Chunghwa Post announced yesterday that starting next week, people will be able to wire money from post offices in China to post office accounts in Taiwan.
The service was officially launched in December following the agreement reached at the second meeting between Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) Chairman Chiang Pin-kung (江丙坤) and the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait (ARATS) Chairman Chen Yunlin (陳雲林).
However, technical problems between the operating systems of the two sides and an unreliable connection meant that the service was not available to the public.
Both sides completed testing last month and money can be remitted back to Taiwan via the wire or mail transfer service offered in Chinese post offices beginning on Wednesday.
Chunghwa Post started offering wire and mail services to China in 1991. On average, about NT$1.5 billion (US$44 million) is remitted to China annually.
The service is available at 91 post office branches in Taiwan. The exchange between the New Taiwan dollar and the yuan is completed through Citibank in the US, and the exchanged money is then wired to the designated bank in China.
Banks in China notify the intended recipients when the money is delivered to their accounts.
However, Chunghwa Post has yet to begin accepting money wired from China.
Once the new service takes effect, the processing time for the transfers is expected to be shortened, though the exchanges will still be carried out by Citibank.
The allowable amount that can be remitted to China will be capped at US$30,000.
Taiwanese post offices have not set a limit on the amount of money that can be remitted to Taiwan.
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