It’s easy to open a yuan-denominated bank account with the Bank of China if you’re willing to travel to New York City or Los Angeles – two locations where the Bank of China will do this.
Investors are increasingly interested in diversifying away from the U.S. dollar (USD) and into alternative currencies. You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to know that the yuan (specifically, the Renminbi (RMB)) is going to play an increasingly important role in the global economy. Heck, Russia doesn’t even do its business with China in USD anymore, they use the yuan and ruble.
Opening a Chinese Money Bank Account
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China’s currency is the renminbi, colloquially known as the “yuan” (just like we might say “buck” or “greenback”). When you go to open up a Chinese bank account, you will be converting your U.S. dollars into Renminbi (RMB). You will need a minimum of $500 USD in order to open the account. So here are the basic facts, summarized, on how to open a yuan-based bank account:
- Minimum of $500 USD to open an RMB deposit account.
- You need to bring your SSN card and two valid I.D. documents.
- You fill out an application, a W-9 form, and a signature card.
- Currently, these are only savings accounts – not checking accounts.
- You can only fund your RMB account; you cannot withdraw renminbi cash from it yet.
- The accounts are insured by the FDIC.
- You can transfer RMB back and forth from your RMB account in China or Hong Kong.
- For more info, contact the bank at (212) 935-3101 ext. 313. And at www.bocusa.com.
You Should Open A Chinese Bank Account
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You might be reading this and wondering why you should open a Chinese bank account. Well, I guess I’d ask you why you’re still reading, then. You must be interested!
In case you haven’t noticed, more and more people are setting their kids up with Chinese language lessons and more and more Americans are making China a must-go-to destination either for work, travel or other pursuits. China’s basically going to take over the world (read: mild-mannered sarcasm), in a good way, and it’s about time to start to prep yourself for that possibility.
As Niall Ferguson claims, the tipping point for the U.S. may be coming soon. Don’t worry, it’s not an apocalypse. But it’s something everyone will have to get used to.
Open a yuan-denominated bank account because (1) you want to diversify your USD and (2) you want to benefit when the yuan is allowed to increase much more in value again. Two sides of the same coin. If the yuan rises, you are protected from the fall in the USD; if the USD rises, well, you’re already protected and you should be thankful.
Reasons Why A Higher Yuan is Bad for the USD
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I’m not sure what is meant by “You can only fund your account; you can’t withdraw RMB cash from it.” Does this mean you don’t have access to your money?
I think he means you can deposit dollars into the account, which become RMB, but when you make any withdrawals they get converted back into dollars and the dollars are given to you.
You can not make a withdrawal and get RMB out, just converted dollars.
@Michael – I think those accounts (so far) are largely intended (or largely used for) depositing dollars and then sending the money overseas in the form of RMB – so that someone (you) can withdraw it in Hong Kong in RMB when you go back over there. But obviously they’re not going to stay so “one-way” as this for long.
Also, it should be noted that you cannot directly open a RMB account. I just did this and you have to first open a USD account and then open a RMB sub-account and transfer funds into from the USD account. Both accounts need to remain open and meet the minimum balance requirements.
@Mike – What is the minimum balance requirement for the USD-denominated account?
BOC needs to allow accounts to be opened online. I want to save in RMB but I do not want to travel all the way to NYC to do this. Anyone know of a way around this?
@Taylor – can you try HSBC? They have many branches in Toronto and Vancouver. There must be some option with them.
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