Wise Money Transfer - how does it work?

[LASportsNut]

A few things I have experienced and do:

I opened my bank account with Kasikorn in 2013 or 2014 on a Visa Exempt.

I used my hotels address and phone number (before I had a Thai Sim).

Since becoming an Expat in 2019, in 2021 I updated my address and phone with my current contact information.

I am sure they looked at my new Elite Visa and updated my Visa status, but I am unsure. Just a guess.

I always have a balance of 100,000 to 2 million baht and I never have been contacted by the bank.

Not once have I ever had to provide my US Social Security.

I go to the bank monthly for a withdrawel of small bills and I never have been asked any questions to update my account or give more information. 

Actually 1 time, to give me an new ATM card, as my original was expiring.

Edited Add On:

I use Wise for deposit transfers into my K-Bank from USA bank.

I use K-Bank ATM for withdrawels while in Thailand.

I use Charles Schwab ATM for my emergency funds.  There are no fees and they pay for any bank fees from Thailand so this is a no brainer.

Not including 7-Eleven, I use credit card for grocery or supplies shopping (different budget) and to add travel points.

Edited September 17, 2022 by LASportsNut

[Kale]

On 16/09/2022 at 16:19, br1985n said:

Ah ok, I understand the need then for the Bank Account. Maybe i have to start looking into getting one also. For me Wise is cheaper then my personal dutch bank card.

The real power of the Wise Visa debit card is for doing chip/wireless transactions just like you would do with your Visa/Mastercard back home.  It doesn't have extra fees and limits like ATM withdrawals do.  I find I am using it all over the place now.  For online ordering, in restaurants, at department stores etc.

I wouldn't just give them the card to takeaway where I cannot see the transaction amount, but I have been using it at franchise restaurants quite a bit where I see the transaction amount on the machine and usually have to enter my pin code.  Its brilliant for that.  I can see each transaction in near real time and exactly what my exchange rate was on the app.  I also have it set up to email me each transaction which also pretty much happens in real time, so if anyone tried to do any funny business with it like overcharge me I would see that immediately on my phone. 

It automatically draws the money from which ever account is the lowest cost, so if I already have THB that I already converted and saved in my Wise THB account it will take from that first, then it will take from which ever currency has the best exchange rate which is usually my USD account.  I get the exact retail rate at the time of the transaction. I bought something yesterday for 199b.  I did not have any THB pre-converted in my Wise account.  Only USD.  Wise charged me a 0.03 cents conversion fee and 38.1350 exchange rate for a total of exactly $5.25.  More or less about the same as what it would have cost me to use cash which gives a slightly lower exchange rate but no other fees.

Edited September 29, 2022 by Kale

[THguypattaya]

Hi I got a Wise account since July but never actually transferred money to Thailand, so to transfer is it that you only need to input my Thai bank account number in Wise and that's it? no routing number, swift number etc and only my Thai bank's account number right? (transfer from USA to TH via Wise)  I did a test run (didn't follow through) and only saw Thai bank account number required and that's it, going to transfer a big chunk of money when I get to Thailand.

Edited November 5, 2022 by THguypattaya

[LASportsNut]

1 hour ago, THguypattaya said:

Hi I got a Wise account since July but never actually transferred money to Thailand, so to transfer is it that you only need to input my Thai bank account number in Wise and that's it? no routing number, swift number etc and only my Thai bank's account number right? (transfer from USA to TH via Wise)  I did a test run (didn't follow through) and only saw Thai bank account number required and that's it, going to transfer a big chunk of money when I get to Thailand.

For faster transfers you need to link your home countries bank account where the money is coming from.

[THguypattaya]

9 minutes ago, LASportsNut said:

For faster transfers you need to link your home countries bank account where the money is coming from.

Oops I meant I already have thb in wise, and going to transfer to bank in Thailand. 

[LASportsNut]

3 hours ago, THguypattaya said:

Oops I meant I already have thb in wise, and going to transfer to bank in Thailand. 

Yes, I understand.

But if you do not have your bank actually "linked" to Wise it takes longer for the money to be moved.

[Illinoischicago]

I just started using Wise and can say that it is pretty user friendly; I'd recommend it over Western Union.  The info on this thread is really useful.  Thanks to everyone!  @LASportsNut

[tps]

When setting up a Wise account, I had to receive a code sent to my mobile phone number. I will not have the same phone number once I leave the U.S.  I’m wondering if I verify using this number, but don’t have the number anymore will it make it impossible to make transactions in the future ?
 

Also, is anyone using a U.S. phone number gotten from google voice or Skype or some other online source for cheaper phone numbers (and would it work for this purpose)? My mobile number would cost 600 dollars to maintain, so not keen on keeping it. 

[SlowlyMan]

Google Voice allows text messages, so, that should work for your purpose. Periodically, Wise will send me a code to sign in. So, you'll need regular access to that phone number.

[stevole]

2 hours ago, tps said:

When setting up a Wise account, I had to receive a code sent to my mobile phone number. I will not have the same phone number once I leave the U.S.  I’m wondering if I verify using this number, but don’t have the number anymore will it make it impossible to make transactions in the future ?
 

Also, is anyone using a U.S. phone number gotten from google voice or Skype or some other online source for cheaper phone numbers (and would it work for this purpose)? My mobile number would cost 600 dollars to maintain, so not keen on keeping it. 

If you don't intend on keeping your U.S. phone number, you can port your phone number to Google Voice.  You will probably need another temporary number during the transition.  I did this before I moved to Thailand from US.

Google Voice works for most login confirmation texts for me, banks and brokers mostly.

I use my laptop to login into Wise, which I find easier to use.  Wise sends a confirmation notice to the Wise app on my Thai phone.  I confirm and I am logged in.  I never get a text.

 

[BuckDefiant]

3 hours ago, tps said:

When setting up a Wise account, I had to receive a code sent to my mobile phone number. I will not have the same phone number once I leave the U.S.  I’m wondering if I verify using this number, but ?
 

Also, is anyone using a U.S. phone number gotten from google voice or Skype or some other online source for cheaper phone numbers (and would it work for this purpose)? My mobile number would c

Couple of things based on my pretty extensive experience.

Online Authentication 

I don't think you can operate US abroad, i.e. in Thailand,  without a solid US homed phone number.  I'm low to moderately active with online accounts, financial,  government and corporate, and with the proliferation of 2FA security get 2-4 codes a day. 

>>don’t have the number anymore will it make it impossible to make transactions in the future

Don't want to say 'impossible' but it's not something I'm willing to deal with when I'm trying to do something online that requires focus. 

My solution is ported P# to Google Fi and activated before departure. Get off the airplane in Seoul, you're online in America, off at BKK, again, America can reach out and touch you 😉 I use an old dedicated iPhone as my financial connection device carrying the Google Fi account. The data access will expire after 3-6 months out-of-country but the voice and SMS/text, which is what you need for 2FA, will continue to be good.  About $28USD per month and never an issue with the codes coming through.

Wise Transfer

As said earlier, if you're going to use Wise out of the US, recommend you do an ACH link to a bank account. Been using them for about 7 years now and easy peasy direct bank to bank transfers. My most recent one took 6 SECONDS to show in my ABA account. (... but wasn't deducted from the US account until the next day; don't know how that works for them but not my problem) Exchange rate was better than TT Pattaya.

[jocky king]

How long does it take from wise account to THAI bank account ?  Thought Wise is good at exchange rate . SCB offered 36.14 ,TT Bank 36.13 , Wise 36.75 . Send €4,000 today , ( 147,000 bt ) compared to SCB & TT Bsnk (143,500 ) two extra Short time  , wow , happy days . 555 

Edited December 13, 2022 by jocky king

[SlowlyMan]

Hours to a couple days. Depending when you start the transfer.

[LASportsNut]

1 hour ago, jocky king said:

How long does it take from wise account to THAI bank account ?  Thought Wise is good at exchange rate . SCB offered 36.14 ,TT Bank 36.13 , Wise 36.75 . Send €4,000 today , ( 147,000 bt ) compared to SCB & TT Bsnk (143,500 ) two extra Short time  , wow , happy days . 555 

 

24 minutes ago, SlowlyMan said:

Hours to a couple days. Depending when you start the transfer.

It takes me 6-7 seconds to transfer from my USA Bank to Wise to Kasikorn.

The reason it is fast, is my USA accounts all accounts have been verified by wise and are attached to my Wise.

[BuckDefiant]

23 hours ago, BuckDefiant said:

I use an old dedicated iPhone as my financial connection device carrying the Google Fi account. The data access will expire after 3-6 months out-of-country but the voice and SMS/text, which is what you need for 2FA, will continue to be good.  About $28USD per month and never an issue with the codes coming through.

Well fuck me.  After years of this just working I've finished a marathon session of customer support trying to do an international wire transfer from a huge US based global bank and the wire fraud department couldn't authenticate/2FA on the Google Fi line even though I had multiple 2FA codes from my online account within the past 12 hours on that line.  

Apparently the wire fraud department's computers are 'stricter' than the website's. I had to do long hand authentication which was a royal PIA. 

My take away is you're at risk using MVNO telecom for wire transfer authentication 😞

[THguypattaya]

13 hours ago, jocky king said:

How long does it take from wise account to THAI bank account ?  Thought Wise is good at exchange rate . SCB offered 36.14 ,TT Bank 36.13 , Wise 36.75 . Send €4,000 today , ( 147,000 bt ) compared to SCB & TT Bsnk (143,500 ) two extra Short time  , wow , happy days . 555 

For me it's instant for amount under 50k baht, over that 24 to 36 hours. This is for THB account in Wise to Bangkok bank. (First time ever transfer too, instant transfer! I heard for the first time it's usually 1,2,3 days)

[Kale]

On 11/12/2022 at 17:04, SlowlyMan said:

Google Voice allows text messages, so, that should work for your purpose. Periodically, Wise will send me a code to sign in. So, you'll need regular access to that phone number.

I believe you can use their mobile app instead, as long as you set that up beforehand.  I don't think a phone number is required for verification once you do that.  Only caveat is that you are fucked if something happens to your smartphone.

If you can retrieve voicemails remotely from a phone number you can use the voice call option instead of SMS.

Edited December 13, 2022 by Kale

[jocky king]

6 minutes ago, THguypattaya said:

For me it's instant for amount under 50k baht, over that 24 to 36 hours. This is for THB account in Wise to Bangkok bank. (First time ever transfer too, instant transfer! I heard for the first time it's usually 1,2,3 days)

Mine is over 100 k , that’s 24 hours gone , not there in my Thai bank account yet . You’re right , must be over 24 hours or so . The lady works at the Irish bank was asking me about wise , she haven’t heard of that before , looked concerned when I asked her to send 100 k over to Wise for me . I assured her that wise is not a scam as I told her that I had done a 2/3 times before . WISE is a very good options for those who have both bank in two different countries. 

[jocky king]

Update ~ Got it in my Thai bank today after 4 days waiting  . Emailed WISE this morning , they escalated my situation half an hour ago , few minutes later , got into my Thai bank account .  Probably be quicker next time . Didn’t like the wait . 

[Gonetothedogs]

anyone else getting increased checks by Wise when sending to Thai bank accounts?

Sent 50K, 50K, 40K this month to my 3 Thai bank accounts and got a message to reconfirm my identity and addresss and even after selecting “funds for long term stay in Thailand” got another screen saying “just to keep Wise safe, please reconfirm why you are sending funds to Thailand”

 

[taylor1975]

1 hour ago, Gonetothedogs said:

anyone else getting increased checks by Wise when sending to Thai bank accounts?

Sent 50K, 50K, 40K this month to my 3 Thai bank accounts and got a message to reconfirm my identity and addresss and even after selecting “funds for long term stay in Thailand” got another screen saying “just to keep Wise safe, please reconfirm why you are sending funds to Thailand”

 

Nope. I did a 160k a few days back. I also select the long term stay option. Although every transfer i've ever done seems to take 2 days. 

[Gonetothedogs]

22 minutes ago, taylor1975 said:

Nope. I did a 160k a few days back. I also select the long term stay option. Although every transfer i've ever done seems to take 2 days. 

Thanks 

I may send things over in one go, like you did rather than break to down into small “instalments” 

[goodie2shoes]

5 hours ago, taylor1975 said:

Nope. I did a 160k a few days back. I also select the long term stay option. Although every transfer i've ever done seems to take 2 days. 

 

7 hours ago, Gonetothedogs said:

anyone else getting increased checks by Wise when sending to Thai bank accounts?

Sent 50K, 50K, 40K this month to my 3 Thai bank accounts and got a message to reconfirm my identity and addresss and even after selecting “funds for long term stay in Thailand” got another screen saying “just to keep Wise safe, please reconfirm why you are sending funds to Thailand”

 

Had the same kind of checks, they seem to be random, but Wise seems sort of required by UK banking regulations to enact a certain number of checks. Been using Revolut or currencyfair ( slightly worse rates) since. As a last option there are agent based fx companies, where you deal with a representative on the phone. It's like concierge service and they don't mind doing smaller sums, but also need to provide a valid reason for the transfer.

[nunchuck]

On 11/01/2023 at 03:06, taylor1975 said:

Nope. I did a 160k a few days back. I also select the long term stay option. Although every transfer i've ever done seems to take 2 days. 

So you able to send £160k to thai bank account. With wise transfer. 
 

nice too know that 

thanks for info 

[taylor1975]

3 hours ago, nunchuck said:

So you able to send £160k to thai bank account. With wise transfer. 
 

nice too know that 

thanks for info 

160k baht not gbp! i would never do that in one transfer.