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Q: How can a foreigner get a credit card in china?
For locally issued credit cards, a foreigner must have a good record of employment and earnings, and of course, all required paperwork, visa passport and permits in good order and supply copies of all of them. If you do not work, no matter what sort of income you have from investments, retirement plans, etc, you will not get one. Not even the so called prepaid credit cards.
Now, for a debit card, you just need to open a savings account with any bank, and have funds into it to use it almost everywhere.
I don't thin you can to be honest... But... I suppose if you had a bank account for a year or 2, a contract, house lease and a good income it maybe possible... Apply and see what happens.
You need to have a real job with all your papers in order (visa, work permit, residence permit, expert certificate, etc). My credit card is from China Merchants Bank and they just asked me to fill a form and bring my passport 's photocopy. After 2 weeks they sent me the credit card.
If you want a bank account and a debit card that can be arranged on the spot as long as you bring your passport and residence permit. I have good experiences with China Merchants Bank, they are privately owned(as opposed to state owned, as most of the banks here are), and thus the service is a lot better.
I got turned down with various excuses at Bank of China and the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, but at the Merchants Bank the whole process took maybe half an hour. They aren't very good at english though so I recommend bringing a Chinese friend. If your foreign bank allows it, you can even transfer money between your bank account here and at home relatively easily.
For locally issued credit cards, a foreigner must have a good record of employment and earnings, and of course, all required paperwork, visa passport and permits in good order and supply copies of all of them. If you do not work, no matter what sort of income you have from investments, retirement plans, etc, you will not get one. Not even the so called prepaid credit cards.
Now, for a debit card, you just need to open a savings account with any bank, and have funds into it to use it almost everywhere.
HappyExPat detailed it very well the process....
I would just add the following. If you're married with a local Chinese girl/boy, if s/he has a credit card, the bank often offer a free credit card too for the family member. You don't need to register anything, because all will be linked to your wife/husband's main credit card account.
If all else fails and you really need a credit card, you can go to the Bank of China and deposit a sum of money in a timed savings account e.g. one year deposit account. You can sign a guarantee that, if you default on the credit card, they can retrieve the cash from that account.
The bank will usually allow you up to 80% of the deposited money as a credit limit.
Technically, it's not a prepaid credit card but a guarantee against default. You simply use the card like a standard issued card. After a period of time, you can withdraw the deposited money and just carry on using the credit card.
if you have a work visa , just go to the bank.
LAR:
Bonita,
"if.............bank." It's not that easy. I have read including in this thread about how difficult it is for a foreign expat to get a credit card here. :(
It's almost impossible.
I have got 2 but you must either have a shit lot of money deposited in the bank OR work for embassy or other political gov or be director or CEO of a fortune 500 company.
Another way is to have a Chinese guarantor, in that case the credit card will be under his/her control so he/she can block it anytime. Many foreigner got that through their employer but they got their credit card blocked after they quit.
I have property in China (legal property and I am the only owner) plus Chinese wife. China Merchant Bank turned down saying I shall deposit at least 300K RMB per month and leave this deposit for three months to have a minimal hope. Even under those circumstances approval is not certain. It is such an immoral, injust and shameful policy.
https://www.reddit.com/r/China/comments/9t6uwj/china_does_not_give_credi...
Foreigners cannot get a Chinese credit card. The only exception is if a foreigner has somehow been able to obtain a valid Chinese ID number.
Blondie_:
I'd check the posting date of questions if i were you.
There is very little activity here as most people have left China and this site has been left to rot over the last few years. Just check the "need answers" section and you can see that many of the questions can not even been opened.
