Receiving money from China

ceewash

Any advice please on how to receive money from China. Son has Chinese bank account and a First Direct account here in UK. He is working in China. He would like to transfer money to me to pay for student loan etc. Is Paypal a good option? I have read that fees are £3.99 for over £100 but can't understand the currency conversion fees. Also read about Transferwise.

jasee

If he is a Chinese national and working in China with a Chinese bank account, it may be difficult to transfer money directly between that account and his English account. I think it has to be done through a government agency now. Even if he did, he'd still have to pay fees at both ends AND conversion rates usually quite a lot lower than the actual exchange rates.

Using Transferwise might work. Transferwise is an English company ' authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority under the Electronic Money Regulations 2011' etc. They say
See transferwise.com
Apparently they work by directly tranferring between bank accounts internationally. So you get the money pretty well at the actual real exchange rate less a small fee eg £15 on £3000!
I actually came here to find out more about them, They seem to have good reviews. In The guardian for instance. But there's nothing about them here directly. Maybe because you need an account in the foreign country

[Deleted User]

jasee wrote: »

Using Transferwise might work. Transferwise is an English company ' authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority under the Electronic Money Regulations 2011' etc. They say
See transferwise.com
Apparently they work by directly tranferring between bank accounts internationally. So you get the money pretty well at the actual real exchange rate less a small fee eg £15 on £3000!
I actually came here to find out more about them, They seem to have good reviews. In The guardian for instance. But there's nothing about them here directly. Maybe because you need an account in the foreign country

How is the marketing department for Transferwise these days? Is it a good job?

londoninvestor

jasee wrote: »

I actually came here to find out more about them, They seem to have good reviews. In The guardian for instance. But there's nothing about them here directly.

There are many threads - you can just search the forum for "Transferwise".

londoninvestor

For the OP here, Transferwise won't be the answer:

https://transferwise.com/help/article/1570071/basic-information/supported-countries#/China

Transferwise wrote:

China - Chinese Yuan (CNY)

TransferWise can only deliver CNY to UnionPay card holders based in China.

We send CNY out via domestic transfers within China.

Currently TransferWise cannot send money from China.

colsten

This might help: https://teach-english-in-china.co.uk/how-to-send-money-home-from-china/

Please let us know what you conclude, OP.

Emily_Joy

ceewash wrote: »

Any advice please on how to receive money from China. Son has Chinese bank account and a First Direct account here in UK. He is working in China. He would like to transfer money to me to pay for student loan etc. Is Paypal a good option? I have read that fees are £3.99 for over £100 but can't understand the currency conversion fees. Also read about Transferwise.

Try HSBC: your son opens an HSBC account in China. You open an HSBC account in UK and an HSBC Chinese Yuan Currency Account. Your son can then transfer from his account in HSBC-China to your currency account (with HSBC-UK) you can then withdraw (in GBP with conversion by visiting a bank) or transfer to your GBP account and use as normal.

ceewash

colsten wrote: »

This might help: https://teach-english-in-china.co.uk/how-to-send-money-home-from-china/

Please let us know what you conclude, OP.

Two out of those 3 options involve a trusted friend. I think Paypal seems most straightforward atm. Might just do a trial run and see how it works.

toby3000

I know I'm bumping a very old post, but I am someone who found myself in the same situation as your son, and it was hard to find good information - and I looked at MSE. So I thought I'd give my own experiences of sending money from China to the UK.

1. Paypal - I have 2 paypal accounts (a Chinese one and a UK one), and this was a *very* expensive method of sending money. This is mostly in the exchange rates - Paypal change it to US Dollars and then to GBP, and they decide on the exchange rate they're using. They took 675 RMB, which should be about £77 - they paid me £69, so over 10% all in.
2. In bank - I finally got round to doing this today. You need to have your paperwork in order - they need your passport, Labour contract, tax certificate (you can get this from the tax office) and an income certificate from your employer which says what your average monthly salary is. Contrary to other reports I've seen online, there is no upper limit on how much you can send as long as you have legally earned it and paid tax on it. The fees (and exchange rate) are what sets this apart - I sent 200,000 RMB. The exchange rate was good, and the fees were 300 RMB in total (200 commission, 100 flat fee). I believe the process is that they send the money to Beijing to have the money exchanged, and then it will be send on to the UK. It will take a few days to hit my UK bank - my colleague did it recently, and they got the money in 3 days with no fees from the UK bank. It took me about an hour and a half in the bank - the best advice being to go to the main branch in the centre of town, because they will have done remittances before and so will know what they're doing. I don't speak any Chinese and managed fine, with the usual help from translation Apps.

Hope this is helpful to anyone in the future!

DCFC79

toby3000 said:

I know I'm bumping a very old post, but I am someone who found myself in the same situation as your son, and it was hard to find good information - and I looked at MSE. So I thought I'd give my own experiences of sending money from China to the UK.

1. Paypal - I have 2 paypal accounts (a Chinese one and a UK one), and this was a *very* expensive method of sending money. This is mostly in the exchange rates - Paypal change it to US Dollars and then to GBP, and they decide on the exchange rate they're using. They took 675 RMB, which should be about £77 - they paid me £69, so over 10% all in.
2. In bank - I finally got round to doing this today. You need to have your paperwork in order - they need your passport, Labour contract, tax certificate (you can get this from the tax office) and an income certificate from your employer which says what your average monthly salary is. Contrary to other reports I've seen online, there is no upper limit on how much you can send as long as you have legally earned it and paid tax on it. The fees (and exchange rate) are what sets this apart - I sent 200,000 RMB. The exchange rate was good, and the fees were 300 RMB in total (200 commission, 100 flat fee). I believe the process is that they send the money to Beijing to have the money exchanged, and then it will be send on to the UK. It will take a few days to hit my UK bank - my colleague did it recently, and they got the money in 3 days with no fees from the UK bank. It took me about an hour and a half in the bank - the best advice being to go to the main branch in the centre of town, because they will have done remittances before and so will know what they're doing. I don't speak any Chinese and managed fine, with the usual help from translation Apps.

Hope this is helpful to anyone in the future!

Would have been better off starting your own thread.

jonesMUFCforever

Your UK bank probably would have charged you to for accepting the deposit too.