HELP!! Any Canadians out there bank & VISA card question

[speedmonk]

Hi, I am a little stuck here in Beijing. I used my VISA to pay for my BLCU tuition no problem. I also used it at my hotel.

However, when I go to use it at most stores they will not accept it, saying I need a PIN number, which I have never used in Canada.

Also, have you got a bank card to work? I cannot find an ATM that will take a Royal Bank ITERAC/PLUS card. The one onthe BLCU campus does not work.

I have not had any problems using these things anywhere else....but this is China....heheheh

Anyone had any luck wiring money to China from Canada? MIght have to do that if I need to get new cards.

Ughhgghghghghghgh

Thanks,

James MacLeod

[Terrymah]

stuck in beijing

I have no problems using my visa in beijing, dalian, shanghai, guangzhou, shenzhen, and zhuhai. however I did come across the problem with asking for pin numbers. i later found out that the store is confused with what is credit card and what is china debit card. Many stores are not authorized for credit card usage. look at the front of the store to see if they post an accept visa sign. hope this will help you

terry

[mpallard]

I had the same problem when I went to Beijing. I got a cash advance from the HSBC at the airport. I was actually lucky I had enough cash to get to the airport 'cause I was having real problems finding a cash machine that worked (I think my bank and credit card PINs both had too many #s).

[gougou]

At some ATM's, I can't get money because I don't have enough digits (I have 4, they want 6).

But apart of that, I close to never had any problems getting money on a VISA card (it is German, though, not sure whether that matters). Can't you use your VISA to get money from an ATM?

[AlexCheng]

Hey,

I'm from Canada as well and I'm studying at BLCU. Anyways, I got all my cash in advance of the trip and opened my own bank account at the ICBC on campus. After that, they give you a bank card where you can get cash at any of the chinese banks/ATMs and will work at most supermarkets that take bank cards.

If you are really having trouble getting cash from your VISA, I suggest you get a bank account here in China, and then contact your Royal Bank branch in Canada to wire some money over.

I really wouldn't suggest getting cash advances from credit cards as the rates are tremendously high, but depending on the amount of money you want to wire, and foreign exchange costs... it might actually be cheaper to just get a cash advance from your VISA. In that case, I would suggest you contact your bank which issued the VISA and ask them what your PIN number is. If you got your VISA at royal bank, chances are your credit card's PIN is the same as your bank card.

As for directly getting cash out of your bank card, I know with things like cirrus and other international banking ATMs, you can get money directly out of your bank account in Canada in any other country.

However, China has some monetary restrictions on foreign exchange, so I'm not quite sure if you can get money from your bank card directly from an ATM (seeing as how you are expected to show your passport at the bank to even exchange canadian dollars into RMB).

The best bet is to phone your bank in Canada and just ask them what your options are because they will probably have someone there that knows something about the rules in China. Cheers!

Alex

[trevelyan]

There is a major bank on the 3rd ring road just north of Changanjie that can handle international credit cards. You should be able to go there with the card and walk out with RMB if you need it. No other Chinese bank I know of does this.

This is the same bank that handles lost wires. (be sure that whoever sends you money does not split up the lengthy bank numbers across lines -- that caused a problem for me)

[trevelyan]

Its the main branch of the Bank of China for handling this sort of thing. You should be able to get the exact address from any branch in the city.