Wiring money to a US account.

[animatormark]

My wife has a sum of money that is well over the $5000 US dollars limit and we are trying to figure out how to wire this money to an account in the US. Has anyone done this before? I know that you cannot exchange more than $5000 cash but how about wiring from account to account?

[lele]

My wife has a sum of money that is well over the $5000 US dollars limit and we are trying to figure out how to wire this money to an account in the US.  Has anyone done this before?  I know that you cannot exchange more than $5000 cash but how about wiring from account to account?

I have a solution.

 

On the train that my darling and I took from shaoshing to wuxi (it was a ningbo to nanjing train) in the ruanzou section, the train staff were selling Euros at a really good price (since the dollar is sliding faster than the China Banks can keep up with it, I think that the employees make a profit)). I saw someone take out at least 10 wan and trade it right then and there.

 

I do believe that the US will let you carry an unlimited amount of Euros into the US, and that they are easy to spend here.

[animatormark]

Does anyone else have any experience in this area?

[tywy_99]

Trying to wire money between a bank in China and one in the US can be a daunting task especially between personal accounts.

Why dont she just bring the cash with her to the states when she gets her visa? Anything under $10,000 doesn't have to be claimed.

[turtle]

We tried and were not able to wire the money. There is some limit, don't remember quite what it is, but it's not much. And then each transaction has a fee. If you add it up, wiring ends up costing a heck of a lot. Also, China will only let you to carry $5000 out of the country. Now I've heard a lot of people who have carried more, and haven't heard of anyone actually being checked at the airport. We finally decided to have her carry $5000, and then pick up the rest on our next trip to China.

 

Oh, my wife also got some sort of mastercard-linked debit account with China merchant's bank. We can use that at any ATM here, but there is a 2% fee. Supposedly there's no fee if we use it in stores (as opposed to ATMs), but so far we haven't found any stores where the card has worked

[animatormark]

How about opening an account for myself in China and transferring some money there, like the Citi bank or other American bank. Maybe access the money that way?

[turtle]

That might be possible. It also depends on who you talk to at the bank, and how helpful they are. We tried Citi for the wire transfer (keep in mind my wife had already converted everything to USD), and they were no more helpful than the chinese banks. Maybe it would be different if you were the one doing the transfer.

[animatormark]

Can her bank just issue a check to deposit here in the US?

[kfman]

I think its difficult to wire transfer money between chinese banks and our banks, unless its a bank that is common, like citi bank or something like that.. but honestly not too sure.. sorry I cant help.

 

[lele]

There are *many* stores that you can use those credit cards in, however, they are *only* in large cities. I found many in the following cities (at least 10 stores in each city I am posting):

 

Beijing

Shanghai

Nanjing

Wuxi

Hangzhou

Guangzhou

Qingdao

Yantai

Sanya (ok, this one is not big, but it is filled with tourists)

 

and this was just from this trip alone.

 

However, I again think that the best thing to do is just to carry the money.

 

Or wait, better yet, purchase some gold/platinum. I think that it is OK to take that out of the country, and then just re-sell it when here.

 

Or do what the other people do, go to the people in Nanjing who seem to be able to trade anything (there was a post about this a long time ago from what I remember)...

 

and it is not China which prevents the money from being wired, but it is instead the US which is preventing it on this side (and all of the OECD working under the US's desire to "control money")...

[turtle]

I am talking about using the chinese card in the US.

[lele]

I am talking about using the chinese card in the US.

Is it a visa/master card?

 

I was too...but the chinese cards I was talking about (that you can get issued in those cities) also carry a visa or master label, and hence should be usable in the US (although they act like a debit card).

[tywy_99]

My wife has a sum of money that is well over the $5000 US dollars limit and we are trying to figure out how to wire this money to an account in the US.  Has anyone done this before?  I know that you cannot exchange more than $5000 cash but how about wiring from account to account?

Define 'exchange' please.

rates? RMB to USD?

 

China will only let you to carry $5000 out of the country.

 

Where is this written? I know I have seen some limit set by China customs but I don't remember what it is. $5000 doesn't "ring a bell." You may be right on this, turtle. I just don't remember it.

 

 

Now I've heard a lot of people who have carried more, and haven't heard of anyone actually being checked at the airport.

 

 

It would be much more simple to carry the cash (in USD) than banging your head against a wall trying to coordinate between banks.

Don't make a mountain out of a mole hill.

[BuffaloPaul]

I'm quite interested in this subject also. My fiancee has a house she owns which is worth quite a bit of money. Not sure there is any way for her to ever use that money here.

[animatormark]

I talked to Citi bank and also Bank of China New York. Unfortunately the American banks are not connected to the Chinese banks.