Credit Card in China

[moeinifar]

i am a foreign student in beijing how i can get a visa or master card in beijing?

describe how and where?

specially i decide to use from this card for internet shopping from international sites and paypal.

[adrianlondon]

It's pretty hard to get a credit card in a country where you're not officially resident. Do you have a bank account in China? Does it have a lot of money in it or a regular transfer into it?

You should have got a credit card from your home country before you got to China. I know that's not a very useful answer unless you go back in time to ask your question, but I think it's going to be the only answer.

[moeinifar]

thanks

i dont require credit card just debit card or prepaid card with sign of visa is sufficient for me

?

[Lu]

Perhaps you can ask someone back home for assistance (parents?).

[moeinifar]

in china not exist any debit visa card?

or prepaid visa card?????

[roddy]

Go to a bank and apply? here 's one to get you started. Don't be surprised if you're expected to pay back overseas spending with foreign currency, and I'm not sure a foreign student will have the proof of residence / income for anything other than the most basic of cards. Let us know how you get on.

[skylee]

Consider this -> Great Wall Prepaid Card (not sure if it is affiliated with VISA or Mastercard, though)

[jcarnold]

Hi,

If you have a bank account in your home country, they may be able to open an account for you in Beijing.

Not knowing which country you are from my comments may help or not.

In the UK I bank with HSBC, I spoke to my UK bank manager and they made all of the arrangements to open a couple of HSBC bank accounts in Beijing.

They arranged to have an account in GBP and also in Yuan based in Beijing.

They also gave internet access to all accounts, which makes transfering money free of charge and very quick. HSBC Beijing have also issued debit cards for the accounts.

I know of 2 Pre Paid cards:

Nationwide Building Soc which I have heard offer reasonable rates.

Also the Post Office ( I have used this one ), it is visa based, unfortunatly it is not chip and pin which can make some shops reluctant to accept it.

If you are already in China, it should be possible for relatives or friends to buy a pre paid for card and send it to you.

Hope it helps.

[onebir]

In the UK I bank with HSBC, I spoke to my UK bank manager and they made all of the arrangements to open a couple of HSBC bank accounts in Beijing.

I opened an account with HSBC in Changsha a couple of months ago, mainly in the hope this would make opening an account with them in Hong Kong simpler. It did, but they charge RMB2000 for doing this

HSBC Beijing have also issued debit cards for the accounts.

What??? HSBC Changsha told me they weren't able to issue any kind of card! Which makes their account fairly useless.

Does HSBC Beijing have a monthly charge for the account BTW? Here it's RMB150.

[jcarnold]

Hi,

Your comments are intersting, I was not charged any fees by HSBC.

In the UK I have a few HSBC Premier A/C i.e normal checking and a couple of saving accounts plus MasterCard etc.

As part of a routine review, my UK manager commented I was regularing using my debit and credit card in Asia and this was costing me a fair amount in exchange fees etc. She suggested I opened some accounts with HSBC in Beijng, this would allow me to use the interntet or phone banking service to xfer money between my uk acounts and Beijing accounts with out any charges. So far this seems to be the case. It takes only a few minutes to send money from my hsbc uk account to my hsbc Beijing GBP account. I can also use the internet to xfer from hsbc Beijing GBP account to hsbc Beijing Yuan ( this is also instant ) and so far I have not had to pay any charges.

I believe Premier Accounts are normally charged fees in UK, however there are various deals which managers can offer which gives you free banking for prolonged periods. i.e. my UK manager is very keen for me to take a mortgage , life insurances etc through hsbc,

I do not know the rules or any hsbc policies etc, Im only a customer and can only explain my own experiences.

Hope that helps.

[onebir]

As part of a routine review, my UK manager commented I was regularing using my debit and credit card in Asia and this was costing me a fair amount in exchange fees etc. She suggested I opened some accounts with HSBC in Beijng, this would allow me to use the interntet or phone banking service to xfer money between my uk acounts and Beijing accounts with out any charges. So far this seems to be the case. It takes only a few minutes to send money from my hsbc uk account to my hsbc Beijing GBP account. I can also use the internet to xfer from hsbc Beijing GBP account to hsbc Beijing Yuan ( this is also instant ) and so far I have not had to pay any charges.

This is very different with my experience of HSBC Changsha, where they're unwilling/unable to do many comparable things, and when they do do them, charge exhorbitant fees. I think it's time for me to open a thread slagging them off.