WISE just shut me down!

[GroveHillWanderer]

32 minutes ago, PumpkinEater said:

Here is the page that needs confirmation by WISE.

Note that the Country (My resident Country) is shaded and cannot be changed.

I think that's possibly because that screen is for when you're trying to keep your residence country as the US, and all you want to do is confirm your address there. It wouldn't make any sense to change to a different country in those circumstances.

 

To change your country of residence, as far as I can tell, you would need to go to your personal details and update them. When I try to do that, it gives me a choice of all the different available countries, including Thailand.

[Etaoin Shrdlu]

 

I suspect that Wise's AML/KYC algorithms somehow decided that you were no longer resident at your old address. Perhaps they tap into IRS databases for this as they do to verify SSN/ITIN.

 

I think Wise limits each person to one account and that account likely must be set up and maintained to be compliant with the account owner's actual physical or tax residence.

 

You may have to either change the country and give Wise sufficient Thai address details to do so, or perhaps close the old account and open a new one.

 

Here's a bit from Wise's website:  

 

https://wise.com/help/articles/2949804/how-does-wise-verify-my-address

[billd766]

1 hour ago, Ohyesuare said:

 

Same here.

Here also.

[sandyf]

11 hours ago, PumpkinEater said:

I went in and saw that all was ok with my information and tried to continue. Again I was denied and called the WISE people who told me that I now need a physical address in the USA and that it cannot be a “mailbox”. I asked about who was behind this regulation and they sent me an email that the “Financial Crime Enforcement Network (FCEN) was behind this new requirement.

It should be no surprise that Wise will be looking closely at US accounts and some will suffer due to the actions of others.

Wise were fined $2.5M for what Wise claimed was an oversight and had already compensated the customers, about $2M of the fine was a civil penalty.

https://thepaypers.com/digital-identity-security-online-fraud/cfpb-orders-wise-to-pay-usd-25-million-fine-due-to-illicit-remittance-practices--1272051

[oldcpu]

1 hour ago, Yumthai said:

You're actually hiding your current tax residence(s) because this is what Wise is required to know to comply with OECD standards.

But as long as they don't address you directly to update/confirm your residence I guess it's OK.

 

Fair enough.  When I do visit Europe (typically for 6 weeks a year) that is my residence.  i see your point.

 

I actually did change my address to Thailand for a couple of years, but when I needed to change my Wise debit card, I had a problem (they would not ship to Thailand), so I changed my address back to Germany ... and they happily shipped my card there. i picked it up a few weeks later when visiting Europe (and staying at that address).

 

Perhaps Wise has changed their policy  since when I was using a Thai address ...   (I received a replacement card late last year @  German address and I have not changed my address back to Thailand again).

[PumpkinEater]

3 hours ago, GroveHillWanderer said:

I think that's possibly because that screen is for when you're trying to keep your residence country as the US, and all you want to do is confirm your address there. It wouldn't make any sense to change to a different country in those circumstances.

 

To change your country of residence, as far as I can tell, you would need to go to your personal details and update them. When I try to do that, it gives me a choice of all the different available countries, including Thailand.

Ok you were right. I went into the personal details and updated to Thailand address. The repercussions of stating Thailand as my “Country of residence”

will hopefully be minimal. Also there is a hold n the account now until they sort out my new address input. 
Cheers

[hereforgood]

I logged into wise an hour ago and got a message saying they needed to update my address if I wanted to continue using the account. I live in Thailand use a Us address of my son who luckily has the same name as myself so I had him take photos of utility bills with his name and address which will show the same as mine. He forwarded them to me via email I went back into wise got the same message to verify. I clicked next and very quickly a message came up saying we have everything we need if we need more will let you know. Unsure why they asked me to verify and then told me they didn't need any more.

[SmokeandIce]

17 hours ago, impulse said:

 

My bank accounts got canceled for lack of a US address about 4 administrations ago.

 

That was your individual bank's policy, now it is turning into a U.S. government regulation.

[wittleus]

Just a couple of thoughts. The FCEN is part of the Department of Treasury. It's very possible they have been a do-nothing office for last few years and suddenly because of fear of cancellation by the Doge they are starting to enforce the laws they were meant to do years ago and are becoming proactive. They want to keep their jobs and not have their Department canceled.

 

Another thought, if Thailand decides to side with BRICS, an organization/monetary initiative that Trump really hates, what is the possibility that he can order Banks, and maybe Social Security payouts, not to deal with countries, Banks, and currencies associated with BRICS.  If he can't actually stop them or change who they do business with, he can certainly Step Up controls and security with organizations like FCEN, to make even simple, everyday Financial transactions very cumbersome and nearly impossible. That's something to mull over for the future.

[digger70]

This is WHY ,,, So they SAY.

 

https://wise.com/help/articles/2949804/how-does-wise-verify-my-addresshttps://wise.com/help/articles/2949804/how-does-wise-verify-my-address

[BritManToo]

15 hours ago, Yumthai said:

You're actually hiding your current tax residence(s) because this is what Wise is required to know to comply with OECD standards.

WISE is not a bank.

[JohnOFphon]

I use USA2me com.  . I have an address in Texas that is not a P.O, box number.

Also when I file USA taxes, I use this address. No state tax in Texas...not that that matters to me. 

[dantho]

23 hours ago, BritManToo said:

Nearly as bad in the UK, no UK address and they are likely to cancel your bank account.

That's very strange as I have accounts with HSBC in the UK and all they have is a Thai address and I've not had a problem with them.

[Thingamabob]

On 2/3/2025 at 5:05 AM, PumpkinEater said:

I’ve been using WISE transfers monthly for the past two years during my retirement without issue, transferring money from my USA bank account to my K bank account. 
I tried the normal WISE transfer yesterday and there was a red notice that I had to update my information. So I went in and saw that all was ok with my information and tried to continue. Again I was denied and called the WISE people who told me that I now need a physical address in the USA and that it cannot be a “mailbox”. I asked about who was behind this regulation and they sent me an email that the “Financial Crime Enforcement Network (FCEN) was behind this new requirement.

My concern as a US Citizen is the “whats next” question?

Are they working on cancellation of overseas living or retirement? Will they cancel my Citizenship and therefore my Social Security because I don’t own a home in the US anymore? Quite disturbing activity by the powers involved…

 

Any other folks out there having this problem?

 

Cheers!

I have had similar problems with two major banks in the UK.

[Freddy42OZ]

19 hours ago, PumpkinEater said:

Doesn’t work…

WISE only accepts address from you passport (issued) country

 

Not true. 

I've never had an address in the UK, seeing as I've never lived there. 

I've used WISE for years, account created in Bangkok, using Thailand as country of residence and my Bangkok address. 

 

[pete43]

On 2/3/2025 at 6:51 AM, BritManToo said:

Nearly as bad in the UK, no UK address and they are likely to cancel your bank account.

They will if you have a normal mainland account. Switch to an International account like LLoyds in the IoM or Wise itself

[pete43]

19 hours ago, PumpkinEater said:

Doesn’t work…

WISE only accepts address from you passport (issued) country

 

That is not true. I have a Wise account but do not have an address in the UK

[soalbundy]

17 hours ago, oldcpu said:

 

Do you have any friends or relatives in the USA who will let you use their address?  Other countries you could try (with relatives and friends are most EU countries, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand (and I suspect some others).  Find someone you can really trust.  Note you still use YOUR NAME, you just note the address is 'care-of' your relative or friend.

 

I originally obtained my Wise account (and debit card) while living/working in Germany.  When I moved to Thailand, I changed my mailing address to good friend in Germany  ... To something like:

 

Mr. oldcpu

z.H.d. oldcpu's friend's name (where z.H.d. is like c/o in English)

street address

city, germany

postal code

 

So I am not hiding anything.  Its clear the address is at care-of another person's address.

 

That has worked for me.

.

I also lived in Germany, my bank in Germany and my pension provider in Germany are both aware of my Thai address. I have a UK passport. When I moved to Thailand I opened a Wise account using my Thai address and up until now have never had a problem so I suspect this is an American admin problem.

[Satcommlee]

I opened a limited company WISE account in UK, then added my personal account under Thai address, no problems in 4 years.

[billd766]

1 hour ago, pete43 said:

That is not true. I have a Wise account but do not have an address in the UK

Me too.

[Yumthai]

2 hours ago, BritManToo said:

17 hours ago, Yumthai said:

You're actually hiding your current tax residence(s) because this is what Wise is required to know to comply with OECD standards.

WISE is not a bank.

 

https://wise.com/help/articles/2932693/how-is-wise-regulated-in-each-country-and-region

 

Indeed. Wise Payments Limited is an Electronic Money Institution (EMI), i.e. a financial institution, required to follow the country laws where the account is held. It's regulated in several countries and regions including UK, US and the European Economic Area (EEA).

 

https://wise.com/uk/help/articles/2932394/how-does-tax-work-with-my-wise-account

 

"Wise is required to follow local tax laws in every country we operate in. That means in some countries we might be required to:

- withhold on currency transfers,

- give customers an invoice for their remittance,

- report customer data to the local tax authorities

 

Certain Wise entities must comply with the global anti-tax evasion regimes, FATCA and CRS, due to the type of products they offer.

 

For example, our product, Assets, causes a subsidiary of Wise, Wise Assets UK Ltd., which provides the Assets product to fall within the scope of FATCA and CRS as a Custodial Institution. Customers that participate in Assets who are deemed to be reportable persons will be reported to HMRC in line with the Automatic Exchange of Information.

 

Wise is working directly with the Electronic Money Association (EMA) and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation (OECD) to ensure our processes and products combat any tax evasion. As and when Wise is obligated to collect and report customer tax and financial information to tax authorities we will do so.

 

In addition to tax requirements, other regulations may require Wise to collect certain data, like transactions over a certain threshold, and report it to regulatory bodies. Our Terms and Conditions of each entity provide more information about what we may need to report to different tax authorities."

 

https://wise.com/help/articles/1yIMYUKchCnDYxP1pn5B5t/understanding-taxes-when-using-wise-interest-yield-or-stocks

 

"As a regulated financial institution, we’ll only share your tax information with relevant government tax authorities if we need to. This is to comply with international tax standards like the Common Reporting Standard (CRS) or the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA).

 

We might need to share information about where you're a tax resident, your gains and losses, and the amounts you hold in your Wise balances or Jars with Interest."

 

https://wise.com/community/policypositions

 

"We’ve also worked with the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) as it seeks a global consensus on international taxation of the digital economy."

 

[Moonlover]

On 2/3/2025 at 6:51 AM, BritManToo said:

Nearly as bad in the UK, no UK address and they are likely to cancel your bank account.

Rubbish, I've held an active account in the UK for over 20 years without an address there. They have always known my overseas address, be it China, Egypt and now Thailand.

 

21 hours ago, PumpkinEater said:

Doesn’t work…

WISE only accepts address from you passport (issued) country

 

Rubbish again. I have a UK passport, but my Thai address is the only one Wise have ever known. In fact I doubt whether Wise could function at all if they had such a silly restriction.

[madone]

18 hours ago, Upnotover said:

I've been wondering about how it works with a Thai address Wise account.  Presumably you can't hold a balance in any currency?  Simply use it as a vehicle to move money to here from a non Thai account?  And obviously no card possible.  

no card but can hold a balance.

I have never tried to add funds from Thailand , but I believe you can only add cash from outside the country

[Presnock]

On 2/3/2025 at 6:51 AM, BritManToo said:

Nearly as bad in the UK, no UK address and they are likely to cancel your bank account.

Most big US banks have already done that - began with FATCA and my bank BOA closed my acct that I had for over 50 Years!  fortunately, the State Department Credit Union (bank) opened an account for me with credit cards etc and for 5 years i have had outstanding service.  I send my annuity payment to them and then send whatever to my BKK bank and 1day service each time.  One does not have to be a US govt employee or State Department member - they just ask that a prospective customer join one of a long list of organnizations in the US.  I join American Citizens Abroad (ACA)  and so far all seems well.  The US Congress/Trump are changing some taxes on Social Security folks (dropping tax on seniors) and more changes I think on double taxation avoidance.  Since I am not impacted by either of those (YET maybe) I haven't paid much attention to them.  But for anyone that is dropped due to lack of a US mailing address/phone number, contact  "sdfcu.org". Good luck.  For other countries doing the closing of accounts, suggest you go on line (google or elsewhere) and query any banks in your area that will open accts without your address there.  What will happen eventually, is some kind of penalty for folks using a friend's or relative's address as most countries now seem to be delving more and more into expats' locations reported.  Just saying, and only hope all expats are not just dropped without any legal options out of that situation.

[arick]

On 2/3/2025 at 5:05 AM, PumpkinEater said:

I’ve been using WISE transfers monthly for the past two years during my retirement without issue, transferring money from my USA bank account to my K bank account. 
I tried the normal WISE transfer yesterday and there was a red notice that I had to update my information. So I went in and saw that all was ok with my information and tried to continue. Again I was denied and called the WISE people who told me that I now need a physical address in the USA and that it cannot be a “mailbox”. I asked about who was behind this regulation and they sent me an email that the “Financial Crime Enforcement Network (FCEN) was behind this new requirement.

My concern as a US Citizen is the “whats next” question?

Are they working on cancellation of overseas living or retirement? Will they cancel my Citizenship and therefore my Social Security because I don’t own a home in the US anymore? Quite disturbing activity by the powers involved…

 

Any other folks out there having this problem?

 

Cheers!

More tariffs more inflammation job losses. More of a freak show in your White House

[Presnock]

For anyone with local banks, especially Bangkok Bank.   I know in december, that Kasicorn Bank sent out forms CRS and FATCA or their customers and said that it was mandantory to fill out and return the forms to the bank.  Has anyone with other local banks been informed about these international banking exchange systems?  just wondering as from what I have read about the systems, ALL international banks are affected and have to coordinate with their customers.

[Wrwest]

On 2/3/2025 at 5:05 AM, PumpkinEater said:

I’ve been using WISE transfers monthly for the past two years during my retirement without issue, transferring money from my USA bank account to my K bank account. 
I tried the normal WISE transfer yesterday and there was a red notice that I had to update my information. So I went in and saw that all was ok with my information and tried to continue. Again I was denied and called the WISE people who told me that I now need a physical address in the USA and that it cannot be a “mailbox”. I asked about who was behind this regulation and they sent me an email that the “Financial Crime Enforcement Network (FCEN) was behind this new requirement.

My concern as a US Citizen is the “whats next” question?

Are they working on cancellation of overseas living or retirement? Will they cancel my Citizenship and therefore my Social Security because I don’t own a home in the US anymore? Quite disturbing activity by the powers involved…

 

Any other folks out there having this problem?

 

Cheers!

I had earlier issue with Wise transfers due to a change they made. Answer was a direct wire transfer from my USA bank (no fee) to my BKK Bank Account (200 baht). As to the other angle ... I don't want to get paranoid but ... with an administration wanting to cut all government expenditures ... yes I am concerned that they will make moves against the interests of American citizens not living in the USA physically. Medicare already discriminates (unless you are fully retired military ... they get global coverage ... civilians fully retired ... not). Bothpay the monthly Part B Medicare premiums.

[Presnock]

8 minutes ago, arick said:

More tariffs more inflammation job losses. More of a freak show in your White House

as much as I am surprised and probably others too, so far those tariffs seem to be working as both Mexico and Canada while expressing their promises to counter "tariff" they appear to be making some initial efforts to respond positively to methods to help stop the practices at the border.  Same with Colombia one the immigrants, and Panama on the Agreement with CHina about the canal use.  I don't agree with everything that Trump promises to do but much better than Biden and Co.

[BritManToo]

47 minutes ago, Moonlover said:

Rubbish, I've held an active account in the UK for over 20 years without an address there. They have always known my overseas address, be it China, Egypt and now Thailand.

 

"they are likely" isn't the same as "they will".

Not to mention this is all post Brexit government policy, so only the last 4 years count.

 

You've gotta ask yourself ......... Do you feel lucky?

[Formaleins]

On 2/3/2025 at 6:51 AM, BritManToo said:

Nearly as bad in the UK, no UK address and they are likely to cancel your bank account.

The banks do give a flying F4#@ in the UK - my crooked HSBC bank in the UK know full well I live in Thailand but are quite happy to allow me (or turn a blind eye) to me using a relatives address - Bankers only care about the money!