Wise freezing funds and closing accounts without notice.

[khunjake]

Guys, something very serious developing for those who use Wise. After being a customer for over 3 years, Wise halted an incoming bank transfer and proceeded to freeze all of the remaining funds in my account. Over 5 figures of assets.
 

They demanded documents to show proof of income or savings. When I submitted the docs, all my funds remained frozen. After 2 days, they requested even more documents. I sent more and then they abruptly closed the account. While I have filled in the details to request the return of the account assets, I have not received anything back after one week already. I have proceeded to file formal complaints with all the applicable US and UK financial regulators. I even received a personal reply from one of the regulators asking me if I would help cooperate in providing more details on exactly what happened. 
 

So for all expats who have been using Wise, I am warning you, something has changed with them and it is quite serious. I would not be keeping any serious amounts of money on their platform as they can easily freeze your funds and god knows how long before you get it back if ever!

[HerewardtheWake]

WISE  has gone rogue. They do not respond to email messages sent through their website. Transactions are frozen often under a reason that the account holder's address cannot be verified. It has been impossible in my case to redress this.  Luckily, I emptied my account some weeks ago, so WISE RIP, alas.

[Gaccha]

18 minutes ago, khunjake said:

something has changed with them

 

Or perhaps not. 

 

Did you violate any of their terms of service? 

 

Did you engage in crypto activities? This is a giant red flag for regulators and it always risks your account being closed.

[Moonlover]

19 minutes ago, khunjake said:

, Wise halted an incoming bank transfer and proceeded to freeze all of the remaining funds in my account. Over 5 figures of assets.
 

Would you please clarify. In what country was the transfer and it what currency are your assets held?

[khunjake]

31 minutes ago, Gaccha said:

 

Or perhaps not. 

 

Did you violate any of their terms of service? 

 

Did you engage in crypto activities? This is a giant red flag for regulators and it always risks your account being closed.

No crypto related transactions whatsoever. No out of the ordinary transfers. The usual for the last 3 years. A US bank transfer into Wise, converted to THB and transferee to Thai Wife’s bank account in Thailand. A few visa debit card transactions here and there but again, nothing out of the ordinary. 

[hotsun]

Wise has been slowly declining for a while now

[Seppius]

2 hours ago, hotsun said:

Wise has been slowly declining for a while now

Do you suggest an alternative?

[Moonlover]

2 hours ago, hotsun said:

Wise has been slowly declining for a while now

In what way has Wise been declining?

[Cameroni]

I got someone to send me a transfer from an EU country, my Wise account is in Belgium, and they were unable to, it said "Wise account is not reachable".

 

A few minutes later I did a transfer to my Wise account and after 2 days it did arrive. But this never happened before.

[scubascuba3]

4 hours ago, khunjake said:

Guys, something very serious developing for those who use Wise. After being a customer for over 3 years, Wise halted an incoming bank transfer and proceeded to freeze all of the remaining funds in my account. Over 5 figures of assets.
 

They demanded documents to show proof of income or savings. When I submitted the docs, all my funds remained frozen. After 2 days, they requested even more documents. I sent more and then they abruptly closed the account. While I have filled in the details to request the return of the account assets, I have not received anything back after one week already. I have proceeded to file formal complaints with all the applicable US and UK financial regulators. I even received a personal reply from one of the regulators asking me if I would help cooperate in providing more details on exactly what happened. 
 

So for all expats who have been using Wise, I am warning you, something has changed with them and it is quite serious. I would not be keeping any serious amounts of money on their platform as they can easily freeze your funds and god knows how long before you get it back if ever!

How many transfers were you making, size and how regular? I'm just wondering if they are targeting those sending larger amounts frequently and from a country such as US

[BritManToo]

4 hours ago, HerewardtheWake said:

WISE  has gone rogue. They do not respond to email messages sent through their website. Transactions are frozen often under a reason that the account holder's address cannot be verified. It has been impossible in my case to redress this.  Luckily, I emptied my account some weeks ago, so WISE RIP, alas.

I emptied my WISE account a couple of weeks back when Dee Money went bust.

 

[khunjake]

1 hour ago, Seppius said:

Do you suggest an alternative?

I was looking into Revolut but upon some investigation, it seems like they have similar issues. I will likely go back to ATM withdrawals and sending wire transfers from my bank before I started using Wise.

[khunjake]

26 minutes ago, scubascuba3 said:

How many transfers were you making, size and how regular? I'm just wondering if they are targeting those sending larger amounts frequently and from a country such as US

Definitely not large or suspicious amounts. A few grand a month to cover expenses. I kept a larger amount in USD to take advantage of weaker THB rates when the opportunity came up. That was a mistake. Lesson learned.

[khunjake]

25 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

I emptied my WISE account a couple of weeks back when Dee Money went bust.

 

Yes, I dealt with them a few times and they pulled something similar. Halted a transfer until I provided bank statements. Once the transfer was released, that was the last time I ever used them. Heard they are out of business now. Same will happen to Wise. Screw your customer, see what happens..

[Halman]

5 hours ago, khunjake said:

I have proceeded to file formal complaints with all the applicable US and UK financial regulators

I would be careful filing any complaints.  If they locked your account, they probably had good reason, and you may be the one who was breaking the law.

 

 What did you put as your residential address on your account?  Are you actually living at that location, or are you doing what many expats do and using a relatives address in your home country?

[khunjake]

9 minutes ago, Halman said:

I would be careful filing any complaints.  If they locked your account, they probably had good reason, and you may be the one who was breaking the law.

 

 What did you put as your residential address on your account?  Are you actually living at that location, or are you doing what many expats do and using a relatives address in your home country?

No fear in filing complaints because I am not the one breaking the law. They are! 
 

I registered the account using a real, verified US home address in which I am able to receive mail at and provided a valid US drivers license for that address and US bank statements with that exact address. Apparently that was not good enough for them.

[topt]

18 minutes ago, Halman said:

I would be careful filing any complaints.  If they locked your account, they probably had good reason, and you may be the one who was breaking the law.

 

 What did you put as your residential address on your account?  Are you actually living at that location, or are you doing what many expats do and using a relatives address in your home country?

There are ways of phrasing a question or questions in this instance, that would make you sound less like a shill for Wise........

Especially someone with only a couple of posts to their name.

 

What about all those charity accounts that were frozen a few years ago by UK banks. Were they doing something illegal -

https://www.theguardian.com/money/2023/dec/09/charities-barclays-frozen-bank-accounts

[Halman]

21 minutes ago, khunjake said:

I registered the account using a real, verified US home address in which I am able to receive mail at and provided a valid US drivers license for that address and US bank statements with that exact address. Apparently that was not good enough for them.

But not where you actually live?  If so, that is illegal.  

[Myran]

"something very serious developing for those who use Wise"

 

Because a single person got their account shut for some reason we don't know about? Settle down.

[jas007]

Why does Wise care where the money comes from or where it's going?  The minute they start playing that game is the minute their service loses its purpose.  

 

A wire transfer once in a while is probably the way to go, despite the cost.  

[dddave]

2 hours ago, Seppius said:

Do you suggest an alternative?

It well may not be so much WISE declining as it, along with almost all transfer agencies, are coming under huge governmental pressure both in the EU and USA.  Cybercrime has become a prime time issue and transfer agencies such as Wise are often used as conduits for money moving.  Both the US and EU can shut them down any time they want so WISE and others like it have no choice but comply with demands for customer data.  I have little doubt that is what is at the center of all the current delays and issues.

[Robert_Smith]

4 minutes ago, dddave said:

It well may not be so much WISE declining as it, along with almost all transfer agencies, are coming under huge governmental pressure both in the EU and USA.  Cybercrime has become a prime time issue and transfer agencies such as Wise are often used as conduits for money moving.  Both the US and EU can shut them down any time they want so WISE and others like it have no choice but comply with demands for customer data.  I have little doubt that is what is at the center of all the current delays and issues.

...and yet BTC continues to skyrocket..

 

go figure.

 

bob.

[mfd101]

No problems doing transfers from Oz (AUD ⇒ ฿). I don't use Wise as a bank ie no funds 'stored' there. Just set up the transfer with W, then move funds from my Oz bank to W. Funds arrive in BKKbk here same day if done early in Oz, or next day at 1400 TH time otherwise. Never any problem since the 'reason for transfer' [living costs in Thailand] was set up some years ago..

[Cameroni]

1 hour ago, khunjake said:

I was looking into Revolut but upon some investigation, it seems like they have similar issues. I will likely go back to ATM withdrawals and sending wire transfers from my bank before I started using Wise.

 

Revolut is even worse. Notorious for closing accounts for no reason. And they are relentless about getting your tax info.

[Halman]

54 minutes ago, topt said:

1 hour ago, Halman said:

What did you put as your residential address on your account?  Are you actually living at that location, or are you doing what many expats do and using a relatives address in your home country?

There are ways of phrasing a question or questions in this instance, that would make you sound less like a shill for Wise........

Especially someone with only a couple of posts to their name.

 

I don't care what I sound like.  I was just giving the OP some basic advice.  

 

The banking laws in the US are very clear--if he is not actually living at the address he lists on his account, he is breaking a federal law, and it is a terrible idea to be disclosing that to federal regulators.

[Moonlover]

6 minutes ago, jas007 said:

Why does Wise care where the money comes from or where it's going?  The minute they start playing that game is the minute their service loses its purpose.  

 

A wire transfer once in a while is probably the way to go, despite the cost.  

Wise has to care where the money is coming from because they are required to do so by the regulatory institutes. Just like banks they required to report any suspicious activities.

 

One factor that I note from the O/Ps post is that he kept a large sum of money, 'over 5 figures of assets' in his account. (What ever that means) Why I wonder? Wise is set up to transfer money, not as a depository. That's what banks are for. It's that sort of unusual activity that the regulars are likely to pick up on.

 

I only deposit money into my Wise account when I wish to make a transfer and it is usually only there for as long as it takes to complete that transfer, a matter of minutes.

 

That's what Wise does and they are very good at it and I'm happy to continue using them.

 

 

[khunjake]

21 minutes ago, Myran said:

"something very serious developing for those who use Wise"

 

Because a single person got their account shut for some reason we don't know about? Settle down.

Have a look across social media. They are freezing funds and closing accounts all over now. It’s becoming very common. 

[Yagoda]

Its all working fine, I just transferred

[Presnock]

3 hours ago, Seppius said:

Do you suggest an alternative?

Is your bank account in the US?

If so you could open an account with State Department Federal Credit Union - (sdfcu.org) and you could send funds to them without charge and then they could forward to you in Thailand.  I have had an Account doing my pension monthly for 5 years with zero problems.  The cost for my monthly forwarding, (same day i.e. before evening of day I wanted it, I would send for a wire transfer and if they get it before 8AM, it goes out that day and recieved the day following that you requested it) and was very few dollars more than the wise.  Just saying...

[riclag]

29 minutes ago, Halman said:

 

I don't care what I sound like.  I was just giving the OP some basic advice.  

 

The banking laws in the US are very clear--if he is not actually living at the address he lists on his account, he is breaking a federal law, and it is a terrible idea to be disclosing that to federal regulators.

Google AI,

 

It is not illegal to live in Thailand and maintain a residential address in the USA for banking purposes, but it's important to understand that banks may have their own policies and risk tolerances, and you may need to provide proof of your US address for certain banking needs