While traveling gives you fun, it means spending money. So before you go on your China Tours, get to know how to withdraw money in China. Take Beijing for instance; you’ll find many banks with many ATMs around every corner of the city when you Travel to Beijing. However, only about 60% of these accept foreign cards.  

The main foreign friendly ATMs are controlled by the Bank of China. Bank of China ATMs work in both Chinese and English, use the latest equipment, and are pretty easy to find. But the connection to the overseas banking network tends to have a high down time.

If you are told by a Bank of China machine that your transaction has been declined and to contact your bank, do not panic. This often just means that the International network is unavailable. You should try the other two banks mentioned or return the next day.

If the Bank of China ATMs are not working for you, the next best bet is a Merchants Bank outlet. Their network seems to be a bit more stable, and seem to run out of cash less. The problem is that Merchants Bank branches are few and not as easy to find as Bank of China.

Another bank, the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, has recently opened up most of its ATMs to the international network, allowing VISA or Mastercard transactions. ICBC is a very common bank in Beijing and seems to have branches almost everywhere. These banks are very popular however, and you may end up waiting in line to use one of these ATMs.

Using the ATMs

When you put your foreign bank card into a Beijing ATM it should give you the option to display English, or display both Chinese and English. There are various different methods the banks employ to let you select language. The Bank of China ATMs give the password screen in both languages, then on the select account screen, the options are given in two languages, English to the left, and Chinese to the right. 

On the select account screen it is essential that you use the left buttons to select your account as this is what determines the language you will be using from that point on. If you mistakenly press the buttons on the right, you will be in Chinese from that point onwards.

Transaction Limits

Other banks, like ICBC, have a separate screen near the beginning of the process which lets you select your desired language. At the end of some ATM transactions you will be given the option to continue or take your card. This is because the transaction limits on most bank accounts is set pretty low. The maximum you will be able to withdraw in one request is about 2500 RMB usually. You can press the continue button and try to get more cash out up to the ATMs daily limit. Most USA banks allow you about 5500 RMB per day, but this is controlled by your own bank.

There are a couple of other banks which may accept foreign cards around Beijing, namely HSBC and Citibank.  These ATMs are extremely rare however. Other internal Chinese banks almost certainly will not process your overseas transaction.

Commission and Transaction Charges

The ATMs mentioned here dispense Chinese RMB currency. The money will be taken from your foreign bank account. It will be converted to your home currency at a quite reasonable rate usually. The commission and transaction charges will be dependent upon your own bank’s policies.  If you are using an ATM/Debit card, usually the charges are comparable to drawing money in your own country. If you are using a Credit Card, you are usually talking about a “cash advance” which can be extremely expensive depending on your bank and how long you take to pay back the money. Hope this is helpful if you’re now already in the middle of packing up for your China Tours.

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