Using PayPal to transfer money

[Squonk]

Has anyone used Paypal to transfer money to a friend/family member in China?

The Paypal website indicates that it can be done, but is very skectchy on how the person in China is able to withdraw these funds.

My wife has a BOC account.

We would like to either transfer funds directly to her account or send the money to one of her family members and let them deposit it.

The reason i am interested in Paypal is that it appears to have very low transfer fees. Would there be fees on the BOC end when the funds were converted to RMB?

Thanks,

-Squonk

[warpedbored]

They just need to set up a paypal account with an email to send it to. This is how I send money to my supplier for stuff I sell on eBay.

https://www.paypal.com/c2/webapps/mpp/home

[tsap seui]

Squonk, I just sent $7,000usd to China yesterday through Western Union. The fee was 27 dollars, the money was there within minutes to be picked up, and the exchange rate for Western Union was 6.1228. No other charges or fees I know nothing about paypal rates but that is what I just experienced with WU.

[Fu Lai]

They just need to set up a paypal account with an email to send it to. This is how I send money to my supplier for stuff I sell on eBay.

https://www.paypal.com/c2/webapps/mpp/home

 

Yep, easy peasy. We have been using Paypal for a long time. I even got her a Paypal card attached to my account that she uses everywhere.

[Squonk]

They just need to set up a paypal account with an email to send it to. This is how I send money to my supplier for stuff I sell on eBay.

https://www.paypal.com/c2/webapps/mpp/home

 

So would my wife would create her own PayPal account and link it to her BOC UnionPay ATM account?

 

Then I would send her money from my PayPal account and it would be deposited into her BOC account.

 

Is that how this works?

[Fu Lai]

So would my wife would create her own PayPal account and link it to her BOC UnionPay ATM account?

 

Then I would send her money from my PayPal account and it would be deposited into her BOC account.

 

Is that how this works?

 

Squonk, we had a bunch of problems linking the Paypal mastercard to the China bank. So I set up a USA bank account, got a Paypal mastercard linked to it and Paypal allows you to have extra card as well which I ordered for her with the correct name for her. I keep the account stocked with ca$h which she can get at any ATM in China and she uses the card at tons of places, same as cash.

[warpedbored]

It can be just left sitting in her pay pal account and drawn on with a paypal debit or mastercard. If linked to her bank account the name on her account must match the bank account.

 

This may help her.

https://cms.paypal.com/c2/cgi-bin/marketingweb?cmd=_render-content&content_ID=marketing_c2/CNPayPalComparison&locale.x=zh_XC

 

Good info on PayPal Union Pay Accounts here.

https://cms.paypal.com/c2/cgi-bin/marketingweb?cmd=_render-content&content_ID=marketing_c2/FAQs_China_UnionPay_Payments

[yuehan123]

Has anyone used Paypal to transfer money to a friend/family member in China?

The Paypal website indicates that it can be done, but is very skectchy on how the person in China is able to withdraw these funds.

My wife has a BOC account.

We would like to either transfer funds directly to her account or send the money to one of her family members and let them deposit it.

The reason i am interested in Paypal is that it appears to have very low transfer fees. Would there be fees on the BOC end when the funds were converted to RMB?

Thanks,

-Squonk

1. Has anyone used....? We use a USA based Paypal Account linked to a USA Bank, not to transfer money though.

 

The relative in China holds the USA Paypal ATM Debit card. The relative can withdraw money at will from those ATMs that allow it, up to 1,000 rmb per day. Worried about mailing a card? Don't. Hand carry it. Or, simply do not actviate it until the relative has it.

 

1a. When we travel we do the same thing with a second Paypal account for our own personal expenses. 1,000 rmb limit per 24 hour period. It weems to me the 'fee' is something like $1.00 per transaction.

 

A sample withdrawal pasted from my PPal: -$164.47 Fee: -$1.00 Total: -$165.47 USD

 

So, the 'fee' is US $1.00 per withdrawal.

 

2. My wife has a BOC account. My wife and I both have a China Construction Bank (CCB) on line linked account with Debit cards and my wife has a CCB credit card linked for on line use. In another thread I tell the story of my failure, not to link a Chinese Paypal Account to CCB, rather the failure of China Paypal/CCB to allow me to transfer money to or from the bank.

 

3. Send money directly? This is probably the easiest part. Use Western Union. Use your USA bank and send a wire transfer. In either case it must be picked up, in RMB, by the receiver. Let the family deposit it? We have done that, in the past.

 

CCB told us that effective Jan 2013 only the account holder with account holder ID in hand could make transactions. Remains to be seen if they enforce it. We have not tried.

 

4. Fees? There are most likely fees involved on both ends for all transfers.

Edited May 28, 2013 by yuehan123 (see edit history)

[YakovSaveOnSend]

Not sure if it is still relevant... depending on the amount and whether you would like your wife to receive USD or CNY, your other options might include Ria, Western Union, Xoom or a wire transfer. You could play with various options at https://www.saveonsend.com/

[Randy W]

Not sure if it is still relevant... depending on the amount and whether you would like your wife to receive USD or CNY, your other options might include Ria, Western Union, Xoom or a wire transfer. You could play with various options at https://www.saveonsend.com/

 

This appears to be an advertisement for a new site, but I'll allow it, since it IS topical and may be of use to our members. If anyone wants to try this service, let us know how it works out. It is NOT connected with CFL in any way.

Edited February 16, 2015 by Randy W (see edit history)

[tsap seui]

 

Has anyone used Paypal to transfer money to a friend/family member in China?

The Paypal website indicates that it can be done, but is very skectchy on how the person in China is able to withdraw these funds.

My wife has a BOC account.

We would like to either transfer funds directly to her account or send the money to one of her family members and let them deposit it.

The reason i am interested in Paypal is that it appears to have very low transfer fees. Would there be fees on the BOC end when the funds were converted to RMB?

Thanks,

-Squonk

1. Has anyone used....? We use a USA based Paypal Account linked to a USA Bank, not to transfer money though.

 

The relative in China holds the USA Paypal ATM Debit card. The relative can withdraw money at will from those ATMs that allow it, up to 1,000 rmb per day. Worried about mailing a card? Don't. Hand carry it. Or, simply do not actviate it until the relative has it.

 

1a. When we travel we do the same thing with a second Paypal account for our own personal expenses. 1,000 rmb limit per 24 hour period. It weems to me the 'fee' is something like $1.00 per transaction.

 

A sample withdrawal pasted from my PPal: -$164.47 Fee: -$1.00 Total: -$165.47 USD

 

So, the 'fee' is US $1.00 per withdrawal.

 

2. My wife has a BOC account. My wife and I both have a China Construction Bank (CCB) on line linked account with Debit cards and my wife has a CCB credit card linked for on line use. In another thread I tell the story of my failure, not to link a Chinese Paypal Account to CCB, rather the failure of China Paypal/CCB to allow me to transfer money to or from the bank.

 

3. Send money directly? This is probably the easiest part. Use Western Union. Use your USA bank and send a wire transfer. In either case it must be picked up, in RMB, by the receiver. Let the family deposit it? We have done that, in the past.

 

CCB told us that effective Jan 2013 only the account holder with account holder ID in hand could make transactions. Remains to be seen if they enforce it. We have not tried.

 

4. Fees? There are most likely fees involved on both ends for all transfers.

 

Hey buddy, with Western Union the sender pays the fee, the receiver doesn't have to pay on their end. I forget what the cut-offs for fees against how much you are sending, are but I know $1,000 is $13 or $14 dollars and $5,000 to (the limit of each transaction) $7,499 is $26. When my wife goes to China I will send a fee thousand while she is on the plane , or if she is already in China send the money, she goes to her bank at China Post, and the Western Union teller counts out her money, gives her what she wants in cash and walks 2 windows down and hands the remainder to the bank teller who puts it in her bank account. Unsophisticated in today's banking standards, but real easy and never a problem.

 

tsap seui

Edited February 16, 2015 by tsap seui (see edit history)

[yuehan123]

Correct. Never say never and never say "All." Thanks for the correction.