China UnionPay – which offers nearly all of the nation’s financial institution playing cards – will restrict annual withdrawals to 100,000 yuan ($16,000) annually, China National Radio (CNR) stated. The…
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For the last three months of this year, the maximum amount of cash that can be withdrawn overseas using a single card will be 50,000 yuan, SAFE said.
Chinese law prohibits individuals from transferring more than $50,000 out of the country per year, but overseas cash withdrawals via bank cards provided a regulatory loophole.
The Chinese government is clamping down on the amount of cash its citizens can withdraw from ATMs overseas, its latest attempt to stop money flooding out of the country.
China’s foreign-exchange regulator placed a new annual cap on cash withdrawals using China UnionPay Co. bank cards, a UnionPay official said Tuesday. According to the administration, the measures were implemented to rein in potential money-laundering activities. The new instructions add to the 10,000 yuan equivalent daily cap per UnionPay cardholder.
The State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE), the foreign exchange regulator, did not immediately comment when contacted by Reuters.
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Earlier this month, SAFE ordered banks to monitor “abnormal” accounts that register frequent cross-border fund transfer.
