Guide to CNY transfers

Here you will find answers to the most common questions about Chinese Yuan (CNY) transfers, whether you are sending CNY to or from China.

Note: CNY is the same as Renminbi (RMB).

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Sending to CNY

What types of transfers can I send to CNY?

We support both personal and business customers sending CNY to China. The delivery method available depends on the type of sender and recipient. Refer to the respective help pages to see specific information on the methods.

Due to Chinese regulations, only individuals with a Chinese National ID card and business recipients with a CNY-denominated account in Mainland China can receive CNY. 

How much can I send?

Sending via UnionPay

• You can send up to 33,000 CNY per transaction

Sending via Alipay

• You can send up to 50,000 CNY per transfer

• Each recipient can receive between 300,000—600,000 CNY per year and there may be monthly frequency limits depending on the transfer purpose.”

Sending via Weixin

• You can send up to 50,000 CNY per transfer

• Each recipient can receive 500,000 CNY per year

Learn more about Alipay recipient limits

For bank transfers (Business sending to business in China)

• Unlimited, but depending on the currency you are sending from there might be limits imposed

How long does it usually take for the money to arrive?

When you set up your transfer, we will always give you an estimate on how long your transfer will take, depending on the transfer partner you chose. 

Learn more about how long transfers take

Why was my transfer delayed or cancelled?

Your transfer may be delayed or cancelled if your recipient doesn't complete verification or card binding which is prompted by Alipay (72 hours) and/or WeChat (48 hours).

Your transfer may also be delayed when we need more information about your transfer purpose (requested by the local authorities).

If your transfer is cancelled, your money will automatically go back to you within 3 working days.

Sending from CNY

You have two options when sending CNY from China:

• You can send CNY from your Wise balance. When choosing this option, the requirements below don’t apply. 

• You can set up a bank transfer from your Chinese bank account or send from your Alipay app. When you're sending CNY from your bank account in China or Alipay, you’re moving money out of China.

Regulatory requirements apply when you are using this product. Wise is collaborating with a licensed third party payment provider (regulated by the People’s Bank of China) in China to provide this service. Learn more about our terms of use

Tip: Watch this video to learn how to set up your first from-CNY transfer

(This video is currently only available in English)

Who can send money from CNY? 

You can send money from CNY if:

• You're not mainland Chinese

  • If you’re from Taiwan, Hong Kong, or Macau you're eligible to send from CNY

• You're working or have worked in China before

• You have a valid tax record issued by the China tax authority

If you're sending CNY with Wise for the first time, we’ll need to verify you. This can take 1- 2 working days. You only need to be verified once — we only request documents for your first transfer, or new tax records when you've hit your limit.

Keep in mind that sending from CNY is only available for personal accounts.

Learn more about getting verified when sending from CNY

Who can receive transfers that are paid from-CNY? 

Due to regulations, you can only send CNY from China to another account you own. 

This can be your bank account outside of China, or your Wise Account. You can add CNY to your Wise balance by following these steps.

How much can I send? 

The limits are different depending on how you send.

China bank app

If you're sending CNY from your China bank app, the maximum you can send in one transfer is 300,000 CNY*. 

*Some banks in China may also have their own limits:

• If you're sending from Bank of China, you need to send at least 50,000 CNY per transfer

• If you're sending from Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), you need to send at least 500 CNY and the maximum is 10,000 CNY per transfer.

Alipay

If you are sending CNY from Alipay, the maximum you can send in one transfer is 50,000 CNY. There are no bank specific limits for Alipay.

Aside from the above limits implemented by banks, Wise also adheres to China’s regulations and applies a limit on how much you can send out of China. This is known as overall limit and it's calculated based on: 

• Your annual income

• The amount of tax you have paid in China

• The number of years you've paid taxes on, proven through tax record(s) submitted. 

Does this limit expire?

There is no expiry date for the limit. When you reach the limit, you'll be prompted to upload a new tax record when you set up your next transfer. Your limit will be increased after Wise has verified your newly uploaded tax record, and you will receive an email on your new overall limit too.

Note for Skyremit users: the amount you send via Skyremit will also impact your remaining balance and the limit on how much you can send out via Wise and vice versa. 

How can I determine my sending limits?

Your remaining limit is the amount left after deducting both your successful and unfunded transfers from your total limit. For example, if your total limit is 100 CNY, and you’ve sent 50 CNY with an additional unfunded transfer of 20 CNY, your remaining limit would be 30 CNY.

If there are any unfunded transfers that you don't intend on funding, you can cancel them, and the corresponding amount will be added back to your remaining limit. The limit is based on the amount you transfer to Wise, not the amount that we send out (converted by Wise after deducting the fees from the amount transferred).

How can I pay for my CNY transfer? 

After submitting your verification information and documents, you'll see 2 methods to pay Wise — bank transfer or Alipay.

When paying by bank transfer:

1. We'll give you a set of unique bank account details for you to transfer CNY to, from your bank app in China. 

2. Go to your Chinese banking app and send a local CNY bank transfer to the provided details.

   • Refer to this step-by-step guide on how this works on your Chinese mobile banking app. Note: the recipient bank's branch must be 拉卡拉-备付金账户.

The account you're paying to is a unique ACS account created for you by our licenced partner in China. These are safeguarding accounts that third party payment providers are required by regulation to open with the People’s Bank of China (PBOC).

You can only send CNY from an account that's in your name. If the money is sent from an account that doesn’t match with the name on your Wise account, we'll refund it automatically. 

Note: if you’re sending from Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), you'll need to search the branch 拉卡拉-备付金账户 directly when creating a recipient instead of selecting the location 北京 (Beijing) first. Searching 北京  (Beijing) first will not show the branch 拉卡拉-备付金账户 which is needed for the payment to be received by Wise.

When paying with Alipay:

1. Complete the payment from Alipay

   • If you set up the transfer on the our website, you can use your Alipay app to scan the QR code that we display on our payment screen.

   • If you set up the transfer on our mobile app, you'll be redirected to your Alipay app on your phone. For Android users, you'll be redirected to a browser before being prompted to open Alipay. 

2. Return to Wise and select that you've paid for the transfer.

For your first payment from Alipay to Wise, you'll be prompted to enter your China card number. We only collect this once. This doesn't have to be the bank card you're paying from.

How long does it usually take for the money to arrive?

It usually takes 0-1 working days for your money to reach us.

If you're paying via bank transfer, payments are processed (China Standard Time):

• Monday to Thursday all day, except between 4pm and 8.30pm

• Friday, until 4pm

• Sunday or last day of a China public holiday, after 8.30pm

If you make a payment during non-operating hours, your bank might: 

• block you from initiating the transfer 

• let you initiate a transfer, but the money will only be sent out within business hours  

• let you initiate the transfer but refund it back to you

If you are paying with Alipay, payments are processed 24/7.

Once we receive your money, we'll convert it and send it out. Conversion can take up to 2 working days. Transfer speeds also depend on the currency and country you're sending to.

We'll always give you an estimate on how long your transfer will take when you set up a transfer.

Which banks can I send CNY from? 

• If paying with a bank transfer, the following is a list of banks that you can send CNY from.

• If you're paying with Alipay, you can pay from any bank that Alipay accepts.

This is not an exhaustive list. If your bank is not in this list, try setting up a new recipient and look for 支付机构备付金集中存管账户 in the list of banks. They may still support this transfer.

Why did my transfer to Wise bounce back?

There could be a few reasons for this:

• You might have added the wrong recipient details for the bank transfer from your China bank account to Wise. Check the payment screen on Wise to see if you have added the correct recipient details.

• You might have sent the money from someone else’s account in China. The money has to come from your own account. We're unable to accept funds paid from an account that isn't yours. 

• You might have made the transfer outside of payment system operating hours. Try again when the payment system reopens. You can find the operating hours above.

I’ve cancelled my payment, how long will my refund take?

It usually takes 0-3 working days to get your money back to you. We’ll let you know when we’ve refunded your money.