LemFi has adjusted its new-account bonus. If you sign up for LemFi with the link below, you can get $30 in LemFi Cash directly. After you register, wait a little bit and it should be credited to your account. This LemFi Cash can be used for cross-border transfers, such as sending money from the U.S. to China. You can only use $5 each time, and the transfer must be over $50 to use it. Since the fee is higher for transfers under $100, it is more cost-effective to send more than $100. Of course, after this change, the bonus can basically cover the fee for about six transfers after signup, so you can use it multiple times.

Notes

  1. If you are not in the U.S., use a good U.S. VPN or U.S. number roaming data to register and verify your identity (a Chinese passport is fine)
  2. Add a debit card to Apple Pay for payment; this can bypass the location verification. You can use someone else’s Apple Pay and card
  3. Important: do not use a virtual number for your phone number (such as Google Voice), otherwise it may affect identity verification and prevent you from sending money! Just use a regular U.S. mobile number
  4. If using a virtual number causes verification to fail and you register a new account, you will need to use a different form of ID for identity verification. For example, a passport, driver’s license, or green card can all be used for verification

In addition to the new-account bonus and everyday remittances, this app can also be used to trigger Direct Deposit requirements for bank account bonuses, which is very useful. Note: do not casually contact customer service to ask about this; just quietly do it~!

About LemFi

LemFi is an app focused on international money transfers. International transfers make it easier for immigrants in different countries to have financial transactions with family and friends in their previous countries, and also make it convenient to move funds under their own name. Currently, the app supports registration by users in the U.S., Canada, and the U.K. It has recently entered the European market and is growing rapidly. Italy, France, Germany, the Netherlands, and Spain can all use it. For U.S. users, the biggest feature of this app is its low fees. For USD-to-CNY transfers, the fee is 5.98 per transfer for amounts over $100, and 6.98 per transfer for amounts under $100. From a fee perspective, using LemFi for larger transfers is the most cost-effective. The first transfer gets a very favorable exchange rate, with no monthly fee or channel fee. If you transfer money to China, it also supports real-time arrival to Alipay and WeChat, as well as many domestic bank accounts in China.

LemFi international transfer page Note that LemFi itself is not a bank; it is a financial platform that provides remittance services. It is a licensed payment company in the U.K. and Canada and is regulated by the U.K. FCA and Canada’s FINTRAC, so reliability should not be an issue.LemFi regulatory information

Signup Bonus

See the beginning of the article for the specific bonus and requirements.

  • LemFi signup link (sign up with this link, or download the app yourself and enter JINGOKDA as the referral code)

On the page after creating your account, if it asks whether you have a referral code, just enter JINGOKDA.

After the change, the bonus is $30 in LemFi Cash. You can use $5 each time on transfers of $50 or more. I still recommend transfers of more than $100, since the fee is $1 lower. Of course, the larger the transfer amount, the lower the fee as a percentage, because it is a fixed fee. For USD-to-CNY transfers, the fee is 5.98 per transfer for amounts over $100, and 6.98 per transfer for amounts under $100. When sending the transfer, just select the option to use LemFi Cash.

Registration and Verification Process

I tried it myself, and the registration process for this app has quite a few steps. You need to verify your identity before you can send money. Personally, I feel that apps with stricter reviews like this tend to last longer, because their new-account bonuses are less likely to be abused. Also, a special reminder: this app verifies your location. If you are currently in mainland China, you will not be able to register, and it will check again later during identity verification.

  • Go to the signup link, enter your phone number to download the app, or search for LemFi directly in the App Store to download it
  • I will not go into detail on filling out your phone and other information. Note that the name must match the ID you will use later for identity verification, otherwise you will not be able to verify later.
  • Enter JINGODKA on the referral code page to activate it
  • Before making a transfer, you need to verify your email and identity
  • First, prepare your ID. In the U.S., a driver’s license, passport, or SSN card can be used. LemFi has now also added Chinese passports as a verification method, which is convenient for international students who do not have an SSN or driver’s license.
  • After uploading your ID, you also need to complete facial verification to confirm your identity.
  • Just follow the steps. There are quite a few of them
  • After completing all the steps, your account will enter review status. If nothing triggers any issues, it usually gets approved within 3 minutes. If it triggers a review, it may take 48 hours. Then you can start sending transfers.

Transfer Steps

As mentioned above, this app is not a bank, so you need to first add funds from your bank to the app, and then send the transfer. Currently, funds can only be added via debit card or Apple Pay linked to a debit card, and only Visa and Mastercard are supported. One thing to mention: if you have a debit card with cash back, that is great. It is like earning extra cash back on your transfer.

  • When adding a card, it will also need to locate you to reduce fraud and card theft. This is the first time I have seen this kind of verification; it is quite detailed. Maybe there is a lot of fraud in international money transfers
  • Then enter the amount and the top-up will be completed
  • Then choose the amount you want to send. Their fees are as follows: for transfers of 100 or more, the fee is a fixed $3 per transaction. For transfers under 100, it is $3.5 per transaction.
  • Choose the payout method. As mentioned earlier, WeChat and Alipay act as collection channels; the money will ultimately go directly into the linked bank account. Of course, you can also choose a bank account directly. If this is your first time receiving an international transfer, you will need to fill in some information in WeChat or Alipay. It will pop up automatically when you receive the transfer; just fill it out truthfully.
  • On the bank side, most major banks are supported.
You can also pay directly in one flow without pre-funding the account.
  • The transfer steps are as follows.
  • The payment steps are as follows.
  • The recipient steps are as follows.

Limits

After registering, if you have not verified your identity yet, your limits are restricted to $1,000 per month. That is still enough for things like sending red envelopes or urgent transfers. If you want to increase the limits, you will need to complete verification. After verification, the limits increase quite a bit, making it viable as a primary remittance option.

  • Up to $4,000 per transaction
  • Up to $8,000 per day
  • Up to $16,000 per week
  • Up to $32,000 per month

Customer Service

LemFi also offers Chinese-language WeChat customer service, which you can access automatically from Help & Support. If the FAQs do not solve your issue, just type “human agent.” In my experience, the response was very fast; if there is a problem, they will quickly escalate it to the technical team and follow up.

Rewards System

LemFi has now launched a rewards system. For international transfers over $20, you can earn reward points. Points can be redeemed on transfers, and gift card redemptions are expected to launch in the future. They are continuing to roll out new promotions, so if you have not registered yet, it may be worth joining soon. Usually, the first round of promotional rewards is the most generous.

The specific points rule is: for transfers over $20, you earn 0.1 point for every $1 transferred. Every 100 points can be redeemed for $1 off a future transfer. For example, if your first transfer is $1,000, you can earn 100 points and redeem $1 off your next transfer. This is equivalent to an additional 0.1% exchange-rate reward.

Exchange Rate Promotion

LemFi currently has a new long-term promotion: you can get a better exchange rate when sending money to a bank card. They may also continue launching new promotional campaigns later. LemFi bank card exchange rate promotion poster

Useful Tricks

I recently took a closer look at how to use LemFi, and it is actually pretty interesting. Here are some useful tricks I found:

  • Funding with a debit card under a different name: I opened an account for a family member, then added my own debit card to that person’s Apple Pay, and it could be used to fund the account normally. It seems LemFi does not check whether the name on the payment account’s Apple Pay matches the actual LemFi account name. If you have an extra device and phone number, you could also set up an account for a family member and get the $50 reward.
  • Meeting debit card transaction requirements: LemFi lets you add funds with a debit card and then send money. You can also transfer it back to a bank, which I will discuss below. So it can be used directly to meet debit card transaction count requirements from some banks, all within the app. You can do it by adding the debit card directly to the account or by adding the debit card to Apple Pay.
  • Using U.S.-to-U.S. transfers as a pseudo direct deposit: In addition to sending USD directly to China, LemFi has a hidden use case: USD-to-USD transfers. Just choose USD for both sending and receiving. This lets you transfer USD or cash-back rewards directly into a U.S. checking or savings account. I tested it, and it was counted as a direct deposit. There are also online data points of people using this method to meet direct deposit requirements for BMO and Chime. Even better, for this transfer you can enter any recipient name; it does not need to match your LemFi name. So you can help family members who do not have bank accounts meet direct deposit requirements. Detailed introduction

Summary

Their biggest advantage is that the remittance fees are clear and straightforward, and the account-opening bonus is also very good. In addition, the app’s security and user experience are quite nice, and they also provide Chinese-language customer service. Personally, I think it works well as a main app for everyday transfers. For a comparison with other remittance platforms, see the table below.

Comparison of International Money Transfer Platforms

Platform Delivery Time Fees Receiving Method Limits Quick Take Sign-Up Bonus
LemFi Instant $5.98 for transfers over $100, $6.98 for transfers below $100 Alipay, WeChat, UnionPay card Up to $4,000 per transfer

Up to $8,000 per day

 High security, Chinese-language customer service, generous sign-up bonus Get $30
Remitly Instant to 4 business days None (under $1,000, $2.99 per transfer) Alipay, WeChat, UnionPay card $2,999/day, $10,000/month, can be increased Fast delivery, no ID verification required, exchange rate is average Get $10
Panda Remit Instant to 3 business days ACH $2.99-$6.99, Debit 0.8% Alipay, WeChat, UnionPay card $3,000/transfer, $9,000/day Good exchange rates, very low overall fees, user-friendly interface, smooth experience, solid Chinese-language support First transfer fee waived + better exchange rate
Western Union Instant to 4 business days $0-$2.99 per transfer Alipay, UnionPay card $2,500 or $7,000/transfer Fast delivery, currently no fee for Alipay transfers, exchange rate is average Get a $20 Amazon gift card
Wise 1 hour to 2 business days Debit ($1.27+2.20%), ACH ($1.27+1.22%), Wire ($5.41+1.06%) Alipay, UnionPay card ¥31,000 or ¥50,000/transfer, $10,000/day Comprehensive features, supports many currencies, transparent fees Get $600 in fee-free transfers

Registration Link

Register with the exclusive promo code JINGOKDA and get $30 LemFi Cash directly.

  • LemFi registration link (register using this link, or download the app yourself and enter JINGOKDA as the referral code)