My WISE transfer arrived at 2.13pm today.
Amazing that they blame the other banks for delays yet they predicted almost to the minute when the money would arrive at BKB. It might have been quicker had WISE not held on to my money from Thursday lunchtime until they sent it to BKB at 8.34 am today. How the hell did they know that BKB would take 5 1/2 hours to process it when te entire process usually takes just seconds? Something stinks.
I accept that a little more than 24 hours service is not the end of the world, but why is it so much longer than they normally take?
Don't blame WISE.....
WISE has no reason to hold onto your money (indeed, it seems to swiftly move mine and other's money on very quickly) - it is NOT a bank!
Most issues seem to surround payments to BKB, and most of those issues seem to surround UK State pension payments in - and then out. That has happened to friends - and also to me, once. Also there is this magical delivery time of just after 2 pm.
People need to understand WISE. As said, it is not a bank (thank goodness, anyone still remember 4 day transfer times?) - Wise is a UK-based money services company, which offers multi-currency accounts for personal and business customers. It also specialises in international money transfers, as well as having debit cards that can be used all over the world.
My delay (until the following day) was with my first attempt to direct my state pension to WISE and then transfer, same day, to Kasikorn.
It didn't happen again; I redirected the DWP payment to my main bank (now Nat West after 52 years with HSBC). The 28 day cycle (13 payments p.a.) doesn't suit my 1st of the month 65,000 Baht transfer to Thailand*.
I now transfer GBP to WISE when I feel like it and hold it until I like the GBP/THB exchange rate. At that point I will 'convert' the GBP into my THB account with WISE; I will keep doing that until I get to 65k Baht. That sum is transferred on the 1st of each month. This has been an unusual month because I have had various 'odd bits' of money flying around so I actually have balances with WISE (after the 65k transfer on the 1st July). I have 29,000 Baht sitting there towards my 1st August transfer and I also have GBP 600 which I will convert when the exchange rate hits a figure I like.
* The restatement of tax rules in Thailand - and the farce that followed, caused me to reconsider my domicile - and funding for my lifestyle in Thailand.
I think that I will always consider Thailand as my 'home' but the domicile part of the debate (with myself) included the extreme possibility of less than 180 days in Thailand; a more palatable arrangement might have been 8 months in Thailand, 2 months Spain, 1 month UK and 1 month Vietnam. In the last 12 months that is virtually what I have done, and I have just returned from a Thailand break that started on 7th April; 3 months away is too long. A consequence of all the above is simply that I decided to transfer/maintain minimal funds in Thailand. My budget (without capex) is exactly 65,000 Baht** so it is convenient that the Immigration requirement for a retirement extension based on monthly income is that very same figure. I can't transfer less than that if I want to meet Immigration requirements - and next year I do; keeping 800k in a Thai bank for 5 months and 400k for 7 months is stupidity when I can earn over GBP 800 on that money.
** I worked out that approx 30k Baht of that could be transferred directly to the condo management and Jip. The rest is pretty much my spendies and I could have transferred most of that via Jip. The point being that I could manipulate the numbers to keep under the tax reporting thresholds.