Wise

[john1000]

Just tried to send some money to Thailand using Wise.  Barclaycard stopped the payment, and stated many scams associated with this method.

From what I know this is widely used and a trusted system.

Anyone had issues recently?

[Stillearly]

I send from my bank account , never used a credit card for Wise 

[john1000]

1 hour ago, Stillearly said:

I send from my bank account , never used a credit card for Wise 

Resolved with Barclaycard, apparently an extra layer of security was applied.

CC suits, as protection. Usually clear immediately after funds have been paid.

Edited June 17, 2025 by john1000

[boydeste]

9 minutes ago, john1000 said:

Resolved with Barclaycard, apparently an extra layer of security was applied.

CC suits, as protection. Usually clear immediately after funds have been paid.

Does Barclaycard charge you a fee if you used it for a cash transfer?

[john1000]

15 hours ago, boydeste said:

Does Barclaycard charge you a fee if you used it for a cash transfer?

I think its a couple of quid, but you do have insurance protection

[boydeste]

3 hours ago, john1000 said:

I think its a couple of quid, but you do have insurance protection

I thought they still would, because I have been charged in the past.

How does the insurance work, because you are not buying a product?

[KWA]

Wise fees for £1,000 GBP transfer to Thailand.  CC fee is crazy even without any fee from card provider.

[Blue Streak]

 

[forcebwithu]

26 minutes ago, Blue Streak said:

 

Interesting to read the YT comments.

I've now switched from using SWIFT transfers to using Wise.

One oddity for my Wise account is on their home screen, when I plug in $1,000 USD to THB, the should arrive is listed as seconds. When I click on Send and select the destination account, Kasikorn or Bangkok Bank, both then have an arrives by date one week out.

When I did a first time transfer to Bangkok Bank yesterday, the funds arrived five hours later. On 6 June a transfer to Kasikorn arrived in seconds. So the quoted arrives by date is way off.

One interesting aspect of their fee schedule for USD's is it's a linear increase per $1,000 starting at $1,000. For something that requires no extra effort for every increase in the amount transferred, they're raking in some good profit on $1,000+ transfers.

When I run the numbers, SWIFT transfers that cost me $15, regardless of how much I transfer, become a better deal at about the $9,000+ level. Even with a slightly poor Forex rate compared to Wise, I end up with 589B more in my account. But the convenience and ease of initiating a transfer with Wise still beats SWIFT transfers.

USD Transferred	Fee	Delta Change
100	2.36
500	5.23	2.87
1,000	8.81	3.58
2,000	15.97	7.16
3,000	23.14	7.17
4,000	30.30	7.16
5,000	37.47	7.17
6,000	44.64	7.17
7,000	51.80	7.16
8,000	58.96	7.16
9,000	66.13	7.17

[Horizondave]

3 hours ago, KWA said:

Wise fees for £1,000 GBP transfer to Thailand.  CC fee is crazy even without any fee from card provider.

I would never use a credit card to send money abroad. I assume Wise are adding on extra fees as they will be charged by the CC provider for use of the CC in the transaction. 

You are also basically sending cash and using a CC will also probably affect your credit rating.

I found out a long time ago that my cc should only be used for product purchases, hotels, flight tickets etc. Using it for cash transactions has a very negative result.

[forcebwithu]

23 minutes ago, Horizondave said:

I would never use a credit card to send money abroad. I assume Wise are adding on extra fees as they will be charged by the CC provider for use of the CC in the transaction. 

You are also basically sending cash and using a CC will also probably affect your credit rating.

I found out a long time ago that my cc should only be used for product purchases, hotels, flight tickets etc. Using it for cash transactions has a very negative result.

IIRC, you're also charged interest on the cash amount from the date of the transaction, whereas purchases you only get hit with an interest charge if you don't pay your off your CC balance each billing cycle.

[boydeste]

9 minutes ago, forcebwithu said:

IIRC, you're also charged interest on the cash amount from the date of the transaction, whereas purchases you only get hit with an interest charge if you don't pay your off your CC balance each billing cycle.

When I used my card for cash many years ago I was charged something like 3% of the value, then interest up until I paid it off.

NEVER done it again!

With wise charging more for the transfer also, I am struggling to see why @john1000 does this.

[KWA]

15 hours ago, boydeste said:

When I used my card for cash many years ago I was charged something like 3% of the value, then interest up until I paid it off.

NEVER done it again!

Get the right card and it can be one of the cheapest ways to get cash, believe it or not.

Barclaycard Rewards Credit Card used over the counter for cash advances has no fees and need only be paid at the end of the next billing cycle to avoid interest.

As Horizondave says it'll affect your credit rating, but as long as you don't kick the a**e out of it, not enough to cause any major issues.

[boydeste]

15 hours ago, KWA said:

Get the right card and it can be one of the cheapest ways to get cash, believe it or not.

Barclaycard Rewards Credit Card used over the counter for cash advances has no fees and need only be paid at the end of the next billing cycle to avoid interest.

As Horizondave says it'll affect your credit rating, but as long as you don't kick the a**e out of it, not enough to cause any major issues.

I am happy with a bank transfer and just paying the minimum Wise fee for it.

Anything else seems to incure additional charges by wise whether it's a debit or CC.

[Trip]

4 hours ago, boydeste said:

I am happy with a bank transfer and just paying the minimum Wise fee for it.

Anything else seems to incure additional charges by wise whether it's a debit or CC.

Yep, it's analogous to Occam's Razor for me, i.e., the simplest explanation/path is often the best even if it might be a bit more costly.

[john1000]

On 6/19/2025 at 10:04 AM, boydeste said:

When I used my card for cash many years ago I was charged something like 3% of the value, then interest up until I paid it off.

NEVER done it again!

With wise charging more for the transfer also, I am struggling to see why @john1000 does this.

Its only a small fee for the transaction, plus if you clear the CC funds, no interest applied.

Any transaction is protected though.

As for credit rating never had an issue sending cash as opposed to buying a product.

[forcebwithu]

Another measure on how slow US banks can be. At 06:24 this morning I used Wise to transfer $4k from Chase to Kasikorn. That transaction happened instantaneously and Kasikorn immediately showed the amount arriving in my account. Looking at my Chase account an hour later it still showed the $4k sitting in my account. It wasn't until 09:09 that Chase finally got around to recording the withdrawal.

Only negative I can say about Thai banks is how long it takes to do any kind of business at their branch office and the amount of paperwork they generate that requires signatures.

[Yesitisdakid]

3 minutes ago, forcebwithu said:

Another measure on how slow US banks can be. At 06:24 this morning I used Wise to transfer $4k from Chase to Kasikorn. That transaction happened instantaneously and Kasikorn immediately showed the amount arriving in my account. Looking at my Chase account an hour later it still showed the $4k sitting in my account. It wasn't until 09:09 that Chase finally got around to recording the withdrawal.

Only negative I can say about Thai banks is how long it takes to do any kind of business at their branch office and the amount of paperwork they generate that requires signatures.

My bank in the states is US Bank and a couple of years ago I noticed something similar to what you posted the money came instantaneously yet my account showed it still in my balance in my case it takes always two or three days before my account reflects the transfer

[Jambo]

4 hours ago, forcebwithu said:

Only negative I can say about Thai banks is how long it takes to do any kind of business at their branch office and the amount of paperwork they generate that requires signatures.

I used to visit our Thai bank branch office virtually every day.

There were a number of frustrating issues that regularly occurred some bigger than others. Maybe this is now the same the world over, however I never found a single Thai bank teller that could perform even the most basic mental arithmetic. They used a calculator for absolutely everything. I used to amuse myself (and annoy them) by reciting the answer before them on their calculator. I could read their minds, "fucking farlang!"

Nothing special about me.

Being of a certain age, I/we all suffered even at primary school with learning and reciting like robots our "times tables, adding and taking away." In those days it had to be mental arithmetic, simply because there was no real alternative. 

As an aside, In a 7-Elevan I once watched the cashier use a calculator to subtract 99 from 100 baht only to come up with the wrong answer! 😂

[forcebwithu]

On 6/19/2025 at 2:52 PM, forcebwithu said:

Interesting to read the YT comments.

I've now switched from using SWIFT transfers to using Wise.

One oddity for my Wise account is on their home screen, when I plug in $1,000 USD to THB, the should arrive is listed as seconds. When I click on Send and select the destination account, Kasikorn or Bangkok Bank, both then have an arrives by date one week out.

When I did a first time transfer to Bangkok Bank yesterday, the funds arrived five hours later. On 6 June a transfer to Kasikorn arrived in seconds. So the quoted arrives by date is way off.

One interesting aspect of their fee schedule for USD's is it's a linear increase per $1,000 starting at $1,000. For something that requires no extra effort for every increase in the amount transferred, they're raking in some good profit on $1,000+ transfers.

When I run the numbers, SWIFT transfers that cost me $15, regardless of how much I transfer, become a better deal at about the $9,000+ level. Even with a slightly poor Forex rate compared to Wise, I end up with 589B more in my account. But the convenience and ease of initiating a transfer with Wise still beats SWIFT transfers.

USD Transferred	Fee	Delta Change
100	2.36
500	5.23	2.87
1,000	8.81	3.58
2,000	15.97	7.16
3,000	23.14	7.17
4,000	30.30	7.16
5,000	37.47	7.17
6,000	44.64	7.17
7,000	51.80	7.16
8,000	58.96	7.16
9,000	66.13	7.17

I used Wise to transfer money for the first time into my lady's account. From my US bank (Chase) to her Bangkok Bank account. I thought it might take a few days for transfer to go through since it was a first transfer to a new recipient, but was pleasantly surprised to see it only took about 22 hours.

I did notice the fees have gone up since last year. I wonder what the justification is for the increase.

[boydeste]

^^^^^^^^^

Talking of fees, if you transfer your money into your Wise account first, then set up the transfer to your bank, K bank for me after.

You are charged less fees than setting up the transfer, then sending or pulling from your bank, UK for me.

 

[forcebwithu]

22 minutes ago, boydeste said:

^^^^^^^^^

Talking of fees, if you transfer your money into your Wise account first, then set up the transfer to your bank, K bank for me after.

You are charged less fees than setting up the transfer, then sending or pulling from your bank, UK for me.

 

I was going to give it a try, but looks like I have to wait a few days.

[Pumpuynarak]

18 hours ago, forcebwithu said:

I wonder what the justification is for the increase.

None, we are just greedy bastards lol

[biggles]

I set up my wise account years ago. The account was based in Australia and so transfers from my ANZ bank account were local and had no fee.

My Australian Super fund will not transfer money to a bank account not in Australia, even if it's in my name. This leaves the ANZ bank transfer as my only option.Too bad if you retired, moved overseas and closed your accounts. 

Edited January 15 by biggles