Auntie Wang wants to transfer money to her student son. Chen Hao takes her through it, screen by screen, on her phone.
Auntie Wang
小陈，你帮我看看，这个钱怎么转给我儿子？
Xiǎo Chén, nǐ bāng wǒ kànkan, zhè gè qián zěnme zhuǎn gěi wǒ érzi ?
Young Chen, help me look at this: how do I transfer this money to my son?
Chen Hao
王阿姨，您先把手机里的银行打开。
Wáng āyí, nín xiān bǎ shǒujī lǐ de yínháng dǎkāi.
Auntie Wang, first open the bank app on your phone.
Auntie Wang
打开了。下面写着转账两个字。
Dǎkāi le. Xiàmian xiě zhe zhuǎn zhàng liǎng gè zì.
It is open. Down here it says transfer.
Chen Hao
对，就点那儿。然后填他的卡和姓名。
Duì, jiù diǎn nàr. Ránhòu tián tā de kǎ hé xìngmíng.
That is right, tap there. Then fill in his card number and his name.
Auntie Wang
姓名一定要跟卡上的一样吗？
Xìngmíng yīdìng yào gēn kǎ shàng de yīyàng ma ?
Does the name really have to match the one on the card?
Chen Hao
一定。差一个字，钱就转不过去。
Yīdìng. Chà yī gè zì, qián jiù zhuǎn bù guòqu.
Absolutely. One character off and the money will not go through.
Auntie Wang
我想转两千。写在这儿吗？
Wǒ xiǎng zhuǎn liǎngqiān. Xiě zài zhèr ma ?
I want to send two thousand. Do I write it here?
Chen Hao
写在这儿。下面再输一次密码。
Xiě zài zhèr. Xiàmian zài shū yī cì mìmǎ.
Here, yes. Then you enter your PIN once more below.
Auntie Wang
输完了。上面说两个小时以内到。
Shū wán le. Shàngmian shuō liǎng gè xiǎoshí yǐnèi dào.
Done. It says it will arrive within two hours.
Chen Hao
那是因为你们不是同一家银行。同一家的话，一转就到。
Nà shì yīnwèi nǐmen bùshì tóng yī jiā yínháng. Tóng yī jiā de huà, yī zhuǎn jiù dào.
That is because you are not with the same bank. Within one bank it goes through at once.
Auntie Wang
这个办法不但不用出门，而且不收手续费。
Zhè gè bànfǎ bùdàn bùyòng chūmén, érqiě bù shōu shǒu xù fèi.
This way not only saves going out, it costs nothing in fees either.
Chen Hao
是啊。不过按下去之前，一定要把姓名看清楚。
Shì a. Bùguò àn xiàqù zhīqián, yīdìng yào bǎ xìngmíng kàn qīngchu.
It does. But before you press, do check the name carefully.
Between the verb and its direction you slip in 得 or 不: 转得过去 (the money can go through), 转不过去 (it cannot). It is the ordinary way of expressing possibility in spoken Chinese, far commoner than 不能转过去, which sounds bureaucratic. It is built on every complement: 看得清楚, 听不懂, 拿不出来.
差一个字钱就转不过去: Chinese transfers check the payee's name against the card number and refuse at the slightest difference. It is a real protection against mistyping, and the reason why you always ask for someone's full name before their number, never the other way round.
A transfer inside one bank is instant; between two banks it goes through a shared system and can take two hours, longer at night and on public holidays. That is why "which bank?" comes before "how much?" in any conversation about money.
