Unionpay : Still relevant ?
 

Out of curiosty, is it worth getting a Unionpay card ? In the day of Wechat and Alipay and mobile payments, I wonder it's still worth it from an acceptance standpoint ? For example, if I don't want to be dinged with a 2% FX charge from my bank card for each transaction thru Wechat/Alipay.

Here in Germany, it is possible to get a physical Unionpay card through Bank of China, and it will debit in RMB if the transaction is in RMB, so there wouldn't be any FX charge as a result. Thoughts ?

I like it for the other way around: I can use my Merchants Bank Unionpay card to buy at Walmart, SamsClub, [some] grocery stores etc.
For what you seem to suggest, not sure of the benefit though.

I got a US-based Unionpay card from ICBC USA. This was in the days when DCC (look it up if you need to) was rampant in China. My experience has been that Unionpay cards issued in the US are just like other US-based cards: pretty useless in China.

I also have a Discover card. Discover uses the same payment network as Unionpay in China. It's also pretty useless in China.

With the case of the BOC Unionpay card, there wouldn't be any DCC. The debit card is linked to your personal bank account denominated in RMB.

Of course, if it's a matter of country of issuance, then that's a different story- the bank and card would be German with a DE IBAN. Like how some merchants in China can only process Mastercards issued in mainland China, and how certain other services work the same way for other countries (where country of issuance matters).

I'm sure DCC is still a concern to someone somewhere, but it's been years since it was a hot topic.

Everyday tourists and other inexperienced travellers continue to be slammed by ATM and POS machines by paying for something in their own currency at a poor exchange rate with DCC.

Those who know won't do this but anyone else just gets fleeced.

Coincidentally, I found this thread while searching for the US-based UnionPay card thread as I was reevaluating whether or not to keep my UnionPay card and checking account now that ICBC is raising its minimum balance requirement to $1,500.

That's odd, my ICBC card does not require any deposit with them.

You probably have a debit card? Mine is a regular no-fee credit card.

I have the no-fee credit card as well. 8 years ago when ICBC US started offering the card, they did not require a checking account. Later, a checking account was required before one could apply for their credit card products.

Whether or not I could safely close the checking account without it affecting my credit card amount with them is another question.

Ah. I got the card right when they started offering it. At this point if I lose the card it's not a big deal. It doesn't really serve a function in my credit card lineup. The only reason I'm keeping it is it's no fee.

I'm wondering how useful having a UnionPay card is for Mainland China these days? I haven't been back since shortly before the pandemic. At the time, Mrs. Majuki and I mostly used the Alipay tourist service since they weren't charging for credit card loads at the time. We used UnionPay for some larger purchases to avoid DCC.

In my experience this ICBC Unionpay is not like the local China Unionpay. I haven't used it in a while but it doesn't even work on all local POS machines. I think it's treated as a foreign card. If an establishment takes a foreign card, then I might as well use my Chase Sapphire Reserve. Also, if I recall correctly, it got worse exchange rates vs. the Chase.

A China-issued UnionPay card is definitely useful, but again I don't think this one fits the bill.

For a thought experiment, why don't we try to identify specific use cases in which it would make sense to have a foreign UnionPay card.

Criteria:
-POS machine that only accepts UnionPay cards
-purchase amount is greater than 1000 (I'm arbitrarily assuming neither ourselves nor venues have patience to do more than 5 Wx/Ap scans)

Scenarios that come to mind:
1. Meal at imperial cuisine type restaurant that doesn't get much private business
-I'm guessing many of us have been to these dinners, though not so often since 2013
-I honestly wouldn't know how to pick up the tab, but surely they have POS machines?

2. KTVs in tier 3 or lower cities
-the problem here is that a solid portion of the huge total outlay probably needs to be settled with cash (or Wx/Ap)

3. Antique furniture
-one of my friends, who works for a shipping company, repatriated before Covid really hit and part of his relocation package was a 40-foot container for him to pack at his own discretion
-he decided to buy a variety of opium beds, tables, chairs, screens, cabinets, etc
-when shopping for that type of stuff, you probably won't get the best deals if you limit yourself to merchants who can accept Visa/MC/Amex

5. Spas/bathhouses
-definitely possible

6. Hotels/serviced apartments
-when Hyatt or Shangri-La options are nonexistent or unsuitable, you could find yourself in a situation where UnionPay is an acceptable form of payment

7. Bespoke clothing
-I mention this because the one of the tailor threads was recently awoken
-most of the merchants I know of have the ability to accept foreign plastic of all types (i.e. there are POS machines they can borrow, when needed)
-but, this might not always be the case if you decide to go really local

That's all I can think of at this juncture (more ideas are welcome, of course), but I think it's a decent enough sampling to evaluate the utility of keeping UnionPay cards in your wallet these days.

I think these scenarios are good uses of foreign UnionPay. However, my concern was that even the POS machines that say UnionPay don't necessarily work. I may have to dig my card out to do some experiments.

I think these days, the best thing to do is to try to link your foreign UnionPay card to Alipay / Wechat pay and go that route. Which brings up another question - would this kind of payment be subject to the 3% transaction fee beyond RMB200? My bet is yes.

I have:

ICBC USA UnionPay credit card. Obtained it before the checking account requirement was in place. This card is useless for all purposes and if I had a checking account requirement I would just drop it.

HSBC China UnionPay debit card. The use case for this is if I want to make a large purchase in RMB, I can transfer USD from a US HSBC account to the China one, convert it at a good rate, and then avoid the transaction fees with Alipay. Though I probably could circumvent this process by giving a friend USD and they buy it for me or transfer the RMB. So… this might be useless too? I haven’t used it in this way yet.