Best Ways to Transfer Money from the US to China

Ok, you are ready to pull the trigger and do some cross-border business. Now it’s time to send the money. There are hundreds of ways to send money. We have devised the best three ways for you ranking them based on:

· Transfer fees

· Speed of transfer

· Reliability of transfer (does it often get frozen or stopped?)

· Difficulty of account setup

In this guide we’ll cover the following three services:

1. TransferWise

2. Bank Transfer

3. Veem (Blockchain-based transfer service)

1. TransferWise

If you are going to be sending substantial amounts of money ($1000-$10k+) then we highly recommend checking out TransferWise. Probably the best thing about TransferWise is the ease-of-use and the transparency behind the technology. Budget about 10 minutes of time to setup an account and you are off to the races. If you are looking for transparency, fair rates, and reliability — go with these guys.

• Transfer Fee: Low (check their calculator on the home page)
• Speed: Medium (3–5 business days)
• Reliability: High
• Difficulty of Setup: Low

2. Bank or Wire Transfers (Using SWIFT)

Bank “wire” transfers are done between accounts at large international banking institutions. The large international banks in both the US and China operate using the standard international SWIFT code system to reliably send money between US and Chinese accounts.

• Transfer Fee: $35–45 (plus currency conversion fees)
• Speed: Slow to Medium (1–2 weeks)
• Reliability: Medium
• Difficulty of Setup: Low

The relatively high flat fee ($35–45) means that you should avoid using wire transfers for frequent and small contractor payments.

Some more traditional vendors won’t accept or set up accounts for the other newer transfer methods so the higher fee becomes a necessary evil when working with more traditional companies.

Reliability is marked as “medium” due to additional scrutiny that seems to be applied to wire transfers on the Chinese side. When sending a wire transfer, be certain that you have the exact name of the bank correct (spelling matters). Don’t rush to hit that SEND bottom — double check, then check again.

3. Veem (Blockchain-Based Transfer Service)

This is the newest category of transfer methods and a current favorite for reliably getting payments to vendors in China in RMB and on time.

Due to Veem being relatively new, it can take some effort to get new vendors on-boarded onto the system. Significant time might need to be spent creating tutorials and hand-holding confused vendors through the on-boarding process. Luckily, Veem has recently brought on a China-based customer support team that has been hugely helpful getting new vendors on-boarded. So if your vendor is willing to accept Veem, definitely take the time to check them out.

• Transfer Fee: 1.9% + currency conversion fees
• Speed: Medium (3–5 business days)
• Reliability: High
• Difficulty of Setup: Medium

While VEEM still has a variable fee, it is considerably lower than PayPal’s. For large transfers that require high reliability (like running payroll) it’s definitely a top option. The only major drawback is the difficulty of setup on the Chinese vendor side.

Even with Veem’s addition of an in-country China support agent, you should still budget 1–2 weeks to get the vendor onboarded given the complexity of the process and usual unfamiliarity with the system on the Chinese side. Once you’re setup however, it’s a reliable and reasonably priced transfer solution.

Summary

The overall winner for everyday transactions is TransferWise due to its low fees, and ease of use. The key to determine which is right for you would be to get with your team and decide your specific needs, volume, and frequency of money transfers cross-border.