Best way to send money to China?

[TLB]

If you don't have the bank account info, Xoom can also send to a local post office and they can go pick the money up.

[a2784]

xoom.com is good. I just sent $1500 and it cost me $4.99. It is a bank to bank transfer.

 

 

Be careful - Xoom charges 1% on the currency conversion (6.75 conversion rate) and has a fairly small limit.

 

 

Last week they did not. The $1500 was converted to a little over 102300 RMB. My limit is $6000 per month. Probably because I have been using them for quite a while. The $4.99 is a recent rate reduction. Not sure if it is for long time members or not.

 

Wow, wish I could get 102300rmb for $1,500.

 

My wife uses xoom to send money to parents. Always works fine but one time it did take a few days longer than normal.

But what conversion rate do you get? My experience has always been the same as Randy's in that they want to use a 6.75 exchange rate.

[chilton747]

xoom.com is good. I just sent $1500 and it cost me $4.99. It is a bank to bank transfer.

 

 

Be careful - Xoom charges 1% on the currency conversion (6.75 conversion rate) and has a fairly small limit.

 

 

Last week they did not. The $1500 was converted to a little over 102300 RMB. My limit is $6000 per month. Probably because I have been using them for quite a while. The $4.99 is a recent rate reduction. Not sure if it is for long time members or not.

 

Wow, wish I could get 102300rmb for $1,500.

 

 

 

Wish I could, too. One too many zeros!! The 10230 was the conversion I saw when I was sending the money. I have asked the wife to ask her son exactly how much he got out of the bank. I will be curious to see. 10230 RMB for $1500 is about 6.82.

Edited February 24, 2010 by chilton747 (see edit history)

[GDBILL]

If there's no hurry, sending them a check is a good way to go.

 

The only drawback is that you can only cash it at main branches of Bank of China and it takes sometimes up to a month for the check to clear.

 

The good news is that the service fees rarely total more than 50 RMB. Also, the US$ are exchanged into RMB for you at a higher exchange rate than if you just went in to exchange US$ cash.

 

Another decent method is sending your relative a Bank of America ATM card. BOA has a fee-free deal with China Construction Bank so there are no bank fees. There is, however, a 1% spread built into the exchange rate.

[Randy W]

If there's no hurry, sending them a check is a good way to go.

 

The only drawback is that you can only cash it at main branches of Bank of China and it takes sometimes up to a month for the check to clear.

 

The good news is that the service fees rarely total more than 50 RMB. Also, the US$ are exchanged into RMB for you at a higher exchange rate than if you just went in to exchange US$ cash.

 

Another decent method is sending your relative a Bank of America ATM card. BOA has a fee-free deal with China Construction Bank so there are no bank fees. There is, however, a 1% spread built into the exchange rate.

 

 

Pending *CCB CCBGUANGXIBRANCH

ATM 04/04 #00000099... Debit Pending

-$146.94

 

This is from my B of A account in the USA for a 1000RMB cash withdrawal this morning.

 

That's an exchange rate of 6.8055 - Oanda gives the exchange rate at 6.8164. Hardly a 1% spread.

[GDBILL]

If there's no hurry, sending them a check is a good way to go.

 

The only drawback is that you can only cash it at main branches of Bank of China and it takes sometimes up to a month for the check to clear.

 

The good news is that the service fees rarely total more than 50 RMB. Also, the US$ are exchanged into RMB for you at a higher exchange rate than if you just went in to exchange US$ cash.

 

Another decent method is sending your relative a Bank of America ATM card. BOA has a fee-free deal with China Construction Bank so there are no bank fees. There is, however, a 1% spread built into the exchange rate.

 

 

Pending *CCB CCBGUANGXIBRANCH

ATM 04/04 #00000099... Debit Pending

-$146.94

 

This is from my B of A account in the USA for a 1000RMB cash withdrawal this morning.

 

That's an exchange rate of 6.8055 - Oanda gives the exchange rate at 6.8164. Hardly a 1% spread.

 

According to Visa's Plus and MasterCard's Cirrus, there is an approximate 1% spread built into all exchange rates. Somewhere the network is earning 1% whether or not one "sees" it. What you obviously don't understand is that you are taking the retail rate and BOA / Plus / Cirrus operate with a wholesale rate.

 

In any event, the exchange rate using BOA / CCB is not as favorable as exchanging cash over the counter. If you had deposited a check you would also get an even more favorable exchange rate -- currently about 6.83.

[Randy W]

If there's no hurry, sending them a check is a good way to go.

 

The only drawback is that you can only cash it at main branches of Bank of China and it takes sometimes up to a month for the check to clear.

 

The good news is that the service fees rarely total more than 50 RMB. Also, the US$ are exchanged into RMB for you at a higher exchange rate than if you just went in to exchange US$ cash.

 

Another decent method is sending your relative a Bank of America ATM card. BOA has a fee-free deal with China Construction Bank so there are no bank fees. There is, however, a 1% spread built into the exchange rate.

 

 

Pending *CCB CCBGUANGXIBRANCH

ATM 04/04 #00000099... Debit Pending

-$146.94

 

This is from my B of A account in the USA for a 1000RMB cash withdrawal this morning.

 

That's an exchange rate of 6.8055 - Oanda gives the exchange rate at 6.8164. Hardly a 1% spread.

 

According to Visa's Plus and MasterCard's Cirrus, there is an approximate 1% spread built into all exchange rates. Somewhere the network is earning 1% whether or not one "sees" it. What you obviously don't understand is that you are taking the retail rate and BOA / Plus / Cirrus operate with a wholesale rate.

 

In any event, the exchange rate using BOA / CCB is not as favorable as exchanging cash over the counter. If you had deposited a check you would also get an even more favorable exchange rate -- currently about 6.83.

 

What I "understand" is that my $1USD bought me 6.8055RMB

 

These rates don't seem to assume one direction or another:

 

Selling 1.00000 USD

you get 6.81640 CNY

Buying 1.00000 USD

you pay 6.83640 CNY

Selling 6.81640 CNY

you get 0.99707 USD

Buying 6.81640 CNY

you pay 1.00000 USD

 

According to Oanda, if you sell 1USD, you get 6.81640CNY. If you then SELL BACK that 6.81640CNY (at the rate of 6.83640CNY), you get 0.99707USD, a two-way conversion spread of around 0.3%.

 

Arithmetic doesn't leave a whole lot of room for debate. Yours may vary.

 

We don't see a whole lot of exchanges of RMB's for dollars, but they only spread I see so far is closer to the 0.3%.

[GDBILL]

You must be confused.

 

In addition to wholesale exchange rates obtained by MasterCard / Visa / Discover / AmEx networks, there are at least half a dozen retail exchange rates. Oanda goves you but, I believe, two and when it comes to non-freely convertible currencies such as the RMB, these two fail to give the complete picture. Perhaps that's why Oanda has that little disclaimer at the bottom of their page.

 

Since the RMB is not freely convertible, you may have difficulties taking US$ into your local Bank of America branch and obtaining RMB. As such, currency exchange rates involving the RMB are set by the Chinese State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE).

 

Now, unless Oanda has just recently purchased SAFE, it is virtually impossible for you to exchange $1.00 cash for 6.8164 RMB or whatever other "buy" rate Oanda should list at any bank that exchanges RMB. At this moment, when you give $1.00 to the teller, you will get only 6.7573 RMB. If you want to buy US$, you would have to give the teller 6.8393 RMB to obtain $1.00 in cash. You may use a different math than the rest of us, but that gives a spread greater than 1%.

 

There are many different exchange rates and for what we might term "retail" rates, there are at least 6 different exchange rates set by SAFE and used by banks when conducting currency exchange

operations. Amongst the different rates as of 10 a.m. this morning, Beijing time, are:

 

1. The "buy" rate currently @ 6.8119;

2. The "sell" rate currently @ 6.8393;

3. The "middle" rate currently @ 6.826; and

4. The "cash" rate currently @ 6.7573.

 

The Chinese break down foreign currency such as US$ into two categories relevant to our discussion:

 

1. US$ cash is called, obviously, "cash" or "chao" ( ³® ); and

2. US$ in all other forms that do not necessitate cross-border movements of currency is called "forex" or "hui" ( ȋ ).

 

If you take $1.00 in cash and exchange it for RMB, you will get only 6.7573 RMB. You might try asking Oanda to make up the difference for you.

 

If you want to buy $1.00 in cash, you will need to give the teller 6.8393 RMB. You should be able to handle the math.

 

US$ that come into China via routes such as bank wires or a check deposits are called "forex" and $1.00 forex will get you the "middle" rate or, on occasion, even the "sell" rate upon selling that $1.00 forex. When you want to turn your RMB into US$ forex, typically that will be handled at the "middle" rate or sometimes the "buy" rate.

 

There are perfectly reasonable and logical reasons why SAFE handles cash and forex US$ with different exchange rates, but we'll save that for after you finish Foreign Currency Exchange 101 and are ready for Foreign Currency Exchange 202.

 

In any rate, my mistake was stating that you get more RMB by exchanging cash than by using BOAs ATM card in a CCB ATM. In fact, the exchange rate is more favorable using BOA / CCB than by selling your US$ cash to the bank. However, the exchange rate is more favorable when you deposit a US$ check or have an incoming wire transfer into your Chinese bank account.

Edited April 5, 2010 by GDBILL (see edit history)

[Randy W]

You must be confused.

 

In addition to wholesale exchange rates obtained by MasterCard / Visa / Discover / AmEx networks, there are at least half a dozen retail exchange rates. Oanda goves you but, I believe, two and when it comes to non-freely convertible currencies such as the RMB, these two fail to give the complete picture. Perhaps that's why Oanda has that little disclaimer at the bottom of their page.

 

Since the RMB is not freely convertible, you may have difficulties taking US$ into your local Bank of America branch and obtaining RMB. As such, currency exchange rates involving the RMB are set by the Chinese State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE).

 

Now, unless Oanda has just recently purchased SAFE, it is virtually impossible for you to exchange $1.00 cash for 6.8164 RMB or whatever other "buy" rate Oanda should list at any bank that exchanges RMB. At this moment, when you give $1.00 to the teller, you will get only 6.7573 RMB. If you want to buy US$, you would have to give the teller 6.8393 RMB to obtain $1.00 in cash. You may use a different math than the rest of us, but that gives a spread greater than 1%.

 

There are many different exchange rates and for what we might term "retail" rates, there are at least 6 different exchange rates set by SAFE and used by banks when conducting currency exchange

operations. Amongst the different rates as of 10 a.m. this morning, Beijing time, are:

 

1. The "buy" rate currently @ 6.8119;

2. The "sell" rate currently @ 6.8393;

3. The "middle" rate currently @ 6.826; and

4. The "cash" rate currently @ 6.7573.

 

The Chinese break down foreign currency such as US$ into two categories relevant to our discussion:

 

1. US$ cash is called, obviously, "cash" or "chao" ( ³® ); and

2. US$ in all other forms that do not necessitate cross-border movements of currency is called "forex" or "hui" ( ȋ ).

 

If you take $1.00 in cash and exchange it for RMB, you will get only 6.7573 RMB. You might try asking Oanda to make up the difference for you.

 

If you want to buy $1.00 in cash, you will need to give the teller 6.8393 RMB. You should be able to handle the math.

 

US$ that come into China via routes such as bank wires or a check deposits are called "forex" and $1.00 forex will get you the "middle" rate or, on occasion, even the "sell" rate upon selling that $1.00 forex. When you want to turn your RMB into US$ forex, typically that will be handled at the "middle" rate or sometimes the "buy" rate.

 

There are perfectly reasonable and logical reasons why SAFE handles cash and forex US$ with different exchange rates, but we'll save that for after you finish Foreign Currency Exchange 101 and are ready for Foreign Currency Exchange 202.

 

In any rate, my mistake was stating that you get more RMB by exchanging cash than by using BOAs ATM card in a CCB ATM. In fact, the exchange rate is more favorable using BOA / CCB than by selling your US$ cash to the bank. However, the exchange rate is more favorable when you deposit a US$ check or have an incoming wire transfer into your Chinese bank account.

 

That's a little closer to reality there, Bill. I can't remember the last time we've seen any US cash, so we can't help you with that.

 

Our exchange rate at the CCB ATM from our US BofA account, like I've stated, was 6.8055, whereas the wire transfers to the CCB have been at 6.811 and above. This is in line with your last paragraph.

 

Yes, the 6.75 or thereabouts is a 1% "spread", but that rate is to be avoided., in our book.

 

I'm glad that you were able to get your math straight, however.

[shenzhen]

You must be confused.

 

In addition to wholesale exchange rates obtained by MasterCard / Visa / Discover / AmEx networks, there are at least half a dozen retail exchange rates. Oanda goves you but, I believe, two and when it comes to non-freely convertible currencies such as the RMB, these two fail to give the complete picture. Perhaps that's why Oanda has that little disclaimer at the bottom of their page.

 

Since the RMB is not freely convertible, you may have difficulties taking US$ into your local Bank of America branch and obtaining RMB. As such, currency exchange rates involving the RMB are set by the Chinese State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE).

 

Now, unless Oanda has just recently purchased SAFE, it is virtually impossible for you to exchange $1.00 cash for 6.8164 RMB or whatever other "buy" rate Oanda should list at any bank that exchanges RMB. At this moment, when you give $1.00 to the teller, you will get only 6.7573 RMB. If you want to buy US$, you would have to give the teller 6.8393 RMB to obtain $1.00 in cash. You may use a different math than the rest of us, but that gives a spread greater than 1%.

 

There are many different exchange rates and for what we might term "retail" rates, there are at least 6 different exchange rates set by SAFE and used by banks when conducting currency exchange

operations. Amongst the different rates as of 10 a.m. this morning, Beijing time, are:

 

1. The "buy" rate currently @ 6.8119;

2. The "sell" rate currently @ 6.8393;

3. The "middle" rate currently @ 6.826; and

4. The "cash" rate currently @ 6.7573.

 

The Chinese break down foreign currency such as US$ into two categories relevant to our discussion:

 

1. US$ cash is called, obviously, "cash" or "chao" ( ³® ); and

2. US$ in all other forms that do not necessitate cross-border movements of currency is called "forex" or "hui" ( ȋ ).

 

If you take $1.00 in cash and exchange it for RMB, you will get only 6.7573 RMB. You might try asking Oanda to make up the difference for you.

 

If you want to buy $1.00 in cash, you will need to give the teller 6.8393 RMB. You should be able to handle the math.

 

US$ that come into China via routes such as bank wires or a check deposits are called "forex" and $1.00 forex will get you the "middle" rate or, on occasion, even the "sell" rate upon selling that $1.00 forex. When you want to turn your RMB into US$ forex, typically that will be handled at the "middle" rate or sometimes the "buy" rate.

 

There are perfectly reasonable and logical reasons why SAFE handles cash and forex US$ with different exchange rates, but we'll save that for after you finish Foreign Currency Exchange 101 and are ready for Foreign Currency Exchange 202.

 

In any rate, my mistake was stating that you get more RMB by exchanging cash than by using BOAs ATM card in a CCB ATM. In fact, the exchange rate is more favorable using BOA / CCB than by selling your US$ cash to the bank. However, the exchange rate is more favorable when you deposit a US$ check or have an incoming wire transfer into your Chinese bank account.

 

That's a little closer to reality there, Bill. I can't remember the last time we've seen any US cash, so we can't help you with that.

 

Our exchange rate at the CCB ATM from our US BofA account, like I've stated, was 6.8055, whereas the wire transfers to the CCB have been at 6.811 and above. This is in line with your last paragraph.

 

Yes, the 6.75 or thereabouts is a 1% "spread", but that rate is to be avoided., in our book.

 

I'm glad that you were able to get your math straight, however.

I have always got a 1% or less spread on my exchanges (except for the first few months after my arrival because I came here via a last minute notice with no plan for a long term stay).

Edited April 5, 2010 by shenzhen (see edit history)

[GDBILL]

Yes, the 1% spread is to be avoided. For those in CHina on a temporary basis, it might be difficult to avoid exchanging US$ cash for RMB, but when here for the long term, you develop alternative methods. Especially when exchanging large amounts, the 1% spread can add up.

 

If I were to need a large amount of cash, I'd write myself a check and deposit it in Bank of China. Got to make sure that when it clears you don't withdraw the US$ as cash and then exchange for RMB. To avoid the spread you'd need to exchange the US$ right within your bank account while still classified as "hui".

 

If you need to use an overseas credit card, Discover is the best. You can use your Discover card at any merchant in China that accepts credit cards -- domestic or international cards. The exchange rate is very good and there is never an international transaction fee. If you hit the cashback promotions right, you can even wind up with 5% rebates. Not sure how Discover card measures up with cash advances though.

[warpedbored]

What's the deal with Pay Pal? I notice they don't have RMB as one of the currencies you can send money in. My step son is interested in doing some business on Ebay and set himself up a Pay Pal account. As an experiment I sent him $50.00 in US dollars. He said the bank in China wanted $35.00 to convert it to RMB. He ended up sending it back to me. and the charges were a little less than $5.00 I've bought stuff on Ebay from China before and never had a problem. What are we missing here?

[Randy W]

What's the deal with Pay Pal? I notice they don't have RMB as one of the currencies you can send money in. My step son is interested in doing some business on Ebay and set himself up a Pay Pal account. As an experiment I sent him $50.00 in US dollars. He said the bank in China wanted $35.00 to convert it to RMB. He ended up sending it back to me. and the charges were a little less than $5.00 I've bought stuff on Ebay from China before and never had a problem. What are we missing here?

 

 

The $35 fee is $35 too high.

[shenzhen]

What's the deal with Pay Pal? I notice they don't have RMB as one of the currencies you can send money in. My step son is interested in doing some business on Ebay and set himself up a Pay Pal account. As an experiment I sent him $50.00 in US dollars. He said the bank in China wanted $35.00 to convert it to RMB. He ended up sending it back to me. and the charges were a little less than $5.00 I've bought stuff on Ebay from China before and never had a problem. What are we missing here?

 

 

The $35 fee is $35 too high.

I agree but is it possible what they meant was he needed to deposit $35 to have an account in USD before he could convert the money to RMB -- it is not a fee but a deposit that he would then get back when converting the $85 to RMB. I ask because the first time I sent money to my BOC account I had to deposit $20 to "set-up" a USD account. My BOC account now has three sub-accounts (USD/EURO/RMB) and everytime I update my passbook I get the balance of all three accounts.

[GDBILL]

What's the deal with Pay Pal? I notice they don't have RMB as one of the currencies you can send money in. My step son is interested in doing some business on Ebay and set himself up a Pay Pal account. As an experiment I sent him $50.00 in US dollars. He said the bank in China wanted $35.00 to convert it to RMB. He ended up sending it back to me. and the charges were a little less than $5.00 I've bought stuff on Ebay from China before and never had a problem. What are we missing here?

 

 

The $35 fee is $35 too high.

I agree but is it possible what they meant was he needed to deposit $35 to have an account in USD before he could convert the money to RMB -- it is not a fee but a deposit that he would then get back when converting the $85 to RMB. I ask because the first time I sent money to my BOC account I had to deposit $20 to "set-up" a USD account. My BOC account now has three sub-accounts (USD/EURO/RMB) and everytime I update my passbook I get the balance of all three accounts.

 

Must have been a translation error. Actually, you need 15 - 20 RMB to open a passbook account in Bank of China -- or most other banks. Once you have an RMB account, it is -- by default -- also a foreign currency account.