How Do You Guys Send Money Back Home?

Hi Everyone,

I went to my Chinese bank and wired to maximum of 500 USD to my US Citi account.

Alas, I saw they took 20 USD each time, just to receive money. This is in addition to the Chinese bank conversion and sending fees.

I may have lost up to 10% of the original pay, just to send money.

1. How do you guys send chunks of Chinese RMB to your home bank accounts?

2. In my experience, the best way is to wait until rates are low (say 6.5 RMB to 1 USD). Then, go to a bank and ask Chinese government for permission.

It's slow. But, the efficiency is high.

3. I also know of ways to send a UnionPay debit card to a family member at home. They can withdraw up to 800 USD per day, with a minimum of fees. Then, they simply deposit it into the same bank.

4. Any advice?

Sending a bank card home is probably the easist.

Many years ago, I helped some friends send Western Union from both Agriculture Bank and China Postal Savings Bank.  Since I don't have an account at either of those banks, I don't know if the service is still available or not. (And, if it is, is it available at all branches?)

You might also want to check and see if external PayPal accounts are still available in China.  The external type are for sending money outside of China.

If you find out anything, please post an update.

I use Paypal. I'm actually getting my boss to do it still out of laziness because there is some authentication to set up a Paypal in China (of course....)
I just send my boss the money and she can send it from her Chinese Paypal to my UK Paypal instantly, they charge $20 (I'm usually sending a little bit more than 500USD but same amount....
I can transfer from Paypal to my bank instantly, and I can buy stuff online as well....

Very good.

1. I think Paypal.com.cn only works for business accounts.

2. For years, this worked seamlessly for me. But, then, Paypal.com.cn asked for a business license, identification papers, etc. Considering I am no longer a principal shareholder [or something similar], I cannot use Paypal services this way.

3. I have tried to enquire, but no progress has been made. That reminds me, I should probably call again, since I have some vacation time now.

Sending a bank card home is probably the easist.

That's pretty much how we get all our money out of china in peace. Sent a card to the family that proceeded to do regular withdrawals.

In emergency, we asked Chinese friends to do it for us via zhifubao