Has TransferWise slowed down on xfers?

[rickb]

I just checked on the rate to transfer money from the US to Thailand with TransferWise and noticed that they are now saying that if I send it now, the money will arrive on Friday, June 28.  Many of my earlier transfers were completed in 2 work days.  So I'm curious if anyone else has noticed that TransferWise is slowing down on the transfers.  FYI, I normally use the Bank Debit (ACH) method of transferring money from my US bank to TransferWise.  As a point of interest, my last month's transfer was initiated on May 31 and received in my Thai bank on June 6.  But, I realize that time included a weekend and a Thai holiday on June 3.  TransferWise advised that they received my money from my US bank on June 3.  Normally I would have expected to receive the money on June 4.

 

Anyone else receiving their transfers slowly?

[CharlieH]

MOVED to banking (money matters) forum

[faraday]

Nope, from the UK it takes 8 hours during the working week.

[pontious]

If you are using 'Swift' - not sure if you have that in US, anywhere in the transfer it can take six days. I am from UK but sent USD to my medical insurance in France and they warned it would take longer. 6 days. Normally UK to Thailand is next day. Or same day if you do it early enough.

[SEtonal]

I did an ACH debit transfer from the US last week on Monday at 6:30pm Thai time and the money was in my Thai bank two days later, 2:00pm Thai time Wednesday.

[Jeffrey346]

I just checked and it said arrive tomorrow. 

[alant]

not in my experience

[soalbundy]

From Germany/Thailand it takes one day

[jimcarr65]

It varies, I have had $200 take five days and $50 take twenty-four hours.

[astroid60]

Transferred from Australia 10.05 pm 20/6/19 in Siam Commercial Bank 1.30 pm 21/6/19.

[rickb]

I am really confused.  I just checked how long it would take to send money using my wife's TransferWise account, same US bank, same amount, etc., etc., and TransferWise said the money would arrive in my Thai bank tomorrow.  So, obviously, there is a glitch with my account.  I have sent an email to TransferWise asking for an explanation.  We'll see what they say.

 

Thanks to all that responded to my original question.

[Pilotman]

same timing for my transfers, nothing has changed.  Usually with in 24 hours,  unless a weekend or public holiday. 

Edited June 24, 2019 by Pilotman

[quandow]

It's hit and miss. One transfer may take 24 hours, the next four days.

[Dene16]

14 hours ago, faraday said:

Nope, from the UK it takes 8 hours during the working week.

i have used transferwise for years and never received the money in under 3 days

[Megascott]

When I use TW to move money from my USA bank account, it usually takes two or three business days, then another business day to transfer to my Thai account.

If I have the money already in my TW account, the transfer to my Thai account will go like clockwork at 2pm the next business day. Pretty sure they must use British airways to do the transfer, since the plane lands at CNX at 1:45pm

[faraday]

1 minute ago, Dene16 said:

i have used transferwise for years and never received the money in under 3 days

I would ask TransferWise why it takes so long.

[ThaiBunny]

6 minutes ago, faraday said:

I would ask TransferWise why it takes so long.

Good luck with that. I sent their support section a query as to why on two consecutive transfers I'd been promised one delivery date only to be told by the App that there's been "a delay". Their answer can be summarised as "sh1t happens" 

[Pib]

When comparing Transferwise transfer times a lot depends on how fast the "funding of the transfer" can occur....how fast Transferwise gets your money to fund the transfer.  Varies from sending country to sending country how that funding process can be done.

 

Countries like the UK have the Faster Payment Service (FPS) where funds can be easily "pushed" to Transferwise within minutes at no or a low cost.  Such a system does not exist in the US.  Well, you do have bank wires but they will still take around a day at least and usually cost around $20 or more. 

 

In the US the "ACH" transfer system is the primary transfer system. It's a batch system (not real time), free/low cost, and transfers usually take 1 or 2 days "best case" although hit the batch timing gates just right and it can be a little faster.  Transferwise uses ACH to "pull" funds from your bank account and depending on when the transfer is initiated combined with the ACH batch timing, then Transferwise may receive the funds within 24 funds or it could be a couple of days....once they get that money then they can send the money to you.  And weekend and holidays are a factor because ACH transfers only occur Mon-Fri; not on weekends or holidays.  Initiate an ACH transfer says Friday evening US time, or a Sat or Sun, and the transfer will not actually begin its trek until Monday sometime.....it's just marching in place.

 

 

 

[HHTel]

Transferred close to a million baht from the UK using TW just 2 weeks ago.  Was in my Thai bank in 4 hours.

[Pib]

Just now, HHTel said:

Transferred close to a million baht from the UK using TW just 2 weeks ago.  Was in my Thai bank in 4 hours.

And you used the FPS to fund it?  That is, you "pushed" the funds to Transferwise and they rec'd the funds within minutes of initiating the Transferwise transfer?   Or, maybe you had the funds setting in your Transferwise Borderless account which allowed immediately funding. 

 

In turn that allowed Transferwise to immediately send the baht...and I expect final sending was a little before 1 to 3pm Thailand time as it seems Transferwise accomplishes the final leg of it's transfers around 1 to 3pm Thailand time.  All of my Transferwise trasnfers have arrived/posted to my Thai bank accounts between 1:30pm to 2:30pm Thailand time.

 

The "funding process" is the primary factor determining how long it takes a Transferwise transfer to occur.  They don't accomplish the final leg of the transfer until they have your funding money in-hand.

[HHTel]

Yes I used the transfer from my bank to TW which is pretty much instant.  And you're correct in that I received it around 3pm Thai time after ordering it at 11 that morning.

[Pib]

7 minutes ago, HHTel said:

Yes I used the transfer from my bank to TW which is pretty much instant.  And you're correct in that I received it around 3pm Thai time after ordering it at 11 that morning.

Yeap...immediate payment and transfer timing was just right....arrived the final transfer gate just before it closed for the day.   Now if you had initiated the transfer about 4 hours later even with the immediate funding your transfer would not have arrived until next day around 3pm.

 

For my transfers from the US which means I'm using the ACH "pull" process to fund the transfer, I've found if I initiate the transfer around 6pm Thailand time Mon-Thr which is around 6am US time....just before US banks open...my Transferwise transfers usually arrive within about 20 hours.  I try to avoid initiateing transfers on Fri-Sun.   With the US ACH system which is a batch system (not real time)/Mon-Fri system, time of day and on what day a person initiates a transfer can make a big difference in transfer time....difference up to 3 days longer like if you initiated a transfers late Friday and it was a three day weekend because of Monday being a holiday.   And if really unlucky if Tuesday is a holiday in Thailand you've just added possibly 4 days to the transfer time.

 

 

[RocketDog]

I recently called TW  to complain because using the ACH method they predicted the money would arrive in 2 days. It took over 6 days.

 

They said their prediction method didn't take many factors into account. I replied that false information can be worse than none. A short estimate can cause more trouble than a long one.

[Tuvoc]

1 hour ago, HHTel said:

Transferred close to a million baht from the UK using TW just 2 weeks ago.  Was in my Thai bank in 4 hours.

 

I've never had that. What time of day did you do this and what bank was it sent to ?

 

I use my borderless account, and use my THB balance to transfer using a payee that is set up so I can repeat it easily. It is hit and miss, sometimes next day and sometimes two days - usually two days now.

 

Are TransferWise really cheapest for large sums like that ?

[theoldgit]

I initated a transfer from my UK Bank, actually in the IoM, last Monday afternoon, Thai time, and it didn't reach my Bangkok Bank account until Friday afternoon.

 

I initiated the transfer and then fund in the afternoon because, whilst I can do the transfer to TW online, my bank actions such online transaction maunally during office hours, so it had no chance of reaching my account here the same day.

 

On Tuesday mid morning, Thai time, the tracker was showing that it would pay out within the hour, it then went to arriving today, but nothing came.

 

On Wednesday it was just showing "Arriving" and again on Thursday.

 

I called TW on Thursday and they advised that the payment had been put on hold as I'd asked for it to be routed via Bankok Bank into my Bangkok Bank account, and they were looking into it, I reminded them that there was a reason for this and that my last two transfers were routed the same way.

 

I later received an email saying it was a "system problem" but my account was credited on Friday with the necessary FTT code.

 

I wasn't desperate to receive the funds but I was a tad disappointed with TW's handling of my issue and lack of information.

 

I do wonder if our Immigration friends intransigence of this whole issue is making thing difficult for the likes of TW and with so many of us asking for funds to be routed via Bangkok Bank their system is begining to creak under the strain.

I'm concerned that I only need to have one transfer not showing that the funds originated from overseas, in their preferred fashion, despite a stack of other evidence, for my extension to be refused next year.

[QPRFC]

I am finding that TransferWise is being very demanding on checks/paperwork recently, with lots of transactions being "held up" for a few days.

OFX on the other hand have been consistently smooth, however their FX Rate isn't quite as good and that can hurt for larger transactions.

I have no experience of DeeMoney.

[mfd101]

6 minutes ago, theoldgit said:

 

I called TW on Thursday and they advised that the payment had been put on hold as I'd asked for it to be routed via Bankok Bank into my Bangkok Bank account, and they were looking into it, I reminded them that there was a reason for this and that my last two transfers were routed the same way.

I had the same problem at the Oz end of TW this last week: Ordered up the funds last Thursday before 0700 Thai time. All fine. Payment to BKK Bank account due next day - has always been around 1500 the next day. By around midday Friday the website was saying not due for payment till Monday. Now due this afternoon. Not obvious what the reason is but it could be, as you suggest, my ringing them - as they advised me to do each time - to have the transfer done VIA BKK Bank to BKK Bank. Why that simple task should delay receipt of the funds is beyond me ...

[richiejom]

I notice a lot of people aren't aware of the Transferwise Mastercard, I think a lot of people transfer to their Thai banks via Transferwise but I think this is different to having the borderless account with the Mastercard.. 

 

I'm sure it would help a lot of people (including the OP) to know about the card because you can use it to make purchases while you're waiting for money to transfer(being slow as in the case of this thread).   It has zero fees on purchases and 8000 baht from the ATM with no fees. 

 

Get it send to your farrang address and someone to forward it on to you in Thailand is what I did because they won't post directly to Thailand.

 

You can get the Mastercard when you sign up here

 

 

Edited June 24, 2019 by richiejom

[ThaiBunny]

2 minutes ago, richiejom said:

You can get the Mastercard ...

It's not available in every country - not Australia, for example

[richiejom]

1 minute ago, ThaiBunny said:

It's not available in every country - not Australia, for example

Hmm.. I can't comment on that as I would have to search their TOS but I can say for certain you can get it if you're from the UK