Transfer Money Using WISE (Formerly TRANSFERWISE)

[Dart12]

9 hours ago, AlexRich said:

I’ve never used this service but have a question for those who have.

 

Is it possible to do a Wise transfer from a UK bank account to another country that you don’t have a bank account in? For example, if you are travelling to different countries. 
 

And if it is, how does that work?

I don't think this is what you mean...but I transfer from my countries account to landlord here, and others to their bank accounts.

@ 

OP...I don't think they've ever not given the rate they advertised to me when i initiated transfer.
I do all mine straight from bank (cheapest) and should be fastest.

[giogio]

2 minutes ago, CharlieH said:

You are effectively adding an extra step, so yes, that is possibly the reason.

what extra step am i adding?

i choose the bank method, WISE asks to transfer to an estonia bank.

 

from UK one is following the same procedure, being the only difference that you transfer to WISE UK (almost certainly a domestic transfer is quicker than between 2 different european countries)

[giogio]

7 minutes ago, Dart12 said:

OP...I don't think they've ever not given the rate they advertised to me when i initiated transfer.
I do all mine straight from bank (cheapest) and should be fastest

card is instantaneous

 

the issue seems to be that from UK one transfer to WISE UK (domestic).

from portugal and italy WISE asks to transfer to an estonia bank within 31 hours, never managed because roughly it takes 36/48 hours. so they apply mid-market rates. i spoke to WISE and sort of they confirmed that some banks/countries take longer, THOUGH THEY remained vague.

 

having said that, the difference (money) is minimal as the rate does not change greatly in a day, and therefore i will keep using the bank transfer.

 

some of the guys mentioned a card, personally i will not put money into WISE, and if i have to pay a small difference (money) to stay safe, i d rather prefer as i only need to transfer money.

[CharlieH]

7 minutes ago, giogio said:

what extra step am i adding?

i choose the bank method, WISE asks to transfer to an estonia bank.

 

from UK one is following the same procedure, being the only difference that you transfer to WISE UK (almost certainly a domestic transfer is quicker than between 2 different european countries)

If I understand you correctly, you move from Italy to Estonia to Thailand ? Not just Estonia to Thailand which adds the extra step.

[KaputtAlreadyNa]

, we have to transfer from our (european in my case) bank to estonia within a deadline (right now it s 31 hours. from my bank i can transfer using a SEPA transfer (2 days) or a instant (it costs few euros).

WISE claims that none of my transfers have reached estonia within the deadline, hence WISE has applied MARKET RATES.

As far as I know, Wise account is in Belgium (for customers from Germany) and it takes quite some time before the money sent is in their account before they can start transferring. In Australia it is a different case, you can almost get the transfer done immediately.

Hope this helps.

Warmest

[giogio]

7 minutes ago, CharlieH said:

If I understand you correctly, you move from Italy to Estonia to Thailand ? Not just Estonia to Thailand which adds the extra step.

I never said i transfer from italy/portugal to estonia.

read carefully

i transfet from portugal/italy to thailand: WISE asks to transfer to WISE estonia (the same for UK people, to transfer to thailand to execute a transfer to WISE UK.

 

As most users seem to be UK Bbased, drawing conclusion is difficult, but UK  transfer faster, so it seems to be down to the fact that the transfer is domestic, whereas from italy/portugal WISE ask to send the money to estonia

 

[CharlieH]

5 minutes ago, giogio said:

I never said i transfer from italy/portugal to estonia.

read carefully

i transfet from portugal/italy to thailand: WISE asks to transfer to WISE estonia (the same for UK people, to transfer to thailand to execute a transfer to WISE UK.

 

As most users seem to be UK Bbased, drawing conclusion is difficult, but UK  transfer faster, so it seems to be down to the fact that the transfer is domestic, whereas from italy/portugal WISE ask to send the money to estonia

 

"i transfer from portugal and italy.

WISE ask me to send it to estonia bank."

 

So you are going through 2 Countries NOT from one to another, which is therefore an extra step.

[J Town]

8 hours ago, Henryford said:

Still a mystery why some get it in seconds and some takes hours/days.

Transfers from UK are very fast. From the US takes longer. The best I've ever seen was when I started early in the morning and received the funds by the end of the day.

[Excel]

Just now, J Town said:

Transfers from UK are very fast. From the US takes longer. The best I've ever seen was when I started early in the morning and received the funds by the end of the day.

Usually quite quick although on the very odd occasion there is a hiccup. However whilst Wise is very good I am waiting for the day that the service is so quick that monies are deposited into my Thai account before I have even actioned the transfer in the UK ????

[anchadian]

Wise Borderless account to Kbank always arrives in seconds.  Never fails.

[Sundown]

19 hours ago, lungbing said:

A transfer of 1,000 GBP a couple of weeks ago took less than a minute to arrive in my Kasikorn account.

 

It was marked as an internal transfer but I have since emailed Wise and they have marked my recipient account with a flag that should make any future transfer an international one, but they cannot absolutely promise that.

Same, the minute I sent the money I received the message of funds received on Bangkok Bank. 

[J Town]

7 minutes ago, Excel said:

Usually quite quick although on the very odd occasion there is a hiccup. However whilst Wise is very good I am waiting for the day that the service is so quick that monies are deposited into my Thai account before I have even actioned the transfer in the UK ????

Wise just denied me a transfer to SCB. I started a thread about it. Of course, I wrote to their Help and I expect a reply by this time tomorrow,  but I'm not feeling like a good result will come from this.

[G Rex]

WISE transfers from Australia to Thailand generally take 24hrs, although my last transfer last week ($20k) only took 3 hrs - a record!

Transfers initiated on a Friday can take 3 days to appear in my Thai bank account - WISE cites Australian banking opening hours as the cause of this.

I have always received the amount quoted by WISE when I set up my transfer.

I have had no problems with their services.      

[Excel]

5 minutes ago, J Town said:

Wise just denied me a transfer to SCB. I started a thread about it. Of course, I wrote to their Help and I expect a reply by this time tomorrow,  but I'm not feeling like a good result will come from this.

Yes I saw your thread and made some comments. Be interested what the response is from Wise. However another poster said that his pension transfer was also denied. Now that is deeply worrying if SCB have adopted a policy of accepting no incoming  transfers from non Thais, not least for those people who rely upon it for their yearly extensions.

Edited June 15, 2021 by Excel

[J Town]

12 minutes ago, Excel said:

Yes I saw your thread and made some comments. Be interested what the response is from Wise. However another poster said that his pension transfer was also denied. Now that is deeply worrying if SCB have adopted a policy of accepting no incoming  transfers from non Thais, not least for those people who rely upon it for their yearly extensions.

I remember the annoying hoops I had to jump through when monthly transfers to Bangkok Bank for retirement extensions went away. I fear another such policy will be coming down the pike.

[Excel]

6 minutes ago, J Town said:

I remember the annoying hoops I had to jump through when monthly transfers to Bangkok Bank for retirement extensions went away. I fear another such policy will be coming down the pike.

Well if SCB has adopted this policy, and other banks follow, that would certainly play into the government's xenophobic  hands  as it would be impossible for funds to be transferred into any Thai bank  from overseas

Edited June 15, 2021 by Excel

[treetops]

6 hours ago, CharlieH said:

Nope, bank transfer to Wise UK and wise Uk to Kasikorn.

 

Does yours go in/out of a Borderless account or not?

[roo860]

Am in U.K, tried a couple of hours ago to try and make a transfer to my SCB, have been with Wise over 5 yrs and make regular transfers.

The app said beneficiary bank not recognised, SCB was not listed in choice. Phoned Wise and just recieved email saying they are looking into why not listed. 

[CharlieH]

6 minutes ago, treetops said:

 

Does yours go in/out of a Borderless account or not?

In my specific case it goes Halifax, bankk transfer to Wise UK account, sits there and when I want it, to Kasikorn Thailand.

[CharlieH]

3 minutes ago, roo860 said:

Am in U.K, tried a couple of hours ago to try and make a transfer to my SCB, have been with Wise over 5 yrs and make regular transfers.

The app said beneficiary bank not recognised, SCB was not listed in choice. Phoned Wise and just recieved email saying they are looking into why not listed. 

There is a separate topic discussing this issue , started a short while ago.

 

 

[AlexRich]

7 hours ago, Excel said:

Unless you have borderless account debit card with Wise which means you can draw out local currency anywhere after firstly converting it from your home currency into whichever other currency you require.

That makes sense, thanks. That’s the best option for me.

[Salerno]

27 minutes ago, AlexRich said:

That makes sense, thanks. That’s the best option for me.

 

Depends on your intent.

 

I got their card as soon as it became available to me intending to transfer into Baht now and then when the interest rates where favourable, let the balance build over time and then use it for ATM withdrawals on trips. Have never used it once - I am lucky enough to have cards with far better options. 

 

If you are thinking of using it as an ATM card look into the withdrawal limits and fees https://wise.com/help/articles/2935769/how-much-does-it-cost-to-withdraw-cash

[AlexRich]

3 hours ago, Salerno said:

 

Depends on your intent.

 

I got their card as soon as it became available to me intending to transfer into Baht now and then when the interest rates where favourable, let the balance build over time and then use it for ATM withdrawals on trips. Have never used it once - I am lucky enough to have cards with far better options. 

 

If you are thinking of using it as an ATM card look into the withdrawal limits and fees https://wise.com/help/articles/2935769/how-much-does-it-cost-to-withdraw-cash

Thanks, I’m planning on travelling more 2022 and accessing cash overseas is high on my priorities. I’m just trying to work out the best method of accessing local cash without having a local bank?

[Salerno]

2 hours ago, AlexRich said:

I’m just trying to work out the best method of accessing local cash without having a local bank?

 

Bank fees can quickly add up, especially in Thailand with their 220 Baht ATM fee on top of any home bank fees. Contrary to the "cash is king" cohort (indeed it is in certain countries, but you have to get it somehow and I prefer not having a wad of cash laying around) I've been purely using ATMs while travelling for decades. I didn't really give fees a second thought until I did a 3 month trip (Asia, Europe, Middle East) a decade or so ago and noticed I was losing around AU$25 every withdrawal.

 

Look into cards available in the UK that are fee and forex free, reimbursing foreign ATM fees may also be available. For example Aussies have ING and people from the States have Charlie Swab, both cards meet the fee free and reimbursement criteria. For the UK, I think people have mentioned Halifax and Revulute (?) Also look into the fee structure on credit cards - for the first year or two after noticing the fees, my best option was actually using a credit card as my ATM card, just "pre loaded it" to avoid interest charges.

 

Depending on what country you are in (easily done in Thailand) you can make cash withdrawals in a bank to negate/minimise fees. Make sure you have multiple options available (it can be a real pain the proverbial if your card for some reason doesn't work/you lose it) my Wise borderless is purely one of my backups, let the banks know your travel plans if necessary and bump the daily withdrawal limits if appropriate (I've heard ridiculously low, talked to a guy before who said his card was £250). 

[Henryford]

16 hours ago, VBF said:

To answer that and also  @Moonlover who asked "I would love to know how come some folks manage to get this instant service.":

I have had Wise transfers take a day and I've had some take 30 seconds from my UK bank to SCB.

 

I believe, it can depend on when you do the transfer.

If you initiate the transfer when both the UK bank and the Thai bank are open for business, it seems to be pretty much instant.

So for example, Monday-Friday  09:00 UTC (GMT) is 16:00 Thai time (UTC+7 hours). Both banks are open.

(As Brits are aware, during Summer time Thailand is UTC+6 hours)

 

This my empirical finding NOT based on anything I've read or been told!

Thanks VBF, I usually initiate my transfer at 8.00 am Thai time so maybe that is why it takes 6 hours. Next time i will do it at 16.00 Thai time.

[VBF]

5 hours ago, Henryford said:

Thanks VBF, I usually initiate my transfer at 8.00 am Thai time so maybe that is why it takes 6 hours. Next time i will do it at 16.00 Thai time.

Welcome - if you plan to do a similar transfer to your last one, please do post here when you've tried it, to either support or refute my finding!

Edited June 16, 2021 by VBF

[billd766]

On 6/14/2021 at 4:57 PM, scubascuba3 said:

Guaranteed rates? once you set up an account (which is easy), set up the amount you want to transfer and it will show a rate, and it's gauranteed for a period, I can't recall how long, maybe a few hours. Wise are good, go ahead, very popular on this forum and on facebook

It is guaranteed for the period of the transaction, whether it is completed the same day, the next day or the first available day after the Thai holidays, especially during Songkran.

[lopburi3]

This may be a factor in how fast transfers are made (at least for USA):

Seems for default $1k or $1.5K money can be sent immediately for pull type transfers for registered bank accounts.  For larger amounts may require you log onto your account (which as bank has changed log in procedure can not do as Wise does not offer alternatives - so have to keep it at 1.5K or so).

[KannikaP]

21 hours ago, Sundown said:

Same, the minute I sent the money I received the message of funds received on Bangkok Bank. 

As an FTT International transfer?

[KannikaP]

23 hours ago, VBF said:

If you initiate the transfer when both the UK bank and the Thai bank are open for business, it seems to be pretty much instant.

I never realised that bank's computers shut down or do not work when the actual bank is closed. Or that there is a human intervention in Wise's transfer system.