Updated August 4, 2020
I have been writing articles about transferring money to/from China from/to overseas. In this post, I’m going to share further information about how to send & transfer money from China to overseas (aka Singapore/USA/Europe).
Well, taking your hard-earned money out of China could be a tricky situation. Allow me to explain how you can easily and cheaply send money from China to USA/UK/Europe. Feel free to check out my other post: Cheapest & Easiest Ways To Bring Money To China.
How To Take Money Out of China?
There are quite a few ways. First, I will touch two simple methods to send & transfer money from China, and then, I will share about my most favorite way to transfer money overseas: AliPay remittance services.
PayPal Money Transfer
Yes, you can use PayPal to transfer money from China to overseas. All you need to do is to open two PayPal accounts and link them together to enable fund transfers.
For example, most likely, when you come to China, say from the USA, you’ll already have a PayPal account for parking the US dollar. Once you have received a Chinese debit/credit card, you should open a new PayPal account and add your Chinese card to it.
Then you can transfer money from your Chinese PayPal account to any other PayPal account. The whole process is very simple.
The charges do apply.
Moreover, I am not a big fan of PayPal as it sucks in some of the countries. For example, I tried transferring money from my non-Chinese PayPal account to a bank in Singapore (the account number was already verified). However, the fund was not credited. I paid a penalty of $5 in (for the refusal of credit). Bitch!
Get A Chinese Credit Card
Foreigners can also have Chinese credit cards, provided that you are working in China on a full-time basis. I have a Chinese VISA credit card. I do buy things outside China using my Chinese credit card. For example, often I order books on Amazon (.com) for learning Chinese. I also pay my insurance premium in my home country using the same Chinese credit card. I pay my credit card bills in Chinese Yuan. We have some 40-day payment cycle (similar to most other credit cards).
ALIPAY TO SEND & TRANSFER MONEY FROM CHINA
I have used AliPay to transfer money from China to overseas. In fact, so far, I have transferred over RMB 100,000, and never I had a problem. As such, AliPay is my favorite method to transfer money from China to abroad. Let’s get into more details.
Well, in my previous post, I told you that Alipay is basically a payment processing App and it also facilitates overseas fund transfers.
However, only the Chinese ID card (Shen Fen Zhen, 身份证) holders can transfer the money overseas using the AliPay App. So how did I transfer money overseas since I don’t have a Chinese ID number?
Well, I’m dating a girl, and she kindly agreed to help me (good girl—thank you!). Since then, I have transferred thousands of Chinese Yuan to the overseas bank accounts, including fund transfers to my TransferWise account (free Sign Up).
How Do You Find The Alipay Sub-Apps Facilitating Overseas Remittance?
There are two sub-Apps (miniprograms, like the brokers) embedded in AlipPay. Either can be used to transfer money overseas, both work in the similar ways, have same currency limits, fees, etc. Just search Guo Ji Hui Kuan (国际汇款) in AliPay, and you will see those two awesome sub-Apps supporting remittance. Here is the screenshot for your reference:
How To Initiate A Transfer?
Well, within those two sub-Apps, everything is written in Chinese, so it’s nearly impossible for a foreigner to handle overseas fund transfers.
Ask your friend, he/she can help you. You have to provide him/her yours:
- Foreign bank account number (IBAN)
- Full name (as used in the account)
- SWIFT code
Then your friend can initiate the transfer.
How Much Is The Transfer Limit?
In one year, a Chinese ID card holder can transfer Chinese currency equivalent to US $50,000 (that’s like RMB 350,000).
Any Per Transaction Limits?
Yes, in one transaction, only up to RMB 30,000 can be transferred. The minimum amount is Euro 100 if you transfer to Europe, SGD 100 if you transfer to Singapore, and USD 100 for USA. For each transaction, you can transfer anything between these upper and lower limits.
Any Other Transfer Limits?
Yes, you have to make sure that your friend’s Alipay account has enough money to initiate an appropriate transfer (obviously). I understand that you will be transferring money to your Chinese friend. However, keep in mind that AliPay can transfer money from either your linked bank card or from AliPay balance amount/account. If you transfer from the linked card, then you can only transfer RMB 10,000/day to your friend’s AliPay account. If you transfer him/her from AliPay balance account, there seems to be no upper limit. I will generally withdraw 10,000/day from my bank account for three consecutive days, park them in the balance account, then I will transfer RMB 30,000 in one transaction to my girlfriend. Subsequently, she’ll initiate an overseas fund transfer.
How Much Is The AliPay Transfer Fee?
Well, the AliPay App charges a fixed amount of RMB 50 to the Chinese ID card holder. This RMB 50 commission fee based on per transaction, whether you transfer RMB 30,000 or less.
How About The Charges By A Recipient Bank?
Yep, you may incur charges by the recipient bank as well. When I transferred money to Singapore (DBS bank account), the DBS bank charged me SG $10 per transaction (irrespective of the amount credited/received).
TransferWise didn’t charge me anything for receiving money. However, the overall charges incurred in the TransferWise account were higher, and the charges increased based on the amount. For a higher amount, I incurred a higher commission. Well, these commissions were charged by the intermediaries as the money was transferred by SWIFT code. I confirmed with TransferWise via email, and I learnt that TransferWise didn’t charge me anything.
Specifically, when I transferred Euro 100, I ended up losing Euro 12 in indirect fees, and only Euro 88 was deposited in my account (this was in addition to the RMB 50 paid to AliPay sub-App/broker App). Then I tried transferring Euro 1000, and I was charged Euro 22. Overall, transferring money to Europe was more expensive than that to Singapore.
How Much Time China Money Transfer Takes?
Less than 2 working days. The money was credited to Singapore/TransferWise accounts in less than two working days.
But TransferWise Doesn’t Accept Chinese Yuan?
Yes, that’s right! According to the official information from TransferWise, as of June 2020, it still doesn’t accept incoming Chinese Yuan.
But there is a catch!
The broker Apps won’t send Chinese Yuan to TransferWise. In fact, when you initiate a transfer, you will be asked to pay Chinese Yuan equivalent to the foreign currency. The broker App will transfer foreign currency. So, TransferWise doesn’t get to see Chinese yuan. In my case, TransferWise got to see Euro. The Singapore bank got to see Singapore dollar. Obviously, there is no need for a currency conversion at the recipient bank (aka DBS or TransferWise).
Frankly, if you have a Chinese (girl/boy-) friend who is willing to help, it’s a piece of cake to send & transfer money from China to USA/UK/Europe.
Let me know if you have further questions.
Hello Pete~ Learning a lot from your blogs, May I ask for your email address? Our client want to invite you to talk about Chinese technoloy. Or you can send me messages to chenfanglin@sdpr.com.cn
Thx a lot~
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