Has TransferWise slowed down on xfers?

[NoshowJones]

Yes, it took them a full week to transfer funds from the UK to my Bangkok Bank, disgraceful service.

[NoshowJones]

3 hours ago, rickb said:

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.

Don't trust them, they will tell you a load of BS, I spent a full week wondering when my funds were going to arrive. I have seen good reports about Xendpay, I will be trying them next.

[mfd101]

I plan next month to do a fair comparison of TW service (having transferred funds to TW in advance so that that particular blockage is removed) vs using my Oz Citibank debit card (which I have used only for atm withdrawals to date) to make ฿65K+ transfer around 20 July. Will compare timing, xrate & fees (expressed as ฿ received), & FTT showing.

 

Will report in due course.

Edited June 24, 2019 by mfd101

[dode57k]

I use the Transferwise "borderless account" which you can load with your home currency to send to Thailand at a time of your choosing. It never takes more than 48hrs. Usually much less.

[HHTel]

3 hours ago, Tuvoc said:

 

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 ?

I made the transfer from Lloyds in the UK to TW at 11am Thai time.  (the banks in the UK do not need to be open) and it was in my Bangkok Bank at 3pm the same day.

 

TW's charges went up on the 18th but don't know the effect of that.

The resultant exchange rate after TW's fees have been taken is still better than my Thai bank with no bank charges.

[Pib]

28 minutes ago, HHTel said:

I made the transfer from Lloyds in the UK to TW at 11am Thai time.  (the banks in the UK do not need to be open) and it was in my Bangkok Bank at 3pm the same day.

 

TW's charges went up on the 18th but don't know the effect of that.

The resultant exchange rate after TW's fees have been taken is still better than my Thai bank with no bank charges.

 

Approx 14% increase.

https://transferwise.com/price-change

[Dene16]

6 hours ago, Pib said:

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. 

As i stated before 3 days (from UK), money arrives at transferwise within minutes, receiving an email to verify that it has arrived.

i should mention that lately i have had the odd occasion when it was 2 days

I Have received emails that it will arrive the next day (to Thailand) but are just computer generated and means nothing

I find it hard to believe what faraday is saying as i have probably used them about 100 times with the same results and others have verified this time scale on here before 

Just noted someone else has verified faraday's statement could be the bank in thailand that is the problem?

 

Edited June 24, 2019 by Dene16

[Netease]

21 hours ago, faraday said:

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

Same here in Australia, just did transfer on Friday about 8 hrs, Very Happy

[faraday]

1 hour ago, Dene16 said:

As i stated before 3 days (from UK), money arrives at transferwise within minutes, receiving an email to verify that it has arrived.

i should mention that lately i have had the odd occasion when it was 2 days

I Have received emails that it will arrive the next day (to Thailand) but are just computer generated and means nothing

I find it hard to believe what faraday is saying as i have probably used them about 100 times with the same results and others have verified this time scale on here before 

Just noted someone else has verified faraday's statement could be the bank in thailand that is the problem?

 

I transfer money every month for living expenses.

 

Most times I do the transfer at around 6am, & the money is always in my account the same day by 14:15.

 

I once had an issue of it being a day late, because of a special Buddha day. When I moaned at TW, they explained that the delay was here. The answered very quickly.

 

Do you transfer the money directly from your a/c or use your UK debit card, the latter can take longer?

 

 

 

 

 

[OJAS]

10 hours ago, theoldgit said:

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.

It was with precisely this risk in mind that I ceased using TransferWise for my monthly 65k transfers to my BKKB account in January and instead reverted to making these transfers from my UK account via BKKB’s London branch. Although the cost to me is, by my calculations, around 2% per transfer on the basis of the GBP-to-THB conversion being performed in Bangkok, net amounts are, in my experience, always certain to be credited to my BKKB with the coveted FTT coding. As you say, it would only take a single instance of TransferWise inadvertently routing a transfer via TMB or Kasikorn as their other agency banks in Thailand (meaning that it would then be credited under the dreaded non-international SMT coding in my experience) to screw you up at retirement extension of stay application time.

 

Another advantage which I have found with the BKKB London branch method over TransferWise (and, for that matter, SWIFT) is that it is possible to set up a monthly standing order with your UK bank to ensure that a particular monthly transfer is not inadvertently overlooked (as I have now done, with a hopefully suitable buffer to guard against any further drastic depreciations in the GBP’s value against the THB over the next few months).

 

The initial downside to using the BKKB London branch facility in your case, though, are, of course, the bureaucratically nonsensical hoops which BKKB will insist on you jumping through first.

[Dene16]

15 hours ago, faraday said:

Do you transfer the money directly from your a/c or use your UK debit card, the latter can take longer?

directly from my account

I also send every month to Bangkok bank. i am wondering if Bangkok bank is the problem

 

Edited June 25, 2019 by Dene16
addition

[Dene16]

11 hours ago, OJAS said:

It was with precisely this risk in mind that I ceased using TransferWise for my monthly 65k transfers to my BKKB account

My transferwise transfers always show as overseas transfer (bangkok Bank) , it is only other banks that do not show this

Apparently you can contact the bank to change it, if it does not, not sure of the procedure.

[Pib]

22 hours ago, ThaiBunny said:

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

 

22 hours ago, richiejom said:

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

 

Pretty much the card is only available in Europe and US according to below TW weblink.

 

https://transferwise.com/help/18/transferwise-debit-mastercard/2968915/can-i-get-a-transferwise-debit-mastercard-in-my-country

[Postmaster]

Not at all, Transferwise very efficient and quick from UK.  It must be the yankee side !

[richiejom]

2 hours ago, Pib said:

 

 

Pretty much the card is only available in Europe and US according to below TW weblink.

 

https://transferwise.com/help/18/transferwise-debit-mastercard/2968915/can-i-get-a-transferwise-debit-mastercard-in-my-country

 

 

To make things clear: Available to get in mostly Europe and the US but able to use in Thailand and everywhere in the world... use your THB balance and pay by their Mastercard with the Borderless Account

 

Europe and the US is pretty much everywhere except downunder and the OP is from the US????

 

Edited June 25, 2019 by richiejom

[elgenon]

BTW If anyone is interested The Economist had an article on Transferwise and its assent. One of the smart things they do that saves money is to not actually move money that goes in both directions between countries. I don't think I am explaining it clearly.

[texasbob]

anybody else seeing big slowdown on their USA to Thailand transfers.  Last month (and usually) I make the transfer early AM  in Central Time Zone (early evening same day in Bangkok)  and usually money is in Bangkok Bank by noon Bangkok time the next day

just sent another transfer today and they are saying it will take almost 1 full day for them to receive my money another day to convert it to Baht and another to get it into Bangkok Bank?? 

[torturedsole]

18 minutes ago, texasbob said:

they are saying it will take almost 1 full day for them to receive my money another day to convert it to Baht and another to get it into Bangkok Bank??

Convert into Baht?  Are you sending USD?

[Pib]

15 hours ago, texasbob said:

anybody else seeing big slowdown on their USA to Thailand transfers.  Last month (and usually) I make the transfer early AM  in Central Time Zone (early evening same day in Bangkok)  and usually money is in Bangkok Bank by noon Bangkok time the next day

just sent another transfer today and they are saying it will take almost 1 full day for them to receive my money another day to convert it to Baht and another to get it into Bangkok Bank?? 

Can depend on the amount sending.  If sending "over" $1950 that can add another day or two assuming you are using Bank Debit (ACH).     Also, you starting the transfer close to the weekend. 

 

Like initiating a transfer right now/Friday for $1950, then the money would not arrive until Monday/25 May.  Initiate a transfer for "over" $1950 and Transferwise then projects delivery as 27 May/Wed.  All tied to ACH clearing time and amount sent with weekends/holidays being dead time.  

[phetphet]

I looked this morning to send £1000 and it said it would arrive in four days.

I thought it was a bit odd as it normally varies between immediate and one day.

[texasbob]

8 hours ago, Pib said:

Can depend on the amount sending.  If sending "over" $1950 that can add another day or two assuming you are using Bank Debit (ACH).     Also, you starting the transfer close to the weekend. 

 

Like initiating a transfer right now/Friday for $1950, then the money would not arrive until Monday/25 May.  Initiate a transfer for "over" $1950 and Transferwise then projects delivery as 27 May/Wed.  All tied to ACH clearing time and amount sent with weekends/holidays being dead time.  

Thank you for the clarification as I usually send around 35,000 baht and this time it was 66,000 baht, I did not realize the larger transactions were subject to a longer transit.  

[texasbob]

23 hours ago, torturedsole said:

Convert into Baht?  Are you sending USD?

yes, 2100 USD sent early AM CDT here in the USA, they received my USD this morning 24 hours later.  IT says its being processed with THB paid out on May 24 and recipient will receive their thai baht on 25th

 

Not a big deal still fairly new to Transferwise when USAA stopped allowing me to ACH directly through Bangkok Bank NY branch

[Chelseafan]

Sent £200 to the missus today and she got it instantly.

 

[Pib]

9 hours ago, texasbob said:

yes, 2100 USD sent early AM CDT here in the USA, they received my USD this morning 24 hours later.  IT says its being processed with THB paid out on May 24 and recipient will receive their thai baht on 25th

 

Not a big deal still fairly new to Transferwise when USAA stopped allowing me to ACH directly through Bangkok Bank NY branch

USAA didn't stop allowing ACH to Bangkok Bank it's Bangkok Bank NY branch that rejects the transfer back to USAA since Bangkok Bank NY can no longer relay a standard domestic ACH transfer like "all" US banks/credit union use for transfer of funds within the US.  Bangkok Bank can now only relay to your in-Thailand acct an ACH transfer which is sent in ACH "International ACH Transaction (IAT)" format which no US bank/credit bank uses.  Instead, US banks/CUs only use ACH domestic format--funds are not suppose to leave the U.S.   

 

And Bangkok Bank NY had to stop their practice of relaying "domestic" ACH transfers at the direction of the US Treasury/NACHA.  Bangkok Bank NY can relay ACH IAT transfers no problem.

 

But I know what you mean....when Bangkok Bank NY rejects the transfer back to USAA then USAA deactivates the ACH transfer link.

 

Something you might want to consider is activating the Borderless Acct (a.k.a., multi-currency acct) option on your Transferwise acct as it will speed-up transfer (can do same day transfers from US to Thailand) and also reduce your Transferwise transfer costs.   Initiate the transfer by 9:30am Thailand time and the funds will post to your Thai bank acct in the afternoon based on several transfer test I personally did.

 

A Borderless Acct is "kinda" like a bank acct as you receive a routing number and acct number to do ACH transfers to Transferwise among other things.  Now, it's not really a bank acct; it's really just a Transferwise acct that mimics a US bank so you can send ACH transfers to your Borderless acct. 

 

But you can not, repeat, can not "pull" money from that Borderless acct via ACH pull.  You know, like if you say had an ACH Push/Pull transfer link setup in your USAA acct to one of your other US banks.  Using that transfer link you could push or pull from that other bank acct....all done within your USAA ibanking/mbanking.

 

And if activating the Borderless Acct there is no requirement to get the Transferwise debit card as it's not a debit card to write home to Mom about....plus starting this month they charge around a $9 card issue fee.  Seems Transferwise fees keep creeping up here and there as they have gained customers.

 

When you have a Borderless Acct you can fund your transfer from the "balance" in that Borderless acct that resides with Transferwise....no waiting for Transferwise to pull the funds from your bank acct.  And this reduces the total transfer cost because you are no longer being hit with their Bank Debit (ACH) fee.

 

Since you have a USAA acct you know that when setting up an ACH transfer link you have two options to set that transfer link up.  One is "deposits & withdrawals" (push & pull) transfer link to another one of your US bank accts....you set that transfer link up by going the trial deposits setup method.  The other option is to setup a transfer link as a "deposits only" (i.e., push only) which does not use the trial deposits method...will go active in 3 business days giving USAA enough time to do some kind of internal verification.

 

Trying to setup a deposits & withdrawal link will probably fall because when USAA tries to pull back the trial deposits they made Transferwise will not allow that....pretty much like a Bangkok Bank transfer link.  Once money is sent into a Transferwise borderless acct via ACH it can not be pulled back via ACH pull. Instead, you would need to use the money to do a Transferwise transfer...like transferring it to some other bank in the world...like to your Thai bank....pushing it from Transferwise to that other bank and paying the Transferwise fee.

 

But setting up a deposits only link should go without problem....mine did.  Then you can do a free ACH transfer from USAA to your Transferwise borderless acct....it usually arrives in one business day....do a manual transfer or setup "automatic reoccurring transfers from USAA" to your Transferwise borderless acct to keep it topped up for your periodic/monthly transfers from Transferwise to your Thai bank.  But you still need to manually transfer the funds from Transferwise....they don't do automatic reoccurring transfers....they been talking about it for years but still don't allow automatic reoccuring transfers.

 

As mentioned, funding the Transferwise transfer from your borderless acct balance makes the transfer go faster as Transferwise already has the funding in-hand....and it gets transferred at a lower cost as you don't have the Bank Debit (ACH) fee.  See comparison below for a $2,100 transfer....$23.27 in fees when funding via Bank Debit (ACH); but only $15.61 if funding from the balance in your borderless acct (i.e., a balance you created by doing a free ACH push from your US bank to your Transferwise borderless acct)....and this lower fee means more money into your Thai bank acct

 

In closing, Transferwise transfer speed varies from country to country as some countries have "instant funding methods" like how UK folks can push funds to Transferwise for free and instantly using the Faster Payment Services available in the UK.  Pretty much like how we can instantly transfer money between Thai banks.  Unfortunately, the US ACH transfer system is a Mon-Fri batch transfer system where transfers take 1 to 3 business days to get to the other bank....but ACH is slowly moving to same day transfer capability...still will not be instant but at least same business day.   Yea, Transferwise transfers initiated from certain countries just arrive faster for a variety of financial regulations/technical reasons. 

 

Funding Via Bank Debit (ACH)

 

 

Funding from your Bordeless Acct (a.k.a., multi-currency acct_

Edited May 23, 2020 by Pib

[DrDave]

As stated in several posts above, smaller amounts from the US seem to process faster.

 

Thursday 9:30am (US time, Thursday 8:30pm Thai time), I initiated a 500USD transfer to my account at K-Bank. It took approximately 3 hours for the direct debit funding to process, and then another 2 hours for the K-Bank deposit to post.

 

Others have mentioned a 9am weekday cutoff time for processing Thai deposits, which implies transactions presented for deposit during the 24 hour period beginning at 9am will be deposited the next working day. My K-Bank deposit was timestamped as 1am Friday (Thailand time), as expected since the transaction was funded and ready for deposit at 11pm in Thailand.

 

It appears that on weekdays, deposits are processed at all hours (as my 11pm-1am example indicates). What's not clear to me is why deposits are not processed on weekends and holidays even though Bahtnet processes interbank transactions 24/7.

 

 

[Pib]

21 minutes ago, DrDave said:

As stated in several posts above, smaller amounts from the US seem to process faster.

 

Thursday 9:30am (US time, Thursday 8:30pm Thai time), I initiated a 500USD transfer to my account at K-Bank. It took approximately 3 hours for the direct debit funding to process, and then another 2 hours for the K-Bank deposit to post.

 

Others have mentioned a 9am weekday cutoff time for processing Thai deposits, which implies transactions presented for deposit during the 24 hour period beginning at 9am will be deposited the next working day. My K-Bank deposit was timestamped as 1am Friday (Thailand time), as expected since the transaction was funded and ready for deposit at 11pm in Thailand.

 

It appears that on weekdays, deposits are processed at all hours (as my 11pm-1am example indicates). What's not clear to me is why deposits are not processed on weekends and holidays even though Bahtnet processes interbank transactions 24/7.

 

 

It also depends on the receiving Thai bank and even the country being sent from.  I have initiated USD-THB Transferwise transfers numerous times (around a dozen) at various hours of the day and night....all but one being sent to Bangkok Bank.  Each and every time on the business day the transfer posted to my Bangkok  Bank acct it was just a minute or two after 2pm.  It's like Bangkok Bank batch processed Transferwise transfers only once a day....right at 2pm....for those Transferwise transfers originating from the US.

[Pilotman]

not to my knowledge, money still arriving in seconds, except at the weekend, which is understandably. 

[Pib]

3 minutes ago, Pilotman said:

not to my knowledge, money still arriving in seconds, except at the weekend, which is understandably. 

From what country are you sending from?    And to what Thai bank?

[Pilotman]

Just now, Pib said:

From what country are you sending from?    And to what Thai bank?

UK to SCB.  We have made 3 transfers in the past week, all arrived within seconds to the Thai bank accounts

[Pib]

5 minutes ago, Pilotman said:

UK to SCB.  We have made 3 transfers in the past week, all arrived within seconds to the Thai bank accounts

Yeap....I expected to hear from the UK.  Due to the Faster Payment System (pretty much instant transfer settlement) in the UK and associated UK financial regulations  Transferwise can do the transfer in seconds.  Send from Oz is also apparently fast.

 

But from the US where the primary funds transfer system is the Automated Clearing House (ACH) which is a batch and not-real time system along with US financial regulations, the transfers are much slower.  Even if funding the USD-THB transfer from your Transferwise Borderless Acct.  

 

I can use my Transferwise borderless acct balance to fund a USD-THB transfer at 9:29am in the morning Thailand time and the funds will post to Bangkok Bank at 2pm same business day.  But initiate the same transfer at 9:31am Thailand time and the funds will post to Bangkok Bank at 2pm "next" business day.

 

Edited May 29, 2020 by Pib