Foreign banks in China question
 

For those of you in or around China, can foreign banks such as HSBC, citi, etc. issue atm cards? Last time I was in HSBC in Shanghai, I was told they were currently not allowed to issue atm cards. Has this changed since last year?

TIA

No, they can't/won't do it. Don't misplace your ATM card.

One other problem I noticed is that if you have a PIN number longer then 6 several ATMS in China won't accept it.

And your ATM Card won't work in "local" bank machines
 

My Citibank card worked only at Citibank in Shanghai last year.

I lost my ATM card at Pudong airport last year and even though there was a huge Citibank branch a block away from my hotel, the U.S. Citibank number said I was out of luck -- not just in China, ANYWHERE but in the U.S. Pretty lousy service from Citibank, maybe others will at least fedex you one somewhere.

A few years ago while staying in a 5-star hotel in Guangdong province, the hotel's ATM machine "ate" my ATM card (even though the correct logo was posted on the machine). The hotel had to call a special "task force" that arrived at the hotel about a half hour later to open the machine and retrieve my card. It was all actually quite funny, because the "team" was about 5 guys, several who positioned themselves in the hotel lobby with machine guns drawn! It was like they were opening the door to Ft. Knox.

Perhaps, with more experience, more rational procedures are now used to address this problem. That said, I think I'd try to bring 2 ATM cards with me to China -- just in case.

HSBC Atm cards
 

Until now it is not possible yet. They are planning for the end of this year,
but depend on Chinese government rules.
You can easily get an atm card with an account in HK and withdraw money in China. If you really need a chinese ATM, Bank of CHina is good. Money transfers from any bank in HK to BOC Shanghai take less than 2 days if you send HK Dollars. US Dollars take a bit longer. (Between HSBC HK and HSBC Shanghai HK$ take a couple of hours while US$ take 2 days.

HKtraveller

For those of us that are familiar with living in the Americas or Europe where lfe is regularly put on credit, China is much more a cash society - at least for now. In the tourist areas, VISA, AMEX etc. etc. are all regularly accepted. But get off the beaten track just a little and I find that even local cards are not always accepted. It's cash or no sale.

Now that I've got used to it, I kind of like it this way. And I can see how this can be mighty inconvenient for travellers as opposed to people resident in the country.