Where can I get cash with a foreign card?

Read the logos, don't assume

You withdraw yuan at machines displaying the logo of your card's network, and the coverage is not even. In Shanghai every ATM supports UnionPay, while Visa, Mastercard and other international cards work on a smaller subset.

That gap is the practical difference between a two-minute errand and walking to three machines. If you hold a UnionPay card from anywhere, it is the one that behaves like a local card.

The limits, and the call to make before you fly

A single withdrawal is capped — in Shanghai the usual figure is 3,000 yuan per transaction — and your own bank's daily and monthly overseas limits sit on top of that. Two ceilings, and the lower one wins.

Some cards need cross-border use switched on by the issuing bank in advance. That is a phone call to make at home, not something you can resolve standing at a machine in a subway concourse.

The other ways to get notes

Bank branches displaying a currency exchange sign will change foreign notes, as will licensed money changers and the self-service exchange machines at international airports and land border crossings.

If you would rather not carry cash at all, an overseas card can be linked to Alipay or Weixin Pay. The regulator sets the ceilings there — a maximum per transaction and per year — so it is a spending route rather than a way to move large sums.

Good to know

• UnionPay works at far more machines than Visa or Mastercard
• Ask your bank to enable cross-border use before you travel
• Single withdrawals are capped — plan around it rather than at the machine

Sources: Shanghai Municipal Government — Payment methods for foreigners · State Council — Payment service guide for overseas visitors · Updated Jul 2026