Tuesday, June 4, 2013

New Bankcard...New Bank Account

Now that I have a passport, I could go to get a new bankcard yesterday. I imagined that the bank could simply cancel my old card and issue me a new one that was linked to my account.

Easy, efficient...not in China.

When I got there the bank employee at the front went and got the manager. I explained to him that i need a new bank card and that mine had been stolen. He sat me down and started going through the paperwork which seemed like an unusual amount of paperwork for such an easy thing to fix...

Then I gave him my passport and there was a huge issue that my old passport number was not the same as my new passport number. I explained and showed him all the papers--that my passport was stolen with my bankcard, that it took 2 weeks to replace...the bank owner acted like it was a big dilemma. Three more bank employees and 20 minutes later the owner asked me to follow him.

They let me cut the line of people waiting and lead me to the "elite services" window. The woman did all the paperwork for me and just simply told me to sign off at certain places. After an hour an a lot of paperwork the woman put all of the money in my account in front of me. She explained they had to completely close out my bank account and open a new one for me since my passport number was different.

After another hour and more paperwork she issued me a new bankcard and put my money into a new account.


The bank employees kept bringing me water, i was a little surprised at such good customer service in China. I understand all the rules and regulations they must follow...but it was a little crazy how much of  a process this was.



1 comment:

  1. Glad that all got worked out..... And, how many times did you have to run to the bathroom.....? Take a picture of your passport and put it in a safe place.... : ) Send us a copy!

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