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  • 1 Post By emx
  • 1 Post By freeier

Exchange rates

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  1. #1

    Exchange rates

    Hi All,

    I've recently received some cash from a property sale in China and the money is in my China account.
    At some point I want to bring it over to the UK (where I reside).

    I'm expecting a nightmare transferring the funds from my China account to the UK. At worse If i cant transfer the whole amount, i would transfer the max limit. Does anyone here know the cost for a transfer from BoC (China) to UK? My UK bank told me there is no cost to receive money from abroad but it is unclear from BoC (China) how much they charge and their exchange rates converting it into GBP.

    My other options are
    1) Using someone my family know who will want RMB in China before I pick up HK$ in HK. This is the most riskiest option and need to find out from family how much currency was converted and the exchange rate as I would want to do small amount at first.
    The question is, if I were to receive HK$ and wanted to put this into the bank, what amount will trigger alarm bells for banks? Are they used to people putting HK$100,000 in one go and not asking questions?
    Additional cost: BoC HK seems to have a limit of HK$100,000 or 200 notes at the machine, anything over HK$100,000 at the counter will cost 0.25%, is this 0.25% of the amount over the limit or applied to the whole amount deposited? Not sure about SC's max limit.

    2) If did the painful border runs with friends/family of bring back 20,000 RMB each per person and deposit into my HK bank accounts, are the exchanges better to HK$ at Banks or money exchange places like Chungking Mansions? I went to Chungking Mansion last month and the best rate I was able to find was a 0.99% difference to the real exchange rate (no fees). Has anyone know of a better way to convert RMB to HK$ in HK? or a better place?
    Would you trust the Money exchange around Chungking Mansion? I've heard some horror stories of fake money etc but not sure what currency were fake.

    I plan to use Transferwire once I get HK$ into my bank account as there doesnt appear to be a way from RMB to GBP on that site.

    Many Thanks,
    Robin


  2. #2

    Join Date
    Dec 2009
    Posts
    6,714

    As with the answers in the other thread you started about this, why not just transfer directly back to your UK account, since all the taxes have been paid?

    chuckster007 likes this.

  3. #3

    Hi Emx,

    I am expecting a lot of issues when trying to transfer the amount into the UK as the bank has already told me they are unable to transfer it all. Due to the language barrier, it is very difficult for me to understand why they are not able to do this, even though they approved the buyer's mortgage in front of me.

    They know X came from the buyer via a holding deposit and the same bank issued a mortgage to them to provide me with the remainder of the funds. The estate agent will only allow me a photo of the amount of tax paid however it doesnt state how much was the selling price or what that tax relates to.

    I've been banging my head against a brick wall during 80% of this selling process so the only positive thing is that the money is at least in my account in China. When I go to China this week I will ask another branch to see if they're more helpful in terms of assisting me with the transfer. This is my primary reason why I'm thinking of other options and would be grateful of anyone can assist.


  4. #4

    The best you can get is 0% difference from the RMB to HKD rate. 1 to 2 % the most. More than 2% is not cheap. The Chinese shops in Chungking also have many branches in other areas.Fake notes is not the main concern. Don't receive notes in very large amount. You will have an account to let them deposit the money. Your worry should be will you receive the amount or not.

    Quote Originally Posted by redrobin81:
    Hi All,I went to Chungking Mansion last month and the best rate I was able to find was a 0.99% difference to the real exchange rate (no fees). Has anyone know of a better way to convert RMB to HK$ in HK? or a better place? Would you trust the Money exchange around Chungking Mansion? I've heard some horror stories of fake money etc but not sure what currency were fake.I plan to use Transferwire once I get HK$ into my bank account as there doesnt appear to be a way from RMB to GBP on that site.Many Thanks, Robin

  5. #5
    Quote Originally Posted by lighthse003:
    The best you can get is 0% difference from the RMB to HKD rate. 1 to 2 % the most. More than 2% is not cheap. The Chinese shops in Chungking also have many branches in other areas.Fake notes is not the main concern. Don't receive notes in very large amount. You will have an account to let them deposit the money. Your worry should be will you receive the amount or not.

    Can you get under 0.9% difference from these money exchange places without any commission fees? I did look around in Chungking but only saw 1 under 1%.

    My preferred option is to deposit in the bank and then exchange it in there but im not sure what the rates are and there is the 0.25% on anything over 200 notes a day (RMB). How good/bad are the rates at the bank from RMB to $HK? Just to get around the fake notes/not receiving the full amount.

    Would they usually ask you for your bank account inorder to make the transfer or do certain limits in cash? Due to the physical amount i might be able to bring into HK, I guess im not going to exchange more than 100,000 RMB however i would make small exchange at a time like 20,000.

  6. #6

    If you are able to do it, you will have non cash HKD deposited into your account.

    Nobody is sure about the risks.


  7. #7

    Join Date
    Nov 2005
    Location
    Cramped island
    Posts
    5,585

    money changer plays the game differently...
    their bid-offer can move and if they are in need of CNY notes, sometimes they will cross the bid-offer and buy it from you at fairly good pricing.. there is no 'certainty' in which shop offers best price, as their pricing is likely to change depending on their inventory.

    MandM! likes this.