Problem with Transferwise
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Until now, I have been feeding my 'monetary needs' in Thailand by transferring money from my ING account to my account at Bangkok Bank, and by carrying cash as a 'spare', to exchange at a convenient time .
I will continue to do the latter as well, but as far as transferring money is concerned, I recently started looking at alternatives. I have already read about many – mostly positive – experiences with Transferwise on this blog, but never delved into it further. Anyway, I took a look, and I quickly saw that for the kind of money I transfer I would be considerably better off, both in terms of the rate used and the fees charged.
I registered on the Transferwise website and then made a transfer. To my surprise, a short time later I received a message that the transfer could not be carried out because there were doubts whether the ING account from which I transferred was actually mine. I had to send a statement from the bank showing all the details of the transaction to Transferwise. I then sent a screenshot of my banking app with the details. That also turned out to be insufficient and a PDF of the transaction as it appeared on my digital bank statement – not on the app – was requested. Also done, but the transaction was declined again.
The problem turned out to be that my legal first name – which is requested during the first registration – is Cornelis, but the bank account mentions my nickname 'Cees'.
In the many decades that I have had the same account – also with ING's predecessors – I have never had a problem with that. My credit card also says 'Cees'; when applying for this you will be explicitly given the choice for a different name on the card. When I pay online with that card, they even explicitly ask for the name on the card. Because you can also choose to pay with a credit card at Transferwise, I asked whether that credit card – using the three-digit 'security code' – would be accepted, but the answer remained negative.
So I can delete Transferwise as an alternative………
I'm curious, are there any readers with similar experiences?
Cees or Cornelis,
It's a pity that it didn't work out for you, but at the same time I'm glad that they check everything closely at Transferwise and stop the transaction if there is the slightest doubt.
Goodbye,
You can also change your name at ING, in accordance with your name on your passport. Unless, of course, you have fundamental objections to it. I think that the effort and costs do not outweigh the costs you gain in the long term using transferwise. Transferwise is strict in their policy regarding proof of the requested data.
Normally you have to give the bank your real name as you are registered. Normally there is an annual check by the bank, if you book a trip by plane you should not use shortened names either.
Anyone can also transfer money to you with Transferwise, whether it is from your account or a third party account, you only need to state the reason for payment.
I usually use Transferwise via Sofort and I am very satisfied everything is quickly on the Thai account
My initials are on my ING account, not a single name. I did have to send TW a copy of my passport once, electronically, for verification. I share Jacques' suggestion to change the bank account to the full name. I have not had any negative experience with TW so far.
I do not speak above of a negative experience, I do not blame TW, I only 'report'.
TW applies certain rules and is apparently consistent in doing so. Communication also went smoothly.
I was only surprised by the fact that using the nickname on my bank account/credit card presented a problem. Of course, the ING bank has my full legal name, but you can choose how the name is visible from the outside. For more than XNUMX years, that hasn't been a problem, and I'm not going to change that now.
If, like the vast majority, if not almost all account holders, you only list your initials or the official name on the bank account and you do not want to change something so basic and use a name other than the official first name, then why do you think it report here. You would be considerably better off, you wrote yourself; look if you don't make a small effort and don't want to change the name on the bank account then I think so .... (yes I'm being polite but I think something else) and you think it's strange that a third party which acting completely correctly expect them to smell it for a while that you are using a different name.
What a negative response, Ger-Korat. I am not writing negatively about Transferwise at all. Nor am I writing that I find TW's behavior strange - I know, reading is not easy. I am writing about my experience because I have never been confronted with this before and never realized that my choice would create a 'problem' in the sense of not being able to use a certain service. Whether that is sufficient reason to adjust a bank account and a credit card is a personal choice, which you also immediately have an opinion on, apparently.
Negation=negative
'Problem with TW' and “…….Transferwise I can delete as an alternative………” otherwise don't sound very positive………..
So the 'problem' is with you, not with TW.
Never had a problem with them and nowadays within fifteen minutes on my Thai account at a good rate, with low costs.
I keep explaining: I am not criticizing TW, they are within their rights as far as I am concerned. You take the diminutive 'problem' into perspective negatively, and that TW is therefore not an alternative for me, isn't it a completely logical conclusion if I can't use their services? I also mention that the communication went correctly, so I really don't understand where you get the negative from. I do not say anything negative about TW at any point because there is no reason to.
When I registered with TW they asked for a copy of my passport or driver's license, now I have shown my Thai driver's license and just managed to create an account.
Your name is on the Thai driving license and the home address is on the back, no problem with TW.
My identity or residential address was not the problem, but the use of a nickname on my bank account…
Maybe you still have your birth certificate with both your nickname and your legal names on it?
Send in a copy of that and see how TW handles it.
A copy of my passport was also sufficient for me and everything runs like a train 55
When I created an account with TransferWise about 5 years ago, they also had a problem with the difference between my full name on the passport and the name on my bank account (only the initials of my first names plus my full last name). I then told them that this is very common in NL and suggested that they contact my bank's head office to verify that I am one and the same person. They agreed within an hour.
Apparently, in the UK, the bank account must also have at least the first name that fully corresponds to that in the passport (in Australia, by the way)
Success.
Without giving any reason, ing bank received payment last week and! Account blocked from a friend of mine.
To undo this, she spent two days with ing bank, very difficult to reach and had incompetent answers.
Finally managed to transfer with transferwise.
Maybe…?? ing's disincentive policy??
This bank has not really exuded confidence for years.
They want to earn money themselves with transfers. In the past I had one of my pensions (€677) transferred to my Thai bank. That cost more than €30 every month. Outrageously high costs. Since then Transferwise.
I read that at TW you are asked to prove your identity and that people just do that. This is the best way to encourage identity fraud via the internet. For me that would be a reason not to work with TW anymore.
I would NOT want to do business with Transferwise if I didn't need that important information….
I have also been using TW for quite some time for transfers to Thailand. I gather from your story that you (first) transfer the money from your ING account to TW. When I transfer money to Thailand, I always pay TW via an iDEAL payment from my ING account. Never had a problem.
It is indeed recommended to keep the name identical to the name in the passport. That is also important with airline tickets. And with more and more authorities that request a copy of the passport for identification. New times…
Do
It was also an IDEAL payment for me.
A note on this one.
TransferWise is obviously right on this one.
Banking matters must be carried out and checked correctly.
TransferWise is simply a system that carries out international transactions and is therefore very thoroughly checked by the governments in connection with, among other things, money laundering - so correct is again not superfluous here.
Also think about the future more specifically what could happen when you are gone.
Bank account in the wrong name and the certificates after death are of course delivered in the correct name……Release of the funds that may still be on it could well become hell for your next of kin.
So having your bank include the correct information in your file is a must here and your problem with TransferWise is immediately solved.
Greetings
Guy
This is not a problem with Transferwise. On the contrary, just a great check from Transferwise.
I could have put the first word in quotes, but I thought the diminutive already gave enough perspective. Transferwise has every right to apply these rules, I will not detract from that in my piece.
I used TW for the first time in May 2020 to transfer money to my girlfriend's account in Cambodia (ABA bank), before and now back via Argentabank (cost price €15).
But things went wrong with TW. I wanted to transfer 300 euros and she only received 268 USD and it took 14 days. It had gone through swift…. and I didn't understand anything because I always read good comments for it.
Recently through Argenta bank my girlfriend got $300 from the €328 and I paid €15 for it and it took 5 days.
How exactly does TW work because even via youtube I can't always find a solution?
Serge
I use Xoom which is part of PayPal and works great, charges €3 expenses and you can follow all operations from start to finish, I recommend you try with a small amount and you will see that you will be immediately satisfied, once you have entered your details, you only have to enter the amount for a second deposit and the money will be in your account after two or three days, I find it super easy and safe.
Roger
Xoom charges €2,99 fixed costs + a considerably lower exchange rate than the mid-market rate.
Transferwise charges €1,53 fixed costs + 0,615% exchange rate surcharge of the mid-market rate.
Azimo charges €0,99 fixed costs + a lower exchange rate than the mid-market rate.
Exchange rate now (06:35):
Xoom: 1 EUR = 35,0511 THB https://www.xoom.com/thailand/send-money
VA: 1 EUR = 36,0674 THB https://transferwise.com/transferFlow#/enterpayment
Azimo 1 EUR = 35,99020 THB https://azimo.com/en/send-money-to-thailand
Middle exchange rate: 1 EUR = 36,07316 THB https://www.xe.com/currencycharts/?from=EUR&to=THB&view=1D
@Serge and @harm: Sending money to Cambodia has been a problem for these service providers so far.
It's great that Azimo has been yielding more baht than TransferWise for months. I looked several times over a few months for amounts of, among others, 50, 100, 500 and 1000 euros. I created an account for my father with Azimo (because it has been the cheapest in recent months, but that may of course be different in a year). The first transaction was a piece of cake, for the second they asked for ID and explanation of the relationship with the money recipient and the exact purpose of the money.
I have been working with Transferwise for two years. Have nothing but positive experiences, but they are very correct, and they are right about that.
They work quickly, at a favorable exchange rate, fast transactions, easy contact with customer service.
Nothing but praise, sorry!
Jan–Nakon Ratchasima
dear serge
a while ago I ran into the same problem and have now found 2 alternatives.
transferring money via pay pall account is very easy from bank to bank. you then need 2 email addresses to which you link your bank accounts.
for money to third parties I use Azimo. works much better than transferwise and is also cheaper. you can also use it to send on your own foreign account. there is also an app for this but it works better with your laptop.
greetings harm
Dear Cornelis (cees).
Do not understand that you want to shorten your legal name if necessary.
Wouldn't it have been easier and you wouldn't have spared yourself a lot of effort to give your legal name to all the important authorities. ??
Good luck with the transfer of money in the future,
Fr grtjs,
Shorten my legal name??? Have you ever heard of a 'call sign'? My legal name is of course with all authorities, including ING, but I could choose which name would be visible from the outside on the account. That has worked fine for over 50 years, and as far as my credit card is concerned, it has also worked for 35 years.
In the meantime, following some tips in the comments, I transferred money with Azimo (azimo.com), also a very good rate, lightning fast and clearly cheaper than transferring directly from my ING account.
AZIMO works very well and better than TW.
Just tried it, works really well! Very good rate and the first 2 transfers free of charge.
You can open a 'bordless account' at TW. You will then receive an IBAN number, in Belgium itself a Belgian IBAN number. From your ING you can then deposit into your 'bordless account', this never takes more than 1 banking day. You then send from your VAT account to your Thai account.
At least I assume that everyone can transfer money to your TW account. Best to inquire first.
TW also issues MasterCard debit cards. These are accepted at most Thai merchants, at 7-elegen from 300 Baht.
TransferWise also gave me a lot of problems with a transfer to Thailand..they claimed that they were not allowed to send gifts, rules they have with Thailand, in the end they failed.. moreover they claim to use the best exchange rate and that is completely wrong . Remessa online and western union are much more favorable and perform the transfer perfectly.
Last Monday I transferred 1500 Baht to TH via iDeal -> TransferWise, total costs deducted from my bank account were € 44,07. According to what I have researched, I can't do that cheaper anywhere.
recognizable situation. I also recently had this problem with the first transfer to Thailand. My TW account is in my name, but the bank account (an e/o account with ABNAMRO) has my wife's name first…
I used a trick that was happily accepted; had to send a statement in pdf or prt-scr of bank account / transfer. At ABNAMRO online, the accounts basically have the name of the account holder, but you can give the accounts an alias name such as “holiday savings”, “household”, “fixed costs”. So I gave the e/o account the alias of my own name. Made a screenshot of that and it was accepted. That account has since been accepted and I can transfer money from that account via iDeal without any problems.
Hello Cees,
I made 2 transfers via Transferwise in the past week. Everything went well, the money was already in the bank the next day. Less costs than with Union Express and certainly with Mastercard!!! Also very advantageous exchange rate, even better than at Superrich!
But your problem also occurred for me at Western Union. In my specified name that was filled in by the “sender” to me, the between P was missing. Transaction refused by Bangkok Bank. Had to do it again and it worked. So pay close attention to how your name is stated in your passport if you transfer money to Thailand via Western Union, which I do not recommend. Transferwise is a LOT cheaper and just as correct…
Cees/Cornelis, thanks for the info. Always useful to know.
I myself have been transferring money to Thailand every month for over 2,5 years (money for the family at home to the Bangkok bank).
Usually with my (free) Barclays Card (withdrawn from my German bank account by Barclays after approx. 2 weeks – without charging interest). Recently got a Transferwise account and debit card + accompanying app. Now I deposit it with my Barclays and as soon as the exchange rate is favorable it goes to Thailand in a few seconds (and also costs about 3 Euro less). When I move to Thailand in a few years, I will have my boderless account on which aow and pension will be added, which I will then transfer to my Thai bank.
By the way, had bought tickets for Santana through Viagogo (never do that!). Canceled due to corona delusion but no money back. Many e-mails, many promises received but no money. Chargeback through Barclays and money back