Is anyone experiencing ATM problems?

[cdn_in_bj]

My friend who's been visiting me this past week hasn't been able to withdraw money using his overseas debit card. He's tried different banks, and usually gets some sort of passcode or "The transaction is cancelled" error. Now, I remember reading here that this has happened before. I just want to know if the system's acting up again and the problem will resolve itself eventually, or if it's an issue with his home bank. I'm hoping to avoid having to finance his "see all of China" trip.

By the way, this is in Bejing.

[muyongshi]

My bank even though I have told them 100 billion times that I live here will still every now and again lock up my card and put me through the hassle of finding time when they are open to call them and say "YES IT IS BLOODY ME USING MY F*** BLOODY CARD!"

And the worst of it is, is I don't keep extra cash laying around (mainly because I don't have extra) and so when I make a withdrawal I NEED the money and usually right away. But of course I don't know my card is locked until I go to withdraw....

Anyway moral being have him call his bank and see what's going on...

[gougou]

The only trouble I have with my (domestic) card is that empties way too fast. Can't really blame the bank for that, though.

Using a foreign card, I got money as recently as the day before yesterday without problems (at a Beijing branch of Guangdong Development Bank).

[cdn_in_bj]

But of course I don't know my card is locked until I go to withdraw....

What's the error message telling you that it's locked? Do you get the invalid passcode error like my friend?

Anyway moral being have him call his bank and see what's going on...

Yeah, I'll have him do that once he gets back to Beijing.

Thanks guys!

[dan ni er]

I have this problem the whole time...drives me mad

[muyongshi]

No it just tells me transaction failed or unable to complete or something like that....It's different for each ATM.

[gougou]

He's tried different banks, and usually gets some sort of passcode or "The transaction is cancelled" error.

But is your friend sure of his passcode? What happened to me once (in Luxemburg, of all places!) is that a machine erroneously gave me a wrong passcode error, so that I tried another one (never too sure of my PIN's). By the time I got to a machine that worked, I was actually putting in a wrong PIN, so that after two more tries, my card got blocked.

[cdn_in_bj]

I asked him and he swears he got the passcode right. I've also watched him try it at different machines, on different days. He gets the failed transaction error too. I think he needs to call his bank. He mentioned that he's met other foreigners at ATMs who were also experiencing problems. That must really suck to be travelling and without access to your money, especially here where many of the cheaper places won't accept foreign credit cards. This is why I always tell my friends to bring cash/travellers checks when they come here (but obviously he didn't listen).

[文言訓開班]

I had the problem in several parts of China, myself. In many Chinese cities, only a couple--if that many--atms will work with international banks. Make sure he's trying something like HSBC, BoC, or something equally large--no "bank of heavy industry" or "bank of agriculture". Even that's not a 100% guarantee. Some of those banks will only have one atm that will work internationally. Ask around..

[muyongshi]

Industrial Bank works too...

[gougou]

Industrial Bank works too...

Ironically, there's no other bank I had more problems with. Their network seems to break down quite frequently, which leads to a "communication error".

[muyongshi]

Never had a problem with them

And I also just remembered that I have used Agriculture Bank before as well (just once- the fee was high)

[nihaoxiexie]

Is his pin 4 digit or 6 digit? If it is 4 then add two "0"s to the end and it should work.. I have a similar problem with my card from NZ.

Also, some bank cards aren't set up to be used overseas. Does it have the Cirrus or Plus logos on the back? Has he used it overseas before?

Now the silly question........... are you sure that he has money in the account???

[john0]

The most common reason for this normally is that your bank thinks the card is being used fraudulently so will place a stop on it. If this is the case, then like mentioned above you will need to contact your bank and verify your person. Also, I'm not sure whether he did this, but it's always best to let your bank know when and where you will be travelling, and whether you will be using your bank card - which seriously limits this kind of problem, although not all together.

As for ATM networking problems, I can't really comment as I've never had a problem. Let's just hope it's the first reason, at least then he can solve it himself.

[cdn_in_bj]

Also, I'm not sure whether he did this, but it's always best to let your bank know when and where you will be travelling, and whether you will be using your bank card - which seriously limits this kind of problem, although not all together.

That's a good suggestion. I'm pretty sure he didn't, as he's never had problems in other countries such as Thailand, etc. And to be honest I never expected him to have problems here either.

[cdn_in_bj]

Is his pin 4 digit or 6 digit? If it is 4 then add two "0"s to the end and it should work.. I have a similar problem with my card from NZ.

I think you may be onto something here - I don't know if he has a 4 digit pin or not, but I will let him know.

Also, some bank cards aren't set up to be used overseas. Does it have the Cirrus or Plus logos on the back? Has he used it overseas before?

He's used it overseas before (in supposedly less developed countries than here), that's why he was surprised that it wouldn't work.

[muyongshi]

Is his pin 4 digit or 6 digit? If it is 4 then add two "0"s to the end and it should work.. I have a similar problem with my card from NZ.

Be careful though I have a 4 digit and have never had a PIN problem...

Where is he from? And if it's not a bad question what bank does he use?

[cdn_in_bj]

Where is he from? And if it's not a bad question what bank does he use?

He uses Scotiabank in Canada.

On a related note, he says their website doesn't work from here (blocked?). I personally have never had problems accessing my online accounts.

[imron]

I would recommend to him to try it from a Bank of China ATM. At least when I first came to China, Bank of China and CITIC were the only banks that could process withdrawals using overseas cards. In Beijing at least, it now seems that overseas cards work almost everywhere. I'm not how that holds up for other parts of China.

[muyongshi]

No experience with that bank

However I agree with Imron for that reason to stick to BOC but now many banks take it even in the backwoods of 绵阳 I mainly use Construction Bank and like I said I know I can use Agricultural Bank.