATM that has more than a 3000 RMB limit per withdrawal - BOC, CCB, Bank of Communications. Not to say there aren't just haven't seen any.

10,000 is the maximum amount that most machines can handle at a single time, but multiple withdrawals are fine.

It's been a few years, but in Shenzhen and Dongguan, most ATM's would give only 2000 or 3000. Every once and a while, 5000.

Then I discovered ChinaTrust (China CITIC Bank). 中信银行. A lot of their ATM's allowed me 10,000 per withdrawal when an ABOC or ICBC ATM next to it would limit me to 3000 or 5000.

I was using a HangSeng Hong Kong card to withdraw from my HKD account, so it was nice to pay only HDF15 per 10000 withdrawal.

Of all the CITIC ATM's I tried, I think I only ran in to one or two that only allowed 5000.

Now phone banking and WeChat/Alipay mean I need months and months to go through 1000 cash.

I pulled out 100k yesterday in 2500 chunks because 5000 wasn't working. This was a 15 minute drill, but I now have 100k in my ICBC account.

Thanks again for all who responded. I am done with my trip and have the following notes:

I have a USA Chase bank debit card.

There aren't many ATMs anymore at PVG. I found Communication Bank, ICBC bank ATMs. There may be more, but I got tired of walking around.

ICBC and Bank of China seem to consistently allow $3000 cash withdrawal. I had 2 transactions of each in Shanghai and other cities (Zhangjiajie, Liuzhou) The limit may not be hard. As the above poster noted, the (paper) posted limits do not apply to everyone, and probably best-case-scenario for people with account at that particular bank. I figured out my limit ($3000rmb per transaction) by trial and error.

Construction bank and Communication Bank gives out $2500 at most. They tell you the limit when you get to the menu.

Postal Bank of China doesn't seem to let me take out money ("Invalid card"), although it let me enter my pin and go all the way to the withdrawal amount.
ChinaTrust (China CITIC Bank). 中信银行 - I tried to find 2 of these ATMs in Shanghai and both times, told me I had insufficient fund, even if I tried to take out $3000. It did give the option of taking out $5000. I guess if I had the right bank card, it would work... I know my card works because I literally walked over to Bank-of-China and took out $3000 right away.

One thing I noticed is that I always look for those international cash withdrawal symbols at ATMs to make sure the network is compatible with my banks (CIRRUS/PLUS network). However, my experience was that at many of these Chinese ATMs, even though I didn't find the right logos posted, as long as the ATM gave me the choice of accessing my savings/checking account, it was a proper ATM withdrawal and NOT a credit card cash advance.

Anyway, as Alipay and Wechat pay are prevalent for the Chinese, and starting to work for foreigners, this becomes less relevant. On this trip, I traveled to Guilin, Zhangjiajie, Liuzhou, and Siguliangshan (4 sister mountain? in Sichuan). Even out in the country side, taking local bus/vans, they always have the 2-D barcode for you to pay. Most vendors seem annoyed that I'm paying with those annoying paper money, but took it anyway.

When using my Schwab card, most atms seem to limit me to y2500 per pull, but you can do as many pulls as you want in a single transaction.

While I didn't do it, but my card should be the same... (up to my daily withdrawal limit). However, the point was to avoid the $3-5 ATM fee that each ATM charges, plus whatever fee our own bank charge on top.

My bank (Chase) used to charge a foreign ATM fee ($5 I believe) AND a "foreign transaction adjustment fee", which often make it as competitive as exchanging money at the hotel (bad!). However, now that I have the new Sapphire Checking account, the foreign transaction fee is gone and even with the $3-5 ATM fee, the exchange rate for a ~$500 withdrawal is pretty good. (My experience in Canadian and Chinese currency so far).

EDIT: Sorry, I misread your post - I didn't realize that you can take out money multiple time as a SINGLE TRANSACTION (i.e. not taking your ATM card out). I definitely didn't try that... That would also make life easier! I'll be sure to try it next time I'm in China (if I need cash next time... :-)

I usually do y10k per transaction and then immediately deposit into ICBC at the same machine. The withdrawal always posts to Schwab as a single transaction.