How do you send money internationally with Alipay? Along with WeChat, Alipay handles a vast majority of financial transactions for the Chinese population.
As a foreigner, is it possible to take advantage of Alipay to wire money home? And if so, how exactly is it done? I’d like to answer these questions and more in this simple guide.
Before we dive too far into this Alipay tutorial, there are a few things I would like to mention. First, and most importantly:
There is no easy way to move money out of China.
Period.
If you’ve come here thinking that Alipay is going to be a magic bullet, you’re going to be disappointed.
There are a number of options for easily sending money into China, but very few that can get money out of China. China intentionally makes it difficult to get money out of the country so even these few options aren’t straightforward.
So to be clear, if you’re planning to send money outside China using Alipay, you should understand that:
- Using Alipay might not work: Reports from various travelers and expats (including those in the comments on this article) show that this isn’t a flawless process. It seems Alipay doesn’t allow transfers from every account, but there’s no clear reason why some work and some don’t.
- You are still subject to China’s laws: These laws stipulate that any Chinese currency leaving China must first have proof that all taxes have been paid on the money. This is why it’s such a headache to wire money from a China bank – they require lots of paperwork proof.
- Failure to follow these laws puts your Chinese friend at risk: As you’ll learn below, as a foreigner you’ll need to get help from a local Chinese friend to use Alipay as a means to get money out of China. Take this seriously; if anything goes wrong, they get in trouble, not you.
Got it? Ok, then.
If you’re still hoping to understand how to send money outside of China using Alipay, this step-by-step tutorial should help.
Requirements & Restrictions | Sending Money with Alipay
With Alipay, sending money internationally can be done in just a few steps, that we’ll detail shortly.
There are a number of very important requirements and restrictions that you have to be aware of before you start, though.
- Alipay only allows Chinese citizens to send money through the app. If you try with your personal account, it will ask you to register a Chinese ID, which you don’t have. So ask a Chinese friend to help you with the transfer (and make sure you trust them!).
- The maximum amount of money that can be transferred with one wire is 30,000 RMB. You are allowed to up two international transfers a day with a maximum total of 60,000 RMB.
- Alipay charges you 50 RMB per transfer and you will also be charged a fee upon receipt by the recipient bank.
- Chinese citizens are limited to sending a maximum of $50,000 USD overseas annually. If you are fortunate enough to be wiring amounts this large back home, you will need to enlist the help of several Chinese friends.
Step-by-Step Process with Alipay
With that background information in mind, you’ll want to make sure you’ve downloaded the Alipay app for iPhones or Android devices and created an account.
Time needed: 25 minutes
The transfer process using Alipay to get money out of China can be done by following these simple steps.
- Find the International Transfer Function in Alipay
While the Chinese friend you have help you can likely navigate to the international transfer function in the app, if they need help, you can tell them that on the home screen they should select 更多 or u0022Moreu0022 button, followed by the 上海汇聚 or u0022Shanghai International Transfersu0022. From there, the big blue button you see here will begin the transfer process.
- Enter the Recipient Banking Information
Add the appropriate information for the recipient bank outside of China. This includes name, address, bank SWIFT code, routing number and bank account number. Below is a translation of what that page will look like.
- Enter the Sender’s Information in Alipay
Before initiating the transfer, you need to input the sender’s information. This includes the currency you’re sending and the reason for the transfer. The reasons include traveling, paying tuition among other explanations why a Chinese person would need to send money overseas. In this example, I selected personal travel as there is no option for helping out foreign friends sending hard earned money home.
- Review Terms and Conditions for Using Alipay
After filling out the sender’s information, you will be direct to a terms and conditions page where you need to review the terms of the transfer before proceeding. After 20 seconds, the next button will display where you can proceed with submitting the transaction.
- Submit the Transfer Request
Before submitting the wire transfer, Alipay asks follow-up questions based on what is listed for the reason for the transfer. In this case, I selected travel and it asked me how the sender will be traveling abroad and will the sender be traveling independently or with a group. As this is not relevant to you, you can list whatever you want. The Chinese government in recent years has been really careful about money being sent overseas, so this is a way for them to track capital outflows.
FAQs | Using Alipay for International Transfers
The following are some of the most commonly asked questions about using Alipay to make an international transfer.
Some of the questions have already been answered above, but I will list them here again for the sake of brevity.
No. International transfers through Alipay require a Chinese ID, which means that if you want to make a transfer of money outside of China, you will need a local Chinese to help you.
There is a limit of 30,000 RMB per transfer with Alipay and two transactions per day (60,000 RMB total). Chinese citizens are limited to sending no more than $50,000 US dollars or equivalent converted currency overseas per year.
This depends on the recipient bank’s institution. After making the transfer through Alipay, check with the recipient to confirm receipt or contact the home bank to verify how long it will take for the funds to transfer.
There are a number of reasons a transfer could be rejected. It could be an error in the bank routing or account numbers; it could be a limit on the individual who is initiating the transfer; it could be Alipay suspects taxes haven’t been paid on this money as is required by Chinese law. In any case, Alipay doesn’t disclose the reason why a transfer has been rejected and there is no known way to find out this information.
Final Thoughts | International Transfers with Alipay
Prior to sending money home with Alipay, check to ensure all the information on the recipient end is correct. If listed incorrectly, you will still get docked all the transfer fees from Bank of Shanghai and the recipient bank to get the money back.
It also couldn’t hurt to do a practice transfer with a small amount. You can also save the recipient information in Alipay making it much easier to send money home the second time around.
Have you sent money internationally using Alipay before? Share your experience in the comments below!
Hello,
I want to send money bacK to the states and i do have a chinese bank account as well as alipay. Here is my question:
For the sender INFORMATION, does it only require thE chinese friend’s citizen number? And the rest of the sender info is my own? MY own bank account etc?
Thank you!
That probably wouldn’t work because the Alipay account would need to be connected to your friend’s number but your bank account.
i have alipay and a chinese bank ACCOUNT and i want to wire transfer to my bank account in my home country, is this possible without any help from a chinese NATIONAL?
Yes, you can do it through your bank with your passport. It will be very easy or very hard, depending on how much money you’re trying to send.
Hi
Can i send money to Morocco via alipay
Thanks
You can, but as I said in the article, you’ll need to have a Chinese friend with a Chinese ID card helping you.
Hello, I tried to use this method to send money home to my American bank account. I didn’t know what to put as the reason, and so my Chinese friend just put “translator”. We Were able to send $100 but when we tried to send a larger amount It it didn’t go through. My Chinese friend told me that it is because the bank that was sending the money did not believe the reason we gave them. It made me think that maybe this is not an OK way to send money. I thought it was legal before but now I’m worried that it’s not legal. I’m worried that my friend will get in trouble. Neither of us knew that It might not be allowed. Will she get in trouble?
Why would it be illegal? Unless the money hasn’t been properly taxed you should be fine. I’m not sure why it’s not working for you.
FROM the comments listed above,does it mean if ALIPAY is not ok with the reason for sending they may not approve it?
another one is how long will the transfer take to reflect in the receiver’s country transfer from china to malaysia
Obviously Alipay has the right to deny any payment on its platform. Transfers usually only take a couple business days at most.
I need to receive some payments from several chinese nationals (in china) – they are basically each paying for the registration fee to attend a conference in Hong Kong – how can I set up alipay (in Hong kONg) to receive these funds? I assume that I can only receive RMB as opposed to any other currency? Many thanks.
They can also use Alipay to wire money directly to a bank in Hong Kong, which would probably be easier.
Thank you so much for this great resource. I just sent money through alipay with a Chinese friend and it arrived in 4 business days. There is A 50,000¥ limit, and it cost $15 for the transaction Fee. By far the cheapest and easiest option I’ve seen.
Awesome! Thanks for sharing, TMax 🙂
I have had a friend do this for me a few times. The fee is about .5% of the total sent. I have only been able to have 1K uSD sent to the USA, anything above this has been rejected.
Hi, Did your bank abroad charged you as well? The article says that it will charge when you send and the receiving bank will make a charge charge as wEll. How’s the exchange rate?
Hi, motivated by TMax’s comment from a couple days ago, I tried sending money to Poland today via my colleagues’ Alipay account. It turned out that the limit is 18,000 RMB and the fee is 50 RMB. I hoped to transfer 100,000 RMB and split it into two transactions. It turned out that this is impossible.
Am from Nigeria, how can I CREATE ALIPAY? top up ALIPAY?
The same way as anybody else. You can create an Alipay account easily. The hard part is funding it. In that case, you’ll need to open a bank account in China just like anybody else.
Transaction limit – 18,000¥
2 transactions per day.
If you have a trustworthy chinese friend, you can send money through alipay only once. as in another comment above, my friend’s first attempt was rejected because the reason given, “translation fee,” was not accepted. we changed it to “travel” and it went through on the second try. however my friend will not do this again. she says if she keeps sending money to america through alipay for me, she will ultimately be arrested and have her life ruined on trumped up charges of money laundering. so only use alipay once. multiple uses are like waving a red flag in front of a bull (the chinese government being the bull).
I’m moving back to the uk after 3 years in china, to set up my own online business. can my chinese customers pay me via alipay into my uk bank account? looking at your post, it looks possible?
They can, but there will be a limit to how much they can transfer. If your customers are businesses, they will have bank accounts with the ability to wire funds.
My wife just sent it without having to give a reason for what the money is for.
Interesting. I wonder if it has to do with the amount sent?
Hi Josh, I’m a little confused by the legality surrounding Alipay transfers. Say I wanted to move 200,000 RMB – that would be 11 or so days of sending 18,000 yuan payments. Is there not some kind of trigger/red flag that Alipay shows on numerous transaction of the same amount?
You were saying it is only an issue if the money has not been taxed. But the money moving abroad has not had any proof of tax paid. Basically what I am wondering is does Alipay send warnings/triggers to the bank when repeated payments are sent abroad?
Great questions, Mark. There are limits to how much you can send through Alipay – although I don’t know what that is exactly. I’m quite certain that 200kRMB is far too much to send through Alipay in a single month. You must have a Chinese ID to do the transfer, though, so any money sent will be verified via the person’s ID as to whether tax has been paid. That’s why you really need to be careful about how you use your friend’s Chinese ID to transfer through Alipay.
Hi Josh. Thanks for the reply. I think i will look to move through the bank as the money earned is legitimate i’ve just foolishly waited-as a Brit I was waiting for Brexit negotiations to conclude in case there was a major shift in the value of the pound-as in 2016 which was when I last sent money home. Do you have any idea what documents are required? I bank with ICBC and when I went into my local branch the other day to ask they seemed clueless, as did the English speaking helpline who I also called
My Chinese friend has sent money from China to Nigeria through ALIPAY, but yet to receive it in my Nigeria Dom account, yet the receipt for the transaction is out already, what could probably be wrong.?
Sometimes it takes a few days for the money to arrive. If it still hasn’t arrived after a week, contact both banks (Nigeria and China) to ask about the money.
Hey Josh,
I just tried to make a transfer following the helpful article. First my friend put translation as the reason, but the transfer was declined. We tried to put travel as the reason, but it then asked questions about how long my friend would be travelling and the name of the traveller… so I don’t think Alipay is a valid way of sending money anymore. Seems like they have updated to try and cut off this loophole.
Thanks for sharing, John. I’ll be working to determine if this is officially closed or if yours was an isolated incident.
Hi. I have been using this was to TRANSFER money for a few months now. My chinese friend helps me out. But i recently noticed that the option For to make the trans isn’t there anymore.
Hi. what about chinese national sending money using alipay then the receiver is in the philippines and a local? is it possible? how?? and how much will it cost for the fee for the sender? thanks a lot.
It doesn’t matter who the receiver is. China only cares about who is sending the money and where the money came from (i.e. if taxes have been paid on it).
I think the option is still there, but on a different place. Under The header “fund transfer”, you can see a cIrcle with a ¥ sign inside (undertitle “transfer”). After Klicking on that sign, a new page is opened where you see (lower right side) a circle with a $ sign and a curved arrow. Just use that. Then I get the warni I canno use it becau I don’t have a Chinese ID card. But for Chinese friends it should work.
Sorry fro writing this in capital letters (although capslock in not turned on, it seems I cann only type caps. Maybe it looks normal after posting.
Hi josh,
Thank you for taking the time to write all this information, it is extremely useful.
I work with a translator here in china, who I was going to ask to send money back home for me. My question is that the total quantity of money that i want to send back is going to be a lot more than the amount that he earns. Is there a possibility that this could get flagged up?
I would suspect that if the quantity of money being sent is larger than his total earnings after tax – that this could possibly raise flags. Or am I giving the system too much credit?
Thank you!
Tom
Yes, I think that is a legitimate concern. The flag likely won’t come from the fact that he only makes x amount of salary. The flag will likely come from the Chinese version of the IRS, that will wonder if he has paid all the taxes on that money. Your best bet in these cases is to use a bank. It will be much harder, but in the end, it’s safer for your friend.
Hello Josh how do i send money into my chinese account from my US card using Alipay?
I’m not sure what you mean here. You want to get money from your US account into Alipay or into your Chinese bank account? Why do you have to use Alipay to do this?
Yes,
I have chinese bank accounts, I have wechat, Alipay. But i still conducting business online in China from the U.S with my wechat and Alipay. But the problem is sending money to china. I also signed up for the ecard prepaid union pay card but its not accepted on Alipay. I also added my American cards to Alipay and wechat (both were accepted) but i can not use them to purchase or transfer money. Only my alipay connected to Taobao accepts my American card for payment. My regular Alipay accepted my visa card but will not use it for payment of goods on other chinese sites, it only lets me top up my phone sim.
So now my only problem is to find an easier way to send money to either my alipay or chinese bank accounts from the u.s without having to pay someone else to do it for me.
Hi, Josh…
I’m so grateful to find your site here.
I have some problems with this Alipay.
I do some freelance translation, and they pay me through Alipay, but I don’t know how to wire out the money.
If I transfer to the Chinese friend’s bank account, should I confirm the Bank ID first?
Because right now, my verification just using the Passport ID.
Is there any other way, perhaps?
Hey Josh, is it possible to open Alipay in Thailand through a bank in Thailand?
Theoretically…yes. I’ve never tried it personally, however.
I cancelled an order on aliExpress and I was refunded of $76.8 to alipay account …they charged $15 for International transfer fee to my bank account so the total amount of $61.8 was sent to my account.
“For the refund payment “..Pls, may I know the actual percent for the international transaction like this?
Thank you FOr the information.
If my friend from abroad wants to send money to china via alipay, the process will be the same or it WILl be easier?
Hi! My question is, the Chinese national who will send the money using alipay will pay charges, how about the Receiver, since the money will be transferred to the bank ACCT. Will the receiver also get Charge?
It all depends on the bank and which currency is sent/received.
Hey Josh, great info!
I’m a little confused by some of the comments about folks not being able to send money.
I am an online teacher based in Panama, where I have a bank account. I also have an account in the USA and plan to open one in Ecuador when the quarantine is lifted (since Ecuador uses USD as the official currency, so there is no exchange penalty).
So unlike a lot of folks here, I don’t have money trapped in China, I just need the Chinese parents to be able to pay for the lessons.
The idea is that they could just transfer money from their Alipay accounts to my bank (in Panama, the USA, or Ecuador) to pay for lessons.
Rather than being a huge lump sum, these would likely be monthly payments of maybe 2,500 Yuan each.
Is that likely to be OK, and avoid triggering any issues?
Thanks!
Hey Dave, thing could always change, but that amount isn’t likely to trigger any problems at all. It’s when we’re dealing with 5- and 6-figure sums that things get complicated.
tHANK YOU, jOSH!
bOTH THE PARENTS AND I WILL BE HAPPY TO BE ABLE TO MOVE THE MONEY FOR ONLY $7 PER TRANSACTION.
Thanks for this. i am hoping to do some online teaching to a chinese-based student. do i need to have an alipay account for them to transfer me the money, or can they send it from their alipay account directly to my uk bank account? if i’ve understood correctly i think it’s the latter, but i just wanted to check before i proceed.
They should be able to send it from their Alipay account to your UK bank account.
Dear Josh, my question is receiving money for English lessons from China to Spain. PayPal is holding the money for too long so I’m looking for a less painful way.
I have just downloaded the Alipay app and I was wondering if it is safe to enter my bank account details on the app?
Unfortunately, there’s isn’t a great solution for your problem yet (which, if it makes you feel better, is a problem a LOT of people have shared with me).
You can try using Alipay. I don’t think it’s a huge security risk to add your bank account details, but if it’s a foreign bank, I’m not sure the transfer is going to work well.
Hey Josh,
Thanks for the info… I’m an american who is stranded in the states because of the pandemic, but live and work in China. I have a bank account with Bank of China, and wechat pay, but I don’t have alipay.
Would it make sense to have a Chinese friend of mine there send money through Alipay to my American bank, and then reimburse them through wechat pay? Or is there a way to send to my account here just through wechat pay?… Or could my friend go to my bank branch in China and do a bank to bank wire transfer without myself actually being there? (all funds are legitimate) Sorry for the long question, just kind of lost here and wondering what you might do (looking to send around $4000 USD)
Thanks
Hey Aric, have you every looked at Swapsy as an option?
I am from Nigeria, I have an Alipay account and it has been bond with my chinses friend bank card, is it possible to make a deposit in my Alipay account in China and transfer it to Nigeria bank account?
Hey, I have heard the alipay stopped PROVIDING international money transfers form dec 1, do you know anything about that? Any chances this Service will be working again, and if not is there any other way for a chinese person to send some money From their aCcount to mIne?
Thx
I haven’t heard anything about this, but it’s entirely possible. A Chinese person can always wire money from their bank, but it’s a hassle.
tRUe, no more international service with alipay. I guess the noise of chinese financial sector opening up is just another bs info with a lot of smokescreen.
my client also says that, that she is unable to send money from alipay from dec 2020. i work as a freelancer for her and her business is not registered. what is the status now can anyone update pls ? if alipay is allowing international transfers these days or any news about when it will allow?
if this option is off now, so what u recommend how i can get payment from china ?
International transfErs aRe still Not possible os of mid JuNe 2021. The button exists still on Alipay but Only a note shows up stating that since Dec 2020, this serviCe has been temporarily suspended.
Hello josh
Thank you so much for taking the time to carefully list out the instructions on how to do this. I just want to know a couple of things.
1. If the lockdown of china due to Covid / China INCREASing the expulsion of foreigners has had any reported effects on a FOREIGNER’S ability to send money out of china (iow) have you heard of any changes?
2. How can i provide proof of tax if the situation arises?
Hey Michael, glad it was useful so far. Here’s what I know:
1) I haven’t heard of any changes in the ability to send money out of China. That’s not to say it hasn’t happened, I just haven’t heard of it.
2) For any income you receive, the employer should be able to provide proof of tax payment. For any other income (sale of an asset, etc.), you should be able to go to the tax bureau to get this proof.
Can you transfer money from alipay to say…mastercard?
Thanks!
Not that I know of.
Hello, thank you for your help, i am wondering if alipay is allowing International payments now march 2022? Does anyone know?
So i did this once in the summer of 2022 and it actually ended up being quite easy. Looking at Alipay at the end of 2023, they might have taken away the option to send money internationally. It appears to only give you the option to receive money. This seems to be the case both on my international app and my friend’s Chinese version. It’s funny because my bank actually discouraged me from submitting all the paper work and just to ask a Chinese friend to do it for me. Why do they make it so hard for us :/
I don’t know 🙁