We have a Bank of America account and were in China for a month in April. We used our card at a bank ATM other than China Construction when we first arrived -- no problem. But we were very pleased to discover China Construction Banks all over China. From then on, we used only China Construction Bank ATMs for the rest of the trip and saved on all those ATM fees.

Take a look at the back of your debit card. It will have one or more symbols indicating which networks of ATMs will accept your card. Match the symbol on your card with the symbol on the machine.

I no longer have a BoA account, but I did have one when I traveled to China a number of years ago. I had no difficulty finding machines to take my card and give me yuan. (I've also had no problems with the ATM card from either of my current banks in Chinese ATMs.)

Most of what you have read and heard appears to be, well, rubbish, and most of the rest of your enquiries (location of working ATMs, charges, etc.) should be directed to your card issuer. There's no need to rely on hearsay here, and your card issuer is the authority.

Card issuers typically run on-line ATM locators, too, as is easily discovered. See here, for instance:

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=Bank+of+America+ATM+locator+China

Whether your card is usable in Chinese ATMs is a function of the network it is on, not of the issuing company. Cirrus, Maestro, Plus, Mastercard, Visa (logos typically on rear of card) are very widely usable in China. You merely need to be looking to restock your cash before it runs out, and not at the last minute, and to think ahead (see link above) for locations. Not all ATMs at all banks will take your card, but that doesn't mean that there aren't plenty that will, including in hotel lobbies, shopping malls, etc., not just in bank branches. Major metropolises have branches of foreign banks, such as Citibank, HSBC, Deutsche Bank that will accept just about any card ever made. Note that from Chinese ATMs withdrawal limits are often in the ¥2000 to ¥2500 range, although multiple withdrawals from a single machine are not usually a problem. This doesn't matter if you have, say, an HSBC card from Hong Kong with a flat withdrawal fee of HK$30 per time, but is grim if you have, say, a UK Barclaycard with a £5 flat fee. Carrying a couple of hundred units of hard currency in fresh bills in case of emergencies is wise, as these can be exchanged at almost any bank anywhere. Other than that, surviving with a bank card on one of the systems mentioned is easy, just so long as you don't assume that every single ATM you come across will accept your card. It won't. And confusingly, the plethora of familiar logos around the screen is itself no guarantee. But you should know in advance the location of a few recommended ATM locations.

As for charges, these are set by the card issuer, and may include separate charges for bank and issuer if these are different entities. So again, it's the card issuer who needs consulting. There are very few bank-independent ATMs in China, but these tend to tell you that they will charge you an extra fee before you press any buttons.

As for changing cash at the airport, you can do that but this is the one place you have to be a little cautious as there are now commercial operations (not banks) charging fees for this service. You need to walk a bit further afield inside some terminals to find the banks and change there. There is, anyway, no need as there are bank ATMs galore. There are also automated money exchange machines.

Changing back, you typically need to show receipts (including ATM withdrawal slips) to show recent money exchange to the tune of double the amount you want to change back. Fee-charging institutions at the airports mostly couldn't care less, however, and indeed enforcement of the rule is intermittent. China now has rather more foreign cash on hand than when this decades-old rule was introduced. There's no guarantee, however, that this will go smoothly, so simply time things to leave yourself with only loose change. There's nothing on sale at airports that's actually tax free, or generally that costs less than several times what you would need to pay for it in town.

I think it's now at least a decade since I last went to China with anything more than a bank card and a smidgen of extra cash. I haven't been forced to change the cash yet.

Peter N-H

Magster and Kathie, thanks for the responses. Good to know that BOA cards will generally work.

Peter, appreciate the comprehensive response to yet another one of my questions on this forum. (get ready for another one right after this!) BOA and China Construction Bank websites do not list ATM locations in China other than Hong Kong and the BOA customer rep on the phone had no clue either so I was trying to see about other banks' ATMs. As for the currency exchange, your information is very helpful. It looks like some guidebooks on bookstore shelves here in the U.S. have wrong or outdated info on this subject so I'm glad you were able to clear this up.

Er...Tried looking on the Cirrus, Plus, Maestro, or whatever system your card is on's website?

Peter N-H