Chinese Banking Vocabulary: Guide to Chinese Banking Phrases & Payment Culture

If you're learning Chinese and planning to live, work, or do business in China, you'll eventually need to deal with banks. Whether you're opening a bank account, transferring money, or just trying to withdraw cash from an ATM, knowing the right vocabulary makes everything smoother. This guide covers all the essential Chinese banking vocabulary you need, from basic terms to more advanced finance concepts. Pretty useful stuff if you want to avoid awkwardly pointing at things in a Chinese bank.

Basic bank vocabulary in Chinese

Let's start with the fundamental terms you'll use most often.

Bank in Chinese is 银行 (yínháng). You'll see this everywhere. The character 银 means silver, and 行 can mean business or firm. Different banks have specific names:

When you walk into a bank, you might need to take a number. The ticket machine is 取号机 (qǔhàojī), and your number is 号码 (hàomǎ). The counter or teller window is 柜台 (guìtái), and the bank teller is 银行职员 (yínháng zhíyuán) or just 柜员 (guìyuán).

Opening a bank account

Opening a bank account (开户 - kāihù) is one of the first things you'll do in China. The process requires specific vocabulary.

A bank account is 银行账户 (yínháng zhànghù) or just 账户 (zhànghù). There are different types:

You'll need to bring your passport (护照 - hùzhào) and possibly a residence permit (居留许可 - jūliú xǔkě). The application form is 申请表 (shēnqǐng biǎo). You'll set a password (密码 - mìmǎ), usually a six-digit PIN.

The bank will give you a bank card (银行卡 - yínháng kǎ). This might be a debit card (借记卡 - jièjì kǎ) or credit card (信用卡 - xìnyòng kǎ). Most Chinese banks issue a card that functions as both an ATM card and a payment card.

Your account number is 账号 (zhànghào), and the cardholder is 持卡人 (chíkǎrén). Keep your card safe because replacement (补办 - bǔbàn) can be annoying.

Cash, deposits, and withdrawals

Cash in Mandarin

Even though China is moving toward cashless payments, you still need cash (现金 - xiànjīn) sometimes. The currency is called 人民币 (rénmínbì), often abbreviated as RMB. Informally, people call money 钱 (qián).

The basic unit is 元 (yuán), though people often say 块 (kuài) in spoken Chinese. Smaller denominations include 角 (jiǎo) or 毛 (máo), and 分 (fēn), though you rarely see those anymore.

Banking terms for deposit and withdrawal

Essential Chinese words for transfers and payments

Transferring money is super common in China. The general term for transfer is 转账 (zhuǎnzhàng). There are different types:

Other relevant Chinese vocabulary, including fees and procedures, is:

Credit cards and loans

Common words for credit cards

Credit cards work differently in China compared to Western countries. A credit card is 信用卡 (xìnyòng kǎ), where 信用 means credit or trust.

Key credit card terms include:

Commonly used words for loans

For loans, the general term is 贷款 (dàikuǎn). Different types include:

Exchange rates and currency

If you're dealing with international transactions, you need to know currency vocabulary.

Common currencies you might exchange:

Essential vocabulary for business and finance

If you're working in finance or doing business in China, you'll need more advanced vocabulary. Investment is 投资 (tóuzī), and an investor is 投资者 (tóuzīzhě).

Stock market terms include:

Financial statements and accounting terms:

Business banking vocabulary includes:

Online banking in China

Banking in China happens mostly through mobile apps.

How to learn and master this vocabulary

Learning Chinese banking vocabulary takes practice. You can't just memorize a list and call it done. The best approach combines several methods.

If you want to learn Chinese banking vocabulary more effectively, Migaku's browser extension and app let you look up terms instantly while reading Chinese banking websites or watching finance videos. You can save vocabulary directly to your review decks and practice with real content. There's a 10-day free trial if you want to check it out.

Chinese banking vocabulary keeps evolving

The digital payment ecosystem has expanded even more since 2020, and by 2026, cash transactions are increasingly rare in major cities. If you're living in China as an expat or student, dealing with landlords, paying utilities, and managing daily expenses requires banking vocabulary and up-to-date banking knowledge. What you can do is to read through Chinese articles and news about banking, and watch vlogs about Chinese payment system. These resources teach you not only the banking words in context, but also the payment culture.

Learn terms that can make your daily life easier!