Banking & Credit

by **fulltrack** » Thu Sep 23, 2010 10:19 pm

KalanStar wrote:^^And "The Stupid Flame War" of the year award goes to these 3 losers!

yeah, you are the one who they missed to make it 3. :lol:

by **fulltrack** » Thu Sep 23, 2010 10:22 pm

bestloser1 wrote:
overagedho20 wrote:Good old DullCrack, out defending his fellow pig farmers.

Hi Over.. no worries.. it's the "dog's work" - guard pig farms. Usually bark don't bite.

JUST KIDDING.

You can try and make my day. :lol:

by **best1** » Thu Sep 23, 2010 10:23 pm

fulltrack wrote:bestloser1

by **KalanStar** » Thu Sep 23, 2010 10:58 pm

^^Don't try to make this about me guys.

Sorry to distract you from your flaming war... Mongolian German sheep shaggers, -- no you are!... or something along those lines

by **Ip Man** » Fri Sep 24, 2010 1:33 am

This thread on banking & credit is really Brilliant!! :lol:

by **hundan1** » Wed Oct 20, 2010 9:50 am

Hi, can someone tell me is the 5000 USD limit for conversion of RMB to foreign currency a day during the Expo - does that apply only in Shanghai? Logically it would only be Shanghai, but I am wondering if I can do that in Chengdu? Also, when you go through customs at Pudong airport on the way out of China, how much Chinese currency can you change without documentation before the end of October? I am not an official Expo attendee, just a tourist.. Thanks for any help.

by **hundan1** » Wed Oct 20, 2010 2:28 pm

I didn't want to take renminbi out of China. I wanted to change some into pounds at Pudong airport... if Pudong is in Shanghai - does that mean you can buy $5000 of foreign currency on the way out of the country? Anyhow, I have a Chinese debit card and I can withdraw the money in England, but it will just take longer that way...

by **hundan1** » Wed Oct 27, 2010 8:48 am

My understanding is that it applies only to Shanghai. I have some friends who tried it in Beijing and it didn't work.

overh20, it does apply outside of Shanghai. I know because I changed nearly 200K yuan in one go at Citibank in Chengdu - I was able to do so because of the World Expo. The money is now safely in my UK account - I didn't need to use any Chinese friends or the black market.

by **hundan1** » Fri Oct 29, 2010 12:38 pm

overh20, I posted that so there would be just enough time for your friends in Beijing to open a Citibank account and exchange up to $50K into foreign currency in one go, using the Expo as an excuse. Citibank and other foreign banks are always going to be better for this stuff than the local banks. Just to clarify, no I did not have to show any documentation whatsoever. They gave me a cup of coffee, I signed my name twice on papers they provided me with and the £s arrived in my account the next day. Definitely not the difficult process many board members have experienced...Even today there may still be time for someone to use this opportunity.

by **greeneyedlady** » Fri Nov 12, 2010 10:39 am

Two things I did not believe in the above post...

1. You actually said thank you
2. You actually have a "friend"

just admit it... it was some guy at Starbucks you overheard talking about going to Bank of China.

by **greeneyedlady** » Sun Nov 14, 2010 12:24 pm

Did you find that last word in your above post in Urban Dictionary? Figures...

by **jamar** » Sun Nov 28, 2010 11:44 am

So... A question.

Anyone have a clue why some banks (like Standard Chartered) charge you to withdraw foreign currency once you put it in? Or is it one of those "it just is" things?

by **tengis** » Sun Nov 28, 2010 2:15 pm

overh20 wrote:I think they do it because they can.

Most of them will waive the fee if you hold a certain amount of deposit or have a loan exceeding a certain size.

It's a great tactic for weeding out unprofitable accounts.

If you do happen to be someone who is not in the target audience of these international banks, you can always use the Chinese banks who'll let you withdraw foreign currency for free.

by **jamar** » Sun Nov 28, 2010 6:36 pm

Though at most Chinese banks the lines get ridiculously long. The exception I've found thus far is Minsheng Bank, of which I've found a branch tucked in an out-of-the-way place next to a subway station that doesn't seem to get all that busy.

But thanks.
(and actually, in the meantime, I discovered that Dah Sing Bank has a branch here. Just one, but they're practically never as busy as the local banks. Application process aside, they're pretty quick and almost never busy. And I can deposit and withdraw... I've only tried with HK$ so far... without fees.)

by **tengis** » Sun Nov 28, 2010 9:35 pm

jamar wrote:Though at most Chinese banks the lines get ridiculously long. The exception I've found thus far is Minsheng Bank, of which I've found a branch tucked in an out-of-the-way place next to a subway station that doesn't seem to get all that busy.

Where do you live or frequent? I've found that the big four tend to have ridiculous lines, although there are certain branches that are better. Most of the smaller banks (except the Bank of Shanghai) seem to be OK.

Incidentally, my favourite Chinese bank of the moment is the Industrial Bank Co. No deposit requirements and no fees for the first three ATM withdrawls anywhere within China, except Xiamen.

by **jamar** » Mon Nov 29, 2010 5:47 pm

tengis wrote:
Where do you live or frequent? I've found that the big four tend to have ridiculous lines, although there are certain branches that are better. Most of the smaller banks (except the Bank of Shanghai) seem to be OK.

Incidentally, my favourite Chinese bank of the moment is the Industrial Bank Co. No deposit requirements and no fees for the first three ATM withdrawls anywhere within China, except Xiamen.

I live in Putuo district, and frequent Xujiahui/Minhang around both SJTU campuses.

I use Industrial Bank for deposits to my Minsheng account with the 柜面通 thing they have going on now. But around the places I live/frequent it's not uncommon to spend over half an hour and sometimes over an hour waiting for something to get done. That's why I looked around for the two least busy banks in Xujiahui and applied for accounts there. Dah Sing and BEA (not including Hang Seng or HSBC- I definitely don't have enough money to avoid their account maintenance fees). I had a Standard Chartered account, but they're getting really busy these days so that account doesn't see much use anymore. Free domestic wires and interbank ATM withdrawals with BEA means that's what I use that account for. Dah Sing I use for quick deposit/withdrawal because there's never been a line when I go.

On that note, anyone who could see a list of the bank accounts I have would think I was insane.

by **tengis** » Mon Nov 29, 2010 9:45 pm

jamar wrote:I live in Putuo district, and frequent Xujiahui/Minhang around both SJTU campuses.

So that means you're surrounded by banks

I suppose the question is then why do you have to visit the branches so often (as opposed to using ATMs or online banking)? Is it simply for depositing/withdrawing foreign currency?

by **jamar** » Tue Nov 30, 2010 1:06 am

Mostly for depositing/withdrawing/exchanging foreign currency. Occasionally I need to withdraw smaller RMB bills to have handy, which I use the DSB account for (walk in, drop a couple hundreds, go- come back when I need a couple of change-sized bills like 10s and 20s). Also the occasional int'l wire. Very occasional, as in once a year at most (when I need to move money back to the US to pay my American CC bill; won't need this anymore if my application for the BOC int'l card goes through).

Also, with free domestic wires over online banking offered by BEA (unlimited, any amount) and Standard Chartered (unlimited, less than 50K RMB each go), I pass by those while I'm in Xujiahui, see which one is emptier (at BEA the line has never been more than two deep when I go, Standard Chartered gets almost as bad as ICBC sometimes), drop in my money, and go wire it into my BOC or ICBC account (sounds Rube Goldberg-esque, doesn't it?) Takes a day or so but most of that happens in the background instead of taking my time waiting in line for a machine at BOC (some days it feels like the whole school's got something to do there, especially when they have a line 10 deep at the machines, all wiring to an out-of-town account, especially when someone's filling the machine to the limit and there's always a few bills that have to be run through a few times before the machine will take them). And the machines I've used seem especially picky- when I deposit at a branch I know it's all done in one go.

So long story short- foreign currency, int'l wires, small bills, and because dealing with a foreign bank branch sometimes comes out quicker than waiting for a BOC or ICBC machine.

by **medaman** » Fri Mar 04, 2011 4:22 pm

Anyone know if Bank of America still has cooperation with Construction Bank where withdrawals made at CCB are fee free?

by **maggieqiu** » Fri Mar 04, 2011 5:13 pm

yes, it is..

by **monalisalee** » Thu Apr 07, 2011 3:06 pm

Talking about long lines:
Just got back from ICBC, Langao Rd. I needed to deposit money in my wife's account as she is in Tianjin and had to go to hospital, thus needs money urgently.

2 1/2 hours wait, 100 numbers before me, even more than an hour to get a seat.
There were 4 windows, 1 Corporate, 2 personal banking, 1 closed, as the girls took turns to go for their 1/2 hour lunch. Beats me why there could not be a teller to relieve for the lunch break.

I will stick to BOC as never seen anything like that......pathetic!

by **MoonOverMiami** » Thu Apr 07, 2011 3:44 pm

monalisalee wrote:There were 4 windows, 1 Corporate, 2 personal banking, 1 closed, as the girls took turns to go for their 1/2 hour lunch. Beats me why there could not be a teller to relieve for the lunch break.

Sounds like my BoC branch here. 4 Windows, 1 would handle card payments if necessary, and 1 would handle their VIP customers if their VIP office is closed (which happens about 80% of the time I've gone there). The other 2 will handle regular customers all the time.

by **nzer123** » Thu Apr 07, 2011 5:13 pm

monalisalee wrote:2 1/2 hours wait, 100 numbers before me, even more than an hour to get a seat.
There were 4 windows, 1 Corporate, 2 personal banking, 1 closed, as the girls took turns to go for their 1/2 hour lunch. Beats me why there could not be a teller to relieve for the lunch break.

Maybe this is a bad egg branch, or just a bad day. When I went in to the Kangding branch, everytime they'd swap out a teller for a break they'd swap back in one of the others who had just had theirs. Still took ages to wait, though.

by **tengis** » Thu Apr 07, 2011 9:22 pm

monalisalee wrote:Talking about long lines:
Just got back from ICBC, Langao Rd. I needed to deposit money in my wife's account as she is in Tianjin and had to go to hospital, thus needs money urgently.

As the PBOC has just raised the interest rate, the lines are going to be exceptionally long for a few days as people rush to withdraw their term deposits and redeposit them under the higher rate. It would've been worse yesterday.

So watch out for the next rate rise.

by **monalisalee** » Thu Apr 07, 2011 9:54 pm

Yeah, Good point.
Another rate rise VERY shortly!

by **ATP** » Tue Apr 12, 2011 11:17 am

Can someone explain for me the intricacies, if any, of dealing with bank cheques/bank checks/bank drafts coming into China? Otherwise known as inward remittances? In relation to costs, procedures, conversions, withdrawals?

Thanks.

by **ATP** » Tue Apr 12, 2011 1:08 pm

Thanks very much, this is good to know.

I am not up with the intricacies of international banking. But, when you refer to international cheques/checks, I know that there are different types: company, bank draft (I am not sure if a personal cheque/check is classified the same, & in this matter, also not my interest).Given what you've said, is the process/treatment within Shanghai of international bank draft and company cheques/checks types the same?

Thanks.

by **ATP** » Tue Apr 12, 2011 2:44 pm

overh20 wrote:^

They must be deposited into an account at the bank where you wish to cash the check. Generally people use Bank of China because not many other banks are set up for international check clearing. Once you deposit the check it can take anywhere from 4 to 8+ weeks before the check is cleared and the funds available for use.

The good news is that the fee that, for example, Bank of China charges you for check clearance is relatively low -- something like 50 RMB. Also, the dollars you obtain when the check finally clears is treated as dollars forex (hui) and not dollars cash (chao). This means if and when you decide to exchange the dollars for RMB, they pay you a higher rate than if you were exchanging ordinary banknotes.

You indicate fees. I am unclear--is there only 1 fee (at the depositing end, my side) or 2 fees, both at the sending and depositing end?

by **ATP** » Tue Apr 12, 2011 4:22 pm

This is interesting. I have requested a bank cheque/draft to be sent to me from a corporation with the relevant business unit in HK..

The initial email sent to me earlier indicated the following:

- the HK based party can issue a bank draft subject to determination that I am able to deposit in SH any overseas bank draft issued from Hong Kong;

-(summarising)that there is a fee on the depositing side. In banking parlance, the HK party is the 'depositor", while I am the recipient.

Which would therefore indicate 2 fees, correct?

by **ATP** » Tue Apr 12, 2011 7:05 pm

<<First of all, obviously your check will be for Hong Kong dollars. I am not sure how Bank of China clears HK$ checks so you had better ask Bank of China.>>

There's the rub--it ain't in HKD; it's in RMB. At least that is what I understand is going to happen. If so,
I ain't a happy chappy in this situation, but that is another story, as they say...

I guess the monies invested in a Chinese-English financial dictionary have gone to waste then...?? :oops:

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