Sending Money – Be Sure To Pay Attention To Currency And Exchange Rates

People sending money to China need to remember, the sender might send the money in U.S. dollars, but the recipient ends up collecting it in Chinese Yuan. Some types of transfer services will convert the currency as part of the transfer, but in some cases the exchange rate leans in the favor of the transfer company. This means that the recipient will end up with less than the fair market value of the conversion.

Typically, the exchange rates that a transfer services use are determined by them, which might not be considered an even exchange rate. The only way to ensure that the exchange rate is fair is to use a bank wire transfer service, but that opens all kinds of issues for both the sender and the recipient.

To send money to China through a bank, both the sender and the recipient have to have a bank account with the respective banks. Meaning that the sender has to have his own bank account at the sending bank, and the recipient has to have an account at their bank. The reason for this has to do with the government’s ability to keep track of money that comes and goes from the country, so they can ensure that there is no illegal activity involved with the transfer.

All this is good if the sender and recipient are both living close to their respective banks, but can be a problem if, say, the sender lives in the United States and the recipient was in China on vacation. Sending a money to China where the recipient might not live or have a bank account can be difficult.

If the recipient can not accept the transfer done through a bank, then there are only a few options remaining. These few options include a telegram-style transfer were the recipient goes to an authorized location and collects the money. These places might not have the best exchange rates, but they will help the sender gain access to the funds.

The most effective way to transfer money and gain access to the best exchange rate is to use a pre-paid credit card. With the use of pre-paid credit cards, the sender can go online and put money on the card, and the recipient can simply take that card to an ATM machine and gain access to the money. Currently, sending money to China still has a few issues, but in time problems such as currency and exchange rate will be less of an issue.