Receive Payments from Foreign Banks

I knew the resolution of this problem would be unpredictable on my part.  It turns out that the funds I've been waiting for were in my account, but not visible by me via an ATM.  This is because they are there in U.S. Dollars.  I did not think my account could even accept Dollars.  When I had attempted to check my balance using the ATM under other currencies, it always told me it was an invalid query.

So, to sum up, my employer in England sent my payroll from their English bank to my Chinese bank in U.S. Dollars. Why would they do this?  Because I'm an American?  Cannot RMB be sent from England to China?  Even British Pounds would have made more sense to me.  Having RMB was the point of making the deposit here.  Ugh.

To add insult to injury, my Chinese bank will not allow me to withdraw the money. I opened up the account three years ago with my then-current passport.  I had to renew my passport last August and have been banking there without incident ever since.  But, now they will not relinquish the funds because my current passport number is different from the one used to open the account.  And yes, I do have the old one in my possession and with me when I attempted to withdraw the funds.  So, now more paperwork and strained chatter. 

Ah, the mysteries of the Orient.

So, to sum up, my employer in England sent my payroll from their English bank to my Chinese bank in U.S. Dollars. Why would they do this?

Because they can 'triple whack' you on the exchange rates.

Quote from: A-Train on April 19, 2013, 09:57:05 PM

So, to sum up, my employer in England sent my payroll from their English bank to my Chinese bank in U.S. Dollars. Why would they do this?

Because they can 'triple whack' you on the exchange rates.

Who's the third bank with its dick up my ass?

I believe it's because they can only accept directly convertible currencies into an account such as yours, which means USD or Japanese Yen. I suppose your English bank chose to send USD instead of RMB for reasons that only students of the arcane ways of central banking are permitted to learn.

So, to sum up, my employer in England sent my payroll from their English bank to my Chinese bank in U.S. Dollars. Why would they do this?  Because I'm an American?  Cannot RMB be sent from England to China?  Even British Pounds would have made more sense to me.  Having RMB was the point of making the deposit here.  Ugh.

ICBC accounts, even the bog standard ones, can handle payments in nine currencies including GBP and USD.  You can't withdraw money or view using an ATM but it'll be visible through your eBanking portal.  Not sure about other banks.

The Passport number thing is a beast.  I am getting a new passport soon and I'll have to redo all my accounts then.  Pain in the arse but there it is.  Most countries don't change your passport number when they get updated and Chinese ID numbers never change, so the system won't be able to handle this exception.

I think that solution to this problem might be to open a new account with your new passport and transfer the funds from your original account to your new account using eBanking.

Thanks bobrage.  How do you know so many details and keep your sanity?  Or does your name belie my assumption? 

Still don't know why an English institution would send U.S. Dollars to a Chinese account if, as you say, ICBC accepts GBP.  Does it accept RMB?  Seems like a stupid question but, more so than anywhere else, there are no stupid questions in China.

Thanks bobrage.  How do you know so many details and keep your sanity?  Or does your name belie my assumption?  

Still don't know why an English institution would send U.S. Dollars to a Chinese account if, as you say, ICBC accepts GBP.  Does it accept RMB?  Seems like a stupid question but, more so than anywhere else, there are no stupid questions in China.

I learned alot in the three and half hours and fourteen forms it recently took me to wire money from my ICBC account to my UK account.  I read ICBC's website from top to bottom before I ventured to the head office in my small Henan town - the only way to get things done here is to prepare and prepare and prepare and bring screenshots of what you want to do so the guy behind the desk can't refuse to help you.

This one is the page you want (corss border outward/inward remittances):

http://www.icbc.com.cn/ICBC/Personal%20Banking/CrossborderFinancialServices/ICBCCurrencyExchange/Introduction/

The reason we can't have dual currency accounts, by the way, is because passports are considered insufficient forms of ID due to the necessity for real-name-registration for changing money.  You have to have a Chinese ID (or a buttload of money for a HSBC premium account thingy) to be able to buy and sell FX inside your own account portfolio.

I too have no idea why they would send the payment in dollars unless their SWIFT intermediary or a clearing bank in China stipulated that they should.  If you go up to the teller at an ICBC with a wad of twenty pound notes you can deposit them in your account and they will sit there, in their full regal splendour, in a seperate little GBP pocket for which the bank might charge you a couple of Maoface for using.  

From there, you can wire, withdraw in either GBP or RMB (in person only), transfer and so forth until you are blue in the face.  Next time I wire money I am going to make the deposit at the branch and then try to wire it through eBanking myself.

All ICBC accounts can handle a range of currencies but we just aren't allowed to change money through eBanking because we don't have a Chinese ID.  Which is pants, but there it is.  

In short, I am pretty sure that the UK bank messed up.

Quote from: A-Train on April 21, 2013, 04:59:56 PM

Thanks bobrage.  How do you know so many details and keep your sanity?  Or does your name belie my assumption? 

Still don't know why an English institution would send U.S. Dollars to a Chinese account if, as you say, ICBC accepts GBP.  Does it accept RMB?  Seems like a stupid question but, more so than anywhere else, there are no stupid questions in China.

The reason we can't have dual currency accounts, by the way, is because passports are considered insufficient forms of ID due to the necessity for real-name-registration for changing money.  You have to have a Chinese ID (or a buttload of money for a HSBC premium account thingy) to be able to buy and sell FX inside your own account portfolio.

How many RMB are in "A buttload of money"? My g/f has a premium account and it helps in ways I never would have imagined including parking spots and airport VIP visits.  Might be a good idea if it's easy to get your money back when you want to.

Think its 10000RMB.  Might be lower if you open it in Blighty.

Think its 10000RMB.  Might be lower if you open it in Blighty.

"Blighty", "pants"...I've learned as many colloquialisms on this thread as I have banking details.  But, I'll soon forget the latter.

Bob's yer uncle.

Bob's yer uncle.

I DO have an Uncle Bob, but how did you know?  I also have an Uncle Lucien, Uncle Liezen and an Uncle Spike.  Can they be of as much help? My money is on Spike.