Sending GBP to China

Big_W

Hello,
I am tasked with sending money to my in-laws in China (wife is Chinese). The preference is to send as GBP to sister-in-law's account (Bank of China), which can take GBP - this because the value of the pound is low at the moment, so sister-in-law could convert to yuan in the future.

If I did this through a bank (eg First Direct) there will be unspecified charges levied by the receiving bank AND any banks used as intermediaries.  Bit difficult to work out what to do when you cannot find out charges up front.

Has anybody done anything like this?  If so, roughly what were you charged? 

dj1471

Best bet will be Wise or Revolut. Revolut quote a £3 fee for GBP transfers to China.

It’s impossible to determine in advance what fees, if any, will be levied by intermediary banks. The recipient should be able to find out what their bank will charge.

If you were to send CNY using Wise charges are less likely as Wise typically don’t send the transfer internationally, it will be a domestic transfer from a partner bank.

How much will the receiving bank charge for CNY conversion in the future? Is this likely to eat any benefit provided by exchange rate movements?

Big_W

Thanks for the reply dj1471.

Alas neither Wise nor Revolut do a GBP to GBP transfer - Wise and similar companies are set up for currency exchange, Revolut only allows payments to China in USD.

Good point about the receiving bank's charges (and Bank of China UK charges look rather steep), but I suspect that may be unavoidable no matter what we do. 

eDicky

Your in-laws might reconsider their ideas of receiving GBP instead of CNY. Costs of sending GBP are uncertain and very likely more than converting by using Wise or Revolut as suggested, with transparent fees and no intermediary banks involved. What makes them think that GBP will strengthen against CNY in the short to medium term - it's a gamble. They will also be at the mercy of their bank's exchange rate margins and fees when they subsequently convert.

Big_W

eDicky said:

Your in-laws might reconsider their ideas of receiving GBP instead of CNY. Costs of sending GBP are uncertain and very likely more than converting by using Wise or Revolut as suggested, with transparent fees and no intermediary banks involved. What makes them think that GBP will strengthen against CNY in the short to medium term - it's a gamble. They will also be at the mercy of their bank's exchange rate margins and fees when they subsequently convert.

Thanks for your reply eDicky.

They do not have expertise in currency movements, nor a crystal ball.  Just going on the current dire state of the pound compared to years gone by.  

Good point that Bank of China's "cut" for currency conversion may (or may not) be worse than Wise, etc.

dj1471

Big_W said:

Alas neither Wise nor Revolut do a GBP to GBP transfer - Wise and similar companies are set up for currency exchange, Revolut only allows payments to China in USD.

Hmm, that's annoying. I had a quick look in both of their apps before posting - Wise let me select a GBP-GBP transfer and requested the IBAN (obviously I don't have a Chinese one to try with), Revolut let me select China and GBP as the destination but again I couldn't go further.

Sending GBP to China is an odd thing to do, a CNY transfer will be easier and cheaper.

Big_W

dj1471 said:

Big_W said:

Alas neither Wise nor Revolut do a GBP to GBP transfer - Wise and similar companies are set up for currency exchange, Revolut only allows payments to China in USD.

Hmm, that's annoying. I had a quick look in both of their apps before posting - Wise let me select a GBP-GBP transfer and requested the IBAN (obviously I don't have a Chinese one to try with), Revolut let me select China and GBP as the destination but again I couldn't go further.

Sending GBP to China is an odd thing to do, a CNY transfer will be easier and cheaper.

Thanks again dj1471. I wasn't signed up to Wise when looking before (they let you check rates without having an account). After seeing your post I signed up to the app. I THEN could see the GBP to GBP transfer you refer to - they don't show that option unless you're signed in!

Alas if my reading is correct, China does not use IBAN.

OK, guess you guys are right about dropping the idea of sending GBP - it really does feel like swimming against the tide....

Thomas_Crown

dj1471 said:

Best bet will be Wise or Revolut. Revolut quote a £3 fee for GBP transfers to China.

Where did you find out about Revolut's fees for transfers abroad? I recently searched both the app and the website with no luck.

dj1471

Thomas_Crown said:

Where did you find out about Revolut's fees for transfers abroad? I recently searched both the app and the website with no luck.

If you start to make a transfer in the app (enter destination, currency and amount) it will tell you the fee.

The full fee schedule is also linked from here:
https://www.revolut.com/legal/standard-fees/