The way to exchange CNY to USD

[Joanna Chen 2]

Hi VJS,

May I ask you guys the way to exchange currencies? I'm leaving for the States in a week. Should I exchange all of my CNY into USD in China or in the States? Which way will be cheaper...

Only one question. Thanks guys in advance!

Joanna

[MuDelphi 159]

Its been a while since we did this, but rates were better in China. The money changers the airports will kill you, go to a bank of China, etc.

[Joanna Chen 2]

 

Its been a while since we did this, but rates were better in China. The money changers the airports will kill you, go to a bank of China, etc.

 

Thank you MuDelphi. I know somebody just withdraw their money from a ATM that has UnionPay on it... My fiancé didn't do a lot of homework on this part. Since I'm running out of time, I need to find the best way to do it.

[jjbandero 39]

You can certainly withdraw directly from an ATM, this is what I typically do when I travel, it is convenient and safer than carrying a lot of cash on you. However, know that depending on the bank you have an account with, the bank in the UnionPay network that you're withdrawing through, there could be extra fees, for example, you bank with bank A in China and withdraw from bank B in the US:

• Bank A may charge you a fee
• Bank B may charge you a fee
• Both banks could charge you fees
• If one of the banks goes through a third intermediary bank, there may be another fee incorporated in the exchange rate that is applied
• You will also not know the exact exchange rate as ATMs generally do not provide any information on exchange rates, you get what the rate is at the time of the withdrawal, unlike going to a bank directly to exchange a fixed amount

[unmepbmn 1]

As I understand you are not allowed to take cash amount exceeding 5K $ from China and US do not allow cash exceeding 10K $

If your amount is under that, exchanging and taking cash is good anyway.

I was also looking for this information myself and this is what I have got until now. Hopefully it will be useful for you.

The best option is to do the bank transfer. For Chinese national, you are allowed to do money transfer of 50K US$ in one year from China

As I understand Bank of Communication has the lowest fee among all. 0.1% of the amount in currency to be transferred + 80 RMB per transaction => charge from your Chinese bank.

And most of the US banks will charge you about 15$-20$ per transaction at their side (If there is no intermediary banks)

[Chris and ZhiJia 146]

As I understand you are not allowed to take cash amount exceeding 5K $ from China and US do not allow cash exceeding 10K $

This is incorrect, you can carry as much cash as you want with you into the US. China limits you to 20,000RMB (approximately $3000 by today's exchange standards)

If your amount is under that, exchanging and taking cash is good anyway.

I was also looking for this information myself and this is what I have got until now. Hopefully it will be useful for you.

The best option is to do the bank transfer. For Chinese national, you are allowed to do money transfer of 50K US$ in one year from China

See Below I will type a more detailed response.

As I understand Bank of Communication has the lowest fee among all. 0.1% of the amount in currency to be transferred + 80 RMB per transaction => charge from your Chinese bank.

And most of the US banks will charge you about 15$-20$ per transaction at their side (If there is no intermediary banks)

Wire Transfer will be the most expensive route, you will need to pay the Bank's rate(US or China some banks let you choose, some don't) for currency conversion, plus you will need to pay the Chinese Banks Transfer Fee, as well as the US Bank's Transfer fee.

Some US Banks (Bank of America, Wells Fargo, Chase, Capital One) for example, will charge an additional fee along side the currency conversion fee if the transfer is made in a foreign currency.

If you plan to bring 20000RMB or less, Exchange it at Bank of China(best exchange rates I have found through personal experience).

If you need to bring more than 20000RMB, you will have to facilitate this through a Wire Transfer, and you will need to collect information from your bank and from the US bank receiving the funds to facilitate this request.

https://help.cbp.gov/app/answers/detail/a_id/195/~/currency-and-monetary-instruments---amount-that-can-be-brought-into-or-leave

There is no limit on the amount of money that can be taken out of or brought into the United States. However, if a person or persons traveling together and filing a joint declaration (CBP Form 6059-B) have $10,000 or more in currency or negotiable monetary instruments, they must fill out a "Report of International Transportation of Currency and Monetary Instruments" FinCEN 105 (former CF 4790).

This will be the most expensive route, you will need to pay the Bank's rate(US or China some banks let you choose, some don't) for currency conversion, plus you will need to pay the Chinese Banks Transfer Fee, as well as the US Bank's Transfer fee.

[Chris and ZhiJia 146]

On a side note, avoid US ATM's at all costs unless it's absolutely necessary. My wife went to withdraw money from an ATM here.... long story short she could only do it in $500 increments she wanted $2000 by the time it was done, she had the $2000 but she also had approximately $300 in additional fees between the ATM, and her bank.

Some Chinese banks have partnerships with American banks, and this can help alleviate the ATM fee costs and Bank fee Costs.

For example CCB has a partnership with Bank of America. I'm sure there are others, but this was the only one I was concerned with since my Wife uses CCB, and I didn't want her to accrue additional ATM fee's if she wanted to withdraw money.

[人肉的渣 你妈死了 1]

Is wire transfer the only efficient way to bring big amount of cash from Chinese bank to US bank? Is there a cheaper way?

[Joanna Chen 2]

On a side note, avoid US ATM's at all costs unless it's absolutely necessary. My wife went to withdraw money from an ATM here.... long story short she could only do it in $500 increments she wanted $2000 by the time it was done, she had the $2000 but she also had approximately $300 in additional fees between the ATM, and her bank.

Some Chinese banks have partnerships with American banks, and this can help alleviate the ATM fee costs and Bank fee Costs.

For example CCB has a partnership with Bank of America. I'm sure there are others, but this was the only one I was concerned with since my Wife uses CCB, and I didn't want her to accrue additional ATM fee's if she wanted to withdraw money.

Well, the exchange rate keeps going up. My savings are losing value...

Even so, I decided to exchange some of my cash into USD and put the rest into my bank account. I was told by my friend that it's free for me to withdraw money in a UnionPay ATM. Because I got their golden card. So the first five times each month, my bank won't charge me any fee. But not sure if the ATM will charge me or not...

Thanks a lot Chris! You are very helpful.

PS: I landed the States yesterday! Now I'm at my fiancé's school library... So happy!

[Joanna Chen 2]

As I understand you are not allowed to take cash amount exceeding 5K $ from China and US do not allow cash exceeding 10K $

If your amount is under that, exchanging and taking cash is good anyway.

I was also looking for this information myself and this is what I have got until now. Hopefully it will be useful for you.

The best option is to do the bank transfer. For Chinese national, you are allowed to do money transfer of 50K US$ in one year from China

As I understand Bank of Communication has the lowest fee among all. 0.1% of the amount in currency to be transferred + 80 RMB per transaction => charge from your Chinese bank.

And most of the US banks will charge you about 15$-20$ per transaction at their side (If there is no intermediary banks)

I didn't know about the wire transfer. FYI. I withdraw money from Ping'an Bank through UnionPay ATMs. The bank confirmed my golden card has no fee charges within five times. But don't know if the ATMs charge me fees or not...

I need to do more research about US banks...

[Joanna Chen 2]

You can certainly withdraw directly from an ATM, this is what I typically do when I travel, it is convenient and safer than carrying a lot of cash on you. However, know that depending on the bank you have an account with, the bank in the UnionPay network that you're withdrawing through, there could be extra fees, for example, you bank with bank A in China and withdraw from bank B in the US:

• Bank A may charge you a fee
• Bank B may charge you a fee
• Both banks could charge you fees
• If one of the banks goes through a third intermediary bank, there may be another fee incorporated in the exchange rate that is applied
• You will also not know the exact exchange rate as ATMs generally do not provide any information on exchange rates, you get what the rate is at the time of the withdrawal, unlike going to a bank directly to exchange a fixed amount

Thanks a lot!

So I have made sure that my bank won't charge me any fee within five times if I withdraw money from UnionPay ATMs. But they also told me that they didn't even know if the ATMs in the States will charge me or not. Is there any way I could find out?

And I was told that when I withdraw USD through my Chinese debit card. The exchange rate is the higher one. The one that banks sell the cash in the mainland of China. Do you know anything about this?

[unmepbmn 1]

Is wire transfer the only efficient way to bring big amount of cash from Chinese bank to US bank? Is there a cheaper way?

Western Union..cheaper way. Upto 10K => 30$

I didn't know about the wire transfer. FYI. I withdraw money from Ping'an Bank through UnionPay ATMs. The bank confirmed my golden card has no fee charges within five times. But don't know if the ATMs charge me fees or not...

I need to do more research about US banks...

Hmm. No experience on this and I will not be doing this way. I will be closing all my accounts before I leave China.

So, I will definitely do wire transfer.

[Chris and ZhiJia 146]

Thanks a lot!

So I have made sure that my bank won't charge me any fee within five times if I withdraw money from UnionPay ATMs. But they also told me that they didn't even know if the ATMs in the States will charge me or not. Is there any way I could find out?

And I was told that when I withdraw USD through my Chinese debit card. The exchange rate is the higher one. The one that banks sell the cash in the mainland of China. Do you know anything about this?

For Ping'an Bank I could not locate any US Partnerships like CCB has with Bank of America, so I don't see any way around a US ATM fee for withdrawals.

[RandyW 149]

The BofA/CCB partnership was dissolved several years ago. The BofA charges a 3% foreign currency fee on transactions. I can avoid this fee by changing the money at the CCB.

CCB is, for the most part, fee free.

Money transfer, and conversion are two separate issues. The conversion can take place at either end. BofA and Xoom (for US to China transfers only) both hit you pretty hard on the conversion.

Be sure to figure both the exchange rate and any fees in when calculating your cost.

BofA Sells China Construction Bank Shares

Bank of America now has no stake in CCB, and is the last major American bank to sell out of the large Chinese banks they bought into before those banks went public in Hong Kong seven to eight years ago.

Edited June 4, 2016 by RandyW

[Chris and ZhiJia 146]

The BofA/CCB partnership was dissolved several years ago. The BofA charges a 3% foreign currency fee on transactions. I can avoid this fee by changing the money at the CCB.

CCB is, for the most part, fee free.

Money transfer, and conversion are two separate issues. The conversion can take place at either end. BofA and Xoom (for US to China transfers only) both hit you pretty hard on the conversion.

Be sure to figure both the exchange rate and any fees in when calculating your cost.

BofA Sells China Construction Bank Shares

Good to know, I was unaware that they backed out.