Accessing Your Money in China

When I went to China on exchange in 2010, I really didn't have much knowledge about how things work there and about what I really should be wary of. Thankfully, I made many international friends who shared their survival knowledge with me and I also learnt many things on my own.

One of the most important things you need to sort out is how to access your money while avoiding heaps of fees. If you are going to China for a long period of time, it is best to have several options for accessing your funds. The first step is to exchange some cash into Chinese Yuan (CNY), also more commonly known outside of bank circles as Renminbi (RMB). To avoid confusion, I'll refer to it as CNY in this post.

Exchanging Cash

While the exchange rate is preferable, exchange a certain portion of your funds into CNY cash. This is entirely up to you how much you wish to exchange and depends on how much cash you will need upon your arrival in China. Over the past six years, for one Australian dollar the rate has been around CNY 6 at the higher end and around CNY 4 at the lower end.
After you arrive, you can exchange more cash when you need it as the exchange rates are usually better in China than Australia, and the commissions and exchange fees are lower.

For a better deal, I recommend exchanging your money at banks in China rather than currency exchange offices or at airports. If you need to exchange money from CNY to another currency, you will usually need to make an appointment as Chinese banks usually only have USD or EUR on site. Keep this in mind to ensure that you allow enough time to exchange your money before leaving China.

Travel Money Card

The next option that I recommend is to load another portion of your funds onto a travel money card. 

These can be obtained from virtually any bank in Australia, although I strongly recommend the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) as it is the only Australian bank that allows you to load CNY onto the card and they do not charge an initial load fee. 

The following information is about the Commonwealth Travel Money Card (CTMC) only.




Here's a list of the advantages:

• Your funds are completely secure and protected with a PIN
• The initial load is absolutely free
• You can reload more money onto the card at any time over the phone or via BPAY
• You receive two cards, the second card is a backup in case you lose your first card
• In-store, online or over-the-phone purchases are free
• If you are travelling to other countries, you can transfer the funds from one currency to another on the same card for free
• You can receive SMS alerts when your balance is getting low
• You can receive an emergency cash advance for free (excluding third party fees involved in delivery of funds) if both of your cards are lost are stolen
• Unlike other travel cards, there is no inactivity fee and the card is valid for up to three years so you can reload and reuse your card as often as you like
• There is no fee for the closure of your card 
• The maximum amount you can have on the card is AUD 100,000 or foreign currency equivalent, which is a lot more than the other banks allow
• When you load the money onto the card it is subject to the exchange rates on that day and does not change (this could also end up being a disadvantage depending on which way the exchange rates go)

Here are the disadvantages:

• To obtain the card from the bank, you will have to pay AUD 15, although they will waive this fee if you have a valid Australian student card
• There is a flat fee for ATM withdrawals of CNY 15 (this fee varies for other currencies)
• When you load the money onto the card it is subject to the exchange rates on that day and does not change (this could also end up being an advantage depending on which way the exchange rates go)
• Additional loads after the initial load will incur a fee of 1% of the reload amount up to a maximum of AUD 15.00 or foreign currency equivalent
• If your cards are lost or stolen, there is an AUD 15 replacement fee, but you would only need to replace the cards if you lose both of them

Click here for a full list of fees associated with the CTMC.

I recommend the CTMC, especially for those traveling to several countries, as they offer a choice from thirteen currencies whereas the other banks only offer ten or eleven. The CBA is the only Australian bank that offers CNY.

Here's a full list of the currencies that CBA offers:

• United States Dollars (USD)
• Euros (EUR)
• Great British Pounds (GBP)
• Australian Dollars (AUD)
• Japanese Yen (JPY)
• New Zealand Dollars (NZD)
• Hong Kong Dollars (HKD)
• Canadian Dollars (CAD)
• Singapore Dollars (SGD)
• Thai Baht (THB)
• Vietnamese Dong (VND)
• Chinese Renminbi (CNY)
• Emirati Dirham (AED)

More information on the Commonwealth Travel Money Card can be found here.

 Western Union

In combination with the options above, I would recommend you leave the rest of your funds in your bank account and send money to yourself in China through Western Union. You will need to have net-banking set up to do this.

This way you will avoid the hefty international money transfer (IMT) fees, which from my experience can set you back up to AUD 55 each time you transfer depending on the amount. What's more is that the exchange rates are usually better than exchanging cash in Australia. 

You can pick up your cash from any Wstern Union branch or affiliated agent after you present your ID and a special code. You can also have the money sent directly to a bank account or to a Western Union Prepaid Debit Card. For the bank account transfer, it would obviously be better if you opened a local Chinese bank account for this purpose.

There is a transfer fee, however the exchange rate is better than what the Australian banks offer. For example, today (25/01/2014) the Commonwealth Bank is offering an exchange rate of CNY 4.75 and would charge a currency exchange fee of AUD 8 for cash exchanges. For IMTs their rate is CNY 5.09, plus they charge a fee to send as well as a fee to receive the money, which could be anywhere from AUD 33 to AUD 55 in total. The Western Union on the other hand is offering a rate of CNY 5.20 for their money transfers which would be given to you in the form of cash when you pick it up.

Western Union charges flat-rate fees according to the amounts being transfered:

Amount Being Transferred (AUD)	Fee (AUD)
1-50	5
51-250	10
251-5000	18

So, if I were to transfer AUD 1000, after fees have been deducted I would receive CNY 5103.02 through Western Union. However, through the Commonwealth Bank I would only receive CNY 4707.83 for a cash exchange, or CNY 4806.08 for an IMT.

Alternatively, to receive CNY 5000, I would be charged a total (including fees) of AUD 980.18 through Western Union. To receive the same amount, Commonwealth would charge me AUD 1061.56 for a cash exchange or AUD 1038.13 for an IMT.

For more information about transfering money through Western Union, visit their website.

For more information about international money transfers through Commonwealth, click here.

Travelers Cheques

I do not recommend travelers cheques for those traveling to China, as you will have a lot of difficulty finding a place that will cash it for you. Even the major banks do not accept travellers cheques.

When I went to China the first time back in 2006, I could not cash my travelers cheques at any financial institution and I had to rely on my friends father who is a successful and well-known businessman in Dongguan to use his connections to find someone who would cash them for me.