Is anyone using their Bank of America card to take out money at CCB atms?

I have heard there is no fee, but that they charge 3% to convert.

Does anyone have a concrete example of taking money out at CCB and what they got charged?

Would be helpful to know which date the money was taken out so I can compare to the published exchange rate.

Just trying to sort out whether it's actually a good deal or not.

Thank you!

It used to be no fees and fx rate was close to the interbank rate, which is good. I think now there is both that 3% fee you mentioned and probably an account fee depending on what type of account you have with them. I assume the actual rate will still be good, but after fees it might be the same as other methods. If you end up only with the 3% fee, it shouldn't hurt too much as the interbank rate is usually pretty good. There are other ATM cards that offer no fees anywhere and if backed by a bank or brokerage usually give the interbank fx rate. Just do a goog search.

If you have you're email alerts settings to include international transactions or just withdrawals over a certain amount, you can confirm the fx rate actual you get, as BOA will email you a USD withdrawal amount pretty quickly, but then you have to check your account to see if any additional account fees were or weren't included associated with that withdrawal.

@AlexKMG thanks for the reply.

I'll test it out and see.

I may end up opening a Charles Schwab account and put some money in there that would allow me to do this.

www.schwab.com/public/schwab/banking_lending/checking_account

Citibank also looks pretty good.

Citibank is nasty worldwide - see their track record.

Oh forgot, I think the withdrawal limit is like 1000rmb per transaction. Could be higher with the crs machines but don't think so. It used to be 2500rmb. So if you need a large amount of rmb, you're going to be in front of the ATM forever. Also, youre subject to whatever USD daily limits your account and security settings allow for international, which could be zero if you haven't told boa you're going to be using your card outside the USA.

@AlexKMG ok good point. I do remember 5 years ago it was 2500 each time.

Thanks!

Note who Charles Schwab is and what he does.

HSBC International Accounts - not sure about today - but over a decade ago HSBC allowed ATM withdrawals of something like ¥10k at a time, with a max of ¥50k per day (or week). This was pre-configurable through their online banking.

HSBC is NOT an inexpensive banking option - but for convenience in Asia and especially China - it took care of all the SAFE (state admin of foreign exchange) issues transparently.

Please note again, this was for HSBC's offshore banking accounts - NOT the domestic flavor of HSBC.

I have BoA and regularly use CCB for cash withdrawal. To the best of my knowledge, there is an initial (I think 5USD) foreign withdrawal fee that is waived, but after that you still must pay the 3% transaction fee. TBH I'm pretty disappointed with BoA's policies abroad, will likely switch cards when I go back to the states.

I use a debit card from Schwab Bank. No foreign transaction fee for ATM withdrawals and if the local bank charges a fee for the withdrawal, Schwab refunds it to me at the end of the month. I also requested and was granted a higher daily limit that allows me to withdraw 12,000rmb per day.