Hello! Long time no post... sorry.
Live has been busy and distracting... and I did say that I wasn't any good at this. But excuses aside I went on our field study trip, which was an educational field trip with everyone in the program. We went to Guangzhou [g-wong-joe], Hong Kong, Macau [ma-cow], and Zhuhai [juu-hi]. Pictures and more information on the trip to come! I promise!!
But for now I wanted to share some information on something that is important when coming to China for an extended period of time. That is banking. China is still for the most part a cash economy, with that said, it is hard to find places that will take a credit card, let alone a foreign credit card. Places that are international brands like major hotels, restaurants, and clothing stores will take credit cards. But your average day to day things will require cash. So this means you will be at the ATM a lot.
Before coming to China I did a ton of research on which banks had the best deals and partnerships in China. This is what I have compiled between that research and what I know now. I am not saying that these are the best options, or that it is completely necessary to do any of this, but it does save you quite a bit of money in foreign ATM fees.
Banks and deals are:
1) Bank of America
Bank of America has a partnership with China Construction Bank. With this partnership you can use your Bank of America debit card to withdraw money from the China Construction Bank ATM. The only charge is 1% fee of whatever amount of money you withdraw. Not bad huh? The drawback to this deal is that you have to use China Construction atm's. If for some reason you have to use another ATM you are then charged an outrageous fee. I believe one of my friends said it was in the $15 area. This is the most popular method amongst my peers.
2) Wells Fargo
Wells Fargo also has a partnership with a bank in China. This partnership is with China Agriculture Bank. The terms of this partnership are different that with that of Bank of America. With this partnership you have to set up an account with China Agriculture Bank, then have money transferred into the account from your Wells Fargo account. You have to let your banker know ahead of time so that they can be ready for it. You also have to give your banker at home your account information from the China Agriculture bank. The pros to this are that there is only a one time, flat rate charge of $8 to transfer money. So you can transfer over as much as you want for a flat rate fee. Then you can withdraw money from the Agriculture Bank ATM without any charges. You will also get an online card.(You have to have a special card to order things online here in China) The downside to this offer is that you will need someone who speaks Chinese to help you set up the account. The assistant program director went with me, so it was no problem. The other con is that once you transfer money over, you have to use it all in China, because you will not be allowed to transfer the money back to the USA. This is a Chinese policy. They try to keep as much money in China as possible. This was the banking option I took. And if for whatever reason I have to use my Wells Fargo debit card at another ATM, then I am charged a flat $5 non-Wells Fargo ATM fee.
3) Citi Bank
There are Citi Banks in Beijing, Shanghai, and Hong Kong. And I am willing to bet they are in other cities as well. Had I known they were over here I would have set up an account with them. That way I could have used their atm's without any charges, and without any transferring. Citi used to have this awesome international student checking account that was virtually fee less. Unfortunately it is no longer an option for those who don't already have it. I didn't stop to think that Citi might actually be in China. I just assumed that foreign banks just weren't allowed in.
Anyways... I have friends who use their regular banks at home and just pay the ATM fees... but it adds up after a while. I thought this blog would be helpful for those preparing to come to China for a semester :) Of course I am no expert, and you should always talk to your own personal banker, but hopefully this will help shed some light.
Posts coming up are:
-Field Study trip and pics
-What to bring to China, and what to leave at home
-random videos of my life here
