I'm moving to Kunming in July. I've found loads of conflicting information regarding banking. Where are expats keeping their money? I live in NYC and could open an account at Bank of China, Merchant's Bank of China, or ICBC. Suggestions?
I'd like online services for wire transfers etc to/from my US account with Chase. Suggestions?
Also:are you able to log on to your US bank accounts for bill pay etc?
Thanks in advance :)
If you have a Bank of America account you can open an account at China Construction Bank and use your B of A account to withdraw funds from your checking account with the lowest fee: 1% on the current exchange rate. They charge the same rate at Bank of China to change US$ to rmb so you really can't beat that rate.
As far as I know it doesn't get any better than that. It's the only bank I know that does that.
I hate Wire Transfers. They usually charge a minimum $30. Go with the B of A and CCB. You may be able to transfer funds directly from Chase to your BofA account for no fees.
Yes I do all of my banking online and pay bills in the US from my US bank.
Plan on getting a VPN if you want Facebook NYTimes or Bloomberg and many other websites.
I recommend pandapow. Google it.
Thanks Laoshi!
Does the China Construction Bank have branch locations all over china? Easy access?
Of course. It's own by China.
With China Construction Bank I know I can withdraw funds from my Bank of America account, but can I deposit funds into my Bank of America account as well? Does anyone know what type of fees I'd be looking at? Thanks for your help!
laoshi19 info was correct till the start of this year regarding Bank of America. Now there is an additional 3% fx fee.
You cannot conduct any Bank of America functions through CCB except withdraw money from atms or view your US balance displayed in rmb.
I recommend HSBC as they do a lot of joint home currency - local rmb accounts. However, they only have a single branch in Kunming.
We use a Capital One account and withdraw at Bank of China or China Merchants Bank (and probably others, but that's what we've used so far this trip) and there are no foreign transaction fees. The only drawback is transferring to C1 from our credit union account where direct deposit goes, because C1 puts a 5-day hold on the transfer. It's kind of infuriating.
@Elisa
What rate of exchange was Capital One giving you? Sometimes no fees just means they make it up with a poor fx rate. My AMEX credit card did that.
Still good info thx. I might look into opening a Capital One 360 account next return visit. Also, found a nice link for on avoiding ATM fees.
AlexKMG
Thanks for the update I had no idea Bank of America has changed their policy. I only used them when I first came here 2 years ago. Now I've got enough cash that I don't have to pull money from the US but the real problem is when you want to send money to the US!
I have not found an easy way to do that. Does anyone know of any inexpensive ways to convert rmb to $ and send to the US? Wire transfers are expensive and a terrible hassle so pls don't recommend them.
Bank of China will only change $500 worth of Rmb into dollars at one time. HOWEVER, if u go to different Bank of China branches they don't communicate with each other so you can get $500 at each branch on the same day.
It's a terrible hassle and then you have to carry a lot of cash with you. I wish there were an inexpensive way to send $ to the US. if there is a bank in the US that corresponds with a good bank in China and doesn't charge huge transaction fees I'd be interested to learn about it. Thank you
