Info required on using Wise for international money transfers

[Kenny202]

I have used Wise before a few times to send money from Australia, no problems. Just about to do a transfer now. Exchange rate all over the place at the moment but about the best its been for a long time. With Wise you used to be able to book a transfer...hold the quoted rate and they would give you an amount of time to transfer payment to them. Maybe 24-72 hours. If the rate had gone up significantly, and you hadn't paid them, you could simply cancel the transaction and get a new quote based on the higher ex rate. Can you still do that?

 

Looks a bit different now where at the end of the transaction they ask you for payment,  and in this case say I have 77 hours to transfer funds. I didn't tick the "pay now" button, and it looks like the transaction has been "paused". Does this mean the rate is being held for me? Should the rate go up in the next two days can I cancel and start a new transfer transaction at the higher rate?

 

Any advice appreciated 

[Moonlover]

30 minutes ago, Kenny202 said:

I have used Wise before a few times to send money from Australia, no problems. Just about to do a transfer now. Exchange rate all over the place at the moment but about the best its been for a long time. With Wise you used to be able to book a transfer...hold the quoted rate and they would give you an amount of time to transfer payment to them. Maybe 24-72 hours. If the rate had gone up significantly, and you hadn't paid them, you could simply cancel the transaction and get a new quote based on the higher ex rate. Can you still do that?

 

Looks a bit different now where at the end of the transaction they ask you for payment,  and in this case say I have 77 hours to transfer funds. I didn't tick the "pay now" button, and it looks like the transaction has been "paused". Does this mean the rate is being held for me? Should the rate go up in the next two days can I cancel and start a new transfer transaction at the higher rate?

 

Any advice appreciated 

You can cancel it if you wish, but you risk incurring a penalty on a future payment. Wise do not like customers trying to 'game the system' in order to take advantage of fluctuating exchange rates. They are a transfer institute, not a FOREX platform.

Edited April 6 by Moonlover

[CharlieH]

MOVED to Banking

[pub2022]

14 minutes ago, Moonlover said:

You can cancel it if you wish, but you risk incurring a penalty on a future payment. Wise do not like customers trying to 'game the system' in order to take advantage of fluctuating exchange rates. They are a transfer institute, not a FOREX platform.

 

EXACTLY THIS

[ripstanley]

Yes you can cancel. I log it in at a certain rate and if it changes for the better I cancel and redo. I have never been penalised The rate on Friday afternoon was 23.15. On Saturday it is 23.07. This rate will not change until Monday morning. The weekend rate is always lower then what it was on Friday. Good luck.

[Kenny202]

I did actually just complete the transfer....after reading all the information the guarantee is like a Thai guarantee....subject to their discretion. Did make me feel a little uncomfortable with the transaction as my large Australian bank didn't recognize their BSB or Account number and I had to take a leap of faith and transfer anyway. The do say on their transfer instructions that they have a new BSB number and your bank may say they don't recognize it but nonetheless it creates a little discomfort. I have never had any problems at all using wise but every time I have transferred with them there was something similar that added a little doubt. I am sure all will be ok but how would you know the actual website is legit?

[Kenny202]

4 minutes ago, ripstanley said:

Yes you can cancel. I log it in at a certain rate and if it changes for the better I cancel and redo. I have never been penalised The rate on Friday afternoon was 23.15. On Saturday it is 23.07. This rate will not change until Monday morning. The weekend rate is always lower then what it was on Friday. Good luck.

My rate today is 24.07 in $AUD less their $122 fee. The $AUD rate actually peaked briefly yesterday at 24.30. You are not talking Australia dollars right?

[ripstanley]

2 hours ago, Kenny202 said:

My rate today is 24.07 in $AUD less their $122 fee. The $AUD rate actually peaked briefly yesterday at 24.30. You are not talking Australia dollars right?

Sorry Kenny it should have been 24. My mistake.

I only bring  just over $2000 and my charge is only $15.51

Edited April 6 by ripstanley

[BillyBloggs]

On 4/6/2024 at 3:27 PM, Kenny202 said:

I did actually just complete the transfer....after reading all the information the guarantee is like a Thai guarantee....subject to their discretion. Did make me feel a little uncomfortable with the transaction as my large Australian bank didn't recognize their BSB or Account number and I had to take a leap of faith and transfer anyway. The do say on their transfer instructions that they have a new BSB number and your bank may say they don't recognize it but nonetheless it creates a little discomfort. I have never had any problems at all using wise but every time I have transferred with them there was something similar that added a little doubt. I am sure all will be ok but how would you know the actual website is legit?

This is a one off thing as it happened to me when they changed accounts and yes I leapt as well after a quick check, The other thing is they say this rate is valid for x amount of time when you first log to it. Then you could hold and wait and see, maybe if you do a lot of cancels the penalty comes in.

[jimn]

On 4/6/2024 at 3:04 PM, Moonlover said:

You can cancel it if you wish, but you risk incurring a penalty on a future payment. Wise do not like customers trying to 'game the system' in order to take advantage of fluctuating exchange rates. They are a transfer institute, not a FOREX platform.

The whole point of the transfer later option is to get a better rate. That is why Wise introduced it. You are not gaming the system by doing it, just using the option provided. I can't see why any penalty would apply. Have you got any evidence of this?

[CharlieH]

2 minutes ago, jimn said:

The whole point of the transfer later option is to get a better rate. That is why Wise introduced it. You are not gaming the system by doing it, just using the option provided. I can't see why any penalty would apply. Have you got any evidence of this?

It is stated during the withdrawal/transfer process that cancelling may result in penalties being imposed.

[Moonlover]

21 minutes ago, jimn said:

On 4/6/2024 at 3:04 PM, Moonlover said:

You can cancel it if you wish, but you risk incurring a penalty on a future payment. Wise do not like customers trying to 'game the system' in order to take advantage of fluctuating exchange rates. They are a transfer institute, not a FOREX platform.

 

21 minutes ago, jimn said:

The whole point of the transfer later option is to get a better rate. That is why Wise introduced it. You are not gaming the system by doing it, just using the option provided. I can't see why any penalty would apply. Have you got any evidence of this?

Whenever you initiate a transfer procedure, Wise has incurred a cost. If you then cancel that transfer that cost it a loss to them. Which is why on every transfer, prior to confirming, you are asked to tick a box which says 'I may have to pay a higher fee on future transfers if I cancel'. 

 

The evidence is right before your eyes.

 

Have a nice day.

[Kenny202]

I actually completed my transfer, but before hand sent the a very straightforward email asking them if the rate increased favorably (for me) while I was locked in to a previous deal, could I cancel that deal and start a new one with the better rate. Very friendly reply saying I could do that but I would be locked into the new rate....lower or higher which may not be as good as the old rate aka stating the obvious. Sounded like they don't mind you cancelling and doing a new locked in rate in the least.

[jimn]

3 hours ago, Moonlover said:

 

Whenever you initiate a transfer procedure, Wise has incurred a cost. If you then cancel that transfer that cost it a loss to them. Which is why on every transfer, prior to confirming, you are asked to tick a box which says 'I may have to pay a higher fee on future transfers if I cancel'. 

 

The evidence is right before your eyes.

 

Have a nice day.

That's told me then hasn't it. I wonder why they have this facility to hold the rate for 2 hours etc. Surely its to help the customer get a better rate, that's what I assumed anyway, obviously wrong.

[thailand49]

If pausing?  What do you think the rate is going to be in a few days?

25.0 to 25.1-2, maybe down 24.9 24.7

Have you ever heard " cant beat the market "

[Kenny202]

59 minutes ago, jimn said:

That's told me then hasn't it. I wonder why they have this facility to hold the rate for 2 hours etc. Surely its to help the customer get a better rate, that's what I assumed anyway, obviously wrong.

In my case held the rate for 3 days, depends on the market I think but always at least 2 days in my past experience. They are a bit loose with their terminology..I am talking about cancelling the transaction before actually sending them any money. Would they charge you a higher transfer rate on future transfers? I personally doubt it unless you were obviously really rorting things. Wise aren't stupid though, they aren't the only money transfer company on the block and they wont lose customers unless said customers are not worth the trouble

[treetops]

1 hour ago, jimn said:

I wonder why they have this facility to hold the rate for 2 hours etc.

 

To give you time to fund the transaction if you are not holding a balance within Wise.

[Lacessit]

I transfer the money into WISE first, then wait until I can lock in a good exchange rate.

[Moonlover]

6 hours ago, jimn said:

That's told me then hasn't it. I wonder why they have this facility to hold the rate for 2 hours etc. Surely its to help the customer get a better rate, that's what I assumed anyway, obviously wrong.

It's all to do with the way the currencies are performing against each other. If the THB is trending downward quickly, Wise will want the deal closed quickly as well, otherwise they could end up paying out more THB than is strictly necessary. So they will only allow a short window of opportunity to complete the transaction.

 

If, on the other hand the THB is trending upward, they'll be happy to allow a longer period for you to make the transfer. It could work out to their advantage. I have always placed the money I wish to transfer into my Multi Currency account first, then I carry out the transfer in one complete action. Job done.

[Kenny202]

Thanks everyone for the advice 🙂

[georgegeorgia]

14 hours ago, jimn said:

That's told me then hasn't it. I wonder why they have this facility to hold the rate for 2 hours etc. Surely its to help the customer get a better rate, that's what I assumed anyway, obviously wrong.

No not at all ..a lot of your threads as a distinguished gentleman you have been correct and very pleasant to say the least and a scholar