Planning to use TransferWise for 800/400K? Beware!

[mngmn]

I have had a TransferWise Borderless Account. For the past six months I have been receiving my UK pension and dividends from UK shares into that account with no problems.

 

Then suddenly, three weeks ago, Transferwise rejected one of my dividend payments of £600.

 

TransferWise's support left much to be desired and basically consisted of trying to shunt the blame elsewhere.

 

The dividend payment was sent again and after three weeks I finally received it, converted to THB and transferred it to my Bangkok Bank. This is a process I have repeated many times so the account number etc are all correct.

 

This morning I wake up to find that the transfer has been rejected and is now sitting in limbo on Transferwise's system.

 

I used to be a real fan of Transferwise but now shudder at the thought of risking 800K using their service.

 

Please, I know many of you have personally used TransferWise with no problems. It is pointless to post your good experience as I also had a great experience in the past. My motive in posting this is to warn that all may not be what it seems at TransferWise.

[Puchaiyank]

When you discover the problem with this transfer...it may not be Transferwise at all.  Please do keep us informed.

[Moonlover]

Are you having the money sent to a Borderless Account in your name or to TransferWise's general receiving account number *****493? It makes a difference.

[glegolo]

How flat a panncake is - there is still two sides of it...

 

glegolo

[Chivas]

I wouldnt be sending 800k via transferwise in the first place with their rising level of fees never mind payments going astray

[mngmn]

1 hour ago, Puchaiyank said:

When you discover the problem with this transfer...it may not be Transferwise at all.  Please do keep us informed.

There are two quite independent transfers involved. In fact one was a deposit into the UK account linked to my borderless account. The other was a transfer to Bangkok Bank amazing coincidence aye?

Edited February 4, 2019 by mngmn

[mngmn]

1 hour ago, Moonlover said:

Are you having the money sent to a Borderless Account in your name or to TransferWise's general receiving account number *****493? It makes a difference.

I fully understand how the borderless account works. First a deposit from my broker into my GBP account (correct sort code and account number) linked to borderless account goes missing. Then a transfer from my THB balance to Bangkok Bank goes missing. All deposits/transfers have been made in the past using bank details stored in my broker's system and Transferwise own system.

[mngmn]

Response from Transferwise.

 

"Hey xxx, we did unfortunately have an issue with our partner bank in Thailand and for this reason your payment bounced back from them to us. The money is within our system and we'll try sending it out again today, it should be on your account by tomorrow. We're very sorry for any inconveniences this caused you."

 

Note they are only going to "try" sending it again. Also note it's not their fault. In fact, it's never their fault.
 

[Jeffrey346]

15 hours ago, mngmn said:

Response from Transferwise.

 

"Hey xxx, we did unfortunately have an issue with our partner bank in Thailand and for this reason your payment bounced back from them to us. The money is within our system and we'll try sending it out again today, it should be on your account by tomorrow. We're very sorry for any inconveniences this caused you."

 

Note they are only going to "try" sending it again. Also note it's not their fault. In fact, it's never their fault.
 

This is not true.. I setup a transfer on Friday. TW said I would receive the money on Monday Feb 4.

On Feb 4 I got a message from TW stating that my receiving bank refused the transfer.

I called Bangkok Bank and they said no such transfer was received by them.

I called TW, they apologized saying the glitch was in their system and not with my receiving bank. They said I would have my transfer today.

I asked them to adjust the conversion rate as it is now higher and in my favor. They said they could not.

 

[jacko45k]

6 minutes ago, Jeffrey346 said:

I asked them to adjust the conversion rate as it is now higher and in my favor. They said they could not.

And if they do not would you say it is in their favour?

[magicroundabout]

Interesting to know. 

 

To be fair last year I sent a swift payment from my UK bank to Thailand which meant "missing". It took just over 5 weeks to get the money back. I never manage to find out why... All the banks involved denied responsibility. 

 

I've used transferwise ever since and never had a problem.

 

Therefore, it would seem whatever method you use their is always a small risk things can go wrong. 

 

 

 

[LucysDad]

17 hours ago, Chivas said:

I wouldnt be sending 800k via transferwise in the first place with their rising level of fees never mind payments going astray

 

So tell me an alternative that requires less Sterling to send 800k to Thailand.

[Fairynuff]

Aren’t there alternatives to TW? Perhaps people can share their experiences using those alternatives 

[sumrit]

16 hours ago, mngmn said:

Response from Transferwise.

 

"Hey xxx, we did unfortunately have an issue with our partner bank in Thailand and for this reason your payment bounced back from them to us. The money is within our system and we'll try sending it out again today, it should be on your account by tomorrow. We're very sorry for any inconveniences this caused you."

 

Note they are only going to "try" sending it again. Also note it's not their fault. In fact, it's never their fault.

 

43 minutes ago, Jeffrey346 said:

This is not true.. I setup a transfer on Friday. TW said I would receive the money on Monday Feb 4.

On Feb 4 I got a message from TW stating that my receiving bank refused the transfer.

I called Bangkok Bank and they said no such transfer was received by them.

I called TW, they apologized saying the glitch was in their system and not with my receiving bank. They said I would have my transfer today.

I've had the same problem with a transfer I set up on Friday. When I hadn't received the usual 'money sent' email by yesterday I looked on the TW app. It said there was a problem with my Bangkok bank details and to edit them. On doing that I got a message saying 'We cannot send money to this account'. To make sure this was genuine and not some sort of hack, I contacted TW immediately who confirmed it wasn't some sort of scam, the message was genuine and they'd had some technical issues transferring money to Thailand since Friday. They were now resolved and they said they would be processing all outstanding transfers within the next few hours. I didn't ask if that involved transfers to all Thailand Banks or just the Bangkok Bank.

 

I had an apology email from them at 8:27 last night then another confirmation 'money sent' email at 5:14 this morning. Just got to confirm the money has arrived later today. 

[jacko45k]

16 minutes ago, LucysDad said:

 

So tell me an alternative that requires less Sterling to send 800k to Thailand.

Most Swift transfers are a fixed price or free, irrelevant of the amount transferred. With Transferwise the cost is a percentage hence goes up with the amount. I also have to pay more as I use a Debit Card. But, I am still unable to do better than their exchange rate.

I calculate both options at the time, at least Transferwise lock in the rate, Bangkok Bank do not.

Edited February 5, 2019 by jacko45k

[LucysDad]

13 minutes ago, jacko45k said:

Most Swift transfers are a fixed price or free, irrelevant of the amount transferred. With Transferwise the cost is a percentage hence goes up with the amount. I also have to pay more as I use a Debit Card. But, I am still unable to do better than their exchange rate.

I calculate both options at the time, at least Transferwise lock in the rate, Bangkok Bank do not.

 

Indeed Jacko...... and EVERY comparison that I have done shows TW to be more cost-effective.

 

I wait to hear if Chivas has a better option.

[mfd101]

Check monito.com. Excellent for comparisons.

[BritManToo]

41 minutes ago, LucysDad said:

 

So tell me an alternative that requires less Sterling to send 800k to Thailand.

I transfer 500GBP a time to my Transferwise account using online bank transfer.

Then I let it sit in my TW account until the exchange rate is right.

And transfer 1000gbp when I need it.

 

I've not had a problem so far, but all banks make mistakes.

I had 20,000gbp disappear for two weeks a while back with a SWIFT transfer, what a pain that was.

(It was Bangkok banks fault apparently)

[hello55060]

I use RationalFX for big sums. Granted the rate isn't as good as TW if sending small sums, but they have just a fixed £4 fee per transfer and are regulated by the FCA and are mainly used by businesses needing to send big figures abroad. They send millions a day. £100-10k is one rate  If you sent over £10k they will give you a better rate, if you sent over 100k they will give you an even better one , so as said it's good option for sending a big sums. You can open a personal account there, you don't have to have a business to send money with them. When you consider transfer wise want say £7 per £1k you send, if you're sending a big amount you will gain more overall by the £4 fixed fee rationalfx have over the slight loss of exchange rate over transferwise, you will end up with more baht and they're more trustworthy imo.

 

Another option is Western Union. 2 years ago I would laugh if anyone mentioned them but their bank to bank transfers are good now. fees for bank transfers are £0 if you sent a couple of ks last time I checked and they are pretty fast and their exchange rates have improved massively other the last 2 years.

And for example, right now with WU sending £15k

 

 

Transferwise sending £15k 

 

 

so you gain more from the lower rate on WU and the £0 than the market rate on TW and their high fees. I know it's small money difference we're talking about in this example, but the OP asked for other options. And just suggesting 2 other competitive ones if you're having bad experiences with TW.

 

 

TL'DR

 

Look at RationalFX for sending big money £15k + and WU for less than £15k . I've used them a fair bit over the last few years and have good experiences with both.

Edited February 5, 2019 by hello55060
grammar sheeeit

[Proboscis]

I have never used Transwise to transfer to Thailand as I don't have an account in Thailand. But I have used them for transfers to accounts in SE Asia. I started using them after I realized on one occasion that my regular British bank had given me an exchange rate that was so awful that I lost $5,000. And with the several banks over the years, I had terrible problems with transfers going missing in various parts of the world with the usual problems of being on the phone for hours clocking up the phone charges.

 

The only problem I have had with Transferwise was with banks messing up the transfer out of my account to Transferwise - with one large British bank, I had to take a screen-shot of the confirmation of the transfer and threaten them with legal action as they kept telling me that I "must have made a mistake."

[leither69]

2 hours ago, Jeffrey346 said:

This is not true.. I setup a transfer on Friday. TW said I would receive the money on Monday Feb 4.

On Feb 4 I got a message from TW stating that my receiving bank refused the transfer.

I called Bangkok Bank and they said no such transfer was received by them.

I called TW, they apologized saying the glitch was in their system and not with my receiving bank. They said I would have my transfer today.

I asked them to adjust the conversion rate as it is now higher and in my favor. They said they could not.

 

I've had similar issues in the last 2 weeks, customer service is a joke.  Always blaming the recipients bank. Told me that my bank had a problem before they even released my funds!!  Pointed this out, now they won't speak with me!!

[Bigz]

They had a technical glitch over the weekend. I had the same problem with the transfer to my Bangkok bank account. Last night they sent me an apology email. The money should be in the account today. Hopefully it was a one off as it never happened before.

[jaiyen]

Baht Smart is an alternative that I have used in the past

[Andycoops]

I too had problems yesterday with a UK transfer from TransferWise to my Thai bank account. 

I have received an apology that the transfer was held up by 'technical problems'.

The money is arriving today 24 hours late but poses me no inconvenience. 

[DrJack54]

I don't wish to sidetrack the op, but also don't wish to clog forum with new topic. If I was in australia and bring into Thailand 30k aud (with all the bank statements showing withdrawal of funds from au bank. Then after conversion, say, super rich, deposit funds into Thai bank. How is that viewed? 

[steve73]

It can be a little tricky comparing the cost of all these various exchange agents.  I personally like the format that Transferwise operates as it is totally transparent, since their fee is made up of 2 parts.. a fixed amount and a variable.

For GBP, they charge 1.50 (fixed) plus 0.55% of the funds sent.  And their Fx rate is usually at (or very close to) the Mid Market Rate (MMR). 

Eg. to send 1000GBP, first deduct 1.50, so 998.5, then divide this by 1.0055 to get 993.04.  This is how much actually gets converted at the MMR at the time you decide to accept their quote, and the total fee is then 1000-993.04 or 6.96.

For comparison, Thai banks use their receiving TT rate when they receive your funds (or when they decide to actually convert them, so it can be open to their "manipulation").  Most Thai banks receiving TT rate is around 1% less than MMR (at least for GBP - it's much closer for USD).  This means for every 1GBP you send, TW pays you 0.45% more than the Thai bank would (i.e. 1%-0.55%).  Also their Fixed fee of 1.50 is less than most UK banks SWIFT fees, and Thai bank receiving fee (typically 200bt minimum).

 

I have compared TW with a few other platforms, and have found it to offer better prices when everything is taken into account.  I've tried checking some o the other systems as suggested earlier in this thread, but some of them require you to sign up BEFORE offering a quote... something I refuse to do.

 

Note also, that TW's fees are different for each currency sent (eg. for Euro's it's a little more expensive than for GBP, at 2.00 +0.7%), so you'll need to do your own comparisons. 

 

I have used them 16 times over the past 15 months, with excellent service, although on one occasion the money was delayed by around 24 hours.  Not a problem and they kept me fully appraised of the situation via e-mail.   

 

 

 

[ubonjoe]

13 minutes ago, DrJack54 said:

I don't wish to sidetrack the op, but also don't wish to clog forum with new topic. If I was in australia and bring into Thailand 30k aud (with all the bank statements showing withdrawal of funds from au bank. Then after conversion, say, super rich, deposit funds into Thai bank. How is that viewed? 

If you are already on an extension of stay and using the money in the bank you do not have to prove the funds came from abroad.

The only time you have to prove the 800k baht in the bank came from abroad is when applying for a 90 day non immigrant visa entry at immigration.

[Kenegg]

3 hours ago, Jeffrey346 said:

This is not true.. I setup a transfer on Friday. TW said I would receive the money on Monday Feb 4.

On Feb 4 I got a message from TW stating that my receiving bank refused the transfer.

I called Bangkok Bank and they said no such transfer was received by them.

I called TW, they apologized saying the glitch was in their system and not with my receiving bank. They said I would have my transfer today.

I asked them to adjust the conversion rate as it is now higher and in my favor. They said they could not.

 

 

3 hours ago, Jeffrey346 said:

This is not true.. I setup a transfer on Friday. TW said I would receive the money on Monday Feb 4.

On Feb 4 I got a message from TW stating that my receiving bank refused the transfer.

I called Bangkok Bank and they said no such transfer was received by them.

I called TW, they apologized saying the glitch was in their system and not with my receiving bank. They said I would have my transfer today.

I asked them to adjust the conversion rate as it is now higher and in my favor. They said they could not.

 

I also transferred money last Friday with Transferwise and did not get as promised yesterday (4th February) I recieved an email saying they had a problem so would receive it today.....still waiting..

[topt]

I am not a Transferwiser......so have no axe to grind. If it is any consolation most banks have IT foul ups at some point but some more than others.

 

Anyone who banks with TSB in the UK has got to be asking themselves why they haven't changed to another bank (expats excluded) - https://www.theregister.co.uk/2019/02/04/tsb_business_down/ 

[MikeN]

3 hours ago, LucysDad said:

 

Indeed Jacko...... and EVERY comparison that I have done shows TW to be more cost-effective.

 

I wait to hear if Chivas has a better option.

As I mentioned in a similar topic recently, last month I transferred 2 lots $1500AU through  Transferwise and my Australian Bank (Westpac) as a test. Although the Transfer-wise FX rate was better and the final amount known and fixed, their fee structure was more expensive than the bank’s fixed fee. The end result was that I received 800 baht more from the bank transaction than through TW, with larger amounts the bank would have been even more cost effective overall because of the fixed fee.

 Also, even though I did the TW transaction a few minutes earlier, according to my bank book it arrived here a day later than the money from the bank, even though I use Bangkok bank here which is apparently their local partner.Not that it was important this time but something to consider perhaps, especially if you use another Thai bank which would require another domestic transfer.

 So in my case, TW is not the best option but as always, YMMV ......

Edited February 5, 2019 by MikeN