#AppArrives asBehind the top
1InstaremCNY 2,666.56Most arrivesBest on today's table. No fee, rate about 0.6 percent below the real one.
2WiseCNY 2,636.56CNY 30.00The real exchange rate and a £5.04 fee. £3.36 behind Instarem.
3RemitlyCNY 2,632.92CNY 33.64£2.99 fee, rate about 0.8 percent below the real one. Almost the same as Wise.
4NatWestCNY 2,619.97CNY 46.59No fee, but a rate about 2.3 percent below the real one. About £5 behind the top.
5Western UnionCNY 2,594.08CNY 72.48£1.99 fee and a rate about 2.6 percent below the real one. About £8 behind the top.
6OFXCNY 2,542.42CNY 124.14£7 fee plus a rate about 2.9 percent below the real one. About £14 behind the top.
What to actually open
If you already have InstaremUse Instarem.On £300 this morning it paid 2,666.56 yuan into a Chinese bank account, with no fee. The rate sits about 0.6 percent below the real exchange rate, the one you see if you search "1 GBP to CNY" on Google. On £300 that is about £1.68 the app keeps in the rate.
If you already use WiseThe gap is small.Wise gives you the real rate and shows its cost as a fee: £5.04 on £300, which is why it came second, £3.36 behind Instarem. Pay Wise by bank transfer. If you pay by debit card, the fee goes up to £5.95 and 2,628.42 yuan arrive instead of 2,636.56.
If you are new to RemitlyIts first transfer to China is cheaper than anything on the table.New customers get a special rate and no fee on the first transfer, up to £750, until 31 December 2026. On £300 paid by bank transfer this morning, that was 2,680.62 yuan. After the first send, the normal price applies: 2,632.92 yuan with a £2.99 fee. Instarem also has a lower first-transfer price: 2,672.16 yuan on £300 on its own site this morning.
Do not use OFX for a £300 send.It charged a £7 fee and gave a rate about 2.9 percent below the real one, so 2,542.42 yuan arrived, about £14 less than Instarem. NatWest charges no fee on this route, but its rate sits about 2.3 percent below the real one. On £300 that is about £6.90 the bank keeps without showing it.
For the whole route in one place, see how to send money to China.
Catches
The name must match. The name you type for the person in China must match the name their bank has on file, in Pinyin (Chinese written in Latin letters). A nickname or a different English spelling can make the transfer come back after a day or two. Ask your relative for the exact spelling before you send.
The prices above are for money paid into a Chinese bank account. Sending to Alipay or WeChat can show a different price. Check the amount on the app's last screen before you pay.
A UK bank sends the money through the old bank-to-bank system. A middle bank, or the bank in China, can take a fee on the way, so less can arrive than the bank's screen shows. It can also take several working days.
Wise's own quote this morning said the money should arrive in seconds after Wise gets your payment. A first send, or a send that Wise checks, can take longer.
Some apps are missing from the table. HSBC, Barclays, Lloyds, Santander UK, Revolut and Monzo did not give a price on the Wise price comparison for China this morning. They are missing, not judged. Xoom showed a rate above the real one, but that price was nearly a day old. A rate that high is almost always a first-transfer offer, so we left it out. If one of these is your usual app, check its amount for £300 before you send.
How we checked
The check ran Friday 23 October 2026, morning UK time. Prices come from the Wise price comparison for £300 to a bank account in China: Wise 04:04 GMT, Remitly 03:40, NatWest 03:30, Instarem 02:34, Western Union 02:20, OFX 02:18. Three other rate sources were within 0.25 percent of Wise's rate. First-transfer offers were checked on each app's own site.
Corrections
None so far. If we get something wrong, the fix is dated here.