Is it illegal to freeze a bank card for foreign trade payment? What should I do if it is frozen?

When doing foreign trade, you need to understand the payment methods. There are eight payment methods for foreign trade, the most commonly used are PayPal, Payoneer, wire transfer and credit card payment. Is it illegal to freeze the bank card for foreign trade payment?

Possibly involving illegal issues

1. What should I do if my bank card for foreign trade is frozen?

When a foreign trade enterprise's bank card for receiving customer payments is frozen, it can wait for 72 hours. If the bank card is not unfrozen after 72 hours, the person in charge of the foreign trade enterprise needs to go to the relevant banking institution to inquire about the reason why the bank card is frozen, and consult the public security agency that issued the freezing notice to the bank. Actively cooperate with the police investigation. After the police handle the relevant cases, if it is determined that the cardholder's account does not involve any illegal issues, they will notify the bank to unfreeze the bank card.

Legal basis: Article 232 of the Provisions on the Procedures for Handling Criminal Cases by Public Security Organs

When a higher-level public security organ discovers that a lower-level public security organ has made an error in freezing or unfreezing deposits or remittances, it may make a decision in accordance with the law and order the lower-level public security organ to make corrections within a time limit, and the lower-level public security organ shall immediately execute the order. If the lower-level public security organ refuses to make corrections, the higher-level public security organ may directly issue a legal document to the relevant bank or other financial institution to correct the erroneous decision made by the lower-level public security organ and notify the public security organ that originally made the decision.

2. Why are foreign trade bank cards frozen?

As the name suggests, foreign trade enterprises conduct trade with foreign countries. Because the currencies used by different countries are different, foreign trade enterprises often do not have import and export rights when conducting foreign trade activities, or the factory is unable to provide relevant invoices.

Therefore, foreign trade enterprises will choose to pay for export as a last resort. However, the relevant laws in China stipulate that underground banks involved in paying for export are illegal institutions.

Therefore, many foreign trade companies often fail to judge whether their agents are transferring funds through illegal institutions such as underground banks, which often leads to the situation of foreign trade personnel's bank accounts being compromised.

In general, if your foreign trade payment bank card is frozen, it may be that your bank card account is suspected of being involved in a fraud incident. If the public security agency determines that your account is not involved in any illegal issues, your account will be unfrozen.