Wise transfers not being processed as International (Specifically Bangkok Bank)

[theoldgit]

I made a transfer via Wise on Friday, and was half expecting to be in the same boat as a number of other members despite using the "long stay in Thailand" route, but it hit my account with Bangkok Bank about twenty minutes ago with the FTT tag.

 

I'd only sent half of what I needed on Friday, with the intention of sending the other today via Swift from my bank if I didn't get the correct code, I'll now send the other half via Wise.

 

It seems to be very hit and miss, and not good for my stress levels at my age.

[skatewash]

16 minutes ago, treetops said:

That's got to be the most twisted interpretation of what happened ever posted, and there were a few on here at the time.

Can you point to a single affidavit from an embassy that was rejected by Thai Immigration?

[treetops]

3 minutes ago, skatewash said:

Can you point to a single affidavit from an embassy that was rejected by Thai Immigration?

Of course not since they stopped issuing them following the request from the Thais that the information be verified.

[scubascuba3]

10 minutes ago, theoldgit said:

I made a transfer via Wise on Friday, and was half expecting to be in the same boat as a number of other members despite using the "long stay in Thailand" route, but it hit my account with Bangkok Bank about twenty minutes ago with the FTT tag.

 

I'd only sent half of what I needed on Friday, with the intention of sending the other today via Swift from my bank if I didn't get the correct code, I'll now send the other half via Wise.

 

It seems to be very hit and miss, and not good for my stress levels at my age.

Someone else just posted on facebook that it went through as FTT today, maybe Wise have fixed the issue without acknowledging there is one

[skatewash]

3 minutes ago, theoldgit said:

I made a transfer via Wise on Friday, and was half expecting to be in the same boat as a number of other members despite using the "long stay in Thailand" route, but it hit my account with Bangkok Bank about twenty minutes ago with the FTT tag.

 

I'd only sent half of what I needed on Friday, with the intention of sending the other today via Swift from my bank if I didn't get the correct code, I'll now send the other half via Wise.

 

It seems to be very hit and miss, and not good for my stress levels at my age.

It's good that your transfer was made with the correct labeling.  However, that shouldn't make you or anyone else feel good about what's going with Wise, and it probably doesn't.  Even if tagging banks, selecting the "long term stay in Thailand" purpose didn't exist we would still expect a certain number of transactions to show up with FTT markings because Bangkok Bank is one of Wise's partner banks in Thailand.  When Wise's algorithm selects which partner bank to use for a particular transfer, in the event it picks Bangkok Bank there's a very good chance your transfer will show up with the FTT marking.  But when Wise's algorithm selects another Wise partner bank in Thailand there's a very good chance it will show up as a domestic transfer.  The mechanism that Wise (at the time TransferWise) put in place to ensure that the first rather than the second happens doesn't seem to be working.  So reports of successful FTT transfers don't really indicate anything about whether the problem has been fixed or persists, because we don't know whether Wise selected Bangkok Bank for you because it wanted to for its own business reasons or because it followed your instructions to transfer for the purpose of "long term stay in Thailand."

[skatewash]

7 minutes ago, treetops said:

Of course not since they stopped issuing them following the request from the Thais that the information be verified.

Of course, they could have simply continued to issue them, explain the reasons they were not able to verify them, and wait to see if Thai Immigration would in fact have rejected any of them.  Instead the course they took was to stop issuing them unilaterally.

[Moonlover]

50 minutes ago, skatewash said:

They stopped the income letters without any plan being in place for their citizens.  The monthly deposit method was concocted and allowed by Thai Immigration as a lifeline to those citizens who were abandoned by their embassies.

That is not so! The British embassy held many discussions with Thai immigration and the new system, now in place was agreed to long before the letters were withdrawn. At least 18 months as I recall.

 

A consular official even gave an interview that was broadcast through TVF, explaining how the new system would work.

[lopburi3]

1 minute ago, skatewash said:

Of course, they could have simply continued to issue them, explain the reasons they were not able to verify them, and wait to see if Thai Immigration would in fact have rejected any of them.  Instead the course they took was to stop issuing them unilaterally.

Which would have resulted in us being up the creek without a paddle when immigration did.  Instead they made it public and issued months in advance to allow people to set up the new system and got immigration to allow less than a full year of transfers for first year.  

[skatewash]

5 minutes ago, scubascuba3 said:

Someone else just posted on facebook that it went through as FTT today, maybe Wise have fixed the issue without acknowledging there is one

No.  Successful FTT transfers prove nothing (other than the fact that FTT transactions can occur which no one doubts).  The only proof of the problem being fixed is the absence of unsuccessful FTT transfers.  FTT transfers can be successful because the mechanism is working again OR because if the Wise algorithm chose Bangkok Bank for its own business purposes (which would very likely result in a successful FTT-labeled transaction).

[skatewash]

Just now, lopburi3 said:

Which would have resulted in us being up the creek without a paddle when immigration did.  Instead they made it public and issued months in advance to allow people to set up the new system and got immigration to allow less than a full year of transfers for first year.  

You can't possibly know that Thai Immigration would have rejected any embassy income letters.  Thai Immigration could have easily decided to continue to accept the immigration letters, despite having reservations about how they were being verified.  The three embassies decided not to see if that would happen and unilaterally stopped issuing the letters.

[scubascuba3]

2 minutes ago, skatewash said:

No.  Successful FTT transfers prove nothing (other than the fact that FTT transactions can occur which no one doubts).  The only proof of the problem being fixed is the absence of unsuccessful FTT transfers.  FTT transfers can be successful because the mechanism is working again OR because if the Wise algorithm chose Bangkok Bank for its own business purposes (which would very likely result in a successful FTT-labeled transaction).

Rather than you guess we should know in a day or two if we get more transfers going through correctly. There will always be some non FTT transfers as people choose different reasons or have a different bank

[gearbox]

On 10/15/2021 at 10:28 AM, gearbox said:

After a few email exchanges with the Wise support they tagged my account to use Bangkok bank. I sent 2k AUD yesterday from my Australian bank and they arrived 18 hours later in my Bangkok Bank account marked as "International transfer", so whatever they've done works for me....for now.

 

Just sent another 3k AUD, will see how this would come tomorrow.

I've done 2 more transfers, both came as FTT in my Bangkok bank ibanking. Looks it is fixed for me now.

[skatewash]

11 minutes ago, scubascuba3 said:

Rather than you guess we should know in a day or two if we get more transfers going through correctly. There will always be some non FTT transfers as people choose different reasons or have a different bank

I'm referring to people who have Bangkok Bank accounts that they are transferring to and that they have correctly selected the purpose of "long term stay in Thailand."  In other words, those that have done what used to "guarantee" that they would receive the FTT designation.  If people are still reporting unsuccessful FTT transfers in that category of transferrers the problem remains.  Or if the failure rate of getting a transfer marked FTT is high enough above 0% using Wise, then Wise won't be meeting the needs of some of its existing customers to the point that alternatives will have to used.  Customers using Wise for their extensions of stay will be as unforgiving of Wise with these slip-ups as Thai immigration is of the applicants.  

I hope it's fixed.  I am just cautioning against irrational exuberance that the problem is solved from the fact that some people are getting FTT marked transfers.  Even when the system was broken some people continued to get FTT marked transfers.  The system will appear to be fixed when there are no fresh reports of unsuccessful FTT transfers (for which the sender has done everything correctly).

[norbra]

6 minutes ago, skatewash said:

I'm referring to people who have Bangkok Bank accounts that they are transferring to and that they have correctly selected the purpose of "long term stay in Thailand."  In other words, those that have done what used to "guarantee" that they would receive the FTT designation.  If people are still reporting unsuccessful FTT transfers in that category of transferrers the problem remains.  Or if the failure rate of getting a transfer marked FTT is high enough above 0% using Wise, then Wise won't be meeting the needs of some of its existing customers to the point that alternatives will have to used.  Customers using Wise for their extensions of stay will be as unforgiving of Wise with these slip-ups as Thai immigration is of the applicants.  

I hope it's fixed.  I am just cautioning against irrational exuberance that the problem is solved from the fact that some people are getting FTT marked transfers.  Even when the system was broken some people continued to get FTT marked transfers.  The system will appear to be fixed when there are no fresh reports of unsuccessful FTT transfers (for which the sender has done everything correctly).

From 19 pages of examples etc. My conclusion is if you want FTT for your transfer no matter what purpose is chosen you will get it if you have had your recipient account with Wise previously  "tagged" just saying

[mojaco]

Wise never guaranteed 100% transfers usuing Bangkok Bank, plus they have been very quick to respond to my emails, add tags, and so on.  Yes, it did cause me personally spending many hours researching the situation and testing alternative SWIFT transfers to assure I have a Plan B.  I might give 3-4 stars but never lower.  It is very unkind and arrogant to try to get me/us to give one star.  I will still use Wise, perhaps the "International" or "same Currency" SWIFT transfer.

Edited October 18, 2021 by mojaco
Spelling

[billd766]

3 hours ago, treetops said:

Of course not since they stopped issuing them following the request from the Thais that the information be verified.

But many other countries still sign letters of confirmation even though they don't and/or can't confirm the actual amounts from their home countries. Immigration accept those letters as bona fide.

 

Over the years and a few countries I have learned one invaluable thing about the Foreign & and Commonwealth Office and their embassies. That is to never expect anything from the embassies, and that way you will never be disappointed with the result that you get, should you ever dare to cross their doorstep.

[ripstanley]

On 10/14/2021 at 1:59 PM, racyrick said:

FINALLY, somebody who gets it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Thank you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The call center is in Estonia.

[billd766]

I did a small transfer on Friday afternoon from Wise UK to BBK in Thailand. It went through as normal and didn't show up in the BBK. I followed that up by transferring the rest which also went normally.

 

I got 2 sms this morning telling me that my money was on its and sure enough at 2:03 pm BBK said my money was in the account.

 

I had mt Wise account tagged a couple of years ago and used the "Long term stay in Thailand" as the reason for the transfer and both have shown up as an international transfer.

[KannikaP]

On 10/17/2021 at 11:26 AM, pontious said:

We should not forget all these problems we are having is due to certain embassies refusing to issue income letters. I am sure 99.9 per cent of us could have provided the necessary documentation.  It is they who have thrown us under the bus.

This thread is about Wise Transfers and not the Thai Governments or our own Embassy decisions.

[ianguygil]

I will have something definitive for you from the product teams in a couple of days

[KannikaP]

On 10/17/2021 at 11:33 AM, lopburi3 said:

I believe it was immigration making new demands that Embassies had to guarantee data - which most western governments can not do by law.

Off topic.

[KannikaP]

1 hour ago, mojaco said:

I will still use Wise, perhaps the "International" or "same Currency" SWIFT transfer.

Please explain, thanks.

[KannikaP]

3 hours ago, skatewash said:

I'm referring to people who have Bangkok Bank accounts that they are transferring to and that they have correctly selected the purpose of "long term stay in Thailand."  In other words, those that have done what used to "guarantee" that they would receive the FTT designation.  If people are still reporting unsuccessful FTT transfers in that category of transferrers the problem remains.  Or if the failure rate of getting a transfer marked FTT is high enough above 0% using Wise, then Wise won't be meeting the needs of some of its existing customers to the point that alternatives will have to used.  Customers using Wise for their extensions of stay will be as unforgiving of Wise with these slip-ups as Thai immigration is of the applicants.  

I hope it's fixed.  I am just cautioning against irrational exuberance that the problem is solved from the fact that some people are getting FTT marked transfers.  Even when the system was broken some people continued to get FTT marked transfers.  The system will appear to be fixed when there are no fresh reports of unsuccessful FTT transfers (for which the sender has done everything correctly).

The best, concise reply in this whole thread. Thank you.

[scubascuba3]

A Wise reply on Facebook to someone else. A half decent response but doesn't fix the problem

[mojaco]

10 hours ago, KannikaP said:

Please explain, thanks.

If I choose to send dollars from my Borderless dollar account to Bangkok Bank using Wise's SWIFT "Same Currency" send instead of having Wise convert to Baht as used normally, then I am 99% assured that will show up as FTT international transfer in Bangkok Bank.  Costs a little more that way but much cheaper than having my USA bank send using SWIFT.

[thonglorjimmy]

On 10/14/2021 at 11:26 AM, norbra said:

I was led to believe that the wise pdf receipt indicates transaction by local transfer

Yes it does, but I've still got the FTT marker in my Bangkok Bank book and statements, which is all I'm worried about.

 

I'm aware that this marker seems a bit hit and miss at the moment.

[Pumpuynarak]

3 hours ago, mojaco said:

If I choose to send dollars from my Borderless dollar account to Bangkok Bank using Wise's SWIFT "Same Currency" send instead of having Wise convert to Baht as used normally, then I am 99% assured that will show up as FTT international transfer in Bangkok Bank.  Costs a little more that way but much cheaper than having my USA bank send using SWIFT.

So to have Wise complete a Swift transfer to my Bangkok Bank account i need to open a Borderless account with Wise and use money from that account for my Swift transfer.

If that is correct that would explain why when i clicked "Swift transfer" on a recent small "testing'' transfer but just transferred from my UK account it did'nt show up as FTT and the transfer was immediate.    

[scubascuba3]

17 minutes ago, Pumpuynarak said:

So to have Wise complete a Swift transfer to my Bangkok Bank account i need to open a Borderless account with Wise and use money from that account for my Swift transfer.

If that is correct that would explain why when i clicked "Swift transfer" on a recent small "testing'' transfer but just transferred from my UK account it did'nt show up as FTT and the transfer was immediate.    

Looks like if you had a £ borderless account, you'd use that to send £ by swift to BB who would do their conversion with their fee plus poor exchange rate but at least you'll be guaranteed FTT

Edited October 19, 2021 by scubascuba3

[OJAS]

4 hours ago, scubascuba3 said:

A Wise reply on Facebook to someone else. A half decent response but doesn't fix the problem

So there we have it in black and white, it would appear: selecting the "Funds For Long-Term Stay In Thailand" option does not provide - nor has ever provided, nor will presumably ever provide - a 100% cast-iron guarantee of the coveted FTT/International Transfer coding in the case of BKKB accounts, as far as Wise are concerned.

 

As neither does not "account tagging", it would appear, based on responses which other contributors to this thread have received on this particular point from Wise.

 

However, it may well be that, instead of having to faff about with obtaining FET receipts, Wise's Transfer Confirmation pdf's would suffice for proving the foreign origin of particular transfers for Immigration purposes: for example, if I recall correctly, @Moonlover has reported that this approach works in the case of his immigration office. But, as with all matters Immigration-related, of course, whether or not it also works in the case of other offices depends on (1) individual office practices, and, crucially, (2) which side of the bed the officer with whom you deal at annual extension of stay time got out of that particular morning.

 

Incidentally, I have come across this thread which may also be relevant in the context of the issues which you raised in your OP:-

 

 

 

 

Edited October 19, 2021 by OJAS

[mojaco]

5 minutes ago, scubascuba3 said:

Looks like if you had a £ borderless account, you'd use that to send £ to BB who would do their conversion with their fee plus poor exchange rate but at least you'll be guaranteed FTT

The exchange rate is not "poor" it is Bangkok Bank's TT rate, slightly less than what Wise would gjve at the same time and day.