TransferWise

After seeing the unreasonably high fees and poor exchange rates my bank was charging me, I started to research for a better method of moving money. TransferWise had lots of high ratings and reviews online so I decided to give it a try. It’s a smart idea - they use a digital account-to-account model meaning the money never actually has to move across borders and therefore they can pass the savings on to you.

I decided to use TransferWise because I needed to wire money to an overseas bank account in order to pay a rent deposit. At first, I actually went into my local bank and tried to send the transfer, they messed up the transfer (and even admitted to it). I ended up getting this money back after a few business days, but before I did money was removed from an intermediary bank as a fee before it was actually sent back AND on top of that, my local bank returned my money with a much worse exchange rate set by them. All in all, I lost over $300 because of the bank's mistake and wasn't even able to send the transfer. After this nightmare, I decided to use TransferWise. It was so quick and they are very transparent on their fees (no hidden intermediary bank fees so you know how much your recipient will get). Highly recommend!

After reading all the negative reviews I still have TransferWise a try. First set up my home Acc in the US and verified my account link. Next I set up an EU account and sent funds from my Spain Acc to TW, no problem. Then sent USD to TW, all good. Set up and moved funds from TW US and EU Acc to an INR Acc, simple. Wired funds to a business in India from TW INR, arrived in seconds! Finally wired funds from TW USD to India bank in INR, again arrived in seconds. The user interface is very simple but you must know what fields are required. Moving funds around is so quick and simple that’s a little scary. I would suggest starting with small amounts and verifying that transfers are going through before moving larger amounts of money.

I spent 5 years working in the US and had to transfer my savings back to my bank account in Germany. It was quite a large sum, so the exchange rate would really make a difference. I compared what my bank offered as the final sum in Euros after the transfer with what Transferwise offered and realized that Transferwise would offer me about 1000 Euros more.

I used TransferWise for the first time after reading an article on it online in BBC just 3 days ago. I had some money left (just 275 pounds) in my account in the UK that has been sitting there and I wanted to transfer it to my bank account in Malaysia. TransferWise charged about 3 pounds and gave me the actual exchange rate at the day, so it seemed as the perfect solution for this small transfer. I wired the money from my UK account to TransferWise, and my account reflected that immediately that they've received the money. My account also said that they should pay out to my Malaysian bank account in 23 hours.

Account closed and money not refunded since couple of months. They also stopped answering emails. They still answer reviews on TrustPilot even today. When I looked upon the trustpilot reviews about TransferWise I was shocked to see how many people are in this situation. Please leave a bad review so others do not have to pass through this painful situation as us.

I have been using 2 years to keep the same transfers. On the same account number and different amounts ranging from $ 200 - $ 400. As long as I sent small amounts it worked. The moment I sent $ 1200, they blocked my payment. The reason they gave me is incorrect recipient details. I know that the details are correct (the same as in the previous two years). Trasnferwise lies to me in this. They have no relevant explanation for canceling a payment. I can't fix wrong details when they're right = I can't send money. It is only suitable for hundreds of dollars transfers. Not more than a thousand. Beware send more money!

My experience with TransferWise was terrible. Their signup process is very misleading, as they do not ask for all your information at once, but instead give you piecemeal requests for more and more information. Thus you end up giving them personal information you never intended. It would be much more fair and honest to have a single form asking for all the necessary information at one time. To add insult to injury, their verification process, which they claimed was free, ended up costing me over $10. They insist on getting a cash transfer from your credit card to "verify" it. They said this was free but the charge for a cash transfer is over $10. This company is very "sneaky" and does not make full disclosure to you as a consumer. Avoid!

They advertise on their site that you get the money immediately. That's false advertising. Every single transaction I have done took 2 to 3 days to receive my money. Unlike other companies like worldremit or transfergo where you get your money immediately. I decided to try TransferWise because their fees were actually better than their counterparts but it's not worth it when they hold your money hostage for days or weeks. Definitely can NOT work in an emergency.

Appalling! No matter if you are a long time customer, their verification methods are a joke! They've been holding a transfer for over 3 days after taking my money, because they can't read the passport in the selfie they request as verification. If your doc is small or laminated, you don't stand a chance to be verified. My mortgage payment is at risk of default because Transferwise is holding my money, which is an illegal practice. I requested cancellation of the transfer and they said it is going to take 2 days to get it back. Which makes it a week without being able to access my own money. DO NOT USE TRANSFERWISE. Their customer service is appalling, treating long time customers as potential criminals, after they've been profiting from my money for years. STAY AWAY FROM THEM!!!