Question About Bank Transfers from Canada to China

E41604

E41604

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Hi all,

For anyone who has wired money to China from Canada or the U.S., I have a question: should it normally take a whole week for the recipient to receive the funds?

I just made my first grey purchase with a supplier that has strong reviews, and I paid exactly one week ago. I’ve been told the money still hasn’t reached them. I want to assume they’re acting in good faith before I ask my bank to check, because I don’t want to begin a formal investigation too early.

I’d be very grateful to hear from anyone with a similar story.

And yes, I realize crypto is likely the better option, but I’m dealing with each new thing as it comes. Eventually, I’ll get there too! 🙂

Thank you all, and enjoy the rest of your day!
 
Has your bank given you an answer?

Assuming they ran it as a wire, that's about as instant as it gets, though it can stretch to a day when the bank hand-checks outgoing wires for fraud.
 
Even a single wrong digit in their account number can create a complete mess, no matter how accurate every other piece of information you provide about the company is.

In addition, did the seller send any last-minute changes to the account number? If that is the case, the change might have originated with another person. In home-sale escrow wires, this occurs often enough that warnings are given each time you send one.
 
Moving money between countries is a huge hassle.

Going from the US to CN in 5 days is typical. I'm not Canadian myself, but I have relatives by marriage in Ontario, and as far as I can tell, the laws up there (plus how fast things get processed) are a lot like ours.

Even so, once you're at the 5 day mark, it's still worth getting in touch with the bank. Start pushing things along and see whether they can spot anything. One time a draft I sent from the US to Canada sat there for days over an encoding mistake -- $4000 went through as $400!

Wishing you the best,
 
I appreciate everyone who responded.

From the responses, a three-to-six-business-day window for an international wire sounds fairly typical, and we are currently only on business day five. As I understand it, the payment went via SWIFT and might pass through a correspondent or intermediary institution in New York prior to arriving at the intended bank in China.

That does not mean, in my view, that the money is definitely being handled twice; still, the involvement of more banks and compliance screening can stretch out the timeline.

I am doing my best to remain optimistic. This vendor posts frequently on the forum and has gotten many favorable reviews from real buyers, so I hope my concern is just paranoia.

I haven’t reached out to my bank yet since I planned to wait for six full business days to elapse. Tomorrow morning I will get in touch and ask if they can offer any further details.

It would be great if the vendor gives an update before I need to contact my bank.

I am clearly not trying to bring unwanted attention to the transaction.
 
E41604 said:

I appreciate everyone who responded.

From the responses, a three-to-six-business-day window for an international wire sounds fairly typical, and we are currently only on business day five. As I understand it, the payment went via SWIFT and might pass through a correspondent or intermediary institution in New York prior to arriving at the intended bank in China.

That does not mean, in my view, that the money is definitely being handled twice; still, the involvement of more banks and compliance screening can stretch out the timeline.

I am doing my best to remain optimistic. This vendor posts frequently on the forum and has gotten many favorable reviews from real buyers, so I hope my concern is just paranoia.

I haven’t reached out to my bank yet since I planned to wait for six full business days to elapse. Tomorrow morning I will get in touch and ask if they can offer any further details.

It would be great if the vendor gives an update before I need to contact my bank.

I am clearly not trying to bring unwanted attention to the transaction.
Click to expand...
Nope.

That is not standard in the slightest.

For roughly 90% of cases, SWIFT wires qualify as "instant"—typically finished in about an hour—even if an intermediary bank is involved. When a delay does happen, it usually lasts at most 24 hours.

Contact your bank right away and ask for a copy of the MT103.
 
on2jinm said:

Even a single wrong digit in their account number can create a complete mess, no matter how accurate every other piece of information you provide about the company is.

In addition, did the seller send any last-minute changes to the account number? If that is the case, the change might have originated with another person. In home-sale escrow wires, this occurs often enough that warnings are given each time you send one.
Click to expand...
Nothing was altered at the last minute. Every account detail was input perfectly.🤷‍♂️
 
ZippityDooDah said:

E41604 said:

I appreciate everyone who responded.

From the responses, a three-to-six-business-day window for an international wire sounds fairly typical, and we are currently only on business day five. As I understand it, the payment went via SWIFT and might pass through a correspondent or intermediary institution in New York prior to arriving at the intended bank in China.

That does not mean, in my view, that the money is definitely being handled twice; still, the involvement of more banks and compliance screening can stretch out the timeline.

I am doing my best to remain optimistic. This vendor posts frequently on the forum and has gotten many favorable reviews from real buyers, so I hope my concern is just paranoia.

I haven’t reached out to my bank yet since I planned to wait for six full business days to elapse. Tomorrow morning I will get in touch and ask if they can offer any further details.

It would be great if the vendor gives an update before I need to contact my bank.

I am clearly not trying to bring unwanted attention to the transaction.
Click to expand...
Nope.

That is not standard in the slightest.

For roughly 90% of cases, SWIFT wires qualify as "instant"—typically finished in about an hour—even if an intermediary bank is involved. When a delay does happen, it usually lasts at most 24 hours.

Contact your bank right away and ask for a copy of the MT103.
Click to expand...
Thanks for reaching out!

I rang my bank a short while ago. According to them, an international SWIFT transfer may need as many as five complete business days before it finishes. Their instruction was to get back in touch after that window if the money hasn't arrived, at which point they can look into it further.

Since today marks business day five, I'll visit the bank tomorrow and ask for the MT103 copy if the vendor hasn't contacted me by this evening.
 
E41604 said:

ZippityDooDah said:

E41604 said:

I appreciate everyone who responded.

From the responses, a three-to-six-business-day window for an international wire sounds fairly typical, and we are currently only on business day five. As I understand it, the payment went via SWIFT and might pass through a correspondent or intermediary institution in New York prior to arriving at the intended bank in China.

That does not mean, in my view, that the money is definitely being handled twice; still, the involvement of more banks and compliance screening can stretch out the timeline.

I am doing my best to remain optimistic. This vendor posts frequently on the forum and has gotten many favorable reviews from real buyers, so I hope my concern is just paranoia.

I haven’t reached out to my bank yet since I planned to wait for six full business days to elapse. Tomorrow morning I will get in touch and ask if they can offer any further details.

It would be great if the vendor gives an update before I need to contact my bank.

I am clearly not trying to bring unwanted attention to the transaction.
Click to expand...
Nope.

That is not standard in the slightest.

For roughly 90% of cases, SWIFT wires qualify as "instant"—typically finished in about an hour—even if an intermediary bank is involved. When a delay does happen, it usually lasts at most 24 hours.

Contact your bank right away and ask for a copy of the MT103.
Click to expand...
Thanks for reaching out!

I rang my bank a short while ago. According to them, an international SWIFT transfer may need as many as five complete business days before it finishes. Their instruction was to get back in touch after that window if the money hasn't arrived, at which point they can look into it further.

Since today marks business day five, I'll visit the bank tomorrow and ask for the MT103 copy if the vendor hasn't contacted me by this evening.
Click to expand...
Which bank is this? My hunch points to TD, Scotiabank, or perhaps a smaller regional/local institution; from what I know, CIBC and RBC transfers to China clear in minutes. I have a friend who is a VP at BMO, and he advised me never to keep an account there 🤣, so I have no firsthand experience sending wires with that bank.
 
ZippityDooDah said:

E41604 said:

ZippityDooDah said:

E41604 said:

I appreciate everyone who responded.

From the responses, a three-to-six-business-day window for an international wire sounds fairly typical, and we are currently only on business day five. As I understand it, the payment went via SWIFT and might pass through a correspondent or intermediary institution in New York prior to arriving at the intended bank in China.

That does not mean, in my view, that the money is definitely being handled twice; still, the involvement of more banks and compliance screening can stretch out the timeline.

I am doing my best to remain optimistic. This vendor posts frequently on the forum and has gotten many favorable reviews from real buyers, so I hope my concern is just paranoia.

I haven’t reached out to my bank yet since I planned to wait for six full business days to elapse. Tomorrow morning I will get in touch and ask if they can offer any further details.

It would be great if the vendor gives an update before I need to contact my bank.

I am clearly not trying to bring unwanted attention to the transaction.
Click to expand...
Nope.

That is not standard in the slightest.

For roughly 90% of cases, SWIFT wires qualify as "instant"—typically finished in about an hour—even if an intermediary bank is involved. When a delay does happen, it usually lasts at most 24 hours.

Contact your bank right away and ask for a copy of the MT103.
Click to expand...
Thanks for reaching out!

I rang my bank a short while ago. According to them, an international SWIFT transfer may need as many as five complete business days before it finishes. Their instruction was to get back in touch after that window if the money hasn't arrived, at which point they can look into it further.

Since today marks business day five, I'll visit the bank tomorrow and ask for the MT103 copy if the vendor hasn't contacted me by this evening.
Click to expand...
Which bank is this? My hunch points to TD, Scotiabank, or perhaps a smaller regional/local institution; from what I know, CIBC and RBC transfers to China clear in minutes. I have a friend who is a VP at BMO, and he advised me never to keep an account there 🤣, so I have no firsthand experience sending wires with that bank.
Click to expand...

Your guess is correct! Scotia... it's got me on edge.
 
My decades in international business have shown me that transfers can land anywhere from immediately to a full week. A certain regularity appears: recurring payments to the same person generally clear in minutes, whereas transfers from Europe to the USA never finish in less than two working days, despite that being longer than it ought to take.

I’m not sure why. Even inside the EU, when I send a SWIFT transfer between two countries, one direction takes a day and the reverse takes only seconds.

Prior to SWIFT—or really IBAN—the explanation I got was that banks do it to capture every possible cent from your funds as interest.
 
E41604 said:

ZippityDooDah said:

E41604 said:

ZippityDooDah said:

E41604 said:

I appreciate everyone who responded.

From the responses, a three-to-six-business-day window for an international wire sounds fairly typical, and we are currently only on business day five. As I understand it, the payment went via SWIFT and might pass through a correspondent or intermediary institution in New York prior to arriving at the intended bank in China.

That does not mean, in my view, that the money is definitely being handled twice; still, the involvement of more banks and compliance screening can stretch out the timeline.

I am doing my best to remain optimistic. This vendor posts frequently on the forum and has gotten many favorable reviews from real buyers, so I hope my concern is just paranoia.

I haven’t reached out to my bank yet since I planned to wait for six full business days to elapse. Tomorrow morning I will get in touch and ask if they can offer any further details.

It would be great if the vendor gives an update before I need to contact my bank.

I am clearly not trying to bring unwanted attention to the transaction.
Click to expand...
Nope.

That is not standard in the slightest.

For roughly 90% of cases, SWIFT wires qualify as "instant"—typically finished in about an hour—even if an intermediary bank is involved. When a delay does happen, it usually lasts at most 24 hours.

Contact your bank right away and ask for a copy of the MT103.
Click to expand...
Thanks for reaching out!

I rang my bank a short while ago. According to them, an international SWIFT transfer may need as many as five complete business days before it finishes. Their instruction was to get back in touch after that window if the money hasn't arrived, at which point they can look into it further.

Since today marks business day five, I'll visit the bank tomorrow and ask for the MT103 copy if the vendor hasn't contacted me by this evening.
Click to expand...
Which bank is this? My hunch points to TD, Scotiabank, or perhaps a smaller regional/local institution; from what I know, CIBC and RBC transfers to China clear in minutes. I have a friend who is a VP at BMO, and he advised me never to keep an account there 🤣, so I have no firsthand experience sending wires with that bank.
Click to expand...

Your guess is correct! Scotia... it's got me on edge.
Click to expand...
That wasn’t my intention, though I’d strongly suggest reaching out to them to determine what’s happening.
 
E41604 said:

Hi all,

For anyone who has wired money to China from Canada or the U.S., I have a question: should it normally take a whole week for the recipient to receive the funds?

I just made my first grey purchase with a supplier that has strong reviews, and I paid exactly one week ago. I’ve been told the money still hasn’t reached them. I want to assume they’re acting in good faith before I ask my bank to check, because I don’t want to begin a formal investigation too early.

I’d be very grateful to hear from anyone with a similar story.

And yes, I realize crypto is likely the better option, but I’m dealing with each new thing as it comes. Eventually, I’ll get there too! 🙂

Thank you all, and enjoy the rest of your day!
Click to expand...

Until I made a gray market purchase, I'd never tried crypto—and I'm a boomer. If I could get the hang of it, then anyone can. With the resources available here and elsewhere, you'll work it out.
 
ZippityDooDah said:

E41604 said:

ZippityDooDah said:

E41604 said:

ZippityDooDah said:

E41604 said:

I appreciate everyone who responded.

From the responses, a three-to-six-business-day window for an international wire sounds fairly typical, and we are currently only on business day five. As I understand it, the payment went via SWIFT and might pass through a correspondent or intermediary institution in New York prior to arriving at the intended bank in China.

That does not mean, in my view, that the money is definitely being handled twice; still, the involvement of more banks and compliance screening can stretch out the timeline.

I am doing my best to remain optimistic. This vendor posts frequently on the forum and has gotten many favorable reviews from real buyers, so I hope my concern is just paranoia.

I haven’t reached out to my bank yet since I planned to wait for six full business days to elapse. Tomorrow morning I will get in touch and ask if they can offer any further details.

It would be great if the vendor gives an update before I need to contact my bank.

I am clearly not trying to bring unwanted attention to the transaction.
Click to expand...
Nope.

That is not standard in the slightest.

For roughly 90% of cases, SWIFT wires qualify as "instant"—typically finished in about an hour—even if an intermediary bank is involved. When a delay does happen, it usually lasts at most 24 hours.

Contact your bank right away and ask for a copy of the MT103.
Click to expand...
Thanks for reaching out!

I rang my bank a short while ago. According to them, an international SWIFT transfer may need as many as five complete business days before it finishes. Their instruction was to get back in touch after that window if the money hasn't arrived, at which point they can look into it further.

Since today marks business day five, I'll visit the bank tomorrow and ask for the MT103 copy if the vendor hasn't contacted me by this evening.
Click to expand...
Which bank is this? My hunch points to TD, Scotiabank, or perhaps a smaller regional/local institution; from what I know, CIBC and RBC transfers to China clear in minutes. I have a friend who is a VP at BMO, and he advised me never to keep an account there 🤣, so I have no firsthand experience sending wires with that bank.
Click to expand...

Your guess is correct! Scotia... it's got me on edge.
Click to expand...
That wasn’t my intention, though I’d strongly suggest reaching out to them to determine what’s happening.
Click to expand...
Yes, yesterday I made an inquiry, and today they said the money is being sent back because the account details were wrong.

After checking five times, everything looked correct, but even so, I opened a crypto account, made a $5 test transfer, and then bought all the kits again.

The vendor already confirmed that the funds arrived and everything will ship tomorrow. It is UNREAL how simple it was to open an account and transfer the money!

I really value this community and every response I received. This is awesome!
 
professorpeppy said:

near enough instant, though that's from the UK.

something worth chasing up, a day at the outside surely - not a whole week.
Click to expand...
Yeah... Obviously—I won't be sending bank wires ever again.....😆
 
ZippityDooDah said:

E41604 said:

ZippityDooDah said:

E41604 said:

I appreciate everyone who responded.

From the responses, a three-to-six-business-day window for an international wire sounds fairly typical, and we are currently only on business day five. As I understand it, the payment went via SWIFT and might pass through a correspondent or intermediary institution in New York prior to arriving at the intended bank in China.

That does not mean, in my view, that the money is definitely being handled twice; still, the involvement of more banks and compliance screening can stretch out the timeline.

I am doing my best to remain optimistic. This vendor posts frequently on the forum and has gotten many favorable reviews from real buyers, so I hope my concern is just paranoia.

I haven’t reached out to my bank yet since I planned to wait for six full business days to elapse. Tomorrow morning I will get in touch and ask if they can offer any further details.

It would be great if the vendor gives an update before I need to contact my bank.

I am clearly not trying to bring unwanted attention to the transaction.
Click to expand...
Nope.

That is not standard in the slightest.

For roughly 90% of cases, SWIFT wires qualify as "instant"—typically finished in about an hour—even if an intermediary bank is involved. When a delay does happen, it usually lasts at most 24 hours.

Contact your bank right away and ask for a copy of the MT103.
Click to expand...
Thanks for reaching out!

I rang my bank a short while ago. According to them, an international SWIFT transfer may need as many as five complete business days before it finishes. Their instruction was to get back in touch after that window if the money hasn't arrived, at which point they can look into it further.

Since today marks business day five, I'll visit the bank tomorrow and ask for the MT103 copy if the vendor hasn't contacted me by this evening.
Click to expand...
Which bank is this? My hunch points to TD, Scotiabank, or perhaps a smaller regional/local institution; from what I know, CIBC and RBC transfers to China clear in minutes. I have a friend who is a VP at BMO, and he advised me never to keep an account there 🤣, so I have no firsthand experience sending wires with that bank.
Click to expand...
I have friends who are familiar with US Bank in the U.S. They refer to it as US Bank of India. From what they say, the bank has been hollowed out, and every position that could be outsourced has been—not only IT jobs. They also advise against banking there.
 
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