Can some of you guys stop all the misinformation? A lot of banks with presence across regions now offer oversea ATM withdrawal with your local ATM card with NO CHARGES, regardless whether it's on a CIRRUS / PLUS network or not as long as you are going to an ATM machine owned by the same banking group.

I've tried performing withdrawals with HSBC Hongkong and OCBC in SG with my Malaysian ATM cards and I'm not getting charged for withdrawals. So far, the exchange rate is always better than money changers at any time!

Recently, CIMB and Maybank has joined in in offering such services. Please check with your banks for more accurate info.

I've had enough with people who's trying to speak like a subject expert but having 0 personal experience in the subject they are talking about.

How about checking the dates of all the replies before posting next time ? And also how about reading other people's replies clearly ?


I'm not so sure about this. I've performed ATM cash withdrawals at HSBC HK, HSBC China and HSBC SG using HSBC MY ATM card and the exchange rate was no better than what i could have gotten from a money changer. I have also withdrawn money from Maybank SG (Plaza Singapura) using my Maybank VISA debit card and again, the exchange rate was higher than the SG banknotes i bought from money changer.


Define recent. It's not all that recent to be honest. Of all Malaysian banks, CIMB was the first to do this. And Maybank also started doing this like 2 years or so ago.

I'm sorry to interrupt but I need some advice regarding this matter. At this moment, I have Maybank, CIMB and Public Bank. Maybank is my active bank account while the other two only have transactions once a while.

I just got to know that I will be posted to China for a short term assignment and I will be there for 2-3 months. I can't be bringing a lot of cash there as I will be there for long term (longer than going vacation).

May I know how can I withdraw money from their ATM? I don't mind opening other bank account in Malaysia so long I can do the withdrawal transaction conveniently but not with a high service charge. While I'm there, I'm entitled for daily allowance and my salary in Malaysia are still running, so I need to withdraw money for my expenses over there as I'm not paid a single cent by China and my expenses are fully paid by Malaysia.

Company has supplied me with credit card, accommodations and transportations are covered at least.

I'll be in Beijing most of the time but maybe spend few days in Shanghai.

Anybody? MilesAndMore can help?

Thank you!

This post has been edited by fruitie: Oct 2 2013, 12:17 AM

How about opening a HSBC account here in Malaysia ? I normally use my HSBC ATM card for emergency cash withdrawal overseas. For normal account and also HSBC Advance Account (RM20k to open and maintain HSBC Advance), you will be charged RM5/withdrawal at HSBC and also Hang Seng Bank overseas. For HSBC Premier, it is free.

Another choice of course would be Citibank. And Citibank doesn't charge you withdrawal fee at their overseas Citibank ATM even for a normal banking account. However, in terms of branch presence in China, HSBC Group is the clear winner here.

Oh yeah, would you be able to open a Bank of China account in China ? Last time i heard it is possible to wire money to an individual account from Bank of China Malaysia branch to Bank of China Mainland China. May be you can save a bit on transaction fees but you might need to trouble your friend or family to wire the money over to you. The simplest way would be to just open a HSBC or Citibank account in Malaysia.

I don't necessarily need to open the account with RM 20k right? I only need it to eat and shop a bit there...
You meant that's for HSBC Advance right? So, it has other normal accounts I presume?

I'm not sure yet but I do have the plan to check out Bank of China in Malaysia and I heard if they issue ATM card with Union Pay, then I'm pretty safe? I'm not sure if I can open a bank account in China because I'm not employed by them.
So, my best bet is to open one in Malaysia...

Looks like I will need to check out BoC and for sure HSBC as well. Maybe will open Citibank as well, just in case.

Thanks for your help.

Haha. Don't worry. You can just open a HSBC Basic Savings Account with RM20. You do not have to pay the VISA debit card (HSBC no longer issue normal ATM card) annual fee and it comes with 8 free ATM cash withdrawal per month (local)

Thanks a lot for the headsup. Terkejut I, RM 20k.. Indeed a big difference with just RM 20.
I will check out... RM 5 is still not too bad if I withdraw RMB 1k or RMB 500 at once.

I am a bit confused from what I get from my friends who went overseas before. They have been telling me about the high transaction costs incurred for withdrawals of cash abroad. For example, my friends told me the transaction costs for withdrawals using HSBC in France is around 5 to 10 euros each time. In UK, it's 8 pounds.

I was told the same thing mentioned by you guys here when I called and enquired about this from CIMB and Public Bank. I am just confused about why were they incurring so much costs when each transactions just cost us about RM10, like I was told by the banks' personnel.

I hope you guys can enlighten me on this. Thanks. =)

fruitie

Okay, I am here, like I mentioned in OCBC Thread, check out Bank of China UnionPay card. It is a debit card and you can get one in Malaysia.

Link below for their branches:

http://www.bankofchina.com/my/en/aboutus/ab3/

Besides HSBC as Miles mentioned, you can also go open a Citibank Account locally (RM10) and then you have two choices to transfer money to China since it looks like there are many Citibank branches in Beijing and Shanghai.

1. Open Citibank Account in China and then perform Global Transfer online where funds are transferred immediately (max USD12K/day), i.e. you click transfer in your Malaysia Account and the amount will show up instantly in your China Citi acct. Confirmed here China in the list for Citi Online Global transfer.

2. Use your Citi Bank Debit Card and withdraw from Citibank ATMs in China.

In my article Melbourne Victoria Australia, I showed that I got better conversion rate with Citi Global Transfer compared to withdrawing cash at Citi ATM.

But I still think better choice is going with Bank of China UnionPay where you can easily access to your cash. Go check your M2U and see if you can transfer (giro) to Bank of China Malaysia. Come to think of it, be kiasu like me - go open savings account with HSBC, Citibank and BOC here and get their debit cards (and you can always transfer from your MBB account into these savings accounts).

This post has been edited by Gen-X: Oct 12 2013, 04:26 AM

Thanks a lot for your input! I didn't know about the UnionPay card until you highlighted just now. Definitely need to apply one in BoC. At least it solves most of my issues there but still need to be prepared with situations where only cash is accepted. Will check out GIRO transfer, I believe Maybank should have for BoC.

I'm not too sure if they will allow me to open a bank account there when I don't have any source of income from their country. That's why I thought of opening one in Malaysia just in case I'm stuck there.

I'm going to be kiasu as well and open an account in Citi and HSBC. Since I will be in BoC to apply for UnionPay, will check out their banking service as well. Man, this trip is driving me crazy.

This post has been edited by fruitie: Oct 12 2013, 04:12 AM

If you go google UnionPay, it says that there are 5 million ATM accepting them!!! I guess you won't have any problems withdrawing cash in China with UnionPay Card. And by the way, I was in SG ION Orchard and not mistaken they have lounge for UnionPay customers (not sure what card only entitles one to enter) there!!!

Well, if you cannot open savings account in China, with the 3 debit cards, I suppose you will have no problems getting cash from ATMs.

Great help!
I checked through Citibank's Global Transfer, it seems for China is only applicable for non-Renminbi accounts. So, it means to open a Citibank account in China is totally out of question now. Will definitely need to open one here, and transfer via M2U Giro.
Yes, you are right, if I still can't survive with those 3 cards there, I think will inform my boss, I want to cancel my assignment and come back Malaysia.

By the way, back to the UnionPay, the link you showed earlier in OCBC thread. It seems that it has two types: Great Wall Travel Prepaid Card (“GWTPC”) and Great Wall Prepaid Card (“GWPPC”). For GWTPC, one of the clauses mentions this: GWTPC can only be used for purchasing, no ATM withdrawal allowed. Please treat your card like cash.
-It seems this card cannot be used for ATM withdrawal.

But GWPPC didn't mention anything about that, maybe GWPPC is the one I should apply.

Add on: Bank of China is not in Maybank's Giro list. Surprised to know there is another bank called Industrial & Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) which is in GIRO list for Maybank and Citibank. Haven't checked out for HSBC yet.
It also has UnionPay: http://www.icbc.com.cn/icbc/%E6%B5%B7%E5%A...ard/default.htm

Will check out more after I catch some sleep.

This post has been edited by fruitie: Oct 12 2013, 04:53 AM

If you do not want the assignment, please recommend me to your boss, I don't mind 3 months contract

I guess you answered yourself which BOC Debit card to get.

But like you said, better option to get ICBC Union Pay Debit Card as can transfer fund with M2U. So now you can add another Debit Card to your collection And then write a review of using them in China as a guest columnist in my blog, hahahahaha And if you getting the ICBC Debit Card, might as get their credit card too

This post has been edited by Gen-X: Oct 12 2013, 01:01 PM

Yes, I just made a call to ICBC to check out on their debit card. Can use it to withdraw money in any UnionPay ATMs, yeah. But ICBC being one of the most reputable banks in China, their ATMs are everywhere. So can save on a lot of transaction fees.

Will check out more when I visit their bank soon. The CS I spoken to doesn't really sound convincing...

Credit Card? No la, I don't want their CC. China is cash friendly... CC I think I can survive with my Malaysia issued CCs.

Just a quick note.

You can use your bank ATM card or Credit Card to withdraw cash from overseas ATM machines.

Using ATM card (AFAIK, only cards with CIRRUS or PLUS logo will work) will normally incur some small charges (there are exceptions). May be RM10 or RM20 or whatever.

Using Credit Card will incur LOTs of charges.

So note the difference in which one you are using.

This post has been edited by Optiplex330: Oct 13 2013, 01:40 PM

Ya, knew about that and from the first day itself I have thrown away my credit card pin no. So, I won't withdraw money from it.

Will only go for ATM or Debit Card when it comes to money withdrawal.

come 2015, you need your PIN when purchasing stuff. No more signature.

Stick to ATM (Cirrus of Plus). Better than bringing wads of cash.

Then, I will need to contact bank to reset my password.

Ya, not bringing a lot of cash.