I can tell cash is the most common way of payment here, ATM seconds. just curious, are checks also used by individuals and companies?

I just opened an account at Bank of China and particularly asked for online banking. it seems that additional info or a different type of account is required. is online banking or bill pay also popular here?

what about credit cards? do they require extra balances in your bank account? how rampant is credit card scam? any credit card do you recommend in Shanghai?

Thanks for info.

Hi There,

as far as i know (last time I checked) online banking was only (if) available in Chinese at the Major chinese banks.

As u said, this is a cash society, checks being not used here at all (this not being the US, or UK). Paying bills online works to some extent from some banks but i would not count on it. Also, usually the interface is in Chinese only.

Suggest you keep your US credit card until u r satisfied with the service local banks offer here. Suggest Citibank or HSBC.

Cheers,

Adreno

you are wrong.

i use "icbc" online banking and it is in english.
i do not read chinese.

try this website :

http://www.icbc.com.cn/e_icbcmodule/sec ... %2BBanking

Different banks offer different services, internet banking is mostly for checking your balance, not very sophisticated, when it is available.

Cheques (please spell it right) are only for company to company payments.

And whatever you do... DONT FOLD A CHEQUE!

Basically, the banking system is still in the stone-age aside from possibly CMB's credit cards.

Anyone know if standing order can be done for fixed monthly payment such as house rental ? I tried checking at BOC but the cashier told be that it is not possible. What about other local bank ? Do they accept standing instruction ?

Cheques (please spell it right) are only for company to company payments.

Adam7,

I do not write CHECKS anymore from my BoA On-Line CHECKING Account. (And that is how they spell it.) God Bless America!

Synergys,
I do not know about a house rental. Is it to a management company?
I use ICBC and do have them automatically deduct my China Mobile mobile phone bill every month.

platl10,

It is to my landlord who is also account holder in the same bank. If you are able to setup standing order for your China Mobile that direct debit different figures every month, then I believe they should be able to do the same for fixed payment. Will try to check with ICBC.

Good Luck!

You never know here...sometimes things that make sense,... you cannot do.

Sometimes things you least expect are "do-able"...are!

It's never boring here!!!

Adam7 wrote:Basically, the banking system is still in the stone-age aside from possibly CMB's credit cards.

CMB's credit card and related services are as bad as any other's -- and usually even worse. Do you actually have a clue about what you are talking about?

Here is some english version of major chinese bank's homepage:

1) Bank of China: http://www.boc.cn/en/static/index.html

2) China Construction Bank: http://www.ccb.com/portal/en/home/index.html

3) ICBC : http://www.icbc.com.cn/e_index.jsp

4) China Merchants Bank : http://english.cmbchina.com/

All of them support online bank and english call service.

also, you can see some international bank in China :

Citibank: http://www.citibank.com.cn/CNGCB/JPS/po ... cale=en_CN

HSBC : http://www.hsbc.com.cn/1/2/home

Standard Chartered Bank : http://www.standardchartered.com.cn/e_index.html

ganggangdezw wrote:Here is some english version of major chinese bank's homepage:

1) Bank of China: http://www.boc.cn/en/static/index.html

2) China Construction Bank: http://www.ccb.com/portal/en/home/index.html

3) ICBC : http://www.icbc.com.cn/e_index.jsp

4) China Merchants Bank : http://english.cmbchina.com/

All of them support online bank and english call service.

Not sure what "English call service" is. Please translate that phrase from Chinglish to some semblance of English.

You are lying when you say that they all support online banking in English. Don't you actually follow the links you post to make sure you don't end up looking stupid when they ultimately don't lead to where you tell people they do?

Fact: Of the banks listed, only ICBC has online personal banking in English.

Fact: Of the banks you listed, other than ICBC, only Bank of China has a form of online banking in English, but even that is only for corporate banking.

As for telephone banking services, only Bank of China, ICBC and China Merchants Bank offer this service in English. China Construction Bank does not.

If you don't know what you are talking about, at least learn to use Google correctly and actually follow the links to their ultimate destination.

Ccie,
Welcome to Shanghai. If I had to set up banking again, I'd still go with Bank of China, but no net service even though I've signed up. For reasons I'll never understand, it doesn't work. Keep an account in the States and a credit card if you can, and when you open a local account, ask for VIP service. It requires a large deposit (maybe 50,000RMB) but you go to the head of the line when you go to a branch-and the lines can be quite long! It takes me from 1 to 3 hours to pay rent, and VIP would skip the queue. If you wire money in, see if it can be wired in RMB instead of USD, as the conversion is a similar time sink. All transactions require going to a branch, waiting in line, and having your passport. Be patient, and Welcome!

Actually, Bank of China online banking works perfectly -- but only in Chinese. They do not have English service.

In Bank of China a 50,000 RMB deposit gets you ZERO. You need 500,000 minimum balance to be considered a VIP customer. Other banks have different amounts, but generally about 200,000 RMB.

I use http://www.sh.bank-of-china.com/en/ for checking my bank balance and paying utility bills.
That's about all I can do as a private user.

^ Yup. Better than nothing.

However, BOC's online banking services in Chinese are not that difficult to use even for those with no Chinese language skills. The interface is pretty logicially set out and you can easily transfer funds between your accounts and pay your credit card bill without major screw-ups.

underh20 wrote:
Not sure what "English call service" is. Please translate that phrase from Chinglish to some semblance of English.

You are lying when you say that they all support online banking in English. Don't you actually follow the links you post to make sure you don't end up looking stupid when they ultimately don't lead to where you tell people they do?

... ...

Hi,underh20
I am very sorry for my mindless post. I didn't follow the links.

My english is ont well but I am trying my best to improve it.

Adam7 wrote: Cheques (please spell it right) are only for company to company payments.

Some people prefer the earlier version of English and check that evolved from Old German. On the other hand, how likely is it such people would refuse to deposit a US-bank check in their account?

Don't mind Bladam7. He's challenged.

Not only are checks sometimes used for company to individual payments, but the fact is nobody in their right mind would refuse to deposit a valid US check into their Chinese account. It might take 4 - 6 weeks for the check to clear, but it is, after all, money and nobody would just throw it away.

Do not have money sent as rmb to HSBC in China. it happened to me once and they ended up exchanging USD to RMB, then HSBC exchanged the RMB to USD. I lost a lot of money on the deal! HSBC is considered a foreign bank in China for some purposes but under Chinese banking terms for other purposes. When I left China, HSBC said it would be getting the ability to issue credit cards soon. Don't know if changes have happened in the past 10 months.

janlynn wrote:When I left China, HSBC said it would be getting the ability to issue credit cards soon.

HSBC already has issued credit cards in China and they have chosen to do so exclusively with Bank of Communications. Their contract contains a non-competition clause that prohibits HSBC from issuing any type of credit card product for up to ten years that is not issued in conjunction with Bank of Communications.

I am just going to set up a bank account, I read all the replys on this thread but I am still not sure what bank would be the best I was looking at HSBC because I thought they would have an online banking service, I also have a HSBC account in HOng Kong, and assumed I could transfer money easierly from this account to Shanghai HSBC. The most importantfeature I would like is online services, as I travel a lot and would need to be able to transfer money, should I need to

Acknowledging a requirement to maintaining higher balances than desired in a bank account, HSBC tells me I can open a dual or multi currency account in the States directly linked with a local HSBC RMB account. Any Yanks done that or know if I'm just getting BS'd by HSBC US reps trying to increase their USD balances? I've heard the same can be done in HK with HKD and RMB accounts. True? How 'bout tossing in GBP and SGD for the helluva it, likely or just BS?

^ True. You can do it.

The minimum daily average balance is something like 500,000 RMB. Go below it for just one day and you get a monthly service charge of about $50.

I went to the Expat fair and Citi bank told us the same story about linking accounts from overseas , and told us they also do Credit cards???. But my issue is that I just want a bank that does have some online facilities, would the Bank of China be a better bet, then trying to find an international bank, Need to open account by Tuesday, I am walking around with quite abit of cash need to get it in an account.

hsbc ask to have a balance of a minimum 100.000rmb to have free bank account for the premier account they now request 500.000rmb balance
as for credit card as some people asked and myself included i sent them an
e-mail yesterday and this is what they sent me back:

FROM HSBC SHANGHAI PORTMAN BRANCH:

Thank you for your email of 09 Dec 2007.

We regret to inform you that, due to regulatory constraints, HSBC China
is NOT allowed to issue credit or ATM cards. However, we are currently
preparing for card issuance. We shall issue cards as soon as we get
the license to do so.

With a deposit of CNY500000 or equivalent, you may enjoy the extensive
network of HSBC Premier Centres in mainland China and around the world
to offer you exclusive and preferential services:

1.Your own Customer Relationship Manager to provide attentive
one-to-one relationship banking.

2.Qualified in one country, recognized in all countries. If you are
currently our Premier customer in any other HSBC countries, you may
directly get in contact with your account-holding country to prepare for your
free-Premier account in HSBC China. Also we are more than happy to
arrange the Premier account for you as you like.

3.Global emergency cash services.

4.A comprehensive range of structured deposits to assist you to
maximize the potential return of your assets.

5.Relationship, Recognition and Reward & Preferential Tariff such as
free online TT between self-named Accounts within HSBC Group etc.

For further enquiries, please dial our national customer service
hotline 800-820-8878 (within China) /86 21 68411818 (from overseas) or visit
our website www.hsbc.com.cn.

Regards,

Cathy
Customer Service Center
HSBC China

so if that can help spome people.

HSBC has a credit card alliance with Bank of Communications, CitiBank has one with Shanghai Pudong Development Bank and Hang Seng has one with Industrial Bank. The terms of each contract stipulate that the foreign bank cannot conduct any credit card business for the next 7 - 10 years in China that is in direct competition with the Chinese partner bank unless the card(s) is/are issued also through the Chinese partner bank.

Unless the Customer Service staff at HSBC or CitiBank know something that the CEO of CitiBank China or the CEO of HSBC knows, they must be full of $hit.