The banking guild has warned travelers returning to Shanghai to convert foreign coins at the country of origin, as local banks will refuse to take them.
The warning follows calls from the Shanghai Commission of Consumers' Rights and Interests Protection for banks to accept the coins.
But the Shanghai Banking Association said last Friday Shanghai banks would continue to reject foreign coins as there was no market to sell the coins.
If they accept foreign coins, the only channel left was to transport the currency back to their issuing countries with transport costs accounting for 70 percent of the coins' face value.
The guild also noted that if banks opened foreign coin exchange programs, the high costs would be passed on to consumers.
The association advised travelers to use coins or convert them into bank notes before returning. Banks in Shanghai only take foreign currency in the form of bank notes. The association said Hong Kong banks also refused coins.