Macau confirms ATM cap to ‘further strengthen’ regulation of money flow
Restriction follows raft of measures by Beijing to tackle massive outflows of capital
Monetary chiefs in Macau have confirmed they are imposing new controls on the amount of cash people using mainland-issued China Union Pay bank cards can take out at ATM machines in the city, to “further strengthen” regulation of mainland money flows.
In a brief statement released more than 14 hours after the Post first reported that the daily cap on ATM withdrawals was to be cut in half from the existing 10,000 patacas to 5,000, the Monetary Authority of Macau clarified that the cap only applied to individual transactions.
The new restriction follows the introduction by Beijing in recent months of a raft of measures to tackle massive outflows of capital. It is the first move to exert control over Union Pay transactions since a 2014 crackdown involving Union Pay point of service machines in the casino dominated city which is fighting hard to shake off its reputation as a centre for hot money out of the mainland.
The statement, which added that the daily limit of 10,000 patacas would remain the same, followed a similar clarification from China Union Pay in which it also acknowledged the new controls on individual transactions.
Asked why the new limit was being imposed, a spokeswoman for the Monetary Authority of Macau said: “Cash withdrawals by mainland bank cards are always monitored. Strengthening measures in this regard is meant to increase our supervisory efforts on ongoing banking operations.’’