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Q: What's the best way to receive a payment from abroad?
I'm not sure wich way has less comission:
To receive the money trhough bank transference into chinese bank account, or receive it in a foreign bank account and then just use the ATMs time to time.
13 years 24 weeks ago in Money & Banking - Shenzhen
I go with having the funds deposited in your home account then simply withdrawing it here via ATM
If you are scamming someone , then Western Union,, no trace,,no charge backs.
@.@ Im not scamming... Just being purchasing agent for a friend...
The proper answer will depend on many things, like amount involved, currency back home, etc.
There are three most commonly used ways to bring money into China from abroad.
1.- electronic wire transfer bank there to bank here.
2.- Western Union or similar service.
3.- Using local ATM machines with your foreign credit or debit card.
4.- I am sure there are many others
They all have advantages and disadvantages, depends on what you want mostly.
A wire transfer bank to bank will cost you from $ 45 to $ 75 US dollars if coming from USA. I have no idea how much if from other countries. Here, Bank of China will not charge any fee to receive, and you can deposit it into your account in either dollars or yuan. If exchanged to yuan, they will give you the highest exchange rate available at the time. Let me further explain this. Lets say the exchange rate now is 6.3987 yuan per dollar. If you go to bank here to receive an electronic wire transfer, the preferred exchange rate for this may be 6.370 yuan per dollar. If you bring $ 100 US dollar bills into bank for exchange, you may get 6.3450 yuan per dollar. If you bring bills in denominations lower than $ 100 dollar bills, you may get 6.310 yuan per dollar. From this explanation you can see it pays to do the exchange when the electronic wire transfer arrives.
If you use Western Union, or MoneyGram, or whatever, they will charge you a flat fee depending on amount, plus also they will get you on the exchange rate, usually they offer very low ones.
If you use ATM machines or a bank clerk to get money from your account abroad, on ATM machines there will be a charge at your account abroad for the transaction, the local bank here will also have a charge for the service (normally about 1 % of transaction amount), plus you can only get yuan from ATM and they will also offer you a very low rate of exchange. If you use a bank clerk, the service fee here will go up from 1 % to 3 % of transaction, and also will get low excahnge rates.
For your indformation, foreigners can only bring into China the equivalent of $ 50,000 US dollars per year. Only exception is if you buy an apartment, must apply for special permit before transaction, and money will go directly to builder, not you.
Yes, I know many will say I have done it and nothing happen. Yes, wait until you have a small problem, and you will see all the dirt that will surface when investigated. Do as you please, but do not cry wolf afterwards. My only concern is ME, and my safe stay in China.
also please be aware that while USA allows you to have $ 10,000 US dollars maximum on you while traveling, China only allows 6,000 yuan at departure.