What do you do with money?

[Bokaypure]

Hi guys,

I'll be attending the 5 weeks course at BLCU in December. Needless to say, I'm very excited!! But one thing's bugging me: MONEY.

Could anyone please tell me how do you bring money to Beijing? I know you have to pay Uni fees and accommodation fees on the day of registration, plus you need money to live in Beijing. Now common sense is telling me that that is a huge sum of money. Some are suggesting travellers cheques but I don't think that's available in my country. Besides that (and carrying cash everywhere I go), what else can I do? Can I open a bank account for just 1 month plus?

Thank you in advance.

[imron]

Are you sure your country doesn't have traveller's cheques? Personally I think either these, or a bank card that allows international withdrawals is your best solution.

[Lu]

Ask a bank about traveller cheques, I wonder what country you can be from that doesn't do traveller cheques. Otherwise ask your bank if you can withdraw money internationally with your bank card, that's a convenient method. Or you can get a credit card.

[skylee]

or a bank card that allows international withdrawals is your best solution.

I agree, though I am not sure if ATMs in Beijing generally support such cards.

[Senzhi]

I agree, though I am not sure if ATMs in Beijing generally support such cards.

They do. In fact any ATM in the world with the Cirrus/Maestro logo will support international withdrawals.

I've never had any problems withdrawing money from my European bank account, except ... my bank regularly blocked my account as they had the (nasty) habit of considering any withdrawal from China as suspicious. It did cost me a lot of money on international telephone calls to unblock my account each time.

Also, it's possible for anyone to open a bank account in China, regardless of time frame. You only need a valid passport.

You could then transfer the funds through SWIFT. It should be noted though that for short term stays you should only transfer the needed funds, since it's not always easy to transfer any remainder funds back from China to other countries.

Edited November 4, 2008 at 06:43 PM by Senzhi

[woliveri]

Traveler's checks are a pain in the rear. You have to go to certain banks to change them and the tellers don't like doing it. Big process. Big PITA.

I first came with TC's the first time I came, then went to ATM with HSBC, now I just come with cash and ATM from BOA.

Just keep your money in your front pocket (wallet) and be careful.

[Bokaypure]

Thank you all for speedy reply.

I'm under the impression that travellers cheques are not available in my country because and I quote (from ahem, Wikipedia):

Traveler's cheques are available in several currencies such as U.S. dollars, Canadian dollars, pounds sterling, Japanese yen, and euro

I'm Malaysian, by the way. I think I'll go check with a bank. But since Woliveri commented on its inconvenience, maybe I'll just stick with the ATMs then.

[roddy]

You'll probably still be able to buy them - you'll just get them in USD or some other currency. I'd go with ATMs / cash. I guess another option would be to have someone send you the money by Western Union, not sure what that would cost you though.

[imron]

But since Woliveri commented on its inconvenience, maybe I'll just stick with the ATMs then.

Their incovenience is offset by their security. If you lose them or have them stolen then you can get them cancelled and re-issued. The same is not true with cash. So it's a tradeoff between convenience and security.

ATMs however are both convenient and safe, and are personally what I use.

However there are a couple of things to look out for. Firstly, not all ATMs here will accept international cards, and several posters have commented previously on problems they have had trying to withdraw money from ATMs:

http://www.chinese-forums.com/index.php?/topic/15718-warning-the-great-china-construction-bank-scam

http://www.chinese-forums.com/index.php?/topic/14955-is-anyone-experiencing-atm-problems

http://www.chinese-forums.com/index.php?/topic/2-favourite-chinese-musician1083

Secondly, there is a daily transaction limit. If you have a large amount of fees/accommodation that you need to pay, then you may need to take it out in several installments over a period of a few days. Not a huge problem, but still something to be aware of.

[peekay]

Thanks Imron for the links. I'm a computer security guy for a major financial institution, so here's my $0.02 regarding ATM cards:

1. If an ATM machine tells you its out of money after you've put in your PIN to withdraw cash, contact the police immediately because you've just been scammed. Legitimate ATMs are programmed to stop accepting cards before it completely runs out of money, to guarantee the ATM's max withdrawal amount.

2. If at all possible, use only ATMs located at a reputable bank, or inside secure areas (such as in an airport secure zone.) Avoid "third-party" (non-bank owned) ATMs on street corners, convenience stores, small hotel lobbies, etc. Always check that no one has attached a "skimmer device" to the ATM's card-loading slot.

3. When traveling or living abroad, always have an "emergency" stash of money. At a minimum, enough money to get a cab to your local embassy or consulate general, but ideally enough money to get yourself back to your home country in a hurry.

4. There are two major international ATM networks: PLUS (owned by Visa) and Cirrus/Maestro (owned by MasterCard.) Most international ATM machines accept only one of the two networks (either PLUS or Cirrus but not both.) Many domestic ATM machines in China accept neither (they only work for Chinese debit cards.)

Do yourself a favor and look at the back of your debit or credit cards: it should have a PLUS or Cirrus/Maestro logo. When you go to China, only use ATM machines displaying the corresponding logo.

You can use the following links to find a legitimate ATM machine anywhere in the world:

For PLUS debit & credit cards (Visa Network)

http://visa.via.infonow.net/locator/global

For Cirrus/Maestro debit & credit cards (MasterCard Network):

http://www.mastercard.com/us/personal/en/cardholderservices/atmlocations/index.html

[adrianlondon]

In the UK, machines used to ask for your PIN before giving you a list of services. One of them was sometimes "cash withdrawal - not available" if the machine was out of money. I assume from the post above that this time-wasting procedure has changed. Good.

I took travellers cheques when I paid for my semester long Mandarin course. Bank had no problem doing it (bank next to BNU) and the exchange rate is better than cash. I would have used an ATM but couldn't withdraw the money quickly enough - daily limits. I stalled paying for my accommodation (student hall) all at once, and paid them a bit each day, so used the ATM for that.

Nearly every country issues travellers chqeues but you'll have to get yours in US$ or GB£ as I doubt they have them in Ringgits.

[liuzhou]

At a minimum, enough money to get a cab to your local embassy or consulate general

Ha Ha! My nearest is days away. I can't wait to see the cab driver's face when I hop in and say "British Consulate, Guangzhou and put the foot down!"

[smh254]

open a bank account and do an international wire transfer from your home country's bank account to your new bank account in China. only wire the money you need, nothing extra. the fees for wiring money are very minimal.

I am an American and my American bank was charging ENORMOUS fees on the money I was taking out of Chinese ATM's. i wired a few thousand USD to my Chinese bank account and only paid a $30 flat rate fee for the wire transfer. now, I don't have to worry about any fees

as soon as you get to Beijing, you should open a bank account immediate and initiate the wire transfer process with your home bank. international wire transfers usually take 3 to 7 business days. the Chinese bank will then receive your foreign funds. they will not be accessible until you physically go to the bank and you tell the worker in the window how much they should convert into RMB. i decided to convert $2000 USD into RMB and leave the rest of my USD unconverted in my account. the funds converted into RMB will then be accessible at the ATM. Chinese banks will convert funds in their accounts for free - the only sort of "fee" is the spread on the bid-ask market exchange rate.

At least for Americans, don't withdraw funds from your home bank. The fees are just too high.

[roddy]

ATM fees depend on the bank - I'm not sure if there are any better deals available in the US (although I suspect there are, I'm sure people have mentioned them on here) but for example the Nationwide in the UK give you free withdrawals with no loading on the exchange rate. You're still limited by daily withdrawal limits though, so if you need a large chunk of money soon after you arrive you still need another solution. In some cases I guess even the 3 to 7 days for a transfer to clear may be too slow.

Edit: And good luck turning up at the consulate saying you haven't got any money - I'd be surprised if they give you anything unless you can convince them you really don't have a single friend or relative in the whole wide world.

[heifeng]

At least for Americans, don't withdraw funds from your home bank. The fees are just too high.

FYI Bank of America and China construction bank have some sort of partnership, so if you open a BoA account and use CCB atms' there's no fee.

[peekay]

Ha Ha! My nearest is days away. I can't wait to see the cab driver's face when I hop in and say "British Consulate, Guangzhou and put the foot down!"

Whatever it takes. In an emergency situation you need to get to a safe place as soon as possible, and for foreigners that usually means an embassy or consulate of a friendly country. In these scenarios, cash is king.

Many corporations mandate staff/executives stationed abroad to maintain a safebox containing passports, full-fare tickets back to home country, and enough emergency cash for themselves and any dependents to survive and get to a crisis management location.

Unfortunately bad events like riots, terrorism, natural or environmental disasters, coups, etc., happen more frequently then people think, and you don't want to be caught unprepared.

If you're low on cash when an earthquake happens, it's a bad time to find out that your ATM card could be out of service for weeks due to cut network lines.

[yonglin]

peekay, have you ever been in China?

Although I've been travelling across large parts of China, I have never seen an ATM in a convenience store, small hotel lobby, etc. Almost all ATMs are attached to a physical bank. Not all of these can withdraw money from a foreign bank account, but once you found a bank that works for you, you're unlikely to have any problems whenever sticking to that bank (I personally never had any problems with ICBC and used them all the time, whilst for others only BoC works, etc.)

Personally, I've seen a zillion of ATMs that accept my VISA/PLUS card without displaying such a logo, both in China and elsewhere.

Finally, I've been living abroad for about 4 years and I would never have an "emergency stash" of money available. Actually, I never have more cash on hand than I would be willing to give up to pickpockets. Although I have no personal experience, foreigners are usually targeted by pickpockets in China, so carrying around a lot of cash would probably be quite a bad idea. This is perhaps a valid claim if you're travelling in a country with no financial infrastructure and a substantial risk of violent war. Iraq comes to mind, but most people just don't choose such places as their travelling destinations.

[BrandeX]

Also every ATM I have used in China that has been out of money, has always required me to first input my PIN before I was aware of this fact. (that the "withdraw" button is missing in the menu)

[imron]

Finally, I've been living abroad for about 4 years and I would never have an "emergency stash" of money available. Actually, I never have more cash on hand than I would be willing to give up to pickpockets.

It's been 8 years for me, and I follow the same principle.

[liuzhou]

I've lived 'abroad' most of my long life and the only emergency stash I have is ¥100 in my desk drawer. I think. Or did I use it to buy more beer?