Updated July 2, 2020
I live in China. Ever since I moved to China a couple of years ago, life had generally been great over here. However, living in China has its own challenges. For example, one of the most common financial issues that the expats living/working in China continuously face is regarding transferring money to/from China. Specifically:
- How to transfer money from overseas (USA/Europe) to China?
- How to transfer money from China to overseas (USA/Europe)?
I am going to answer your queries regarding transferring money to/from China.
Well, I have personally transferred money to/from China. One of the common tools to facilitate money transfers to/from China is TransferWise. I have been using TransferWise for a couple of years, and they have really been very helpful. You can Sign Up for a TransferWise borderless account (it’s free).
In this blog-article, I will provide you a general review of TransferWise, and in the linked posts, you can find more about transferring money/currencies internationally (Chinese yuan/RMB/ US dollar/Euro/Rupee).
What is TransferWise?
TransferWise is a UK based international payment processing company. They are like your “local” bank in a sense that:
- You can store your money with them (in over 150 currencies),
- You can get an international debit card issued by TransferWise,
- You can receive international payments in your TransferWise balance accounts,
- You can transfer money from your TransferWise balance accounts to almost all the available international currencies (certainly US dollar, Euro),
- They provide you a country specific address for each of your balance account.
TransferWise Supported Currencies?
As I said, they support over 150 international currencies, including US dollar, EURO, Singapore dollar, Indian rupee, Chinese Yuan, etc.
Sign Up Procedure?
Just follow the Sign Up link and provide some basic details. It hardly takes a couple of minutes to sign up for a TransferWise borderless account.
Documents Required?
I had just uploaded a copy of my valid international passport. Their automated system would scan your passport and update your name in the system.
How Much Time It Takes To Open A TransferWise Balance Account?
Once you have signed up, you’ll need to open balance account (s). You can open accounts in as many currencies as you want. In fact, you can open account in all the listed currencies. That is to say, you can have over 150 bank account associated with your single TransferWise borderless account.
Just go to the Balance tab in TransferWise dashboard and follow the instructions. With a just a few clicks, you can open each of your balance account. Each account has a unique account number and other details, such as:
- Currency
- Routing number
- IBAN (International Bank Account Number)
- SWIFT Code
- Address
Receiving Money To Your TransferWise Account
You can share the account information with your payers (such as Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing–KDP). Then they can transfer money to your account. As simple as that!
What’s more, TransferWise doesn’t charge you anything for receiving payments in your TransferWise balance accounts.
Can I Receive Different Currencies In One Balance Account?
O yes! You can receive all types of currencies in any balance account. For example, I have a Euro balance account with TransferWise, and I have received about 10 currencies in my Euro balance account, including Chinese Yuan, US dollar, Indian Rupee, Brazilian Real, Mexican Peso, Australian dollar, etc. TransferWise would automatically apply the best currency exchange rates for such transfers.
Adding Money Transfer Accounts
If you want to transfer money from your TransferWise account to other banks or TransferWise accounts (need not be your accounts), you’ll need to add them into your TransferWise account. Follow the instructions from the Dashboard. Quite straightforward process.
TransferWise Currency Exchange Rates
When you transfer/receive money (in a currency different from the corresponding balance account), TransferWise would offer you the mid-market exchange rates. The rates are probably the best one would obtain anywhere else (much better than Western Union). You can check out the currency exchange rates in advance (before you initiate a fund transfer).
TransferWise Commissions Rates?
Well, yes, they do charge you very nominal commissions, much lower than the other payment processing agencies, such as the Western Union. You’ll be able to see the exchange rates beforehand. The whole process is reliable and transparent. No hidden fees!
How Much Time It Takes To Receive The Money?
I have transferred money to a few counties, such as Belgium/Europe/Singapore/India. It has always been a pleasant experience. The transfers are practically instant transfers — it hardly takes about a minute!
What If The Recipient’s Account Has A Problem?
Once I transferred money from my Euro balance account to one of my friends in Singapore (DBS bank), and the money was not accepted as my friend’s account was deactivated (the bank account had been idle for some time). So the money was not credited in my friend’s DBS account. As such, the whole amount was refunded to my TransferWise balance account within two working days. Even the commission fee was refunded.
Meanwhile, I transferred the amount to my friend’s OCBC bank account, the transaction went well. The money was deposited in the OCBC bank in less than a minute. Freaking fast… literally!
Amazon KDP
If you are self-publishing books with KDP- Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing, TransferWise is one of the finest ways to receive payments for your KDP monthly sales. You don’t need to wait to cross the threshold (usually US $100) in order to receive the payments.
How Much Time It Takes To Transfer Money From China To TransferWise Account?
It’s quite okay! They have replied all my emails. The email replies would often come within hours, and never it’d take more than two working days.
TransferWise Customer Services?
It’s quite okay! They have replied all my emails. The email replies would often come within hours, and always never it takes more than two working days.
Can We Trust TransferWise?
Yes, they are 100% reliable! Since I opened my TransferWise account, I have transferred thousands of Euros to/from TransferWise. At least, I didn’t have any issues. Moreover, I have a couple of friends using TransferWise, they all seem to be glad to have joined TransferWise. Highly recommended!
Any Cons Of TransferWise?
It seems that TransferWise doesn’t offer any interest rates for the money you park with them (aka on your savings). In particular, they don’t have the saving or fixed deposit accounts. However, looking at the success story of TransferWise, it wouldn’t be surprising if they start offering such services in the near future. One more thing: TransferWise is not accepted for Google AdSence payments. However, this is not a problem from TransferWise, this is Google’s problem (if you call it a problem). 🙂
Alternatives Of TransferWise?
Well, there are certainly alternatives of TransferWise. I tried using Payoneer, for example. However, it has been over a year since I applied for a Payoneer account. My account has not been opened yet. I tried contacting Payoneer’s customer helpline, all in vain. Frankly, I never had a working Payoneer account. I don’t recommend Payoneer.
Overall, TransferWise is great payment gateway to manage your international fund transfers. I couldn’t recommend it more!
Don’t forget to Sign Up for a free TransferWise borderless account.
How is your experience with TransferWise?
If you have any questions or comments on this review, feel free give me a shout in the comments. 🙂