An honest Chinese couple in Singapore returned an extra SGD $13,400 ($9,700) they received by mistake due to a money changer’s error.

The pair reportedly had their money, amounting to 207,300 yuan, exchanged at the Crante Money Changer at People’s Park Complex on June 3.

However, the attendant at the Chinatown money changer outlet keyed in 273,000 yuan ($30,493) by mistake, converting it into SGD $55,600 ($40,173), instead of SGD $42,200 ($30,491).

According to the Shin Min Daily News (via Straits Times), the man immediately called the money changer after learning about the error once they arrived home.

“I hurriedly called them, and they hadn’t even realized! When I told them about it, they checked their records and thanked us, saying they had run into good people,” he wrote on Chinese social media site WeChat. “My daughter proudly said: ‘No need to thank us, we are Chinese!'”

The couple, who eventually returned the money the following day, were lauded for their honesty.

Huang Suzhen, a part owner of the money changer, revealed that the couple are her regular customers and that the employee who committed the error had more than 20 years of experience in the business.



She shared that the couple’s good deed was highly appreciated by her staff, with one employee even buying the pair some beef jerky as a gift.

Experienced money changers in the area expressed that while it is quite common for customers to return excess money given to them by mistake, returning such a large amount is almost impossible, if not, a rarity.

“Recently there were a few times when customers returned money,” Lang Shean, a 38-year-old money changer at Marina Square’s Silver River Money Changer, told the Straits Times.

“But they were rather small amounts like a few hundred dollars. In general, people are quite honest,” she added.

Feature Image via Flickr: Singapore / Aleksandr Zykov (CC BY-SA 2.0)