Questions about VPN's

[Randy W]

1 hour ago, danb said:

Hello.  How are things going?   I have a question or two.  I am looking for a VPN.  I haven't used one for about 3 years.  Any recommendation for use in China?  I did use Expressvpn.  I don't recall having any problems with it but I didn't use it that much.  Is it more difficult to use Vpn in China now?  I just really need it to do banking and a few bills?  Any thoughts and suggestions?  Thank you. Danb

Sure - I gave up on ExpressVPN within a year or two after that post - it had stopped working completely for me. But there are other people who still use it and claim it's the "best". That may depend on where you are in China as to whether it even works or not.

NordVPN seemed to work for awhile, but they tell you to "wait five minutes" for it to connect - that's just to find out if a server would work. I found it impossible to find a good one.

But Astrill seems to be far and away the favorite these days. You'll know within a minute if it can connect to a server or not. When using the "OpenWeb" mode, it connects within a second and reconnects easily if the connection breaks. It also stays active when the others are shut down.

[Randy W]

YouTube, Netflix, and Criterion streaming services all work fine now from where I am - most others (like HBO, Peacock, Amazon Prime, etc.) see your physical location ( rather than your VPN server's location) and block you from even signing up if you are physically in China.

[danb]

Thank You for the reply.  I am going to get a VPN app.  I went to the bank and  my credit union yesterday.  I wanted to notify them that I was traveling  to China and would be using my debit and credits cards over there.  They said that a VPN would probably be necessary to access my account over there.   My credit union wasn't sure if there was a good number to contact them if I wanted to contact them when I was over there.  Bank of America said that the first time I used a Bank of America card  in China that I would probably get a text message about verification to my American phone and I would have to reply to them on my America phone.  I normally don't use my US phone when I am in China. I have AT&T. I think they are expensive to use in China.  DanB

[Randy W]

12 hours ago, danb said:

Thank You for the reply.  I am going to get a VPN app.  I went to the bank and  my credit union yesterday.  I wanted to notify them that I was traveling  to China and would be using my debit and credits cards over there.  They said that a VPN would probably be necessary to access my account over there.   My credit union wasn't sure if there was a good number to contact them if I wanted to contact them when I was over there.  Bank of America said that the first time I used a Bank of America card  in China that I would probably get a text message about verification to my American phone and I would have to reply to them on my America phone.  I normally don't use my US phone when I am in China. I have AT&T. I think they are expensive to use in China.  DanB

 

I don't use any American cards in China, so I'm not sure how that would work. If you're wanting to withdraw money at an ATM, you may need to activate roaming on your American phone just for that one transaction. Perhaps you'd need to do that (activate roaming) before you leave, and then do a transaction as soon as you arrive, at which time you can turn off the roaming and just use your Chinese phone (if I'm understanding your phone situation correctly).

I access my Bank of America account in China without any issues, although the 2 Factor Authentication did cause some issues at first. I have an American VOIP cell phone number through Anveo which works for that purpose - that may or may not work for your ATM card (I don't know).

It may be a better idea to determine an alternative way to send yourself money to your WeChat account - check some of the threads about for how to do that (yes, that would be able to send from your BofA account to your WeChat account).

Sorry I don't have better advice there - everyone has to determine what works best for themselves as far as sending money to China. Good luck.

You may want to decide on a different way to send yourself money.

If you want to try sending money to your WeChat account, I can find those threads for you. Instead of your own WeChat account, you could just as easily send money to a relative's Chinese bank account. These are transactions you can initate yourself while in China - you will need to make sure you have a plan about how to receive the money.

 

Edited November 24, 2023 by Randy W (see edit history)

[Randy W]

A couple of CFL threads you may want to check out

Sending US dollars to China electronically - best way?

and this

U.S. ATM cards blocked from withdrawing in China now?

[Randy W]

The fairly recent "decoupling" and "derisking"  policies (China WANTS to do business with the US, but they are making it more and more difficult to do so) make any arrangements between banks subject to what ever way the wind is blowing (usually OUT), but international wires and WeChat accounts still function as always, along with most of the international money transfer apps.

Your BofA ATM card may or may not still work in China - I don't know. As far as BofA is concerned, that agreement is still in effect, but that doesn't mean that that agreement will be honored at a specific location in China where you might need the money.

Edited November 24, 2023 by Randy W (see edit history)

[Randy W]

I just noticed this in your post - "I wanted to notify them that I was traveling  to China and would be using my debit and credits cards over there."

Good luck with that. Foreign credit cards have NEVER worked in China (I use mine only online), but there ARE new "agreements" in place that might allow some use.

What you CAN do, though, is activate your credit card for use in the WeChat app. THAT would be accepted anywhere that WeChat is.