Here you will find answers to the most common questions about Chinese Yuan (CNY) transfers.
Note: CNY is the same as Renminbi (RMB)
Sending to CNY
What types of transfers can I use to send CNY?
We support both personal and business customers sending to CNY.
There are 4 different transfer types and their corresponding delivery methods.
Consumer to consumer (C2C), business to consumer (B2C) transfer: UnionPay
Business to business (B2B) transfer: Local Bank Account
Only individuals with a Chinese National ID card and business recipients with a CNY-denominated account in Mainland China can get CNY.
You may find out more about each partner’s requirements by clicking on the URLs on our partners above.
Note: sending to or from CNY via batch payments is currently not supported.
How much can I send?
For UnionPay recipients:
You can send up to 18,000 CNY per transaction
You can send up to 10,000 USD per recipient, or equivalent in CNY, per day*
You can send up to 50,000 USD per recipient, or equivalent in CNY, per year*
Each recipient may receive a maximum of 5 transfers per day, and 20 transfers per calendar month*
For Alipay and Weixin recipients:
You can send up to 50,000 CNY per transaction
You can send up to 500,000 CNY per recipient, per year — each recipient can receive a maximum of 5 transfers per calendar month*
*This limit is how much your recipient can receive in total, from all exchange platforms — not limited to Wise.
For business to business (B2B) transfers, there's no limit on how much you send, or how many payments you can make. But there may be limits depending on the currency you're sending from.
How long does it usually take for the money to arrive?
When you set up your transfer, we always give you an estimate on how long your transfer takes, 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 recipients didn't complete verification or card binding in time, prompted by Alipay (72 hours) and 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 money from CNY:
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. When you are sending CNY from your bank account in China, you’re moving money out of China. This means there are regulatory requirements that 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
Who can send money from CNY?
You can send money from CNY if:
you're not mainland Chinese (this includes people from Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macau)
and you've paid tax on a salary earned in mainland China after January 2019
If you are sending CNY with Wise for the first time, we’ll need to verify you.
Learn more about getting verified when sending from CNY
Who can receive this transfer?
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 details. You can also add money directly to your Wise account and pay for the top-up in CNY.
Learn more about how to add money to your balance
How much can I send?
The maximum you can send in one transfer is 100,000 CNY. We will also apply an overall limit which is approximately your post-tax income earned in China.
Your overall limit is based on:
Your annual income
The amount of tax paid in China
The number of years of tax paid as proven through tax record(s) submitted.
If you send more than this limit, we will ask you for a new tax record and your limit will be increased based on the new record submitted.
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 a maximum of 10,000 CNY per transfer.
How can I pay for my CNY transfer?
After submitting your verification information and documents, you'll receive your unique pay-in details. Only you can use these details to pay for a transfer.
You’ll need to make a local CNY bank transfer from your Chinese banking app to these details. Refer to this step-by-step guide on how this works on your Chinese mobile banking app.
The account you’re paying to is an 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 is under 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 first. Searching 北京 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
How long does it usually take for the money to arrive?
It usually takes 0–1 working days for your money to get to us.
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 the 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
Once we’ve received your money, we’ll convert it and send it out. Conversion can take up to 2 working days. The speed of transfer also depends on the currency and country you are sending to.
We’ll always give you an estimate for how long your transfer will take when you set it up.
Which banks can I send CNY from?
The following is a list of banks that you can send CNY from.
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.
| Bank Name in English | Bank Name in Chinese |
|---|---|
| Bank of China | 中国银行 |
| Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) | 中国工商银行 |
| Bank of Communications | 交通银行 |
| China Merchants Bank (CMB) | 招商银行 |
| China Construction Bank | 中国建设银行 |
| Agricultural Bank of China（AgBank） | 中国农业银行 |
| China CITIC Bank | 中信银行 |
| Industrial Bank Co., Ltd. (Fujian Industrial Bank Joint-Stock Corporation） | 兴业银行 |
| China Everbright Bank Co., Ltd | 光大银行 |
| China Guangfa Bank | 广发银行 |
| Ping An Bank Co., Ltd | 平安银行 |
| Bank of Beijing Co., Ltd | 北京银行 |
| Postal Savings Bank of China | 中国邮政储蓄银行 |
| Shanghai Pudong Development Bank | 上海浦东发展银行 |
| China Minsheng Bank | 中国民生银行 |
| Standard Chartered China | 渣打银行中国 |
| Bank of Shanghai | 上海银行 |
Why did my transfer to Wise bounce back?
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, so we won’t be able to accept these payments.
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.