Using bank cards in Tibet requires "three attentions"

With the opening of the Qinghai-Tibet Railway, the tourism fever in Tibet continues to heat up, which also drives the consumption boom in Tibet. Paying for various consumption activities with bank cards has become the first choice for many tourists. However, due to the immature environment for using cards in Tibet, Tibetan bankers reminded tourists to pay attention to "three attentions" when using bank cards in Tibet.

First, among the four major state-owned commercial banks, only CCB, BOC and ABC have branches in Tibet. Cards marked UnionPay by other banks can also be used in Tibet, but it is best for tourists to choose bank cards with branches in Tibet.

Recently, when a customer conducted cross-bank and inter-provincial transactions in Tibet, he was embarrassed that the ATM machine swallowed the card, could not swipe the card, and could not withdraw cash. Zhong Wei, deputy general manager of the Personal Banking Department of Tibet Branch of China Construction Bank, pointed out that there are at least ten links in each interbank transaction, which must go through four institutions: the accepting bank, UnionPay, Telecom and the issuing bank, and mistakes are inevitable. At present, banks are striving to improve service quality.

Zhong Wei said that the failure of the transaction may also be due to poor network, degaussing of the card, mistakes of the issuing bank, etc. He reminded consumers that if there is no transaction, it may be that the bank card BIN has not been entered into the system, and calling the bank can solve it in time.

Second, there is no handling fee and no amount limit for credit card consumption.

Many shopkeepers in Lhasa require customers who spend by credit card to pay a "handling fee" ranging from 2% to 5%, and even put forward a restriction that they can't spend less than 1000 yuan, which brings a lot of trouble to tourists.

Zhong Wei reminded consumers that these behaviors were made by merchants without authorization, and there was no limit on credit card spending. As long as the credit card is consumed on the POS machine, the bank will not charge the customer's handling fee, and the customer can refuse to pay the so-called "handling fee" of the merchant.

Third, the number of shops that can use credit cards is limited, so it is best to prepare enough cash in advance for consumption in Tibet.

Zhong Wei reminded consumers that there are not many Tibetan merchants signing contracts with banks at present, so it is best to prepare enough cash in advance for spending in Tibet. As far as CCB is concerned, as of May 3, this year, only 166 Tibetan merchants signed contracts with CCB, mainly large hotels, hotels, supermarkets, restaurants and some specialty stores. Many shops in Tibet and even some brand chain stores are not allowed to use credit cards.