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Q: how can I get RMB from my European debit card?
Hi there.
My company sent me to work in China a while ago, but still keeps paying me directly to my European bank account. I tried to withdraw RMB from some Chinese banks' ATMs by my European debit card, and found out sometimes worked and sometimes not. Even it worked, limit of withdrawal was different each time, sometimes 2000 rmb, sometimes 1500 rmb, sometimes even just 1000 rmb. I definitely need RMB to live in China but don't want to withdraw many times a month to cover my bills, because each withdrawal costs me high service fee from the bank.
Is there anyone here who has similar experience and give me some suggestion to solve the problem? Are there any other ways that I can get more RMB with lower service fee?
Thank you!
10 years 52 weeks ago in Money & Banking - China
Open Bank account with Bank of China, or any other Chinese Bank. Ask your EU Bank to deposit funds to your Chinese Bank account direct.
Every mayor Chinese Bank account also have 'online banking' set up. You could use 'online banking' to move funds from EU Bank to Chinese Bank, and back. I am not sure, how 'back' part works, butt....I think, it is possible both ways.
I have Bank account at China Merchants Bank with Visa (MC) ATM Card, and 'online banking' feature, butt....web site is entirely in Chinese, English web version is in 'establishing process'......I can use 'online banking' only with Chinese translator present, so I'm not doing much of the online banking. At CMB, I can hold funds in any currency I want.
I believe, Bank of China has English version of 'online banking', and very similar features as CMB.
You don't have much choice here... transferring money takes way too long... your only choice is to get the money from ATMs with Visa logos... most have a daily limit of around 3000 rmb though.
I had the same problem while visiting China. I found that the only bank I could rely on was the bank of China. You could also have your bank in Europe wire transfer from your account there to your account in China. I wold recommend you open an account with the bank of China. Hope it works for you. Franck3
Thank you!
If I remember well, for a couple of times when I used Bank of China's ATM with visa and master logos (mine is visa), I could not withdraw the RMB. And it was the same for many ATMs with visa logo from other Chinese banks. That is why I get confused. I am new to the city where I am working. You can imagine how frustrated I feel when I walk from street to street to try on every ATM possible. I think that opening a Chinese bank account and ask my company to pay some deposit to it should be the best option to me now.
Relt:
I've had some problems with some ATMs, even with the visa logo. Try to find a Standard Chartered ATM, it always worked for me. I've seen a couple of them in Shenzhen and you can probably find them in bigger cities.
I withdrew from my Mastercard-based debit card at a Bank of China, unsure of the limit as i always did 800RMB. Service fee was less than three USD.
get yourself a business card with your address on it in china and go to hong kong to open a bank account with bank of china, the hong kong branch can receive direct deposit from 9 digit bank routing numbers. paychecks , social security , etc , and then use the bank of china hong kong card in mainland china to get your money. all american retirement checks must use direct deposit in2014 or be given a government debit card, no checks will be printed anymore.
business card to show for proof of address in china and your z visa is enough.
I find that CMB (China Merchants Bank) is the most reliable for foreign card withdrawals. But the best thing is to set up an account in their branch, make sure you go to a major branch as they will have English speaking staff there to help you.
