Unionpay Cards

[Suleyman]

I've got a fair bit of business travel in China and am getting annoyed with the fact that Visa and Amex are not accepted in many of the places, such as restaurants.

I'm thinking of getting a Unionpay card, and it seems that there are only the UOB and BOC cards available locally. Both are fairly unexciting and I was wondering if there is any other available with better features.

I won't use the card too much, so points, cashback or whatever aren't really a huge consideration. Any additional benefits will be of more interest to me.

 

[hclee01]

You may wish to consider the ICBC Singapore UnionPay Card:
ICBC SINGAPORE BRANCH

For this card, you can choose to opt your statement outstanding balance either in CNY or SGD so that you can save on foreign exchange.

In addition, if you travel extensively within China, you can enjoy the airport lounges in China too.

 

[Suleyman]

The card does look interesting. The RMB settlement would be helpful in terms of saving on some foreign exchange.

Any idea if it accrues points or anything? It mentioned a 3x rewards but there was no mention of what the rewards are.

(On a seperate note, the english version of the website is atrocious!)

The airport lounge is not so big a deal, though, since I have *A gold and Priority Pass.

 

[Leeson]

Go with either ICBC or BOC, even if the card has Unionpay, not all establishments in China will accept unless its their local bank card.

 

[Thanatos_Wraiths]

@Suleyman: The option of dual currency payment for ICBC is good.
I realised they offer better conversion rates for RMB but it had just been 2 months of transactions and too few to judge fairly.

ICBC has a $5KFC voucher when i signed up last year.
Make sure one do a finger licking good after the meal from utilising the $5 voucher to make it real worthwhile.

BOC was offering some sign up gift some time ago but no sure if it is still ongoing. You may want to check on it.

@Leeson: Nice to have to catch up with you 3 weeks ago.

 

[Suleyman]

Go with either ICBC or BOC, even if the card has Unionpay, not all establishments in China will accept unless its their local bank card.

This is good to know.

I was actually leaning towards the UOB card since it will pool the points together with my other UOB cards, but if this is an issue, then maybe I'll get one of the China cards instead.

Probably BOC. The picture is nicer. lol

 

[lingua101]

@Suleyman: The option of dual currency payment for ICBC is good.
I realised they offer better conversion rates for RMB but it had just been 2 months of transactions and too few to judge fairly.

ICBC has a $5KFC voucher when i signed up last year.
Make sure one do a finger licking good after the meal from utilising the $5 voucher to make it real worthwhile.

BOC was offering some sign up gift some time ago but no sure if it is still ongoing. You may want to check on it.

@Leeson: Nice to have to catch up with you 3 weeks ago.

Is this still true now? UOB CUP card does not widely accepted in China? I jut came back from Guangzhou and need to transact in cash as most of the establishment only accept CUP (no Visa or MC)

 

[pumnky]

Any idea if the singapore issue ICBC UnionPay Dual Currency Credit Card be used to purchase in taobao without incurring credit card fees?

 

[lainm07]

UnionPay is still branded as a low charge network compared to V/M/Amex, such as foreign transactions fees, merchants side charges.
So you should not expect same level of rewards to V/M/Amex.

 

[swatchie]

I travel to Shanghai an average of once a month and even there, Visa/MC not very widely accepted, much less AMEX. Even alot of international brands don't accept AMEX. I usually just pay cash.

 

[Suleyman]

Is this still true now? UOB CUP card does not widely accepted in China? I jut came back from Guangzhou and need to transact in cash as most of the establishment only accept CUP (no Visa or MC)

I ended up with both UOB and BOC CUP cards. I primarily used the UOB one and have not have problems with it in Beijing.

I travel to Shanghai an average of once a month and even there, Visa/MC not very widely accepted, much less AMEX. Even alot of international brands don't accept AMEX. I usually just pay cash.

I noticed that Beijing is a lot better. Probably a lot more lao wais. lol

 

[bleach87]

which card is good now to use in china? have to be able to use in most stores like restaurants and entertainment places.

 

[hclee01]

which card is good now to use in china? have to be able to use in most stores like restaurants and entertainment places.

Was in Shanghai a few weeks ago and used UOB China UnionPay Card. Had no problems at all merchants. Had problems using SG Visa Card at some of the smaller shops and ended up using UOB CUP Card and transaction went through.

 

[sebastgt]

Was in Shanghai a few weeks ago and used UOB China UnionPay Card. Had no problems at all merchants. Had problems using SG Visa Card at some of the smaller shops and ended up using UOB CUP Card and transaction went through.

Heard that pin is needed when u use CUP.
Did u use your pin?

 

[hclee01]

Heard that pin is needed when u use CUP.
Did u use your pin?

Nope, all my transactions went through successfully without PIN when using my UOB CUP Card.

 

[y2j_chan]

For ICBC Singapore UnionPay Card, what r e ways to pay their credit card bills.

Understand that for Visa/Mastercard Credit Card, i k pay online from other bank.

Anyone knows, pls share.

 

[Trazora]

For ICBC Singapore UnionPay Card, what r e ways to pay their credit card bills.

Understand that for Visa/Mastercard Credit Card, i k pay online from other bank.

Anyone knows, pls share.

Maybe axs (machine/online/app)

 

[shanhz]

For ICBC Singapore UnionPay Card, what r e ways to pay their credit card bills.

Understand that for Visa/Mastercard Credit Card, i k pay online from other bank.

Anyone knows, pls share.

i think best is to open an iCBC bank account, then you can use internet banking to transfer money into that account, then use icbc internet banking to pay off.

 

[Allen_C_Sharp]

For ICBC Singapore UnionPay Card, what r e ways to pay their credit card bills.

Understand that for Visa/Mastercard Credit Card, i k pay online from other bank.

Anyone knows, pls share.

I usually pay by AXS or inets kiosk, there is option for paying bills, then choose Bank of China

 

[alangohek]

Unable to use Unionpay card to pay online at Ctrip.com

I can't use my Singapore issued ICBC unionpay card to pay for my train tickets online. Anyone encountered this issue? How to resolve?