About Western Union

Western Union is one of the world’s leading international money transfer companies. It has been around for 150 years and operates one of the largest and most advanced electronic money transfer networks in the world, with agent locations across nearly 200 countries and regions. Western Union was a subsidiary of First Data Corporation (FDC), a Fortune 500 company in the United States.

In China, Western Union partners with many banks, including China Everbright Bank, Postal Savings Bank of China, China Construction Bank, Zhejiang Chouzhou Commercial Bank, Jilin Bank, Harbin Bank, Fujian Strait Bank, Yantai Bank, Longjiang Bank, Bank of Wenzhou, Huishang Bank, and SPD Bank. It also now supports receiving funds via Alipay, which is especially convenient. The company has been handling U.S.-China remittance services for many years and remains a solid option.

Western Union charges relatively high fees for small domestic transfers within the U.S., so it is probably not worth considering for that use case. But pricing for transfers from the U.S. to China is fairly good, with fees of just $1.99/$2.99 per transfer. Transfers to Alipay currently appear to be fee-free, which is pretty attractive.

Signup and Referral Link

If you sign up for Western Union through a referral link, new users who send $100+ within 30 days, either domestically within the U.S. or internationally, can receive a $20 Amazon gift card. Transfers to Alipay in China currently appear to have no fee and can arrive instantly, making this a potentially no-cost way to earn the signup bonus.

  • After you fill out and submit your information, you will receive an email. Enter the 4-digit code to complete registration.
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  • Once you complete the required $100 transfer, you will receive the $20 Amazon gift card.
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  • Based on reader reports, the transfer arrived instantly, and the $20 Amazon gift card also arrived instantly.

How to Transfer Money from the U.S. to Alipay in China

Western Union side

  • Select Send Money to begin the transfer. Choose China as the destination, send from a checking account, and choose Alipay as the receiving method. You can see that there is no fee at the moment, though this may only be a limited-time promotion.
  • Enter the recipient’s information
    • Make sure the name is entered correctly: First Name is the given name, and Last Name is the family name. For example, for Zhang San, the First Name should be SAN and the Last Name should be ZHANG.
    • The address may not matter much, but it is still best to enter it correctly in pinyin.
    • Be sure to enter the phone number linked to the recipient’s Alipay account correctly. If you are not sure what number is linked, you can find it in the personal information section of Alipay.
    • There are two options for the purpose of payment: living expenses or salary. It is recommended to select living expenses.
  • You can choose from many banks for payment: BOACHASECITIDISCOVER and most other commonly used banks are available. After selecting one, you may need to log in to your bank for verification through a third-party interface, which is generally safe. You can also enter your checking account and routing number manually, though that will likely require trial deposite verification and take several days.
  • After entering everything, you will see a summary page. Double-check all the information carefully.
  • On the payment page, select the corresponding bank. You may need to log in again to verify through your bank if it was previously added.
  • Complete the transfer. It may take a little while before the WU debit shows up in your sending bank account. In this example, $100 was deducted and there was no fee.
  • The official estimate is 0-4 business days, but this transfer arrived instantly for me.

Alipay receiving side

You can send the money either to your own Alipay account or to someone else’s.

  • If you previously enabled Alipay’s fast remittance feature, the funds will be deposited directly into the bank account you set up. You will receive a text message asking you to set the receiving bank account (a bank card linked to Alipay).
  • Click the provided link to set the receiving card. You can choose any bank card in your Alipay account. The incoming funds are already converted into RMB, so the card does not need to support foreign currency.
  • After setup is complete, the receiving page will appear, and the transfer should succeed within seconds.
  • You can then check the receiving bank card and see that the money has arrived. The source will show as MYbank, which is the bank Alipay uses for transfers.

Sending Money from the U.S. to Chinese Bank Accounts

Sending money to a bank account in China is also straightforward. Major banks such as Bank of China, ICBC, and Agricultural Bank of China are supported. Some regional banks in cities with larger populations working abroad are also supported. Just search online using the bank’s English name to check availability.

When sending to a bank account, in addition to the recipient’s information, you also need to enter the bank card number.

Domestic U.S. Transfers

If you cannot find an Alipay recipient and still want to earn this signup bonus, the only option may be sending from one U.S. account to another. But sending $100 costs $14 in fees, which does not seem worthwhile.

My WU Rewards

Western Union also has a rewards system called My WU Rewards. For every $1 in fees you pay on a transfer, you earn 1 WU point. Points can be redeemed for discount vouchers that can offset future transfer fees. For example, 25 points can be redeemed for a $2.5 fee discount. That is roughly a 10% rebate on transfer fees.

Things to Know

Fees

Western Union’s base fees for sending money from the U.S. to China depend on both the funding method and the receiving method. Here is a summary:

  • Funded by U.S. bank account, received by Chinese bank account: $2.99 per transfer, currently 0
  • Funded by U.S. bank account, received by Alipay: $1.99 per transfer, currently 0
  • Funded by U.S. Debit card, received by Chinese bank account: $2.99 per transfer
  • Funded by U.S. Debit card, received by Alipay: $1.99 per transfer

You can also use a U.S. credit card as the funding source, but the fee is very high, and credit cards can trigger expensive cash advance charges, with no rewards either. Using a credit card to fund a money transfer is strongly discouraged. Cash pickup is also available in China, but the fees are high, and very few people in China use cash these days, so it is also strongly not recommended.

Also, domestic U.S. transfer fees are especially bad, so do not choose that option unless you really have to.

Transfer limits

Based on testing, the limit for sending to Alipay is $2,500 per transfer, while the limit for sending to a bank account is $7,000 per transfer. It is not clear whether the limit increases automatically after identity verification or longer account history.

Exchange rate comparison

Besides fees, exchange-rate spread is another cost to consider. The exchange rate shown on the transfer page was 6.3384, while Google’s rate at the time was 6.4. The exchange-rate loss was about 0.1%, which is acceptable.

Google’s rate at the time was 6.4.

Other

  • If you do not use the link above and instead register directly on the official Western Union website, you may not receive the $20 bonus. Follow the steps above to be safe.
  • It is still unclear whether entering a different promo code would affect eligibility for the $20 bonus. If you have tried it, feel free to report back.

Signup Link