SirLancelot Posted November 26, 2006 Report Share Posted November 26, 2006 Sure maybe back in the Eocene... I cashed $1000 in traveler's checks last month at BOC and paid a $7.50 FEE... Banks in America have discovered fees make them more $$$ and China banks have figured it out too...so now in addition to horrendous service, it costs you money... Roger, do you know if it's a flat fee or based on a %? I'm just curious. With the opening of Chinese banks by mandate from WTO, I'm sure the fees charged will only go up as foreign banks take charge of management. That will suck! Link to comment
rogerluli Posted November 26, 2006 Author Report Share Posted November 26, 2006 Sure maybe back in the Eocene... I cashed $1000 in traveler's checks last month at BOC and paid a $7.50 FEE... Banks in America have discovered fees make them more $$$ and China banks have figured it out too...so now in addition to horrendous service, it costs you money... Roger, do you know if it's a flat fee or based on a %? I'm just curious. With the opening of Chinese banks by mandate from WTO, I'm sure the fees charged will only go up as foreign banks take charge of management. That will suck! I really don't know but $7.50 on $1000. kind of sounds like a flat fee... Link to comment
david_dawei Posted November 26, 2006 Report Share Posted November 26, 2006 Anyone heard of BOC issuing their own credit card? Saw something scroll on the screen only the other night... not sure if this is in the idea, planning, or implementation stage... Link to comment
Stone Posted November 26, 2006 Report Share Posted November 26, 2006 Sure maybe back in the Eocene... I cashed $1000 in traveler's checks last month at BOC and paid a $7.50 FEE... Banks in America have discovered fees make them more $$$ and China banks have figured it out too...so now in addition to horrendous service, it costs you money... Roger, do you know if it's a flat fee or based on a %? I'm just curious. With the opening of Chinese banks by mandate from WTO, I'm sure the fees charged will only go up as foreign banks take charge of management. That will suck! I really don't know but $7.50 on $1000. kind of sounds like a flat fee... From: http://www.boc.cn/en/common/third.jsp?category=1099361557100 Having to pay advances in cashing a traveler's check, our bank will, when converting the traveler's check into cash or deposit, deduct a discount interest at the rate of 7.5 per thousand of the face value and make the payment in the currency of the face of check.. Link to comment
SirLancelot Posted November 26, 2006 Report Share Posted November 26, 2006 (edited) Sure maybe back in the Eocene... I cashed $1000 in traveler's checks last month at BOC and paid a $7.50 FEE... Banks in America have discovered fees make them more $$$ and China banks have figured it out too...so now in addition to horrendous service, it costs you money... Roger, do you know if it's a flat fee or based on a %? I'm just curious. With the opening of Chinese banks by mandate from WTO, I'm sure the fees charged will only go up as foreign banks take charge of management. That will suck! I really don't know but $7.50 on $1000. kind of sounds like a flat fee... From: http://www.boc.cn/en/common/third.jsp?category=1099361557100 Having to pay advances in cashing a traveler's check, our bank will, when converting the traveler's check into cash or deposit, deduct a discount interest at the rate of 7.5 per thousand of the face value and make the payment in the currency of the face of check.. Ah, that makes sense. That's why TC always gets a better exchange rate than CASH. Nice direct link to BoC. Edited November 26, 2006 by SirLancelot (see edit history) Link to comment
Guest Byron Posted December 3, 2006 Report Share Posted December 3, 2006 You have to pay to cash your traveller checks in China? That's news to me. News to you? Have you cashed traveler's checks in China? Nevermind, a silly question, it's irrelevant. He paid a fee. I "buy" my travelers checks for free and and, as best I can recall, have always paid a fee to exchange travelers checks. Honestly I have not, but I've never seen any signs or indications that cashing a travelers check would be assessed a fee. New knowledge for me. Always willing to learn something new. Do you remember how much they charge? Is it a flat fee or a %? Thanks.I've cashed travelers checks in china with zero fee. Sure maybe back in the Eocene... I cashed $1000 in traveler's checks last month at BOC and paid a $7.50 FEE... Banks in America have discovered fees make them more $$$ and China banks have figured it out too...so now in addition to horrendous service, it costs you money... The fee to cash Traveler's check sounds about right. For $500 I paid about the same I think and my credit union charges $10 for traveler's check so I just bring cash now. BOC exchange at airport gives the same rate as I got at BOC in the city, exactly the same. U.S. Exchanging to RMB at U.S. airport is the biggest ripoff and noone should ever do this. Link to comment
audelair Posted December 3, 2006 Report Share Posted December 3, 2006 Does anyone use the AAA Visa traveler's cheques. Or do you recommend using only the Amex ones? Thank you very much! Link to comment
rogerluli Posted December 4, 2006 Author Report Share Posted December 4, 2006 Does anyone use the AAA Visa traveler's cheques. Or do you recommend using only the Amex ones? Thank you very much! Never tried...It might be more difficult...Most banks here issue AE ones to their customers for free...well at least mine does, Chase... Link to comment
audelair Posted December 5, 2006 Report Share Posted December 5, 2006 Does anyone use the AAA Visa traveler's cheques. Or do you recommend using only the Amex ones? Thank you very much! Never tried...It might be more difficult...Most banks here issue AE ones to their customers for free...well at least mine does, Chase... Yea, WAMU charges a 2.5% fee for AE traveler's checks. It looks like i may have to go that route though, what with the difficulty of obtaining new, crisp bills Link to comment
skibum Posted December 10, 2006 Report Share Posted December 10, 2006 Sweetie saw a web site that said it expected up to a 30% inflation rate this year depending on where you are.Make finanial decision for the long term in China Link to comment
SheLikesME? Posted December 10, 2006 Report Share Posted December 10, 2006 I have had to really get strong with my wife about keeping her house in Beijing for awhile even if she does not rent it yet. She had some great investments then let her brother talk her into something else. I got so pissed. I tell you guys money talks. Just stick a few thousand USD in each front pocket. Exchange a bunch of it to RMB the best you can and just keep things in the front pockets and have a very good time. I think I took a few travelers checks in 2000 because someone kept squawking at me. What a pain in the ass. Just use cash and relax. My wife has a cash card from her bank that looks like a credit card. So I gave her 2 of mine with her name on it. We transferred USD to China easily by wire. Was cheapest way at the time. I left her some personal checks but that is more expensive and slow. CCs cost. So traveling CASH Transfers: WIRE Just my opinions. Roger I really need to read your house hunting threads. I have the same feeling about getting property there instead of these private business investments my wife got into. Those paid high interest, but the property is safe and it looks like the return is going to be pretty good in the future. I can't aford another mistake. Link to comment
rogerluli Posted December 27, 2006 Author Report Share Posted December 27, 2006 I just discovered today... that my bank, Chase, will make wire transfers to China in U$D or RMB. So there is no longer any issue with making the transfer in China in person or getting scr*w*d on the exchange rate... I was told the rate would be the official exchange rate for that day (I assume that means the closing rate). Link to comment
SirLancelot Posted December 27, 2006 Report Share Posted December 27, 2006 (edited) I just discovered today... that my bank, Chase, will make wire transfers to China in U$D or RMB. So there is no longer any issue with making the transfer in China in person or getting scr*w*d on the exchange rate... I was told the rate would be the official exchange rate for that day (I assume that means the closing rate). I'd be real interested to see how that goes, but knowing Chase, I'm absolutely confident you'll be "screwed" big time before the RMB is even sent off. Chase may use the official closing exchange rate, but I suspect they're going to tack on a 2-3% exchange fee. I'd be glad to be proven wrong, but Chase is one of the leaders in finding new ways to nickel and dime us with fees. One of my credit card is offered through Chase. And I've dealt with how they exchange currency. Not happy with them at all! But it's the same with all the major banks actually. Chinese banks may give you crappy ass service, but their fees are close to non-nonexsistent. But as we enter 2007 and WTO fully pries open Chinese Banks, I expect that to change as well. You'll start to see better service, but you bet your ass they'll soon start to nickel and dime their patrons as much as the US banks. Edited December 27, 2006 by SirLancelot (see edit history) Link to comment
rogerluli Posted December 27, 2006 Author Report Share Posted December 27, 2006 I just discovered today... that my bank, Chase, will make wire transfers to China in U$D or RMB. So there is no longer any issue with making the transfer in China in person or getting scr*w*d on the exchange rate... I was told the rate would be the official exchange rate for that day (I assume that means the closing rate). I'd be real interested to see how that goes, but knowing Chase, I'm absolutely confident you'll be "screwed" big time before the RMB is even sent off. Chase may use the official closing exchange rate, but I suspect they're going to tack on a 2-3% exchange fee. I'd be glad to be proven wrong, but Chase is one of the leaders in finding new ways to nickel and dime us with fees. One of my credit card is offered through Chase. And I've dealt with how they exchange currency. Not happy with them at all! But it's the same with all the major banks actually. Chinese banks may give you crappy ass service, but their fees are close to non-nonexsistent. But as we enter 2007 and WTO fully pries open Chinese Banks, I expect that to change as well. You'll start to see better service, but you bet your ass they'll soon start to nickel and dime their patrons as much as the US banks. I think we'll give it a shot soon so I will report on how it goes... Link to comment
Randy W Posted December 27, 2006 Report Share Posted December 27, 2006 Check out oanda. OANDA was spun out of an econometric research and development firm called Olsen and Associates by founders Richard Olsen and Michael Stumm in 1995. OANDA was the first to make comprehensive currency exchange information available over the Internet, and initially, OANDA's only product was the online currency converter. In 1996, OANDA incorporated in the state of Delaware. OANDA began to develop, market and support a comprehensive set of Internet-based currency tools for consumers, businesses, and investors. Since then, OANDA Rates® have become the touchstone for corporations, tax authorities, auditing firms and even central banks. Today more than 35,000 organizations worldwide including many Fortune 500 companies rely on us, making OANDA rates available internally and on their Web sites through our ASP services. And oanda.com continues to be ranked number one for currency exchange information. They show 7.80650 / 7.82650 (bid/ask) for today. Link to comment
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