Wise (Formerly TransferWise)

[Emeraldisle]

I have been using Wise for a couple of years now.  I mainly  use it to transfer small amounts of money to Thailand.  I also use the Wise debit card to withdraw cash at ATMs when in Thailand as their exchange rate is better than home country cards.

I was recently contacted by Wise asking me to verify the source of my income.  Something to do with anti money laundering I believe. I sent a copy of an income tax document which I felt would be sufficient. 

However, I got an email from them which stated that the document was insufficient and they need copies of six months bank statements or to give them access to my bank account.

I would never give anybody access to my bank account so I sent the bank statements.

That was about a week ago and so far I have heard nothing and cannot use my Wise account.

Has anybody else encountered this problem?

Any suggestions regarding other ways to transfer money to Thailand?

Has anybody any experience with XE Money?

Thank you

[Jerno]

Have used Xe two dozen times over the past 5 years.  Not one problem nor issue encountered.  And their conversion rates are better than Wise.  It does however take a week for funds to arrive at the Thai bank. (Bangkok Bank, from RBC Canada). 

[Celsius]

Wise asked you for access to your bank account?

 

Beware of being scammed, bud

[Emeraldisle]

Yes.  Wise asked for access to my bank account.  I thought that was a bit strange. 

[n00dle]

40 minutes ago, Emeraldisle said:

Yes.  Wise asked for access to my bank account.  I thought that was a bit strange. 

How, exactly, did they phrase the request for access? 

[Emeraldisle]

I don't remember the exact wording of the access request.  It is gone off the screen now.  If I get another one I will do a screenshot

[scubascuba3]

I did a transfer a few days ago and Wise needed me to verify my identity by providing a passport photo, i did that and it was approved within 30 mins.

 

Are you from US? seems stricter regs might cause extra requirements but them requesting bank account access is very suspicious. Did you access Wise the normal way or via some link?

Edited November 28, 2022 by scubascuba3

[Tom H]

Wise is not a bank.

No safety.

No office.

No real contact person.

 

Use it as transfer only. Dont park money.

[chuang]

9 hours ago, Emeraldisle said:

Yes.  Wise asked for access to my bank account.  I thought that was a bit strange. 

At least you are smart..

[KhunBENQ]

Just checked with WISE and it's not a scam/fraud.

I read it in German language 

You must be too rich ????

It's about large sums (without specifying) and they claim it is part of regulatory conditions.

German text says three months of statements with clear references (like pension, work income, interest...).

Edited November 29, 2022 by KhunBENQ

[RafPinto]

Most banks in Thailand, you just can transfer up to 50k baht in, in one go (unless you use one of the 3 or 4, which allow higher transfers).

Monday, I paid international school fees. As recipient, directly the school and not first to me in Thailand and then to school account.

Was well over 200k. Money was send without any problem, in one go and credited to school almost immediately.

 

Why can't we transfer to ourselves over 50k and when we pay others, there's no limit (apparently).

[NoshowJones]

5 hours ago, Tom H said:

Wise is not a bank.

No safety.

No office.

No real contact person.

 

Use it as transfer only. Dont park money.

This post is alarming me, I have money parked with Wise. Are there any other posters with money parked with Wise? Should I send that money back to my UK bank?

[mikeymike100]

Have used XE, but there time from taking it from your account, via debit/credit card or whatever is much longer than Wise. Usually 1-2 business days, I had a problem once and it took over a week.

Wise, usually the money is in your bank in seconds?

[NoDisplayName]

10 minutes ago, NoshowJones said:

This post is alarming me, I have money parked with Wise. Are there any other posters with money parked with Wise? Should I send that money back to my UK bank?

I've used Wise for a couple years now, never had any problems.  But I'm new to the intertubes banking thing, meaning financial service companies without a physical presence.  I never leave more than a few dollars in my Wise account.  When I transfer money in from a bank or brokerage, I send it out to Thailand within minutes.

 

Only reason I can see for parking funds there is their option to place an order to send when the currency rate hits your specified target.

[theoldgit]

Moved to Banking

[Celsius]

I would not keep my money there for the simple reason they can ask for additional documents at any time and hold your money.

[scubascuba3]

1 hour ago, NoshowJones said:

This post is alarming me, I have money parked with Wise. Are there any other posters with money parked with Wise? Should I send that money back to my UK bank?

You aren't protected by the £85k\100k euros compensation scheme, but they they have to keep customer money segregated away from their money

[lopburi3]

1 hour ago, NoshowJones said:

This post is alarming me, I have money parked with Wise. Are there any other posters with money parked with Wise? Should I send that money back to my UK bank?

Yes I keep a few thousand in account at times and have no real fear - they are real - have real people at real address and keep money available (unlike banks).  This is not a crypto currency black hole.

[hotandsticky]

7 hours ago, Tom H said:

Wise is not a bank.

No safety.

No office.

No real contact person.

 

Use it as transfer only. Dont park money.

No sh!t !

[hotandsticky]

7 hours ago, Tom H said:

Wise is not a bank.

No safety.

No office.

No real contact person.

 

Use it as transfer only. Dont park money.

 

 

I have  £2,000 sitting in Wise (waiting for a rate I like).

 

 

I am still sleeping at night..................

[Phnom Penh Trader]

3 hours ago, NoshowJones said:

This post is alarming me, I have money parked with Wise. Are there any other posters with money parked with Wise? Should I send that money back to my UK bank?

One born every minute are Wise even regulated by anyone probably not? ????

[SpaceKadet]

15 hours ago, Emeraldisle said:

I got an email from them which stated that the document was insufficient and they need copies of six months bank statements

It was many years ago that I got any bank statements from my banks. It's all online now. Wise should know that. How would you proceed in this case?

[Moonlover]

4 hours ago, RafPinto said:

Most banks in Thailand, you just can transfer up to 50k baht in, in one go (unless you use one of the 3 or 4, which allow higher transfers).

Monday, I paid international school fees. As recipient, directly the school and not first to me in Thailand and then to school account.

Was well over 200k. Money was send without any problem, in one go and credited to school almost immediately.

 

Why can't we transfer to ourselves over 50k and when we pay others, there's no limit (apparently).

As you said yourself, using 3 or 4 banks, (3 actually) you can transfer more than the 50k limit.

 

So which bank does the school use? If it's one of those 3 banks then there's no problem sending the higher amount. If, like me,  you use a none partner bank, then 50k cap applies.

 

I have noticed that just recently Wise have stopped posting the usual advice about this when making a transfer. I wonder whether the limit still applies. Has anyone out there tried?

[Moonlover]

51 minutes ago, SpaceKadet said:

It was many years ago that I got any bank statements from my banks. It's all online now. Wise should know that. How would you proceed in this case?

With every bank I use, it's a simple matter to download statements.

[ozfarang]

1 hour ago, Phnom Penh Trader said:

One born every minute are Wise even regulated by anyone probably not? ????

To answer your question.

Yes, in Australia they are regulated and licensed

 

 

Edited November 29, 2022 by ozfarang

[Moonlover]

10 hours ago, Tom H said:

Wise is not a bank.

No safety.

No office.

No real contact person.

have an office

Use it as transfer only. Dont park money.

It's true that Wise is not a bank, but they regulated by the FCA in the UK and FinCEN in the US. They do not hold your money themselves, it is kept in escrow accounts, separate from their own funds.

 

They do have an office in London and they have many offices around the world and there are real people in them. Here's a short list.

 

Wise is, of course a transfer business, not a savings bank. I still have a UK bank account so I do not park money with Wise, but I wouldn't worry overly if I found it to be necessary.

[rudi49jr]

15 hours ago, Emeraldisle said:

Yes.  Wise asked for access to my bank account.  I thought that was a bit strange. 

A real bank or money transfer service would NEVER ask for that, so beware. I use Wise as well and last time I sent money to Thailand I also got questions, for instance if I had actually met the person I was sending money to. If I get any more question, I’m going to switch to another service. 

[lopburi3]

1 hour ago, rudi49jr said:

last time I sent money to Thailand I also got questions, for instance if I had actually met the person I was sending money to.

That sounds like a valid scam concern as Thailand has become a major transfer point for Indian scammers.

[Upnotover]

3 hours ago, SpaceKadet said:

It was many years ago that I got any bank statements from my banks. It's all online now. Wise should know that. How would you proceed in this case?

Presumably download the requested statements and send them on.  All my banks (and indeed Wise themselves) provide online statements, just because they don't send paper ones doesn't mean they don't exist.

[Tom H]

2 hours ago, Moonlover said:

It's true that Wise is not a bank, but they regulated by the FCA in the UK and FinCEN in the US. They do not hold your money themselves, it is kept in escrow accounts, separate from their own funds.

 

They do have an office in London and they have many offices around the world and there are real people in them. Here's a short list.

 

Wise is, of course a transfer business, not a savings bank. I still have a UK bank account so I do not park money with Wise, but I wouldn't worry overly if I found it to be necessary.

No compensation schemes with 100k Euro.

Who controls Wise in Thailand?????
Who is a contact by Wise in Thailand?

No public offices for customers, only administration and IT Servers.

 

Under Money Laundering surveilance in some countries as you can read more and more when you google. 

 

Thats why they block money transfers sometimes but very seldom.

 

Some people say that higher sums of money are beeing blocked until papers proof where the money came from.

 

 

But:

As a transfer company realy good.

 

I would never park higher sums by Wise.

When they might have any financial issue you will hear it when it is too late. Wise transfers your “parked money” to real banks for your information. 

 

Question:

What happens when one of these banks have an issue????…

Edited November 29, 2022 by Tom H