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Q: International-China shared bank accounts?
If I set up an account at a bank that has branches both in China and in other countries (I'm specifically thinking of HSBC), can I directly access money deposited in China (RMB) to my account while traveling abroad in other currencies (USD in NYC for example)? Or is there some sort of "net" that keeps the China account accessible only within China?
I know lots of expats working here have trouble getting their earned RMB monies out of the country (there are legal ways, yes, but they all involve dealing with banking bureaucracy). To me, an account with an HSBC type bank seems to be the most logical way of doing it...but something tells me that it's not that easy.
Does anyone know if this is possible?
11 years 31 weeks ago in Money & Banking - China
HSBC told me (years ago, so pardon if this is not the case now) that it is possible if...and only if...the money is deposited from overseas into your account. The overseas deposited money will be available world-wide but not the RMB segment.
China strictly controls the flow of RMB and thus has made sure that there's no easy solution.
I have been trying to find ways to get money out of China over the last few weeks and there is no real easy answer. The easiest solution (depending on how much money you want to get out) is to have trusted locals wire the money to your US account. They are limited to US$50,000 per year, but if you have several you trust (because you have to give them the money to deposit in their account, then transfer out to the destination of your choice) then you can transfer out quite a bit fairly quickly.
The legal route involves pay stubs, government agencies and lots of paperwork.
Of course, if you are only trying to take out less than US$10k then you can just widthdraw the US dollars (I think the limit is US$500 per day). Then, once you have the US dollars you want, you can just carry them out of the country by hand.
As you found out the hard way, it is easier to put YOUR OWN DAMN MONEY into a Chinese bank than to take it out. Sometimes I think they were born with glue on their hands. Or are they really that interest savvy?
I am not sure if it is applicable to all countries or not. If you can use your Union Pay Card (debit) then this piece may be helpful.
I am just giving an example of Mongolia and China based on the experience of my Mongolian Colleague. For two years, every month after getting salary my friend went to bank, changed to USD then wired to Mongolia through Western Union. For the last one year after noticing that the Union Pay card can be used in any ATM of Mongolian Banks, new idea came up. She gets her salary in her account at CCB. She opened new bank account at ICBC. When she was at home, she gave the card to her family there. After receiving her salary at CCB, she withdraws it and deposits into ICBC bank account. Then she informs her parents about it and they withdraws the money there. Well she did some calculation and there was no big difference in doing this. So far for one year she has no problem doing it. The only thing is that if you wire money here you pay less to get dollors (e.g. 6-7 RMB/USD). But then you have to pay 20-50 USD for transfer through Western Union. If you use debit card, you don't pay transfer fee, instead you may have to pay little more exchange rate depending on the bank you used to withdraw money. Depends on the exchange rate fixed by the National bank of your country.
If you have someone in USA who can take care of your money, then you can give a try.
i have been told you can buy certified checks in dollars at icbc and then mail them to america by express mail, not sure of the cost and time involved.
