Getting Money to Relatives in China - 2017

[Beachey]

As these things change all the time, does anyone have a best way to get small sums of money to China on a monthly basis. I am thinking around $500.

 

My wife is in China right now and she is withdrawing money from her BofA US account from China Construction Bank ATM. We are getting charged 3% on each transaction. At one point it was free but I called BofA and they said the 3% is standard though they are waiving an ATM fee. Normally, she leaves her ATM card with a relative who can continue to withdraw the money.

 

We are going to need to send about $500 a month once she gets back.

 

Does anyone have a method that would be cheaper?

 

Thanks in advance.

[Randy W]

Yes, their "foreign exchange fee" I think they call it has been in effect for around 4 or 5 years now.

 

Most of the ways to send money are flat fees now. I pay $55 to wire money from the B of A, but that wouldn't work too well with a $500 transfer. Check out their other online transfers to see if they have something that works for you.

 

You might send $1500 every three months instead.

 

Try Xoom (if they still will send to China), Western Union, or any other service.

[Greg.D.]

I was using Western Union a couple of years ago.

 

I would try send RMB (probably from my bank) but one of the secret security questions put to the recipient was "how much was sent to you?"

 

Because the exchange rate caused the amount to constantly change, the answer was always wrong. Therefore, I could only send dollars successfully.

 

I created an account with western union to do this online.

[tsap seui]

Beachey, W/U is $15.00 for person to person transactions of $500 to China. You can do it online with them too but I have no clue what the rates are. We usually send over $5,000 or $7,000 chunks of loot a few times each year (usually sending the total legal limit each year). Those person to person transactions cost $26 each. Their website will tell you everything and you can calculate what it cost to send money bank to bank online, also.

 

But no, W/U ain't gonna beat 3% on $500, they will only meet it, as far as person to person transactions...the bank to bank transactions? I'm out of my league in that sort of sophistication.. LOL

Edited June 13, 2017 by tsap seui (see edit history)

[Randy W]

I was using Western Union a couple of years ago.

 

I would try send RMB (probably from my bank) but one of the secret security questions put to the recipient was "how much was sent to you?"

 

Because the exchange rate caused the amount to constantly change, the answer was always wrong. Therefore, I could only send dollars successfully.

 

I created an account with western union to do this online.

 

 

At least at B of A, they give an exchange rate in their favor. The CCB rate is MUCH more favorable. I always send dollars.

[Greg.D.]

So, with WU, you send in a person's name, but to a specific bank branch. The recipient must provide certain details when claiming the money, one of which is the exact amount.

 

The recipient never has to touch the dollars, just ask to exchange it on the spot.

 

Hoping I made it clear: since I bank in dollars here in the US, and if I specify that the recipient be paid in RMB, the amount will change over the days (1 week?) it takes for the dollars to make their way to China (because of changing rate); the receiving bank will receive the transaction in dollars with instructions to pay out in RMB, and then ask the recipient how much it is to the penny, or jao ... whatever it is called. But, how can she know? No, they won't help you guess.

 

Forget what I was paying to transfer the money, but it was a reasonable solution at the time. As Randy says, CCB or an Agriculture Bank is happy to change your dollars and give you a decent rate.

[Randy W]

So, with WU, you send in a person's name, but to a specific bank branch. The recipient must provide certain details when claiming the money, one of which is the exact amount.

 

The recipient never has to touch the dollars, just ask to exchange it on the spot.

 

Hoping I made it clear: since I bank in dollars here in the US, and if I specify that the recipient be paid in RMB, the amount will change over the days (1 week?) it takes for the dollars to make their way to China (because of changing rate); the receiving bank will receive the transaction in dollars with instructions to pay out in RMB, and then ask the recipient how much it is to the penny, or jao ... whatever it is called. But, how can she know? No, they won't help you guess.

 

Forget what I was paying to transfer the money, but it was a reasonable solution at the time. As Randy says, CCB or an Agriculture Bank is happy to change your dollars and give you a decent rate.

 

 

I think it usually operates the other way - if you ask it to be sent in RMB, it will be converted in the U.S., along with (usually) either a fee or a lower exchange rate for doing so.

 

If sent in dollars, it will be converted in China. CCB uses an official exchange rate and no fee.

 

For sending money from B of A to China, I have a dollar-denominated account which receives the money. I then go to the bank to have it converted to RMB. I doubt that I could actually withdraw any dollars.

 

For example, this is today's exchange rate table from Oanda

 

. . . . . .Bid . . . . . .Ask

. . . . .Sell 1 USD . . .Buy 1 USD

 

MIN. 6.77550 6.77680

AVG 6.79315 6.79439

MAX 6.80370 6.80900

 

At the CCB, you would get at least the 6.77550 rate, whereas in the U.S., you might get as low as 6.59 because of a 3% fee.

 

It's been a LONG time since I've used Western Union, but, if I remember correctly, they go through the China Post Bank, which will convert dollars to RMB.

[tsap seui]

Greg, I never use that W/U question and answer security feature. In America, I too bank in usd.

 

I use W/U's person to person, Money in Minutes (or some such name). I go to my local Piggly Wiggly, grab a W/U form and just write down that the money is to be sent to China, a name for who will pick it up, and how much money (in usd) is being sent. No city name, no bank name.... just the word China.

 

At my wife's bank she never touches any yuan or yankee dollars, unless she wants to. They will pay her out in yuan or dollars, her choice. My wife once got the bank to give her a few usd so her father could look at it. Otherwise, she doesn't have much use for yankee dollars in China.

 

As far as fees and such from western union. They are clearly spelled out on the paper you are given which has a ten digit number that I give to whoever is going to pick up the money in China.

 

In China, at the Postal Bank my wife has an account in, the person I sent the money to needs to know show their ID and they need to know 3 things ... MY NAME, the all important 10 digit number that I gave them from my W/U ticket, and...they need to know in "usd" how much money I sent. Not yuan, not anything else.

 

It is too easy on both ends. Heck, I am already in the Piggly Wiggly buyin' pinto beans n' taitters n' such so it ain't no extra chore to hand over some yankee dollars and fill out a few key lines on a form. Do they get every last microscopic cent that could possibly be made that day in the exchange rate? I used to study that back in 2007 when I started sending money over to China so my girlfriend could build a new home. Jeez, when you could send a max single transaction of $7,499.00 for $22.00, at that time, my eyes would get blurry when I saw that the difference in W/U and getting the exact best most perfect scenario for fees and such was negligible...in my book. I never looked at it like I had done myself a disservice, if you will.

Not tryin' to push W/U off on anyone else. I am a REAL low tech non-digital Analog Man and that is just my experience with W/U. An experience that will greatly diminish when we will hit our goal for money sent to China, soon, when I send over the last installment for our son to deposit in his mom's account before he comes back to this side of the pond for his 4th year at Penn State.

 

It has been quite a ride with W/U..... What is life if you can't laugh at it, aye? To this day, in our local Piggly Wiggly, we are friends with all of those lady managers who helped me send all of that loot to China to some Chinese girl. It took us so long to get their visas that I was years of sending money over yonder. I never lost faith in my war against the State Department. I kept telling those ladies that "one day you will get to meet "the little rabbit"". When Wenyan finally walked into the store with me in August 2011 it was like they all already knew her. Pretty cool stuff, I never let those ladies forget about how much I appreciated that they had had a hand in helping to get this woman over to their community. Wenyan is a dadgum bonerfide gift from above, I tells ya . OHHHRAAAAH BABY

Edited June 13, 2017 by tsap seui (see edit history)

[yuehan123]

Our experience over the last 12 years with WU is what Tsap said. Go to the market, fill out a form. No secret question required. Specify how much. Prove who you are (required a passport last time, some year ago). No need to specify a branch, nor will they ask for it. On the other end, also what Tsap said.

 

Another option we used was Paypal. My account here in the US. Debit card in the recipient's hand. Withdraw up to $400 per day, a Paypal limit. Doesn't matter. Every Chinese bank and ATM have their own limits. Take out $x,xxxx rmb. Later, Paypal deducts a fee. $1.50 I recall and exchange rate doesn't come to mind. Call them, it's years since we did this.

[Greg.D.]

I have heard about the PayPal system .... though I have paypal, I haven't tried that.

 

I understand most people go to a grocery store and stand in line to send money. But, I set it up to do it from my laptop and, like you all said: ID, the 10-digit number, and the exact amount. At first I was trying to transfer from my bank and there was an exchange step before she could get her money and, because the rate was changing by the minute, we could never know for sure what exact amount she was supposed to say. A couple of times they raised an eyebrow like to say "you're getting warm" ... ended up just sending dollars, the amount of which didn't change in the process.

 

TSAP: love your story! Funny how those hard times are now part of your story that you remember fondly. I, too, brought my wife into the PO here after she came over since I was sending all those flat rate Intl Priority mail envelopes to China to get the visa stuff done.

 

Loooking forward to the day I just nod at my phone and the money goes where I want it and I look ten years younger in the process.

[wawster]

I have used WU in the past, and loved it! It was SO easy. Rose could pick up the money anywhere in China...like Tsap mentioned, so it didn't matter if she was in Shenzhen, or back home in Hunan. But now, no bank in Rose's backwater mountain town in Hunan does business with WU any longer, so we're at a loss as to how to send money to her mom.

 

Some of Rose's Chinese friends here in town swear by sending money via the local Asian market. Others swear by sending money via Walmart, of all things. However, I think these folks probably live in a big city that actually HAS a Walmart, or some such.

 

For folks that live in a small, backwater town in the mountains, I'm not sure how to send money now. Perhaps I'll have to try a wire transfer from my bank? Or maybe send it by carrier pigeon...

[Randy W]

I have used WU in the past, and loved it! It was SO easy. Rose could pick up the money anywhere in China...like Tsap mentioned, so it didn't matter if she was in Shenzhen, or back home in Hunan. But now, no bank in Rose's backwater mountain town in Hunan does business with WU any longer, so we're at a loss as to how to send money to her mom.

 

Some of Rose's Chinese friends here in town swear by sending money via the local Asian market. Others swear by sending money via Walmart, of all things. However, I think these folks probably live in a big city that actually HAS a Walmart, or some such.

 

For folks that live in a small, backwater town in the mountains, I'm not sure how to send money now. Perhaps I'll have to try a wire transfer from my bank? Or maybe send it by carrier pigeon...

 

 

Check with China Post to see what they did with China Postal Savings - their financial arm, which used to handle the Western Union stuff. But, yes, the wire transfer works, as long as you have a bank which handles foreign currency. If not, I would imagine that a transfer in RMB would work.

[johnny206]

A checking account from Charles Schwab has zero ATM fee anywhere in the world. No foreign transaction fee, currency exchange fee, ATM fee of any kind, etc. I opened an account with them to use while traveling overseas. I have used the ATM card in Mexico, China, Hong Kong, Canada and they always refund any fee charged by the foreign entity at the end of the month. Free checks, no min. balance, it's legit.