Wise Transfers- Caution - Fees

[Raindancer]

Some of you may be aware of the information in my post  and some of you may already know.

This is for the the unaware.  

 

I made a transfer yesterday of GBP to Thai baht.  On the opening page, I noticed that the fees were almost 60% higher than normal.

 

My previous transfers always defaulted on the opening page, to transfer from bank.

 

Yesterday I looked to the right and it stated " Fast and easy transfer", with a drop down box.  This allowed me to change to bank transfer and the fees changed to a lower figure.

 

I hope this helps some of you.

 

Regards.

[anchadian]

Yesterday, I also changed GKP to my Thai bank.

Nothing has changed,

[Chivas]

Yep I highlighted that here couple weeks ago using the app in that it had defaulted to the higher fee

I only noticed because the spread between gross and net had widened more than usual

 

Could immediately see why...easy to change on the app but it will be overlooked by 1000's every day

[Raindancer]

Just now, anchadian said:

Yesterday, I also changed GKP to my Thai bank.

Nothing has changed,

If it hadn't changed, I would not have posted the information.

[Raindancer]

Just now, Chivas said:

Yep I highlighted that here couple weeks ago using the app in that it had defaulted to the higher fee

I only noticed because the spread between gross and net had widened more than usual

 

Could immediately see why...easy to change on the app but it will be overlooked by 1000's every day

Thank you .

[Chivas]

Live screenshot

 

The app had defaulted to higher fee of £10.55 instead of £6.40.....in the past it always displayed the lowest option....easy to change but one to watch

 

 

[Raindancer]

14 minutes ago, Chivas said:

Live screenshot

 

The app had defaulted to higher fee of £10.55 instead of £6.40.....in the past it always displayed the lowest option....easy to change but one to watch

 

 

Thank you for confirming what someone else contradicted.

 

 

 

[anchadian]

Apologies RD, you are correct.

[Moonlover]

You can't 'accidently' stumble into making a 'fast and easy transfer' because you have to provide the card details. That should be a red flag for just about everyone.

 

I always move the funds to be transferred into my Multi Currency account first. That way there's no chance of a misstep.

[Raindancer]

3 minutes ago, anchadian said:

Apologies RD, you are correct.

Thank you.

[Henryford]

I noticed as well that sometimes it is the "fast and easy charge" and you have to change it manually. What does the fast charge give you anyway when the transfer usually happens within seconds?

[Raindancer]

2 minutes ago, Moonlover said:

You can't 'accidently' stumble into making a 'fast and easy transfer' because you have to provide the card details. That should be a red flag for just about everyone.

 

I always move the funds to be transferred into my Multi Currency account first. That way there's no chance of a misstep.

Good point.  My post was merely to point out the subtle change.

[bbko]

Does this affect only those in Chang Mai? Maybe move to another forum for more exposure.

[rexpotter]

I used Wise for years while living in Bali. Great sending from USA Bank to an Indo bank there. When I recently moved back to Thailand after the Russian takeover there, I attempted to send money from Indo to BKK Bank. A nightmare of huge proportions. Customer service which now shows a Singapore number is actually based Manila. I spent 5 business days with at least 25 calls on my own dime attempting to straighten it out. No go. After ten days without any message or email the money showed up in my BKK Bank account of which I was unaware. Countless selfies, verification's to the point of insanity. Wise is/was great for big country to 3rd world, but between the latter beware.

Last time recently i used Remitly, which gave an exact exchange rate plus a 20$ free sign, up then after that I realized they would rob me. I am now in limbo with the whole deal. Wise has lost the plot if you have any problems.

[Raindancer]

4 minutes ago, bbko said:

Does this affect only those in Chang Mai? Maybe move to another forum for more exposure.

It seems that a mod has already moved this to a general finance forum.

[scubascuba3]

I noticed this also 6 months ago, had to find a workaround to avoid the fee, now there's a drop down menu so easy, sneaky behaviour from Wise, really it should default to previous method used 

Edited February 28 by scubascuba3

[scubascuba3]

1 hour ago, anchadian said:

Yesterday, I also changed GKP to my Thai bank.

Nothing has changed,

Open your eyes

[Raindancer]

3 minutes ago, scubascuba3 said:

I noticed this also 6 months ago, had to find a workaround to avoid the fee, now there's a drop down menu so easy, sneaky behaviour from Wise, really it should default to previous method used 

Wow!  6 months ago.  I used it last month and it defaulted to the usual bank transfer.  Hence my post after yesterday's transfer, when I noticed the fee increase.

 

 

Edited February 28 by Raindancer

[scubascuba3]

10 minutes ago, Raindancer said:

Wow!  6 months ago.  I used it last month and it defaulted to the usual bank transfer.  Hence my post after yesterday's transfer, when I noticed the fee increase.

 

 

Yeah i use it infrequently and like i say 6 months ago the app changed and defaulted to higher fee without an obvious way to change it, i just repeated a previous transfer, yes the change you mention is another change

[KhunBENQ]

No change for EUR transfers.

There had always been different options with different prices.

Cheap option cost about 14 EUR for 2000 (0.7%).

There were slight increases over the years. I remember about 0.62% in the past.

 

[TorquayFan]

Thanks for the heads up'. I'll watch out for that . . . .

Edited February 28 by TorquayFan

[KannikaP]

1 hour ago, Chivas said:

Live screenshot

 

The app had defaulted to higher fee of £10.55 instead of £6.40.....in the past it always displayed the lowest option....easy to change but one to watch

 

 

 

1 hour ago, Chivas said:

Live screenshot

 

The app had defaulted to higher fee of £10.55 instead of £6.40.....in the past it always displayed the lowest option....easy to change but one to watch

 

 

I CONVERTED GBP 1000 to THB within Wise and it cost 5.47. Then transferred THB to Bangkok bank cost THB 31.7 = GBP 0.70. Total fees = GBP 6.17

[KhunBENQ]

4 minutes ago, KhunBENQ said:

No change for EUR transfers.

Stand corrected.

On the website they show two different options while in the app there is only the "cheap" option. I did never care because money doesn't arrive in seconds. Can be next working day.

Reason likely the reason for transfer selected (long stay in Thailand).

Also I don't see the credit card option anymore? (was the most expensive)

[KhunBENQ]

3 minutes ago, KannikaP said:

 

I CONVERTED GBP 1000 to THB within Wise and it cost 5.47. Then transferred THB to Bangkok bank cost THB 31.7 = GBP 0.70. Total fees = GBP 6.17

0.617 %, better than for EUR.

[KannikaP]

4 minutes ago, KhunBENQ said:

0.617 %, better than for EUR.

Are you saying that to do the same in EUR, ie EUR1000 to THB, then to THB costs more?

 

Edited February 28 by KannikaP

[4MyEgo]

2 hours ago, Chivas said:

The app had defaulted to higher fee of £10.55 instead of £6.40.....in the past it always displayed the lowest option....easy to change but one to watch

 

Interesting, as I don't see this on my App or my laptop. That said, both show PayID fee which is zero, e.g. I transfer from my bank to Wise, however the drop down box allows me to choose a different payment method, and that is when there are charges, i.e. Debt Card and Credit Card, the latter is 2.5 X more expensive than the Debit Card.

 

Just wondering why this is not on my App, but then again, I don't transfer from GBP, maybe that has something to do with it ?

[mfd101]

For Australian end of things (by contrast):

 

I transfer AUD2K or 3K or 4K at least twice a month according to need and always noting purpose as Long-term stay in TH. The fees for $2k & $3k transfers have increased by only 2 or 3 cents in the last couple of months.

[TroubleandGrumpy]

Not making any excuses, but a lot of the mentioned issues relate to either the location of the 'head' account, or to the IT people making changes.

IT people in many organisations make changes and they sometimes screw it up (MSoft, Apple, Android, etc etc.)

Each Wise 'office' is located within a country or region - it is not a global bank as such (none of them actually are). Local issues and local authorities 'assistance' can lead to problems that others with same company dont get. 

In Australia Wise has a (limited) banking licence and is a separate organisation - like a franchise - same for most globals.

 

[Moonlover]

1 hour ago, rexpotter said:

I used Wise for years while living in Bali. Great sending from USA Bank to an Indo bank there. When I recently moved back to Thailand after the Russian takeover there, I attempted to send money from Indo to BKK Bank. A nightmare of huge proportions. Customer service which now shows a Singapore number is actually based Manila. I spent 5 business days with at least 25 calls on my own dime attempting to straighten it out. No go. After ten days without any message or email the money showed up in my BKK Bank account of which I was unaware. Countless selfies, verification's to the point of insanity. Wise is/was great for big country to 3rd world, but between the latter beware.

Last time recently i used Remitly, which gave an exact exchange rate plus a 20$ free sign, up then after that I realized they would rob me. I am now in limbo with the whole deal. Wise has lost the plot if you have any problems.

The primary mission of Wise is to facilitate the transfer of funds from the 'hard currency' zones to the less developed parts of the world. They never have, and probably never will, facilitate movements in the other direction, nor between developing countries. If you think otherwise you obviously do not understand how Wise operates.

 

To rant about Wise in the way that you have is like moaning about a math's tutor who is unable to teach classic history.

[Pungdo]

I had a different problem last week when trying to do a transfer from Australia, even though I have been using Wise for quite a while, the bank declined my transfer to Wise 3 times and I then had to sit on the phone to my Oz bank waiting for nearly half an hour to speak to someone to clear it up, all because it was flagged as a possible scam. Grrrr what a bloody waste of my time. Com bank if anyone is wondering.