Best International Card for Travelling in China and AUD-to-CNY Exchange in Sydney

LALesha77 on 18/08/2019 - 13:24

Hi guys,

Long time reader, first time poster at the forums :)

I am going to China in one month - will be a transit point but will be stopping for a few days in Urumqi, will be doing some sightseeing and shopping (mostly shopping). Might be catching that bullet-train to other cities - have not decided just yet.

Can you please advise what is the best credit/debit card to use in China? I will need to pay for the hotel and use for any purchases I can pay via card but it is also essential that I can get cash from the ATM or via a bank visit. Found the following topic (https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/472621) on cards but it was not very helpful to decide which card to go with. There was a comment that ING card was mostly useless as ATMs did not accept it while another comment was praising ING. Also there was a mention of Citi Plus but nothing specific.

My situation: I have had a 28Degrees Platinum card for a while now and will be taking with me anyway. Have also applied for a Citi Plus account and a card. Do you think ING card will be a sensible option? Should I apply for ING card as well or are there any better options available now?

Another question is about AUD-to-CNY cash exchange in Sydney. Found another topic on reverse transaction (https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/469797) and got some names from it but wanted to check with if anyone have had a better experience elsewhere? Looks like RedRates in Chatswood is a viable option (a bit of traveling for me) and some unnamed place "opposite the entrance to the underground dixon street food hall in chinatown (haymarket)" - will check that one next week.

Maybe anybody from OzBargain community has got cash CNY that they want to exchange for AUD? Please PM me or reply in this thread - will be happy to deal.

Thanks guys.

Financial

Comments

  • screensaver on 18/08/2019 - 14:33
    +1

    I would stick to ING but remember you need to deposit 1,000 a month and make 5 transactions a month to get ffees rebated. What about the new HSBS card that gives you 100 if you deposit 2,000 a month for 3 months? I think they have 0% international transaction fees, cjeck first,

    • ALesha77 on 18/08/2019 - 18:09

      Thank you. Yes, I am checking HSBC Global account. I think they have some restrictions on CNY side of things and these apply for payments and ATMs withdrawals. A bit of a tricky point - will give them a call tomorrow.

  • toniyellow on 18/08/2019 - 16:23
    +3

    I used Citibank plus in China fine with no fees in Lijiang, Guangzhou, Shanghai, Beijing.

    Followed advice from here on which atms to try
    https://whirlpool.net.au/wiki/citibank_plus_transaction_acco…
    From memory mostly ended up using Bank of China.

    Also used 28 degrees fine there

    • ALesha77 on 18/08/2019 - 17:58

      Cheers mate, this is very useful. I will stay my course with getting the Citi card.
      BTW, did you notice any difference in conversion rates between Citi and 28Degrees cards?

      • toniyellow on 18/08/2019 - 19:56

        no real difference, both have great rates.

  • EightImmortals on 18/08/2019 - 17:24
    +1

    "There was a comment that ING card was mostly useless as ATMs did not accept it while another comment was praising ING. "

    We were there in May and had no problems using the ING orange card at ATM's, also used 20 Degrees for purchases (but not cash withdrawals due to their fees).

    • ALesha77 on 18/08/2019 - 18:01

      Thank you. Do you remember by any chance which bank's ATMs you tried with your ING card?
      28Degrees card certainly sucks in this regard due to their cash advance fees (even in AU).

  • Lurker on 22/08/2019 - 12:01

    ING does not seem to take their security responsibility seriously enough.

    You could lose your money because it seems easy for a hacker to change your password.

    Use at your own risk.

    https://forums.whirlpool.net.au/archive/348wkqk3

  • ALesha77 on 17/01/2020 - 19:00

    Hi guys,

    Thought I'd provide an update on the topic with the resulting experience. Could be useful for anyone else going to China for the first time.

    I had 2 cards - ING and Citibank. Both worked well with a caveat - I could only take cash out of ATMs and could not pay in any shop or business I dealt with. Always had to have enough cash on me to cover for expenses. In terms of conversion rate ING was slightly better (just a tiny bit) and Citibank was accepted in a larger variety of banks / ATMs. There was a funny moment in the first day when ING was card had been rejected in almost all ATMs I have tried it in but in the end i found 2 banks that were accepting ING (Some kind of an Agro bank and the Bank of China). Citibank was also hit and miss in some cases but overall was better than ING.
    Citibank will not charge you any commission, ING will refund commissions within a couple of days.
    In terms of the application process, Citibank was a breeze - quick application and verification process, received my card before I needed to follow-up on anything.
    The ING application process, on contrary, was a bloody nightmare - they took all the time in world reviewing the application and then requesting additional details and the review cycle begins again. I almost missed receiving it before the travel dates - the ING card arrived literally within a day before departure.
    The choice is yours.

    If the geography of stay makes any difference - I was vising Urumqi, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region and stopped in Chongqing for a few hours.

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