Benefit of creating HSBC RMB account?

[hichew]

Hi!

Was wondering if anyone could help with a question on bank accounts.

I'm heading to China to study for 5-6 months and was wondering if there was a benefit to creating an HSBC RMB account? I just signed up with HSBC Premier in the US and my understanding is that the credit/debit card can be used in China with no foreign transaction fees. They gave me the option of opening a RMB account with HSBC China though. What are the benefits of doing this vs. just using my US based credit/debit cards? One would be if I think I can get a better exchange rate today than over the next 6 months ... but apart from that is there a benefit? Is there some type of fee that I'm not aware of?

Any thoughts on this would be appreciated - thanks!

[gerri]

If there is no transaction fee, I don't see much of a difference (except, as you mentioned, about exchange rates that may be changing until then).

So, Hichew, did they just say that you could open a RMB account with HSBC China, or even offered to do that for you from the US?

A follow-up to others: I had been wondering about something similar, which is whether non-residents could open and keep (opening seems not to be a problem, actually) a bank account in China or Hong Kong, and if it is as difficult to transfer money from mainland China into a HK (RMB?) bank account as it is to get it out of the country to somewhere else?

Probably a "little" specialized a question, but also something in keeping with the many threads on how to get one's money out of China again ;-) ...

[skylee]

I can't answer any of the questions.

I had considered opening an HSBC RMB account here in HK (I am a HK citizen) but decided not to because HSBC told me that they would charge me a service fee everytime I deposit RMB in the account. I saw no benefits at all!

Unlike most HK people, I don't have an HSBC banking account (except a credit card which was not cancelled because the teller asked me not to) as I don't really like its services. IMHO they don't really care about their customers. I have RMB accounts at the HK branches of Standard Chartered, Bank of China and Hang Seng Bank. They don't charge me a fee.

Sorry if this is off the topic.