SwapsyReviews of swapsy.com

First time user, swapped super quick, took less than 2 hours to finish. 10 out of 5 stars

Easy to use, fast transaction.

First time using, had some setup issues but promptly resolved. The supply of zelle swaps was a little lacking, but once I found an amount I liked, within 24hr, the process was quick.

Works exactly as advertised every time, as an expat living in China this has changed my life. Have recommended to all my expat friends

very easy and fast . Love this product and service.

good service

Five star service, I used it many times in the past, always smooth transactions.

I've been using Swapsy for around 4 years. As background information, probably obvious for anyone even checking out Swapsy in the first place, everyone knows that the process of moving money out of China is a properly medieval experience, involving tons of documents, unhelpful bank staff who frequently have no idea what they're doing, and a language barrier that will get in the way unless you're proficiently bilingual. Before using Swapsy, I was having my folks help me withdraw from the ATM as the rate is quite decent, but there is a daily limit and an annual limit and not all ATMs will take a UnionPay bank card (though that's better now). Now, I just negotiate the swap with someone else who needs an exchange in the opposite direction. I send RMB using local payments (Alipay or WeChat) to the recipient, and they use payments local to me (Zelle or PayPal) to send dollars. In this sense, it is akin to buying foreign currency as opposed to exchanging it. The fees do hurt, as they usually hover around 2.2-2.3% (they fluctuate). Swap credits must be pre-purchased before making the trade; they are used to pay the fees. You will not be warned if you have an insufficient balance to make an exchange, though you can use a credit card to instantly top-up. There is a limited window to complete the exchange, hence it would be nice if the top-up system could be slightly streamlined once you've already initiated the exchange. Also, previously it was better to purchase Swap credits in that you could use Alipay or WeChat; that's no longer available. As for the actual experience, I do have to say that it has never not made me nervous, honestly. It's P2P, and there is no escrow system, so each party is relying on the other to hold up their end of the bargain. I often send more than $1,000 USD at a time, so I do worry sometimes that I won't see that. Swapsy says they guarantee your swap, and although I have yet to need their help, neither have I heard of anyone going through that process, so I do not know how easy or difficult it is nor how quick. Swaps themselves can happen same-day or take days depending on the expedience of the recipient party. There used to be an option to spend more Swap credits to get a faster exchange, which I never tried as the fees were quadrupled. I also did not understand how exactly that worked and never saw documentation about it. I hold multiple Zelle wallets, so it would be nice if I could use different accounts without having to change my phone number to email or vice-versa in my personal information. Overall, it's not the best possible way to have an exchange between yuan and dollars, but given what we all know about how Chinese financial laws are like, and the burden of international wire prerequisites, it's the best we've got, especially for US dollars. I do recommend it, and although I said I was nervous, I've never actually had any problems with it this whole time.