Bank of China cards abroad 2026: the 1.5% fee and waiver

When you pay in a foreign currency with a card issued in mainland China, the card network settles the bill and your bank decides what to add on top. Bank of China, one of the largest issuers, publishes that in a service price list, and publishes yearly notices about which charges it waives. This guide reads both, and says what is stated and what the pages used here leave open.

The charges at a glance

1.5%

Mastercard, Visa, American Express

Of the amount, when the currencies differ

1%

JCB

Of the amount, when the currencies differ

2026

Gold and higher cards

The fee is waived from 1 January to 31 December

The fee

Bank of China charges a cross-border currency conversion fee when the local currency of a purchase abroad differs from the currency in which the purchase is posted. The price list gives the rate by network:

The fee is a percentage of the transaction amount, so a purchase worth 1,000 yuan would carry a 15 yuan fee at 1.5%. The price list does not describe the exchange rate used for the conversion, so the fee is separate from it.

What is waived in 2026

A notice dated 26 December 2025 lists charges that Bank of China waives from 1 January to 31 December 2026. It calls them temporary. The ones that matter to a traveller are:

• The conversion fee for gold and higher credit cards.

• The service fee for a reissued, damaged or early-replaced credit card.

• The courier handling fee.

• The fee for viewing sales slips in mainland China, and transfer-out fees.

A card below gold level is not on the list for the conversion fee and keeps paying it.

What else is on the price list

The price list is a long document, and the conversion fee is one line of its chapter on credit cards. For cash withdrawals abroad and in Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan on a network other than UnionPay, the chapter sets 3% of the amount, at least RMB 30 and at most RMB 180 a transaction, and it gives different terms for UnionPay self-service withdrawals by card family. It also has charges for looking up sales slips and for emergency card replacement abroad, with amounts in several currencies. Read the current chapter for the cards you hold, because the chapter is revised and the amounts for a card family differ.

Who this matters to

This matters most to someone who holds a Bank of China credit card issued on a Visa or Mastercard network and spends abroad in 2026. If the card is below gold level, the 1.5% is real and adds up on a trip, and if it is gold or higher it is waived until the end of the year. Before a trip in January 2027 or later, check whether the notice has been renewed.

Conversion fee

A fee the issuer adds when the currency of a purchase differs from the currency the card bills in.

Billing currency

The currency in which the purchase is posted to your account. For a card issued in mainland China it is usually yuan.

Gold and higher

Bank of China's level names for its credit cards. The waiver covers gold cards and the levels above them.

Price list

The bank's published schedule of charges. The notice amends it for the year.