Hahaha. I'm only aiming to get the ICBC Unionpay debit card now. Their credit card seems useless to me as there is no rewards point or cash back. I actually have a Unionpay ATM card already which is issued by HSBC Hong Kong. Banks in Hong Kong just started to migrate from the magnetic stripe card to chip-based card last year and i got my replacement card late last year.


Born rich


Man... Citibank really does like you and your family members very much!


LOL. They are way behind indeed! If an Aussie happens to walk into HSBC Mongkok HQ just to withdraw cash, he will be very surprised and probably confused too as there are 24 automated machines in HSBC Mongkok HQ on the lower ground level (10x ATM, 8x CDM and 6x ChequeDM)


Another proof that you know me well


It can be set at the maximum of RM5,000. I forgot what is the default withdrawal limit already though.


You can actually disable the VISA purchase function through Maybank ATM. Mine for instance, has been disabled since i got mine from Day 1 This way it'll be just like a normal ATM card. Even after you have disabled the VISA purchase function, all you need to make sure is that you have activated your card for overseas ATM usage over any Maybank ATM and you will be able to use the card to withdraw cash at overseas ATM.


MBB issues both VISA debit card and debit MasterCard.

By the way, for major foreign banks, it is very easy to open an account at Standard Chartered. So if Citibank is a no then may be you'll want to try Standard Chartered next


Keep us updated and good luck

Thanks. If that's the case I will get Maybank Debit Card with Cirrus logo and disable purchase function.
I just want for ATM purpose.

Should have opened one in Stan Chart yesterday, it is just opposite of the arrogant HSBC in Seremban.

Will update here.

Gen-X and MilesAndMore, I just came back from ICBC KL... Struck with series of unfortunate events again.

The chronicles:
1) I called their CS (half an hour) before went over to their KL branch and was told to open a basic savings account only needs RM 20.
2) I reached there, the bank officers told me I will need RM 500 to open one. RM 20 is super basic that cannot be used in overseas. Quickly went over to Affin Bank ATM to withdraw money.
3) Managed to open ICBC account and I asked about the transactions fees if I withdraw using their ATMs in China. It costs a whopping RMB 25 per transaction!
4) Gulps. Still I will need one local bank account, I have no choice but to accept. Asked about GIRO from Maybank2U, can perform but to MYR bank account. Then, I will need to login to ICBC Online to convert MYR to RMB and put into my ICBC RMB account.
5) The RM 500 I used to open account just now was converted to RMB already but only RM 490 as RM 10 is the minimum I need to retain in MYR account. Luckily today's rate is not too bad...
6) They gave me a manual how to register online personal banking account together with USB cable and TAC token. Apparently, I will need to install some certificates in my computers.
7) So now, I have the debit card and passbook.
8) Came back to office and asked my finance team, they said company will compensate the RMB 25 back to me. I just need to inform my boss about this and I can get back all the service charges that I will be charged... Still not too bad, luckily.


Then, I looked at my watch, still early... I decided to just walk-in to Menara Citibank to check out their savings account. I didn't bring any documents except for my I.C. However, the officer said their system is down today and I will need to bring other documents (payslip and employment confirmation letter) in next week. She confirmed I'll only need RM 20 to open one and can get immediately.

OK, part 2 next week.

RMB25 per transaction = abt rm10



A HSBC card is still the "cheapest option"

Do HSBC accept an FD of rm5000 Deposit on a 30days tenure to open an Advance Chequering ac ?

You should have spoken to the floor manager that day. I believe if you have spoken to the right person, things would have been different. Btw, you went first floor general banking to enquire to open your ac or at the ground floor banking lounge ?

RM 13 actually.
I don't bother about HSBC anymore. Don't keep promoting them la.
They are not the only international bank and Citbank is much better than them in term of overseas transfers.
I checked with my colleagues that HSBC ATM is not anywhere nearby our office and I will need to take subway just to withdraw money.

But that's not a problem for me because I can get back the money eventually.
Now I will prioritize Citibank withdrawal in China (though they are not popular) or worse comes to worst, I will still go for ICBC since I will be compensated with the transaction charges.

Oh ya, my colleagues shared that there is an ICBC ATM in our office building. Convenience wise ICBC wins.

Anyway, that RMB 25 is what the officer said, not sure true or not until I'm there.

This post has been edited by fruitie: Oct 18 2013, 06:01 PM

I dun work for HSBC and I am not promoting them.



I have both Citi and HSBC accounts.

Abt ICBC, I am not sure, but a China Bank,


You would knoe the difference till you are actually using them.

I am waiting for your review when you have landed there and used them.

Read more about ICBC if you are unsure. Don't look down at this bank, one of the richest banks in the world.

Tell me which is Malaysia's richest bank ?

Riches doesn't mean they provide the best in Service.

China's bank mentality is

I wont care how "poor" is the bank that i use, as long they can provide what i need [not money lending] , that is it that I want

I have closed my accounts with CIMB and RHB mainly because they dun give me the service that I want. HLBB will be the next to be axed because their CSO and system sucks.


We are "lending" then [ deposit ] money and yet they want to lansi with us.


I mainly use MBB because most of my peers/users are using it.

I also maintain accounts with HSBC,StanChart and CiTi Bank currently.

Maybe one day, i should try Bank Islam, Afin Bank and ICBC



This post has been edited by digilife: Oct 18 2013, 08:24 PM

Gen-X how to know if the debit card can be used for cash withdrawal? Does it have anything that shows it can? Normal ATM cards have MEPS and etc. All I can see from this card has Debit Card wording and UnionPay logo. The officer said I can withdraw money and I signed a lot of documents, one of them did mention "Cirrus". Hmm. Now just checked back on my card no such logo.

hahaha, next time I use the "born rich" thingy when people ask me source of my fund.

24 ATM!!! I also will be blur, hahaha

Not only Citi likes me, all the banks I go the people (tellers and officers) are good to me because I nice guy and I bodek (nice hair, nice nails, leng chai, etc) them, hahaha. My Citi Personal Banker better still, he go get coffee from CitiGold hall for me and we smoke together, hahaha

You my sifu sure lah I know you well.

And as for the MBB ATM can disable the Visa function, see, I learned another thing from you

Thank you for reporting, I shall keep track of your progress and if you don't mind, I shall narrate your "story" of hunting for a card to withdraw cash in China in my blog, I am sure I can come out with a freaking long article to benefit others, hahaha

What company you working for that they so kind to reimburse you RMB25, I need a job and your company sounds like the place to be, haha

Actually, most cards have fees. If the card does not have fees, it means there are other "hidden" charges like overseas conversion admin fee like credit cards. Like I mentioned earlier, when I withdraw cash with my UOB debit card in US, the conversion rate was spot rate but they charge me RM12 per withdrawal. As for Citibank, suppose not to have fee when I withdraw at their ATMs but I was charged RM10 in Melbourne and not only that, in my article Melbourne Victoria Australia, I showed you that the conversion rate using my Citibank Debit Card at Citibank ATM was higher than using Global Transfer (i.e. from my Citi Malaysia Savings Acct to Citi Australia Bank Acct).

Yes, as long as the ATM machine has Union Pay logo, you can go use your new Union Pay card to withdraw cash. Some outlets and Chinese restaurants in Malaysia also accept UnionPay where you can use your card.

Look behind your Visa Debit Card, if it has the PLUS logo then you can go to anywhere on earth to withdraw money from ATM with PLUS logo. For MasterCard Debit Card it is the Cirrus logo. Next time you walk past ATM machines, keep a look out for the UnionPay, PLUS and Cirrus logos.

Our credit cards also has the PLUS and Cirrus logo. I just check, my OCBC Titanium MasterCard and HLB Plat MasterCard no Cirrus logo, haha. But my CIMB WMC has it. All my Visa credit cards have the PLUS logo. But you and I know that it is not smart to go withdraw cash with our credit cards

But you better ask my sifu Miles, he expert in getting cash around the world.

This post has been edited by Gen-X: Oct 18 2013, 11:21 PM

Sure, go ahead and do a summary. This is just the beginning of my nightmare and luckily I'm still in Malaysia. God knows what will happen to me when I'm there. Chapter 1 in Malaysia and Chapter 2 a.k.a. finale in China.

Yeah la, I'm going for business trips not some leisure trips though it is impossible to track the cash withdrawal is for my own usage or business expenses. I was honest with the finance team. Luckily my Finance team has really nice people, they said they won't further drill in so long my boss approves this part. So, I will talk to my boss and I see no problem in this case. 100% he will agree to absorb this cost to his cost centre.

Thanks for the heads-up, so I can safely say mine comes with ATM feature though it doesn't have Cirrus logo. The card's quality felt cheapskate in my hands though.

OK, just had another part 1.1 nightmare. Their e-banking! I already installed the token into my laptop and all my browsers are too advanced for their service. Chrome and FF were few versions behind mine. I tried IE and it works, luckily. Mine is IE9 but they actually recommended IE 6-8. I was like WHAT?! But at least it can login not like Chrome an FF which I can't proceed at all.

Happily keyed in my card no. and the logon password which I set at the counter this afternoon and some verification code, bam! "Your card or a/c is not registered for this service." Keyed in the God-damn-long 19-digit of account number and same error. Luckily I can change to my preferred user name later rather than remembering so many numbers in my head. If I cannot login that means I still cannot install all the necessary certs.

Called their CS (she was polite but I was really angry, I felt sorry for her now because I really threw my temper to her lol), she said could be my card hasn't registered yet for e-banking. I nearly fainted when I heard that because she asked me to go back to ICBC KL which I refused and insisted this to be fixed over the phone. However, once she knew that I have the token with me, that means ICBC KL knows that I will need e-banking and they will definitely register for me (sounds logical). She asked me to wait till tomorrow to try again. To be honest, deep in my heart I know this is not going to be fixed on tomorrow as well. I had no choice but to accept her suggestion. So, another foreseeable part 1.2 nightmare tomorrow. Stay tuned.

I asked this and it is not possible, can only deposit MYR here in Malaysia but can use their e-banking service to convert to RMB which is still not too bad in term of convenience.


By the way, I'll get a Citibank debit card and change my current Maybank yellow-black ATM card to Maybank Debit Card (only for ATM feature, will ask Maybank to disable purchase feature).
Being the usual kiasu/i me, I will have UnionPay (ICBC), Plus (Citibank) and Cirrus (Maybank) with this combination.

That means I will still need to settle another thing which is to change my Maybank ATM card. But luckily there is one branch opposite of my office, easily accessible, hopefully they will disable purchase (debit) feature for me and have the Superman card.

I'll go to Citibank next week to sort this thing out.

Anyway, despite all the hassles but I really learnt a lot and it has greatly taught me what patience really means to me. I still believe that everything will be fine very soon.

This post has been edited by fruitie: Oct 19 2013, 12:15 AM

Fix tomorrow? ICBC staff at the branch you open account working? haha.

And thank you for the permission to tell your story/nightmare to the world I will stress that HSBC is blackmailing people into getting their insurance plan or investment plan in order to open their regular savings account, hahahaha.

Everything better work out fine after all the trouble I spent typing here, hahahaha

And knowing now that you a kiasu person like me, I going to make you worry - It is the universal law called Murphy's Law which has been proven time and time again that this law follows kiasu people wherever they go:

Anything that can possibly go wrong, does. If anything can go wrong, it will.

Sometimes shit happens, so I guess you better bring along cash in RMB currency equivalent to just below USD10K (or else you need to declare to our customs when you depart). Better also check on China part how much cash you can bring in.

And make sure you got your boss home, mobile, spouse/partner contact number so that you can reach him/her 24/7

This post has been edited by Gen-X: Oct 19 2013, 12:44 AM

Exactly, that's why I know it won't be fixed tomorrow. But pity her la, I really scolded her which I feel extremely bad now. She kept on apologizing but I never listened... I must salute those people who choose to be a CS. Not easy at all, if they have 10 customers like me everyday, I think they need to go for anger management or depression management class...

Go ahead with the HSBC because I'm still very disappointed with the fact they forced their potential customers to invest into their education and insurance plan. I'm not sure if this applies to all HSBC branches but at least I encountered this in Seremban branch.

I have that all the time! Didn't I say that I will foresee more issues in my earlier posts? Yes, they really happened and are still happening now. I only have exactly one more month before I fly and I still have so many things that need to settle but I still can't get my banking issue sorted yet.

I'm not that cash rich to bring so much there but knowing the fact that most of my expenses are paid by the company, so I don't really need to bring a big lump sum of money along with me.

I'll not call him because he can't save me out while he is here and I'm there. A manager in China is appointed to be my host manager, so she will be my contact person in case I face with any difficulties in China.

Still, I believe everything will be fine soon. Concurrently, I will need to start preparing for other things...

Wah! Quite expensive indeed! That's about the same as withdrawing through Cirrus or PLUS network. But at least you are free from the currency exchange fluctuation risk as your ICBC account is already a RMB account. Shame on the part you can't make deposit in RMB cash to your RMB account at ICBC Malaysia though.


Can post a picture of the ICBC Unionpay debit card ? You know lah... card collectors like us like seeing this kind of stuff


ICBC is not your average China Bank. It is the
- most profitable bank in the world for a few years already
- largest bank in the world by assets
- largest bank in the world by market capitalization
- second largest bank in China by branch presence


With so many basic banking things can be done online or through automated teller machines, there is less need to go to an actual branch these days.

Maybank has got to be one of the most hated banks in Malaysia. However, many people still use it for general transaction banking due to the wide availability of ATM. This is a good reason why anyone living in China would prefer to have a bank account in one of the largest Chinese banks. It's all about convenience really.


I do not know who your Citi Personal Banker is but from what you said here, i can be certain that he is a guy which good 'ngan kwong' (cantonese). He knows your financial background already and while you may never buy any Citi products from him, he knows that he must treat you well because you must know many rich people and you can put in good words for him and you may introduce him to your friends. Wah, this Citi Personal Banker definitely has a bright future


Not really lah. I have done it a few times only and i have done it only at those banks/places i do not have to pay any fee such as Maybank (in Singapore), HSBC (in Hong Kong, Beijing etc.). I am the kind of people who is not willing to pay any overseas ATM cash withdrawal fee Three years ago i texted my dad from Singapore asking him to deposit money to my HSBC Malaysia account as i was running out of cash in Singapore. At that time i only had my HSBC MY ATM card and also Maybank VISA debit card. I do have money in my Maybank account but the thing is, Maybank hadn't started to offer free overseas ATM cash withdrawal to us Malaysian Maybank account holder at their overseas ATM in 2010. Anyway, my dad happened to be somewhere near to HSBC Jalan Ipoh branch when he received my text. So it wasn't too troublesome for him also lah


Yeah unfortunately that is true. When i withdrew a few hundred RMB through an HSBC off-site ATM in Beijing using my HSBC Malaysia ATM card, there was this message on the HSBC China ATM screen saying that HSBC China will charge me 1% (or 1.25% fee??). But since the amount i withdrew wasn't big, it was still a lot cheaper than to pay RM10 to RM12 if i were to withdraw the money through Cirrus or PLUS network.


I must say that many Maybank employees do not know their own bank's products well. So just in case they show you a blank face about disabling the purchase function of your VISA debit card, you can do it yourself via the Maybank ATM.

This post has been edited by MilesAndMore: Oct 20 2013, 09:24 PM

It is expensive! Got a shock.
Yeah, that can be only done via their e-banking which I'm still struggling on that part.

Nothing special, looks exactly like its website. Feel cheap though.

Only UnionPay logo.

Mind to let me know how to disable that via Maybank ATM in case I really meet some non-knowledgeable staffs?

By the way, is it normal for this UnionPay card not to have any CVV? Or CVV doesn't apply for debit cards?
Gen-X

This post has been edited by fruitie: Oct 20 2013, 09:35 PM

Aiks, i forgot the steps already...

It's OK, will explore when the ATM is empty.
Hopefully they can accommodate into my requests from the counter.

By the way, I asked this question earlier: "Is it normal for this UnionPay card not to have any CVV? Or CVV doesn't apply for debit cards?"

I just checked my HSBC Hong Kong Unionpay ATM card and it doesn't have a CVV. But then that is just a normal ATM card under the Unionpay network.

And this card does have the wording "Debit Card" printed on it.
Omai, ICBC is really giving me a headache.