Using ATM's abroad (Maestro, Cirrus) China etc.

Infidel

Hi.

I was just wondering if someone can give me some advice about using Maestro/Cirrus bank debit cards to withdraw cash when in other Countries.

Has anyone had experience of foreign bank/card supplier charges etc.?

I am mostly interested in whether i will be able to use my Maestro/Cirrus card whilst in China. Will i be able to do this? Will there be charges?
Some time ago i was aware that Nationwide bank does not charge when withdrawing money abroad, but i am not sure if this is still correct.

Any advice and help will be appreciated, even if it's just to tell me locations of ATM's in China.

Thanks all.

pmuser

I have found that American Dollar Travelers cheques are best in China most of the Hotels will change them at fairly good rates of exchange. I cannot remember seeing many A.T.M.s around when I have been over there.

What parts are you going to ?.

If you can choose the right time and place to buy your T/cheques you can often get a good exchange rate and very low or no charges at all, if you are prepared to haggle with the supplier of the T/Cheques be it Bank/Building Society or where ever.

To the best of my knowledge you still cannot get Chinnese currency (yuan) outside of China so you would need to change some money up as soon as you arrive.


China is a fantastic country, the people are very helpful and friendly, if you travel out to the counrtyside be prepared to be 1/ Looked at by some as though you are from another planet (the planet 'BIG NOSE' that is a friendly nickname they have for westerners. 2/ asked by almost every parent to have your photograph taken holding their baby. 3/ If you fancy yourself as the next President of China wear a English Priemer league football shirt. l o l.


Hope this info is of help. If you think of any other question please send me a P. M. and I'll do my best to answer them.

P.S. TAKE MASSIVE AMOUNTS OF SPARE FILM or MEMORY CARDS you will need them.

grumbler

Infidel wrote:

Some time ago i was aware that Nationwide bank does not charge when withdrawing money abroad, but i am not sure if this is still correct.

This is still correct. See rates & charges . For your other card(s) see your paperwork or the bank's website. Main charges are usually depend on your card issuer, not on the type of the card. Owner of an ATM abroad can charge you sometime too (the same as here in UK), but this charge is not big and is fixed as opposit to usual 2.75% currency conversion fee levied by most of UK card issuers.

Any advice and help will be appreciated, even if it's just to tell me locations of ATM's in China.

Mastercard/Cirrus ATM Locator. Unfortunately, this locator does not show which ATMs accept Cirrus and/or Maestro cards along with Mastercard. Apparently not all ATMs accepting Mastercard accept Cirrus cards too. See, for example, this thread: Using N'wide FlexAccount in New Zealand

Infidel

Cool, i'll check those links out.

Thanks both for your help.

Wirenth

I went to China late last year. I used my Nationwide Flexaccount card (visa delta) to withdraw money at the airports I went through. There are also ATMs you can use in most cities without a problem. The easiest one to use was the Bank of China ATM. (Not the Agricultural Bank of China, Telecommunications Bank of China, etc (these asked for 5 digit pins), but just the plain Bank of China....) The ATMs had a set of Chinese card types and Mastercard and VISA signs.

Two of the people we went with had Travellers cheques refused at banks and hotels, so don't rely solely on them. We didn't bother taking any travellers cheques. We took some U.S. dollars and sterling with us for tips and big purchases (hard currency allows you to drive quite a hard bargain).

Infidel

Wirenth wrote:

I went to China late last year. I used my Nationwide Flexaccount card (visa delta) to withdraw money at the airports I went through. There are also ATMs you can use in most cities without a problem. The easiest one to use was the Bank of China ATM. (Not the Agricultural Bank of China, Telecommunications Bank of China, etc (these asked for 5 digit pins), but just the plain Bank of China....) The ATMs had a set of Chinese card types and Mastercard and VISA signs.

Arrggghhh! What do you do when they ask for 5 digit pins???

When you used your Flexaccount card did you get charged by the 'local bank' at all?

I've never used travellers cheques, so it's unlikely i'll use those.

1 week to go, heeellllllppppppppp! Haha!

HGLTsuperstar

I'm also going to China and planning to use my N/Wide flex, with the C/C for purchases. You wont get charged but am also now confused about the 5 digit pins, so rereading that posting, guess the best thing to do is stick with Bank of China

Infidel

HGLTsuperstar wrote:

I'm also going to China and planning to use my N/Wide flex, with the C/C for purchases. You wont get charged but am also now confused about the 5 digit pins, so rereading that posting, guess the best thing to do is stick with Bank of China

I was also wondering where it's best to change £ into yuan. Do they generally charge more at airports and in China???

When are you going??
I'm off on Saturday morning. I don't like the look of those sub zero temperatures in Beijing. Arrgggghhhh!

Any money saving tips on how to keep warm? LOL!

Wirenth

If the ATM asks for a 5 digit pin, press cancel. Your card will be spat back out of the machine. No problems. Bank of China has red and white signage, you can't miss it.

I did not get charged by the local bank for using my Nationwide Flexaccount card, nor did Nationwide charge me for using abroad, getting foreign currency etc. A decent conversion rate is applied (it was something like 13/14 Yuan to the pound) and THAT IS IT.

P.S. Since you are going to Beijing (the best bit of the trip, as far as I was concerned!), you will be relieved to know that I saw at least two ATMs in the airport that would accept my card. Xian airport also had one. There are ATMs all over the place!

P.P.S another thing to note is that ATM transactions seemed to take twice as long over in China. Don't be alarmed that the machine seems to be taking a while.

P.P.P.S. If you are going to Shanghai and visiting a silk factory, BUY A SILK QUILT. A kingsize cost us £40 and is the most scrumptious, luxurious thing ever.

MORPH3US

I spent 2 months in China last year and got on great with the Nationwide Flex account card. We also always uesd Bank of China, loads of them about. Using your flex card you never get ripped off with crap rates, in fact sometimes I got better rates than anywhere quoted online!

Beijing will be freezing this time of year, same time I was there. Dress up warm, do lots of walking and eat lovely warm food in cheap restaurants. RBT restaurants are great, cool furnishings and huge bowls of dirt cheap noodles in lovely sauce - I miss China!!!!!!

M