Hello all
My sister tried over the last few days to send me money by Western Union. It failed each time saying there was an error on the Chinese end ... "error on the system". I know Western Union is horrifically expensive but this is quite an emergency for me. Is there any other method to quickly transfer funds from Ireland to Kunming?
The reason I was trying to use Western union is that I just moved to Kunming from Sichuan and the Agricultural Bank of China (ABC) that I used in my last location say they cannot accept international money transfers. I have tried 5/6 different banks and they all said the same. I find it quite mindboggling. So alternatively can anyone recommend a bank where I can quickly set up an account and have money transferred to me?
all the best
David
You do not have a debit/ATM card with a Mastercard/Maestro/Cirrus or Visa logo on it? We just withdraw directly from the foreign account with no transfer needed.
Hiya Elisa
Nope, I dont have that anymore. Thx tho. I used to have but it actually didnt work in Ya'an where I was previously. It did work in Chengdu. Anyway I dont have it anymore.
Likely the people just don't have a clue how to do international money transfers, rather than you can't, they just don't know that you can. They aren't well trained. I have tried it at CCB, CGB and Bank of China... with nobody knowing how to do it until my local wife talks to them (she is in banking!). Then magically they call someone that knows on their end, who talks them through the process, then it happens eventually.... quite annoying, but I guess that is what happens when you are in the arse end of nowhere (in China terms).
Most likely place where they know how to do it would be the Bank of China... I think the bank on Renmin Dong Lu/Beijing Lu is the big one in the city? They probably know how to do it... probably.
Having it done "quickly" though is something else entirely. Its taken me from 3 days to 3 weeks, although more recently its been closer to 3 days (using CGB). Its not the fastest, but it does happen...
I would open a Bank of China account or HSBC account if you want the best chance of success for receiving an international wire transfer. Kunming is pretty slack for banking expertise, so even Bank of China can be clueless, thus HSBC is best for international stuff. I was successful in getting a wire transfer from my brother in the USA at CCB in Shenzhen, but staff are trained much better in that city.
I thought Western Union was station to station, meaning your sister sends the money to be picked up in person by you at a Western Union location? I think that's how it worked in the US anyways.
@blobbles Yes I think ur right. I had money transferred before in Ya'an and when they rang me to tell me it had eventually arrived I had to go to the office and there was at least an hour of paperwork that they had to do. Mad!
@AlexKMG I just this morning opened a new account at China Construction Bank. The office was right bang beside Tang Zi Xiang bus stop. They gave me the relevant Swift code and said it was possible so hopefully that will work out ok. They were quite helpful I must say.
I wondered about Western Union being station to station too. I have not used them in many years cos their fees disgust me, but I seem to remember it was sent from a specific place to another specific location. I asked in SPD bank and they told me that here u just send it to Kunming and u can pick it up at any Western Union office. Anyway my money never even made it out of Ireland haha.
Thx lads for the heads-up!
David
I have used CCB in Kunming for several years for international wire transfers, via SWIFT. The first transfer was the most painful - after that it's repetitious - although you MUST go to the specific branch that handles international wire transfers (not your local community bank). The branch responsible for my transfers recently was changed from shulin jie to somewhere else - but it was again relatively painless (but I've been immunized by banking services in Asia, to include Japan - so I'm well-prepared for slow service).
HSBC on Beijing Lu in the JunFa
Center has handled many wire transfers as have the Bank of China main branch on Beijuing lu and Dong Feng Dong lu for us. The policies and procedures do change as do knowlwegable staff at B of C. There are the usual international fees for sending and receiving.
So just to let people know what happened...The staff at China Construction Bank were very efficient and the money which was sent from Ireland on Friday was available on Wednesday morning. So 4/5 days..not too shabby.
David
