Has any laowai been successful to get an International Credit Card from a Chinese Bank ?
BOC has got application forms which seem to support foreigner's accounts in China, however BOC never came back to my application ...
The Chinese brand Union Card can be used in many foreign countries, however, it is not supported by Paypal, so, how do you connect to Paypal, if you haven't got a foreign countries residency ?

the china merchants bank has a good range of visa/mastercard - union pay co-brand credit card on offer. it is worth to have a look at those offers.

by the way, you dont really need to be a local to get a credit card in most countries. what you do need is a very Fat bank account tho. :-) say for example, if you are a hong kong HSBC Premier Account holder, you automatically get a local hong kong gold credit card. freewheeling, right? hhahah

*i i dont work for any bank. :-).

Funny coincidence. I was planning to find a bank to make an account this week. Can anyone recommend one? I have heard that some banks in China used to give you trouble if you try to withdraw from a branch in another city, is that still the case? Any idea on the yearly fee here if I want a Visa or a mastercard? Thanks.

Hey Dan, I hope I can explain this right because it is really a pain like you said.

First thing you have to understand, and perhaps you already do, is that while the name of the banks might be the same, they're are actually separate entities. Let me explain.

Back home, all Bank of America are branch office the Bank of America Corp. so that you can walk into any BofA branch and they would be able to pull up your account and service it as you request.

Here in China however, that's not the case. The Bank of China here in Kunming let's say, only operates in Kunming, they have nothing to do with BoC in Beijing, they can not access any accounts from any where other than accounts opened at branch offices here in Kunming and vise versa. You can't go to Beijing and expect to have them service your account if it's opened here in Kunming. It's like walking into a WellsFargo and asking them to tell you how much money you have in your Chase Manhattan account.

So how do you access your money when you are away from Kunming, you'll need your ATM card. Just simply stick your ATM into any machine and withdraw it the normal way. You'll be subject to the daily limit of course and then there would be the ATM fees that's expected when you are not using your home bank's ATM.

So, in short, as far as I can tell, there isn't a "national" bank here in China. Any account you open here in Kunming you can pretty much assume that it is only accessible here in Kunming.

On a side note, there might be an exception. If you bank with an out of town bank, the situation might be different. For example, Pudong Bank is a Shanghai based bank, however, they do have branches here in Kunming. If you open your account here, you might be able to access it in Shanghai, wouldn't know about a Pudong Bank in Beijing though. It might be worth asking.

Hope this helps.

Thanks,, does anyone know if HSBC has branches here in Kunming and where? Went to their site and Kunming didn't show up on their map but I could have sworn I have passed by a branch at some point.

the nearest HSBC branch is in Chengdu

HSBC does not have a branch in kunming as yet.
The closest thing to a HSBC is the Hang Seng Bank. the Hang Seng branch is near Kunming Hotel in the city.

HSBC has a 20% stake in Bank of Communications, although you wouldn't know it by their service. However it does mean that transfers between HSBC Hong Kong and Bank of Communications Kunming are same day if that's at all relevant to you.

You may wish to look at the Bank of East Asia - their head office is in Hong Kong, but they have branches in the mainland ... and throughout the world.