More Wise issues

[sandyf]

3 hours ago, Thailandbuckeye said:

I am new to Wise and only made my 3rd transfer today. Wise is linked to my Credit Union so it is initiated with them and then Wise to my wife’s account. Today it took a little less than 2 hours. All 3 transfers completed around 11am which is the time her bank opens at Central. Not sure if that has anything to do with it or not. 

It is my understanding that Wise has a peer to peer arrangement. Money does not actually move from Wise, when a transfer is requested the funds come from a Wise partner in Thailand,  then payments are made the same way in the opposite direction.

That being the case, the timing would be affected by the local circumstances.

[Suitcase]

On 3/31/2025 at 12:30 PM, Stocky said:

I couple of delayed transactions and you're thinking "time to look for another company" ! Are always so quick to throw your toys out the pram?

Since last summer my Wise transfers have been taking 5 to 7 days instead of seconds

Very unacceptable

[Thailandbuckeye]

41 minutes ago, sandyf said:

It is my understanding that Wise has a peer to peer arrangement. Money does not actually move from Wise, when a transfer is requested the funds come from a Wise partner in Thailand,  then payments are made the same way in the opposite direction.

That being the case, the timing would be affected by the local circumstances.

My credit union that is a “partner” with Wise is in the U.S. but what you say makes sense since the receipt shows a local transfer into her account. Thanks.

 

i don’t mind the wait as my other credit union is a pain to transfer money and I am at the mercy of the exchange rate.

[Dan O]

7 hours ago, Moonlover said:

 

Yes it does make a difference. I received my 1st of the month pension an hour earlier today.

 

Wise do not route cash through any intermediates. When you make a transfer with them, money does not cross any borders at all.

 

'It’s because of how we work: when you send money with us, we use our Thai banking partners to send out your money locally. It doesn’t cross any borders', 

Not all Thai banks are a partner with Wise so it can travel thru a partner bank to an unassociated bank which is not a lot different than an intermediary bank as it can cause delays and also coding issues. Same happens in other countries

[KannikaP]

My monthly transfer went as usual, initiated yesterday noon, arrived today at 14.05 as International Transfer for Mr IO.

Also did Bht 5000 this morning for Personal Expenses. I was a bit disappointed that it took 36 minutes! 555

[scubascuba3]

Delays must be for a good reason, if it's not a holiday thing it's probably money laundering checks going on.

 

i did one today GBP to THB, settled in seconds to Kasikorn as usual

[Moonlover]

1 hour ago, Dan O said:

Not all Thai banks are a partner with Wise so it can travel thru a partner bank to an unassociated bank which is not a lot different than an intermediary bank as it can cause delays and also coding issues. Same happens in other countries

Wise obviously couldn't operate in any country without having partners within those countries. But the point I was making was that money does not move across borders.

 

The partners in the various countries facilitate the payments both in and out on behalf of Wise. That is, principally why Wise are usually able to make 'instant transfers'.

 

The use of the word 'transfer' is actually a little bit oxymoronic , but I guess no one can think of a better word to use.

[Stocky]

2 hours ago, Suitcase said:

Since last summer my Wise transfers have been taking 5 to 7 days instead of seconds

Very unacceptable

That's unfortunate, but likely due to your particular circumstances; the money's country of origin and the currency pair. Transfers from the USA seem especially prone to complications/delay

[hotandsticky]

6 hours ago, MarkT63 said:

OK - you got me - I just made it all up because I have not got any friends or anyone to talk to. Happy now???

 

 

I was happy before.................and I guessed that anyway.

[hotandsticky]

5 hours ago, Dan O said:

How is my statement misleading? Your post supports exactly what I said Wise is not a bank and doesnt not provide typical banking protections. Depositing money in other banks provides them protection but not you.

 

 

I don't deposit money with WISE (although I might do if I didn't get better rates elsewhere) I undertake currency transactions.

[Lacessit]

It doesn't really matter to me how long the transfer takes. It may be seconds, or one or two days.

 

What does matter is I am charged a standard fee, and I know the exchange rate I am getting. WISE saves me several thousand baht compared to a telegraphic transfer.

[ronnie50]

Here's some info in the link below on WISE from Forbes (UK edition). It also does a very basic/brief comparison with TOR-FX, XE.Com, and WISE. Both WISE and TOR-FX appear to be British operations (WISE HQ in London; TOR in Penzance). XE.com is Canadian (at least its HQ is in the Toronto area).

 

I wonder if moving Sterling via WISE might be easier than with other currencies (and what if you don't use Kasikorn in Thailand, does that make any difference?) 

 

https://www.forbes.com/uk/advisor/money-transfer/wise-review/ 

[madone]

On 3/31/2025 at 2:20 PM, CallumWK said:

 

Weekend transfers have never been an issue, even midnight during weekends would arrive in seconds.

Neither of the transfers was initiated from a Muslim country or Muslim bank either

they were this weekend. My Friday transfer arrived Monday noon.

[CallumWK]

13 minutes ago, madone said:

they were this weekend. My Friday transfer arrived Monday noon.

 

Yes there were this weekend, and that is what the OP is about.

But since other previous weekends always have been fine, and it is now clear that I was not the only one with the delay this weekend, it is now obvious the issue was at Wise end

[madone]

3 minutes ago, CallumWK said:

 

Yes there were this weekend, and that is what the OP is about.

But since other previous weekends always have been fine, and it is now clear that I was not the only one with the delay this weekend, it is now obvious the issue was at Wise end

it is entirely possible it was on this end, though. many Thai banks suspended services after the quake

 

[treetops]

On 3/31/2025 at 10:22 AM, hotandsticky said:

With all due respect I am not sure you were comparing like for like.

 

The exchange rate is ALWAYS better with WISE than a bank......

 

The exchange rate is but the fees aren't so it is feasible that a Swift or similar transfer works out cheaper. This is usually (only?) found in USD trades as it's the most commonly traded currency and bank spreads are tight.  At the moment the spread on USD is 0.88% (spread of 0.3 baht on a mid-market rate of 34.25).  For GBP the equivalent is 2.03% (0.9 on 44.49).

 

Wise fees includes a percentage of the amount being transferred so if that %age is higher than the %age bank spread at some point Wise will lose out.  Where exactly depends on the fixed Wise fee and the costs of the Swift transfer plus receiving bank fees plus any intermediary fees.

 

The poster you quoted sent in USD and likely fell into this situation as they were talking about total costs and not just the exchange rate.

 

Another poster did the calculations a while back and (for him) Swift was better above approx $20,000 USD IIRC.

[scubascuba3]

6 hours ago, ronnie50 said:

Here's some info in the link below on WISE from Forbes (UK edition). It also does a very basic/brief comparison with TOR-FX, XE.Com, and WISE. Both WISE and TOR-FX appear to be British operations (WISE HQ in London; TOR in Penzance). XE.com is Canadian (at least its HQ is in the Toronto area).

 

I wonder if moving Sterling via WISE might be easier than with other currencies (and what if you don't use Kasikorn in Thailand, does that make any difference?) 

 

https://www.forbes.com/uk/advisor/money-transfer/wise-review/ 

Bangkok Bank takes until 2pm the next working day if you select reason for transfer, long term stay or buying property. Krungsri was seconds, same Kasikorn 

[fondue zoo]

They have been, for some users, started their "rolling the delivery time forward" nonsense again.

Yesterday I kept a test pending payment in their system, they kept rolling it forward every time it reached the expected delivery time, sometimes 30 minutes, then hours.

Today with a different transaction the same process, In Seconds, 10 minutes more please, nope now you wait until 3.30pm. I chatted with them and the Support line is that Thai banks remain affected by the earthquake event.

 

When I told them Remitly is transferring within minutes from the same bank, to the same bank and same amount they stopped replying  🍌

Sometimes it's worth contacting them as I've noticed that it occasionally "fixes" itself after they take their foot off the brake.

Though I will say they are no slouches when it comes to taking the money out...  110% efficient

 

And yes, we all know some here have never had an issue and it's currently working for them perfectly. Life is grand!

 

 

 

Currency liquidity for the win Wise?

 

 

[KannikaP]

3 hours ago, scubascuba3 said:

Bangkok Bank takes until 2pm the next working day if you select reason for transfer, long term stay or buying property. Krungsri was seconds, same Kasikorn 

But does it arrive marked as an International Transfer, required by Immigration if you are using it for Extension purposes. Bangkok Bank transfers are coded FTT.

[Upnotover]

40 minutes ago, KannikaP said:

But does it arrive marked as an International Transfer, required by Immigration if you are using it for Extension purposes. Bangkok Bank transfers are coded FTT.

All my transfers to Kasikorn show as international on my printed statements (not in the bankbook).  And it makes no difference what the reason for transfer is used.

[SLOWHAND225]

Transfers into and out of WISE worked perfectly an hr ago

[sandyf]

16 hours ago, Dan O said:

Not all Thai banks are a partner with Wise so it can travel thru a partner bank to an unassociated bank which is not a lot different than an intermediary bank as it can cause delays and also coding issues. Same happens in other countries

One of the other problems in Thailand is they only use the 8 characer SWIFT code which means the funds have to pass though the recipient bank head office. An 11 character SWIFT code is required for funds to go direct to a branch.

[sandyf]

1 hour ago, KannikaP said:

But does it arrive marked as an International Transfer, required by Immigration if you are using it for Extension purposes. Bangkok Bank transfers are coded FTT.

What does a statement say?

My TTB book is coded for "No Book" but the statement has "INTERNATIONAL" on it.

 

[Dan O]

11 minutes ago, sandyf said:

One of the other problems in Thailand is they only use the 8 characer SWIFT code which means the funds have to pass though the recipient bank head office. An 11 character SWIFT code is required for funds to go direct to a branch.

Not sure about that. I've had no problems and the transfers are typically next day though and all coding is correct on the statements

[MJCM]

2 transfers one to BKK Bank and one to KSK with wise.

Amount less then 30k THB *each*

BKK Bank my personal account and KSK, my wife's

Initiated 2 hours ago, Wise says sent, but both haven't arrived yet.

Reason: Personal Expenses.

Normally they arrive in seconds but this is the first time there is such a delay.

[KannikaP]

1 hour ago, Upnotover said:

All my transfers to Kasikorn show as international on my printed statements (not in the bankbook).  And it makes no difference what the reason for transfer is used.

That must be a bit confusing for the Immigration Officer.

[Upnotover]

4 minutes ago, KannikaP said:

That must be a bit confusing for the Immigration Officer.

Why?  They see only the statement and the deposits marked as international.  I have not detected any confusion from them thus far. 

[KannikaP]

9 minutes ago, Upnotover said:

Why?  They see only the statement and the deposits marked as international.  I have not detected any confusion from them thus far. 

They want copies of my Bank Book here. No problem because they say FTT, which means International Transfer.

[AgMech Cowboy]

On 3/31/2025 at 12:30 PM, Stocky said:

I couple of delayed transactions and you're thinking "time to look for another company" ! Are always so quick to throw your toys out the pram?

Well, it's April now... and I've been encountering hit and miss deliveries since last December (or January, whenever they added "Plaid" to there money handling procedure).  It was real panic the first time because it was so unexpected and my electricity payment was already 3 days past due. (I needed my SSA payment to arrive in order to have enough money).  I have looked for a new transfer option, but as yet haven't found one that compares in cost and ex-rate.  I've just had to make sure the wife doesn't borrow from the electricity money that I've set aside to pay that bill.

[Stocky]

4 minutes ago, AgMech Cowboy said:

(I needed my SSA payment to arrive in order to have enough money).

I'm guessing this is money sent from the USA - as I said in a second post, most Wise problems seem to be with transactions from the USA.