r/wisebank

Thanks trying to do win-win

Hello, I'm a Canadian who has been living in the UK for almost 15 years and is fully settled here (also now a citizen). I am declared non-resident in Canada for tax purposes.

I have recently opened up CAD account details in my Wise account to make it easier for family to send me money here (mainly small monetary gifts for holidays and birthdays, primarily for my daughter).

I have just realised there might be some tax implications for this? Do I need to declare this account or any deposits to HMRC as "foreign income"? Thank you!

Hey all, iv read a tonne of info on this just some contradicting info I want to clarify.
I am based in Australia with Aud currency. I have started a side business importing from China.
I had issues paying from bank to bank transfer so the supplier made an invoice on alibaba and I paid with my debit card through there (from Aud to usd). I got smashed with fees. First time doing this so a learning curve.
What’s the best option to reduce fees and not get a terrible rate with the bank? Is wise a better option? Or any other options?
Thanks :)

Apologies if I am unclear - English is not my first language. I am a Canadian freelancer who's been working as an independent contract for a US company, receiving Wise payments for a couple of years now with no issues.

I transfer from wise to my TD bank account, and like I said, no issues so far, however, I have let a sustancial amount build up in my account last year, thinking I'd just transfer the large sum sometime this year to my TD bank account (About 60k Canadian) and now I am concerned about the following: I've been using a personnal wise account without thinking much of it, but now after digging, I've realised I may have had to use a business account? Has anyone ever been in a similar situation? I am unsure what to do now, I did not think much of using a personal account, until now... Worried my account may get closed and loosing my funds, also worried that a big transfer to my bank account may also raise flags, with so many stories about accounts being closed flying around...

Any thoughts or advise is highly appreciated. Thank you all!

Hello,

I will be receiving an amount of money from my sister, I do not know yet how much it will be but should be around $50-60k CAD, she's located in Honduras, and I have been reading that Wise is seemingly the best way to transfer to Canada.

I do not have a wise account yet since I have not need it thus far.

My understanding is Wise will not receive HNL but USD, banks in Honduras can transfer USD, and to transfer to Wise I just need the following from her:

• full name (my sister's)
• Swift/BIC code
• account number
• bank name and address

and then I put in my account as details to receive payments from that account.

Then I give her my account details so she can do a wire transfer:

• Account holder – my name
• Account number  
• Account type –  Checking 
• Bank name and address 
• Swift/BIC

 

I understand there will be some fees from the sending bank and from wise to receive that money

After that money is received, I can transfer it to my Canadian bank account through Interac or bank transfer without much further ado other than the standard institution/transit/account numbers

Am I missing something here? I ask this because I've gone through the website and this is what I came up with but the AI slop (depending on which one I use) says this is possible or gives me a more complicated roundabout way to do it .. which I obviously do not trust hence why I ask here.

Thanks

As an expat from Australia living overseas I need to be able to transfer money to Australia regularly, and Wise just suddenly closed my account that I have had open since 2018. What are some good alternatives? From what I see many banks in Europe no longer provide their own international transfer services and now require you to use Wise.

I've had this account for 2 years. I've been a Wise customer for 8 years. I've had multiple personal bank accounts, multiple business accounts with them.

I've been a perfect customer. They've always got all the documents they asked for, I've always been 100% compliant with their solution, and my income is literally just a few clients paying me every month in a fully traceable way from very "white hat" countries.

Today, they sent me an email saying they restricted my account and they'll close it in 2 months. They also said I can still transfer the money out.

I cannot. "Oh but you can appeal". I cannot. The button does not work, and their support team is completely useless, there are so many tiers before you reach someone with any decision making power in the company you'll never get an answer.

I'm lucky I'm self employed and have more than one bank account with savings. Imagine if I had employees to pay. Or orders to fulfill with that money. Or heck taxes to pay. This is beyond unprofessional for a personal bank account, and absolutely insane for a business account.

Just a warning sign. They have good rates. They've been very good to me in the past. But this is a reminder of how 1 incredibly sour interaction can destroy how you see the business in literally 12h.

EDIT: I was eventually able to appeal, had to chat with support like 5 times but eventually they got me a working link and I was able to get through. Thank you everyone for your comments!

I use Wise for business, sometimes I pay in USD, AED etc.

It gets taken from my GBP balance, but if I get a refund, it doesnt go back to GBP account.

I manually have to convert it back.

I contacted wise, they said there is no solution. Makes no sense to me, as they simply convert taking away! I really dislike this, it creates accounting burden(a lot!)

I'm honestly at my breaking point with Wise and wanted to know if anyone else has experienced something similar.

On 3 June, I initiated an international transfer through Wise. At the time of payment, Wise showed an estimated arrival time of 8:20 PM on the same day. Because the payment was linked to an important housing deadline, I trusted that estimate and proceeded with the transfer.

Fast forward to today, and the money still hasn't reached the recipient.

What has frustrated me the most is the communication. Over the last few days, I've contacted support multiple times and received different explanations from different agents:

One agent said my transfer was suspended.

Another said additional bank checks were being performed.

Another claimed there were broader technical issues affecting transfers.

Another told me the transfer would be completed within 2 working days.

So which explanation is actually correct?

I've spent the last three days constantly checking emails, contacting support, following up on updates, and trying to explain the delay to the recipient. The payment was time-sensitive, and now I'm at risk of facing consequences because Wise failed to deliver within the timeframe they displayed when I made the transfer.

I understand compliance checks can happen, but if a transfer can potentially take several days, why show a same-day estimated arrival time? And why are support agents providing completely different explanations?

I've already filed complaints and repeatedly asked for clear information, but I still don't have a definitive answer about what is happening with my transfer.

Has anyone else experienced something like this with Wise? Were you able to get your transfer completed or receive any compensation for the delay and poor communication?

Transfer date: 3 June

Transfer number: #2170079474

Any advice would be appreciated

Wise has officially admitted in writing that a system error on their end caused my $100,000 refund to completely disappear.
Three months later, the money is still gone. Their only offer is $800 in compensation.
They gave me the correct UETR number and admitted it was their mistake, yet they still haven’t returned a single dollar.
Has anyone else experienced Wise losing large sums of money like this? Any advice on how to escalate this further?

Aside from reporting interest when filing US taxes, is there any other consideration/downside in enabling this option. Does this evoke PFIC reporting?

My best friend lives in Malaysia, and I wanted to send him a little money for his birthday. I thought I'd use Chase to wire it, but when I saw the $40 dollar fee, I was like jfc hell no.. there has to be a cheaper alternative. . I found Wise, and it literally cost me a few cents to send him money. Love it. I'm a fan.

Hi guys today i've used wise as transaction Im from italy and the sender was from singapore the sender sent me a 2800 euros from my account i recieved the money when i get back to my app to check again the money they closed it without any notice or email warning. Then i recieved an email that the money i have on the account they can't refund it. I have called the customer service and they helped me and give me an email complaint to fill up my concerns and problem, the email said that it will take 15days to look into it with thier "risponsible team". Should i wait or do i address this to a ombudsman here in my country i need your help guys thank you~

I used Wise to transfer my Condo purchase money in to SCB bank. Checking the purpose "Property purchase" and 'Will you require proof of Foreign Exchange Transaction' "Yes", does absolutely nothing. They still remitted the money through local bank and now the money is sitting in SCB completely useless. I lost a lot in the transaction and will lose much more trying to recover the money SCB. Wise support is completely useless.

I created my Wise account while living in North Macedonia, and the app says Wise cards aren’t available there.

I’m going to Germany for a 3-month Work & Travel program. Once I’m in Germany and have a German address, can I change my country/address in Wise and become eligible to order a Wise card?

Has anyone done this successfully while staying in Germany temporarily?

The fees charged by WISE are absolutely insane.

I was about to send $121 USD from Canada to Hong Kong and the fee Wise wants to charge for the transaction is $40 USD.

I actually closed the app and tried again thinking it was an error. It wasn’t!

They want to charge 33% of the transfer amount as a fee.

This should be criminal and investigated.

I’m in India and new to Wise. Will there be any problem loading USD in my Wise card and using that to pay for a MacBook purchase from Apple Stores in Vietnam

When i pull out my card to pay. What do i tell the clerk. Debit or credit card

Everyone should start boycotting Wise who is based in Europe, this bank isn’t trustworthy and they always use “Security Purposes” as the alibi. I tried appealing it but they broke the link to appeal it on purpose.