But they still have a $10 cash advance fee though, right? Or is it recorded as straight purchase (and if you pay in full on time...no interest/fee)? That would be huge if it is.

There's no fee, and it's treated as a purchase. I imagine ICBC would put a stop to it if you tried to scale for the cash back. I received an inbound call from ICBC trying out different merchants with the card, so I imagine they'd start to examine large grocery story purchases.

Correct, I think trying to abuse this would be a grave mistake. I recall many many years ago when I still had a Discover card in college, I would pull $100 out each week from a grocery store and never paid a fee, but I believe Discover finally patched it. It's handy when you DO need cash however (but who uses cash much anymore these days ).

Any news on hard new applications are these days?

I still find this interesting that you experienced this as they haven't bothered me. I've used & tested my card at a very wide variety of in-person & online merchants, with & without chip, with & without PIN, credit mode & debit modes.

But yeah, don't try to scale it up, & not worth it anyways.

Discover "Cash Over" still works in select stores (mostly big grocery stores & Walmart). Discover sets a maximum $120 per 24 hrs, though stores usually have limit of $40-60 per transaction. Treated as a purchase, but no rewards.

It is unrelated.

Discover Cash Over at grocery & others stores (incl Walmart) was a thing long before Discover bought the Pulse debit card network.

When you do a swipe + PIN with the ICBC UnionPay (swipe is a fallback mode when chip isn't supported), it is using the Pulse debit card network, and the receipts clearly show "Debit". Basically, the merchants see this card & treat this card used this way as a genuine PIN debit card even though it isn't.

This doesn't work once a merchant supports UnionPay chip, as actual cash back at the store isn't a normal feature of this card as chip/contactless.

I have used it multiple times at Arco gas station (where no credit cards are accepted) without issue, & it is treated as a real debit card, charging me the 35c debit card fee. Since I usually spend $35 on gas, and the card gets 1% back, I break even on the debit card fee & costs me the same as using cash, but it is more convenient.

[Edit to clarify: Arco is a swipe for this card, so it falls back to PIN debit mode, as there is no credit card option at Arco]

I applied in May 2019 which is only 5 months ago, so that is pretty recent, and was done in-person at a branch. Just answered the normal questions, and they didn't ask for any extra documentation besides a driver's license.

I don't think it is hard to get if you have decent credit. Limits are on the low side, but that is normal for this card. I have a high number of inquiries & new cards so they don't seem that sensitive.

The hardest part of getting the card is going to a branch & then waiting 3 weeks to get the card.

Does it have to be done in branch?
814 score in Alabama, so I think the nearest branch is NY unless there is one in Atlanta, Florida, or Texas.
Where did you apply in branch?

I applied in San Francisco, where there are several branches. Some people apply when they travel through a city with a branch, since there are no geographical (home address) requirements. Bank branches where you can apply are in California: SF (4), Oakland (1), LA area (5), and New York: NYC (3)

They had an online application early on but pulled it soon after. Their website indicates to apply in-branch. I did read a story somewhere where someone managed to apply working with someone in a branch without doing it in-person, so I would suggest calling a branch and asking them if that is possible.

I guess the best thing to do is try to reach out to a branch.

I�ve been finding it harder to use my UnionPay card in Shanghai this trip, as restaurants that previously had a terminal to process cards have removed them and only take a bar code. I see signs where a UnionPay barcode would be accepted but not sure how that would work?

I was able to activate Alipay since as of two weeks ago they accept foreign credit cards to fund a prepaid Bank of Shanghai debit card within the app. I used a Visa card but it was a pain to set up the app (spoke on phone to English speaking customer service agent) and I had to upload my passport details to unlock the account and again the verify identity once I completed my profile. The debit card expires in 90 days and any remaining balance goes back to your credit card.

WeChat pay also now takes foreign credit cards but I gave up as it kept failing.

Anyone else having difficulty using the physical UnionPay card, especially in Shanghai area?

I came across another U.S. based UnionPay card from this company called "ECARD Inc." They issue UnionPay prepaid card. I have ordered mine and so far I have brought it with me when traveling to Santorini, Greece, and Shanghai, China. The main reason I applied is to utilize its reward program. I was able to receive a discount at the Turkey airport on my way to Santorini with Unionpay reward. Oh! And they give you a free sim data card to use in China which actually grants you VPN access!! I had no trouble using Instagram, and Youtube while in China.

1.49% FTF + up to $5.99 each reload makes it a worse deal than getting the ICBC credit card (assuming you can get the latter, of course). At least they finally got rid of the annual/monthly fee.

Nah. I load using my app and transfer from my bank, it's free. The fee is only collected when depositing cash. Online transfer is free.