Paypal China ?

[SteveK]

I'd like to send money to my fiancee in China. I've used Western Union in the past but I don't like paying the fees.

Has anyone transferred cash from their Paypal account in the US to a someones Paypal account in China? My fiancee is trying to create a new Paypal China account now, but she says it requires a credit card and she does not have one. I know a credit card is not required to open a Paypal account in the US, but maybe it's different over there.

Steve

[Randy W]

They (US PayPal) offer a debit card which offers very cheap withdrawals in China - no need for the Chinese account if you can get the card to her.

[SteveK]

They (US PayPal) offer a debit card which offers very cheap withdrawals in China - no need for the Chinese account if you can get the card to her.

Thanks, we are doing this now with a Fidelity Bank ATM card. They charge no ATM fees anywhere in the world. But, ATM's in China are very finicky... somedays they accept a foreign card and other days not. Yesterday, it would not accept her PIN number and ate the card! Needless to say, there's no way to get the card back since it has my name on it.

 

So, I thought a direct transfer would be more reliable.

[N&J]

what city does she live?

[SteveK]

what city does she live?

 

Guangzhou, Guangdong

[yuehan123]

Well, I guess the ATM didn't immediately eat the card. She probably entered the wrong PIN at least three times. Order a new card from Paypal. Have that card mailed to your house. Send it to her and then activate the card. Tell her about the three strikes and you're out rule.

[jim404sea]

Well, I guess the ATM didn't immediately eat the card. She probably entered the wrong PIN at least three times. Order a new card from Paypal. Have that card mailed to your house. Send it to her and then activate the card. Tell her about the three strikes and you're out rule.

Also, if you have a paypal debit card in your name, you can get a 2nd one in her name with no questions asked - have them mail it to you, then you get it to her, wait till she receives it, then you activate and tell her the pin

That way it will have her name, not yours, if this happens again, plus since both names are using the same account, that goes towards establishing a bonafide relationship

[SteveK]

Also, if you have a paypal debit card in your name, you can get a 2nd one in her name with no questions asked

 

Thanks, that is great idea.

 

Yes, she entered the PIN 3 times, then the ATM ate it. She knew about the 3 try limit, but had just got off from a long day of work and it slipped her mind.

[yuehan123]

Well, I'm a little skeptical that this would work- using her name, I mean. Why? How can 'you' can input the proper Chinese characters into the PayPal system? O.K. you can do it with any Chinese keyboard, we all have one. How can PayPal generate a Chinese name card? If 'you' can, and, they do, please let us know.

 

After all, the ATM card name will have to match, exactly the SO's Chinese ID card, or passport before you can use the ID card to retrieve an 'eaten' ATM card.

 

Nevermind. I just tried it. Guess what the PayPal System response was?

 

"Request a Second Debit Card. You have entered an invalid name. You must enter the name of someone other than yourself (e.g. spouse) who you authorize to receive a second debit card attached to your account."

[Randy W]

Well, I'm a little skeptical that this would work- using her name, I mean. Why? How can 'you' can input the proper Chinese characters into the PayPal system? O.K. you can do it with any Chinese keyboard, we all have one. How can PayPal generate a Chinese name card? If 'you' can, and, they do, please let us know.

 

After all, the ATM card name will have to match, exactly the SO's Chinese ID card, or passport before you can use the ID card to retrieve an 'eaten' ATM card.

 

Nevermind. I just tried it. Guess what the PayPal System response was?

 

"Request a Second Debit Card. You have entered an invalid name. You must enter the name of someone other than yourself (e.g. spouse) who you authorize to receive a second debit card attached to your account."

 

 

PayPal does not support Chinese characters. Use Pinyin.

 

My wife had one in my name - no problem (except Yulin didn't have any compatible ATM's).

[yuehan123]

Maybe I didn't make the problem clear. The OP said the ATM ate the original card and his SO couldn't get it back. One reply was to do what you said- get a card in Pinyin.

 

I suggested that the branch with the ATM that ate the card would not return the card with Pinyin name on it.

[Randy W]

Maybe I didn't make the problem clear. The OP said the ATM ate the original card and his SO couldn't get it back. One reply was to do what you said- get a card in Pinyin.

 

I suggested that the branch with the ATM that ate the card would not return the card with Pinyin name on it.

 

I don't think he has a PayPal card yet.

 

My wife used one with my name on it without any trouble.

 

I agree that he probably won't get the missing card back

 

I was speaking to the OP.

[jim404sea]

Maybe I didn't make the problem clear. The OP said the ATM ate the original card and his SO couldn't get it back. One reply was to do what you said- get a card in Pinyin.

 

I suggested that the branch with the ATM that ate the card would not return the card with Pinyin name on it.

there's probably always going to be exceptions where there's a bank employee who has their personal reasons not to help, but in general it shouldnt be a problem, since pinyin is, after all, their invention in the 1st place

 

my wife had a problem with an atm that withdrew money from our paypal balance even though it didnt actually give her any cash, and the bank didnt question that the card belongs to her, or that her card was the one involved

 

because atm's do malfunction, and because the fee for atm's is only $1, I encourage my wife to make several small withdrawals instead of 1 big one

 

also, the card can be used to make a direct payment to the merchant, and then there is no atm involved, as well as no fee

 

since it's a debit card, I imagine that the merchant could care less whose name is on it, as long as the pin is accepted

[yuehan123]

Now, this is what we're after- Some personal experience, with PayPal and the SO's name on the PayPal card in Pinyin.

 

In addition, there is an implication that you or your wife have actually used the card at a merchant within China. Have you?

 

Thanks for sharing.

[jim404sea]

Now, this is what we're after- Some personal experience, with PayPal and the SO's name on the PayPal card in Pinyin.

 

In addition, there is an implication that you or your wife have actually used the card at a merchant within China. Have you?

 

Thanks for sharing.

Yes, this is from experience. All the transactions so far have been in Guangzhou, but the location would not matter at all to paypal. When she first tried to use it, there were problems, because I did not know at the time that before it can be used in an ATM, the paypal account needs to have cash in it, ie, it would not automatically draw the money from the bank account that I had tied the paypal account to for this purpose. But once I moved some money into the paypal account from the bank account, and after she had the experience with an ATM that didnt work correctly, she was then able to make several cash withdrawals from 4 other machines with no problem. There is a $1 fee for ATM withdrawals, and a $3 fee if using it at a bank.

 

Once we were satisfied that it was reliable in this way, she then went to the mall and used it not for cash, but to pay directly for some jewelry, and there was no problem at all with that.

 

Like any debit card, there is a daily limit, but there is also a screen in the paypal account where you can adjust that limit to some degree. If she is mostly going to use it for cash, not merchandise, you will need to be aware that moving the money into the paypal account from a bank account will take 3-5 business days to process, and you will also need to contact them by phone to have them clear it for use in a foreign country - the restriction is only removed for 2 weeks, so you need to remember to contact them again every so often to have the removal of the restriction extended for another 2 weeks.

 

One other note - it was bumpy getting all the restrictions figured out and learning about having to have money in the paypal account for cash withdrawals, so I ended up calling paypal support 5 or 6 times over a weekend. They were consistently very helpful, easy, and pleasant to work with, and that's worth a lot in itself.

 

Happy to help