Submitted By: Patrick McGuire

Here’s a quick tip for those who are a little concerned about carrying large amounts of cash to China. If you’re a Bank of America customer, you can use China Construction Bank ATMs without any fees. It’s pretty convenient; it really saves you the trouble of carrying a lot of money and they’ll dispense the local currency (saving you currency exchange fees). I haven’t tried it in China, naturally, but I’ve used Barclays Bank ATMs in England a few times and it was just as easy as taking money out in California (except you can’t check your balance). From my experience, the exchange rate seems to be about as good as you’ll find, but it’s been a couple of years. For those who aren’t B  ofA customers, you might check with your local bank to see if they also have an arrangement with a Chinese bank. For those from China or who have been to China, how prevalent are CCB ATMs? I know they’re one of the biggest banks in China, but are they easy to find?

Professor Carr Addendum:  Good post, Patrick!   China Construction Banks are everywhere.  But I would be surprised that there would be no fees for using BofA  ATM cards.  EVERY Chinese bank charges “roaming” fees when you use your ATM card outside the city in which you have an account with the same bank! So if I lived in Beijing and use my China Merchant Bank card at a Chinese Merchant Bank ATM in Guangzhou, I will be charged a fee of 0.5% for deposits and withdrawals. It’s minimal if you take out a few hundred, but if you take out 10,000 RMB (roughly $1,200 US) and the fee is 50 RMB, well, that’s enough for a good foot massage!!  If Chinese banks charge their own customers just because they move across city lines, guess how much they would charge foreign cards!?  So you may want to consider the following …. verify with B of A first.  My experience with students in China is that they charge about $5 US per withdrawal. Citibank and HSBC have ATM machines at major airports and are fairly easy to use WITHOUT fees for their customers.

Oh, and two other important notes … you can only take/bring $5,000 (US) CASH into China with you.  There is NO WAY any of you should be taking anywhere near that much money with you into China!!  (See my FAQ questions on this point in your handout re: how much $$ to bring and how much most students spent in China on last year’s trip!!).   The only way you would want to bring anything remotely close to that amount is if you are staying in China or Asia to travel for some time at the end of our MBA trip. 

Also, we will fly into Guangzhou and the hotel we will stay at is very nice — I think you will be pleased.  You will all be able to exchange money there at the hotel the very first day we arrive.   The rate in the hotel is about the same as what you would get in/at a bank so do like me and exchange at the hotel!!  Don’t obsess over locating a rate that is, e.g., 7.9 to 1 versus 7.8447 to 1 — as splitting hairs like that on a trip like this is just too much work and it’s too damn hot in China to be walking all over a town trying to save a US dollar or two!!