Foreign banks in China question
Feb 18, 2006 | 1:37 am
#1
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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
TIA
Feb 18, 2006 | 2:44 am
#2
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Location: Shanghai
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Originally Posted by thetick97
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
TIA
Feb 18, 2006 | 12:23 pm
#5
Moderator: Luxury Hotels and FlyerTalk Evangelist
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Location: Palo Alto, California,USA
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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.
Feb 18, 2006 | 12:39 pm
#6
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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.
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.
Feb 18, 2006 | 6:31 pm
#7
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: Macau, Hong Kong, Shanghai
Posts: 648
HSBC Atm cards
Originally Posted by thetick97
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
TIA
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
Feb 21, 2006 | 7:27 pm
#8
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Beijing, China
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Originally Posted by HKtraveller
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
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
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.