I was thinking about it.
When you fly, you get frequent flier miles.
What about for countries you’ve visited? You don’t get “credit” for visiting more countries, its just a tally you keep.
What if you could get credit for countries you visited. For example: If you visit 10 countries, you get silver status. Visit 25 countries, get gold. Visit all of Southeast Asia, get credit for it.
Two things I’m curious about:
- Do you wish when you returned home from traveling, you got “credit” for where you’ve been?
- Would you travel more, if you knew there were milestones to hit?
I’ve been to 32 countries, but will anything special happen if I hit 40 countries, what about 50?
About a month ago I saw the headlines: Bank of China now offering Chinese Renminbi (RMB), also known as the Yuan, savings accounts right here in the USA.
Given that only a handful of branches in the US offers those accounts, the Chinatown New York branch was open yesterday, and I happen to live in Manhattan, I had to go and check it out.
When I arrived on Sunday afternoon, I found a branch packed with 6 Bank of China employees racing to open RMB accounts for a waiting crowd of almost entirely Chinese customers. Opening these accounts is definitely the hot thing!
I recap my experience in the following video:
The details are as follows (I know the list is long, but I had alot of questions!):
- You must open two accounts, one USD account and one RMB account
- Each account must have a $500 minimum balance
- You must deposit USD funds into your USD bank account, then request a RMB conversion
- To request the conversion, you must either visit the branch or physically mail in an exchange request form
- It takes 1-2 business days to convert the money to RMB
- The RMB savings account currently pays .17% interest (in China they are currently paying ~2.75%!)
- To exchange the RMB back to USD, you must also submit a request personally or through the mail
- You cannot bring physical Yuan notes to the bank and deposit them nor may you withdraw Yuan notes
- To make a USD deposit, you must visit the branch and see the teller
- You do not get an ATM card with the account
- Online banking is available for both the USD and RMB accounts to view your funds
To open the account you need:
- Drivers license
- A second form of ID. They suggested either a credit card or your passport
- Social Security card
Those are the basic details of the account. There are two branches currently in Manhattan, one in Midtown and one in Chinatown. I went to the branch in Chinatown and dealt with Miss Sylvia Chan. Give her a call at 212-925-2355 x821 if you have questions
Conclusion:
Given you have to physically submit a form to convert from USD -> RMB and back, plus it only pays .17% interest, its defiintely an interesting option, but not quite ready for prime time yet.
If you have any other experiences with opening RMB accounts, please leave a comment below, I’d love to hear from you!
I was digging through the United.com website a few months back and found a great offer.
Sign up for a new Fidelity brokerage account and get a whole slew of miles depending on how much you deposit. This offer is good for United Mileage Plus members, but many other airlines offer something similar. The schedule is as follows:
Deposit
* $2,500 -> Get 5,000 miles
* $10,000 -> Get 15,000 miles
* $50,000 -> Get 25,000 miles
After I signed up, I got the miles deposited almost immediately (took ~1 week). The only major catch I found was relatively minor. You must keep the account open and funded with the original amount for 6 months. During that 6 month time period, you can keep it in cash, buy stocks, CDs, or anything else Fidelity offers.
Definitely seemed like a good deal and worked out quite well.
