gato Posted July 11, 2007 at 08:03 AM Report Share Posted July 11, 2007 at 08:03 AM Has anybody else been experiencing problems withdrawing from Chinese bank ATMs with foreign bank cards? I've been getting error messages this whole last week withdrawing from China Construction Bank ATMs in Shanghai with a Bank of America card, which had worked many times before. I've contacted Bank of America, which told me that there's no problem with my account, so far as they could tell. A couple of my co-workers also had similar problems recently with Chinese bank ATMs. One was able to complete the withdrawal using a Citibank ATM. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
studentyoung Posted July 11, 2007 at 08:54 AM Report Share Posted July 11, 2007 at 08:54 AM I have contacted China Construction Back Shanghai’s local service hotline 021-95533. The operator said that the problem which might be caused by some communication technology problems (通信技术问题) has been solved. You can check it again today. Anyway, good luck! Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yonglin Posted July 11, 2007 at 08:56 AM Report Share Posted July 11, 2007 at 08:56 AM Try Bank of China. If that doesn't work, you're pretty much screwed. Citibank and HSBC should always work because they're kind of not Chinese. My boyfriend could withdraw from 工商 (ICBC??) and Bank of China last year, but this year only Bank of China works. I've got a great Swedish card which works for even the most obscure ones. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gato Posted July 11, 2007 at 09:08 AM Author Report Share Posted July 11, 2007 at 09:08 AM Hey, it's working now. Guess their technical problem has been taken care of. Thanks, studentyoung! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dreamer Posted August 6, 2007 at 02:58 PM Report Share Posted August 6, 2007 at 02:58 PM i had problems with my bank card aswell sometimes when i was in beijing. and i acutally called up mastercard international line etc...anyway what they said was that there are times when mastercard and the bank dont connect..like for example there could be a period between 10pm and 3am when it doesnt work on some days...but they said that i could still use my card to acutally pay for things...just that couldnt withdraw money. but yerh so just try and withdraw money in advanceeeeee i guess..just to keep safe =) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gamequeen Posted August 8, 2007 at 02:12 PM Report Share Posted August 8, 2007 at 02:12 PM :oops:yeah, i forgot to get back my card, only the money ~~~ god... ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gougou Posted August 8, 2007 at 03:02 PM Report Share Posted August 8, 2007 at 03:02 PM yeah, i forgot to get back my card, only the money ~~~god... ... Then you might be interested in this story: a friend of mine forgot his card in the ATM at Yaxiu. He went back there the other day, and asked the lady that worked there. She took him to her desk, pulled open the drawer and asked him what color his card was. He said red, she handed him the first red card she could find and turned away...(I told him he was an idiot; should have said gold) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Madot Posted August 9, 2007 at 01:29 AM Report Share Posted August 9, 2007 at 01:29 AM Sometimes the problem can be REALLY simple: the daily withdrawal limit can be quite small (depending on the bank NOT your card's usual limit) AND it appears that occasionally the "daily" time is calculated at a bit more than 24 hours so you think you should be able to withdraw but you just have to wait an hour or two. Mado Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gougou Posted August 9, 2007 at 01:45 AM Report Share Posted August 9, 2007 at 01:45 AM Actually, according to the current issue of City Weekend, the daily limit was just raised to RMB 20,000 to alleviate lines. The limit for individual transactions is still somewhere around 2,000, depending on the bank. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ipsi() Posted August 10, 2007 at 02:02 PM Report Share Posted August 10, 2007 at 02:02 PM I had issues recently with trying to get my balance from an ATM. Said it couldn't be done (I was using a New Zealand EFTPOS card, and it's worked fine in the past), but I was still able to withdraw money, which seemed kinda weird. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madizi Posted August 10, 2007 at 02:15 PM Report Share Posted August 10, 2007 at 02:15 PM I've never withdrew money on ATM in a foreign country before and have a few questions about this. Is it possible to withdraw money with normal bank card? I've heard that if it is in a Cirrus system, that then it is possible. Is it true? Maybe my question is silly, but let it be..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adrianlondon Posted August 10, 2007 at 02:54 PM Report Share Posted August 10, 2007 at 02:54 PM It depends on your card. The answer is usually "yes" as most cards use either the Visa or Mastercard system. Better to use "debit" (I think you yanks call that "checking account") cards rather than credit cards though. Best is to ask your bank! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madizi Posted August 10, 2007 at 04:07 PM Report Share Posted August 10, 2007 at 04:07 PM I see. Thank you. BTW, I'm not yank, but European. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gougou Posted August 11, 2007 at 04:14 AM Report Share Posted August 11, 2007 at 04:14 AM I had issues recently with trying to get my balance from an ATM. Did that ever work for you? I was under the impression that this function was not available for foreign cards. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ipsi() Posted August 11, 2007 at 04:16 AM Report Share Posted August 11, 2007 at 04:16 AM It worked when I first arrived in China, but no longer does so. Quite strange. *Shrugs* Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gougou Posted August 11, 2007 at 04:17 AM Report Share Posted August 11, 2007 at 04:17 AM Interesting. Never worked for me (using two kinds of German cards). But then again, I stopped trying very soon, so who knows. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ipsi() Posted August 11, 2007 at 04:42 PM Report Share Posted August 11, 2007 at 04:42 PM It worked fine for me today at an ATM belonging to the HKBS (I think?), worked fine, and I was able to withdraw 3000RMB with one transaction. Yay Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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