China to tighten controls on overseas UnionPay cash withdrawals
Xinhua, October 2, 2015 Adjust font size:
China will tighten management of cross-border cash withdrawals by UnionPay bank card holders to prevent money laundering.
Cardholders are advised not to withdraw large amount of cash overseas, said the country's forex regulator, the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE), at a press conference.
On top of the current daily restriction of 10,000 yuan (about 1,570 U.S. dollars), each UnionPay card will have an annual withdrawal limit of 100,000 yuan or its equivalent value in other currencies starting from January 1, 2016, SAFE said.
From Oct.1 to the end of 2015, each card may be used to withdraw no more than 50,000 yuan, SAFE said.
Anyone who violates the restrictions will be added to a watch list and banned from withdrawing any more cash overseas.
Based on recent monitoring results, some overseas UnionPay cardholders have frequently been withdrawing cash in abnormally large amounts, which foreign financial regulatory authorities have warned against, said a spokesperson with SAFE. Endi