Banking in China

[TSkillet]

I'm being offered a job in Shanghai - it pays in-between terrible and expat - but I'll actually be making enough money to save for once. However, I'll have ongoing US debts (mortgage) and being paid in RMB.

Two questions:

1. Is it possible to get a multi-currency account in China - that allows for ease of converting so I can transfer money to my US bank on a regular/monthly basis?

2. Is there a bank that allows you to do 1 online?

3. I used to be an HSBC customer when I lived in Hong Kong - and I've been told that it's now pretty prevalent around the Mainland. Would this be a good bank to go with - or BoC?

[Jonny Wang]

I can't answer most of your question, but I do know that it's easy to open a RMB/USD multiple currency account at Bank of China.

There are limits to wiring USD out of China. They like to let dollars in and keep them in, it seems, although there must be ways for a foreigner to wire money out.

I have no problem wiring USD into China to my BOC account and then converting to RMB for use as needed.

Don't know about online access with Bank of China. I have an HSBC account in Hong Kong and I can do payments, wire transfers, etc. online no problem. HSBC in China is pretty disconnected from HSBC in Hong Kong, though, so can't guarantee the same thing would be true of HSBC on the mainland.

[flameproof]

HSBC in China is pretty disconnected from HSBC in Hong Kong,

Correct. It's like completely separate banks.

Multi currency should be no problem with HSBC China. Take care not to slip below US$2000 in the account, otherwise you get charged RMB 55 /month service fee.

HSBC does not have full banking rights (yet). I am not sure if they offer credit cards, but for sure they have no Union Pay (yet).

They do have online banking and you have all functions online, incl. transfers.

I suggest a 2nd account just to get the convenient Union Pay debit card. China Merchant (CMB) has it, but their online service is nearly unusable.

[TSkillet]

thanks for the insight -

flameproof - so your recommendation could be to have the paycheck go to HSBC (so I can make my US mortgage payments) and then use CMB to keep RMB for China expenses?

[msittig]

ICBC has pretty good bilingual online banking, multiple currency accounts, and currency-trading through the website. If you do go with ICBC, do yourself a favor and get the USB security dongle on the same day that you open the account. Opens up all sorts of doors online. Give them a check-out.

Standard boilerplate: any questions about Shanghai will get a better answer at shanghaiexpat.com.

[flameproof]

TSkillet

Don't conclude too early, wait a few more answers.....

msittig

Does ICBC has the Union Pay Card? Can you online transfer funds to other banks in China? How are the fees?

so I can make my US mortgage payments

I think it's very unpractical and expensive. Please consider, the OUTgoing wire transfer will coast you about RMB100-250, then in the USA you may an an INcoming wire fee (check that with your US bank now). Your total transfer cost can be easily US$50, both ends together.

I would prefer to deposit a larger amount in the USA and then maybe transfer quarterly, or even less often. I would probably discuss that issue with my employer too.

[Koneko]

I remember when I terminated my current account with Bank of China.

They didn't let me have all my money back.

They even had this audacity to charge me for their services!

[imron]

Not so long ago (maybe 6 months to a year), I had to pay for an air-ticket by making a deposit into the travel agent's Bank of China account. The only problem was, the Bank of China branch I went to in Hebei couldn't pay it into the account of the company, which was in Beijing. Finally, after about an hour or so of wrangling and to-ing and fro-ing, and with closing time and the payment deadline approaching, the bank manager calls up his friend in another bigger branch, and asks the friend's branch to make the transaction after assuring him that he had all the money, and would bring it over to him later. I've had/heard other horror stories about BOC and would never use them personally.

[gougou]

I've had/heard other horror stories about BOC and would never use them personally.

However, you will get these stories about all of the banks. Today, for the fourth time in a row, I couldn't get money at an ICBC ATM due to network problems (sadly, they don't even tell you that, but complain about the password I entered). No such problems at the Construction Bank.

[imron]

Yep, I have an account with the Construction bank and i've never had any problems. The only minor annoyance is that their online banking only seems to work with IE, because they have some soft-keyboard that pops up when you need to type in your password, but for whatever reason, it never pops up under Firefox or Safari.

[gougou]

Does anybody happen to have some experience with the Guangdong Development Bank? They have made a favorable impression on me by having the highest withdrawal limits of all banks (RMB 3000 instead of 2000 for most others). What about the rest of their services?