How to Verify the Bank Account Before Paying a Chinese Supplier

Most China supplier payment frauds do not fail at the quality-control stage. They fail the moment money leaves your account in a direction it was never supposed to go. A supplier can show you a polished storefront, a stamped proforma invoice and a business licence that all look real, and still route your deposit into an account that belongs to a stranger. This guide covers the practical checks to run on the bank account itself, before you pay a single dollar, euro or pound.

The one rule that stops most payment fraud

Pay the exact entity you contracted with, into a bank account opened in that entity's registered name, and verify the name character by character. Almost every classic scam — the 'our other account is frozen' story, the 'pay our Hong Kong subsidiary' story, the 'my cousin will receive it' story — is an attempt to break this rule. If the beneficiary name on the payment instruction does not match the company name on the purchase order, the invoice and the business licence, stop and do not pay.

• The bank account name differs in any way from the company on your contract and licence — even by one character, or a different suffix such as 'Trading Co.' versus 'Industrial Co.'.
• You are asked to pay a third party, a 'sister company', a personal account or an individual, 'for tax reasons' or any other reason.
• The supplier claims their main account is frozen, under audit or 'has a problem' and sends a different account at the last minute.
• The account is in a country or region that has nothing to do with the supplier's registered address.
• The invoice and the proforma invoice show different beneficiary names.

Match the beneficiary name to the business licence

In mainland China, a company's corporate settlement bank account is opened in the company's registered name, which must correspond to the name on its business licence (营业执照) and its unified social credit code. That makes the most reliable cross-check simple: take the registered Chinese company name from the licence and compare it to the beneficiary name your bank will actually pay. Names matter. A company named Shenzhen ABC Technology Co., Ltd. must be paid as that exact entity, not as 'ABC Tech' and not into a person's name. Ask the supplier for the licence and the unified social credit code, and check both on the National Enterprise Credit Information Publicity System (gsxt.gov.cn). If the account name and the registered name are not identical, the money is not going to the company you contracted with.

How to confirm the account really belongs to the company

A proforma invoice that lists a bank account is not proof that the account belongs to the company; anyone can type a name and an account number into a PDF. Try to get independent confirmation through several steps:

1. Ask for bank account confirmation issued in the company's name — a bank-stamped account-opening certificate or a recent bank statement showing the registered company name as the account holder.
2. Send a small test payment first and ask the supplier to confirm receipt in writing from their official company email, matching the account holder name your bank reports.
3. Request the supplier's bank details on company letterhead and cross-check the account holder name with your bank's beneficiary-name matching, which may flag or reject a name mismatch on a cross-border payment.
4. Where possible, ask the supplier to receive payment through a licensed cross-border payment channel that verifies the receiving entity's registration against its licence.

When the supplier asks you to pay someone else

There are a handful of legitimate scenarios where a payment goes to a different entity — a confirmed agent under a written agency arrangement, or a receivable under a formal assignment — but they are the exception, and a genuine supplier will document them. Treat any request to pay a third party or an individual as a red flag to be resolved in writing before payment, not after.

• Get the request in writing from the supplier's official company email, with a clear explanation and a signed, company-stamped document such as an agency agreement or an assignment notice.
• Verify the third party's own registration and its documented connection to your supplier before you send anything.
• Never accept a personal account for a corporate purchase, whatever the 'tax saving' story — corporate trade payments belong in the corporate account.

Cross-border payment channels and their role

How you send the money changes what information you can capture and what recourse you have. A bank SWIFT transfer gives you a full payment record showing the beneficiary name your bank used, which is your strongest paper trail if something goes wrong. Licensed cross-border payment institutions and platforms can add a layer of beneficiary verification and may hold or recall funds during a dispute window, but those protections are contract-based rather than a guarantee — read the specific terms before relying on them. Whatever the channel, record the beneficiary name exactly as instructed and keep every confirmation. Note that account-opening and cross-border payment rules change over time, so confirm the current requirements with the latest official rules and with your own bank.

This content is general information to help you screen a payment before you send it. It is not legal or financial advice, and account-opening and cross-border payment rules change over time — confirm the current requirements with the latest official rules and your own bank. For a specific transaction or dispute, consult a licensed attorney.

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