Never lend your bank cards, SIM cards, or payment accounts to anyone — “money laundering” is not a side hustle
Renting, lending, or selling bank cards, SIM cards, and payment accounts to others is illegal in itself. Illegal gains are confiscated, and additional fines range from 1 to 10 times the illegal gains; if there are no illegal gains or they are below 20000 yuan, the maximum fine is 200,000 yuan, and serious cases may result in detention of up to 15 days. If you knowingly assist someone in receiving or transferring money for criminal activities, in serious circumstances it constitutes the crime of assisting information network criminal activities, punishable by up to 3 years in prison.
Zero. Some people claim “just lend your card for a few tra…
Renting, lending, or buying and selling telephone cards, bank accounts, payment accounts, and internet account…
Zero. Some people claim “just lend your card for a few transactions and you’ll get a few hundred yuan” — just say no.
Renting, lending, or buying and selling telephone cards, bank accounts, payment accounts, and internet accounts is illegal in itself. Illegal gains will be confiscated, and a fine of 1 to 10 times the illegal gains will be imposed. Where there are no illegal gains or they are below 20000 yuan, a maximum fine of 200,000 yuan will be imposed. For serious circumstances, detention of up to 15 days may be imposed. Additionally, it may be recorded in credit records, account functions may be restricted, and non-counter services may be suspended (meaning transactions can only be handled at a bank counter). Providing assistance such as payment and settlement while knowing that others are using the network to commit crimes constitutes a crime in serious circumstances. The charge is the crime of assisting information network criminal activities (referred to as the 'Bangxin' crime), punishable by up to 3 years in prison and a fine (applicable in China).
全国人大常委会 (2022). 反电信网络诈骗法（第三十一、四十四条）. https://www.spp.gov.cn/spp/fl/202209/t20220902_575631.shtml；全国人大常委会 (2015). 刑法修正案（九）（第二十九条，即刑法第二百八十七条之二）. https://www.spp.gov.cn/spp/fl/201802/t20180205_364562.shtml
Open source linkClaiming “I had no idea what the other person intended to do with my cards” won’t protect you. Law enforcement determines intent based on external circumstances: receiving payment for lending cards or unusually large transaction volumes can be used as evidence of awareness. Even if you ultimately aren’t convicted, accounts used to receive illicit funds get frozen and you face other penalties. Doing someone else’s real-name verification by face scan or by reading verification codes carries the same penalties; see item 45 (help with a face scan).