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Bank wire transfer from UK to HK

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  1. #11

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    If you decide to bring cash with you make sure to keep the bank receipt of withdrawal. That is proof where the cash comes from if you need to explain to UK+HK customs and BOC.

    Once I changed EUR to HKD at Berlin and deposited the 180k HKD into my HSBC account. The teller asked where the money comes from. I showed the Berlin receipt and the teller accepted.

    Elefant&Castle and chodaboy like this.

  2. #12
    Quote Originally Posted by Elefant&Castle:
    I've had a wire bounce back because of wrong digits.
    Then I've also had a valid wire - out of China (BOC) - that didn't go anywhere for a week.
    Went back and they didn't know anything - had to pay 200 or 300 RMB for them to investigate.
    A week later the wire came through - no explanation where it had been held up - or return of the 'investigation fee'.

    If I were you, I would not wire into a possibly frozen account - 1st confirm that it is open.

    Bank wires are surprisingly primitive - take a look at this - guy did a local UK wire into the wrong account.
    And they can't reverse it - or even get into a dialogue with the person who owns it.

    https://www.ft.com/content/edc2061a-...4508:837752146
    Damn, that's the worse thing I can think of it, the money going somewhere and not knowing where and how to get it back. Will have to ask someone in my family to check if the account is open - can they do that in person at the branch or would the staff suspect something since they are not the original holders? BOC still sends letters to my house in HK time to time, would it help if they bring the letters to the bank as proof? Can get someone to lodge some money into my account and see if it unfreezes it.


    Quote Originally Posted by Drunken Master:
    If you decide to bring cash with you make sure to keep the bank receipt of withdrawal. That is proof where the cash comes from if you need to explain to UK+HK customs and BOC.

    Once I changed EUR to HKD at Berlin and deposited the 180k HKD into my HSBC account. The teller asked where the money comes from. I showed the Berlin receipt and the teller accepted.
    Sweet, thanks for the tip, will do just that. When you carried all that cash, how did you store it all? One whole bundle tied with an elastic band wrapped in a plastic bag? Or did you carry some in your bag, and some in your pocket, and some stored elsewhere?

    IF bank wire transfer is out of the question for me since my account might be frozen due to inactivity, how should one carry large sums of notes? Should I split the 10k in my wallet and the other 10k locked away in my carry-on for safety (since there are a lot of in flight robberies)?

  3. #13

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    My dad's bank savings book was stolen so we went to Hang Seng to freeze his account. It was the end of the month and he was worried his pension might not get transferred into his bank account. The teller explained that although the account was frozen, incoming funds will be credited to the account. One just can't withdraw from a frozen account.

    Maybe you could send an email to BOC to confirm if incoming funds get transferred to frozen accounts?

    As for bringing cash, 20k GBP will be 400 notes of 50GBP. Thickness will be around 4 cm. You could carry the cash in one or two wallets that hides under your clothes.

    chodaboy likes this.

  4. #14
    Quote Originally Posted by Drunken Master:
    My dad's bank savings book was stolen so we went to Hang Seng to freeze his account. It was the end of the month and he was worried his pension might not get transferred into his bank account. The teller explained that although the account was frozen, incoming funds will be credited to the account. One just can't withdraw from a frozen account.

    Maybe you could send an email to BOC to confirm if incoming funds get transferred to frozen accounts?

    As for bringing cash, 20k GBP will be 400 notes of 50GBP. Thickness will be around 4 cm. You could carry the cash in one or two wallets that hides under your clothes.
    Can someone find a way to withdraw money from a savings book without ID?
    The savings book is the red one where you put into the machine to update the current transactions, is it that one you mean?
    I had one of mine stolen when I was in HK ages ago, was inside my backpack at the time - went to the BOC branch and they told me they couldn't get money from it even though they had my little red book.

    400 stack of 50 notes seems a lot, knowing my luck - I have a feeling something bad will happen like customs, losing some of it if it's split up, etc. Asked my cousin in HK to deposit some cash into my BOC account over the counter, and then ask if it's ok or not to send funds into it from overseas, hopefully will get an answer by the end of the week.

    Just checked with the bank I'm with in the UK, they charge 25.00 GBP fee for sending money regardless of the amount, and got my family in HK to ask Bank of China in person - they only charge $60 HKD for receiving, thought they would have charged more than that.