There are dozens of banks in China for private and business accounts, so you are presented with quite a choice in case you need to open one. The problem is, however, that none of them offers any decent level of service, convenience or standards most of us are accustomed to.
First the good stuff: opening an account is easy -- just a matter of filling out some forms, copying your passport, visa and paying a few pennies for the ATM card. The ATM card can be used for regular withdrawals, paying for purchases using Union Pay system (similar to PLUS or Maestro) and checking your balance. Union Pay system is universally present all over China and has spread outside as well -- you can easily withdraw cash or even pay in shops in Hong Kong, Macau, Singapore and perhaps elsewhere as well.
However, here is what you need to know -- if you lose your ATM card, the bank won't reissue it right away as one might expect. It will take at least 10 business days, or 2 weeks! In the meantime, not only you won't be able to enjoy the convenience of ATM -- you won't be able to access your account at all, even at the bank window! A bank teller won't be able to help you with any transactions including getting money out of your account because, believe it or not, they need your card! It doesn't matter if you have your passport with your picture in it, your bank account number, maybe even your bankbook -- they would be just staring at you with a typical blank look on their faces and you won't get anywhere.
There is only one way out of this situation -- personally knowing someone high up in this specific bank or branch, such as branch manager or one of their 10,000 vice presidents, then things can be settled in a matter of minutes. If you don't know anyone like this -- you are out of luck and just have to suck it up for another two weeks.
Most people don't know about another tricky aspect of this ATM card -- it only allows 6 attempts with incorrect code before your account is blocked and the card must be reset. Now, you might ask -- what kind of an idiot would attempt typing a wrong code 6 times in a row? The catch is that it isn't 6 times in a row but it is 6 times since you got your card! You may have had your card for 10 years and if during this time you typed your code incorrectly 5 times (maybe had too much beer one night and the key was stuck on another occasion) and today you are in the airport trying to get some cash before a week long trip overseas while your finger slipped on the keypad -- oops, your card instantly becomes useless!
Transferring money overseas is another nightmare -- as a foreigner, you need to provide your original work contract, salary slips and the original stamped paper from the tax authorities showing all the taxes that you have paid. All this is required in order to convert RMB to USD or any other hard currency that can be wired out of China. The workaround does exist: you can ask a local colleague or a friend with Chinese ID to do that for you, however some may be reluctant to help as such transactions may attract the unwanted attention of tax authorities. Besides, there is a limit on the amount that can be transferred overseas by locals and some could be planning to use it for their own needs.
In conclusion, my advise is to do as little banking as possible in China by keeping the account in your home country active or opening another one in a convenient place near by, such as Hong Kong or Singapore. More about this later on.
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