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ATM - or other means accessing money
Jun 27, 2007 07:35
  • BENCE8810
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Hi

On my 10 days trip to China, I will be travelling alone in trains, and staying in budget hostels. The cities I will stop at will be Guangzhou, Xian, Beijing and Hong Kong. I dont really want to carry a lot of money with me, specially on overnight trains, and in the back alleys of Beijing, etc. I am not afraid of thieves, if they come they come, but I wouldnt like to be in a hopeless situation where all my money is gone.

So the question is, can I get money from ATMs with my MasterCard? I travelled in Japan quite a few times, and I was hopless without English signs, and proper marks on the ATMs, and not all took western cards. Is the situation somewhat better in China?

If no ATMs, what do you suggest?

Thanks

Ben

p.s. like the new feature, "Send me an Email if anyone replies" hope it works.....
Jun 27, 2007 07:45
#1  
  • BENCE8810
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Sorry, just saw that my thread is a duplicate.

My thread can be deleted, I will follow the other one.

Thanks
Jun 27, 2007 10:13
#2  
  • JABAROOTOO
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China entered the modern era some time ago. You can access your cash not credit from ATM"S at the Bank of China in almost every town and city in China. Carrying Y1000 in cash on your person on the trains is not a great deal of cash. You'd be surprised to know just how many people carry large sums of cash all the time. This is not a cashless society yet and may never become one in the way we have become accustomed to it.

You may even like to open a bank account here on the Mainland enabling you to withdraw cash in smaller amounts but there are fees attached to every transaction and especially on deposits if you are out of the province that you opened your account in.
Jun 27, 2007 10:19
#3  
  • BENCE8810
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Hi

Can you tell me what sums will the ATM give out and what are the "usual" fees attached to each transaction? I know what my bank charges, just wondering if Bank of China charges also or not.

So you say if I have 1000Yuan on me, I am good to go? Thats about 100EUR, which is normally the sum I carry with me back home as well, so I feel quite comfortable with that.

Thanks for the advices, as usual,

Cheers

Ben
Jun 27, 2007 11:21
#4  
  • JABAROOTOO
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Fee is Y1 per Y100 withdrawal up to Y10. I'm not sure what the upper limit is 'cos if I want to take large sums I use the teller.
but Y2000 each time and you can do this more than once per day.
Jun 27, 2007 11:35
#5  
  • BETWEENUS21
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its very advisable to use your banks' ATM card and in all chinese cities. there will be alot of local banks atm machines all over - but its better to use the Bank of China atms - as it has an english option. Never use atm with yr credit card ie mastercard or visa - as the charges from yr own cards are very very high and esp when paying back on credit - do check with yr issuing bank for the high fees for withdrawing cash with it.
Jun 27, 2007 16:02
#6  
  • BENCE8810
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Hi

I dont understand the following sentence:

"Never use atm with yr credit card ie mastercard or visa"

I do have a Mastercard, and in fact I only have mastercards, but none of them are Credit cards. May I use them, or will MasterCard mean high fees automatically?

I guess you only mean that Credit cards will have a high fee because of APR etc, right?

Thanks for clarifying,

Jabarootoo, Y1 for every Y100 is not as bad as I thought, I guess I can live with that.

So bottom line is to use ATMs that are from the Bank of China branch, and I cannot go wrong.

Great info, thanks,

Ben
Jul 7, 2007 12:48
#7  
  • GRIZ326
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My ATM card worked at the Bank of China in Nanning last week, but not in Guiyang this morning.

I recommend AGAINST using your credit card for cash advances as the interest rates on cash advances are BRUTAL.
Jul 7, 2007 22:10
#8  
  • KSWONG
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The cities u r visiting r pretty "prosperous" cities and not your regular backyard ghettoes. Carrying RMB2K with u (assuming u r not shopping) for each city is not a big deal. Just enough to pay for your food, hotel and transport.

Yes, if u have 10s of thousands, place them in BOC. The out-of-province bank charges are negligible compared to the peace of mind u will be getting.
Jul 12, 2007 16:10
#9  
  • BENCE8810
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Hi

Thanks for all answers. I will not use my card for cash advancements, as it isnt a Credit card, but a debit one meaning that I only have access to the sum which is uploaded to the account, and no more.

Cheers

Ben
Jul 12, 2007 23:43
#10  
  • APAULT
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Like Griz says, you will find that sometimes you can get cash out others not. Most have an English option some but a few don't. Bank of China, China Construction (I prefer the latter) are usually ok. Someof the smaller banks' ATMs do not accept international cards. Costs on Chinese card transactions are 10 Yuan.
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