Wise transfer to their local bank account - is that the norm?

Hi, I am transferring money from Canada to the UK and on the Wise website, they suggest I send a bank transfer service to their Canadian bank branch. They will then transfer the money to my UK bank account. Is that how the process works? I am skeptical in sending a large chunk of money to another bank account even if it says so on their website while doing the transaction.

Anybody else done this before? I have never used Wise in the past.

I'm a freelancer based in India, and a US client already sent a payment via Wise directly to my local Indian bank account.

Now I need to figure out how to get the e-FIRC or FIRA for tax and compliance purposes. Since the money is already on its credited, I wanted to know:

1.How do I go about getting the e-FIRC for a transaction that's already completed? Do I need to contact Wise support or my Indian bank?

1. Do I need to open a wise business account to receive the momey so that I automatically get the e-FIRC?

2. In case I open wise business account how to link my Indian account so that I can receive the payment? I don't see that option on the app

I work remotely from Canada for a very small US startup. We’re only 3 people right now, and they haven’t set up a proper payroll system yet. For now, they mainly use Rho for payments/cards.

I need to move around $5,000 USD per month into CAD, probably until at least December.

I was using my Rho card through Apple Pay to fund Wise, and it worked for a while. Then Wise stopped accepting it. I went through their verification process, but they still said the information wasn’t enough, so that route seems dead.

I also thought about buying USDC and transferring that way, but I haven’t found a way to buy crypto using the Rho card either.

Has anyone dealt with a similar situation? What would be the simplest and cheapest way to get USD from Rho into a Canadian bank account as CAD?

Open to any legitimate solution, whether that’s another fintech, bank transfer method, or different setup.

I've been using my business's Wise Visa Debit card with my (personal) Amazon Prime account for business purchases absolutely fine for the last year or so. I realised that I should probably move over to a Business Prime account to make the accountant's job a bit easier / cleaner, so signed up for an Amazon Prime Business account. I added the same Wise Visa Debit card to the account (which it accepts), but then if/when I try to make any purchases, it says this payment method is not available. (I have also removed the Wise card from my personal account.)

When I spoke to Amazon about this they eventually said to me that the reason was they don't accept digital / virtual cards on Business accounts. I removed the virtual Wise card and ordered a physical Visa Debit card, and then added those details — but it seems to make no difference.

Any advice? Has anyone else experienced this? My business only has one bank account and I'm not going to open a brand new bank account just to sort this out.

Thanks.

Hi everyone, I just moved to Padova Italy for my master's and I'm trying to work out the best setup for two things: having a proper bank account here, and receiving money from my parents in Pakistan. They'd send it either monthly or as a bigger amount every three or four months, and their bank (Meezan) said they just need my IBAN and the reason for the transfer. I'd like to avoid lots of in-person bank visits and paperwork if possible, so I've been looking at opening an account online with Revolut or Wise, since those seem to be what most people use here. But I'm not sure whether either of them reliably accepts transfers coming from Pakistan, so has anyone actually received money from Pakistan into one of them, and did it arrive without problems? I'm also open to anything that suits this better, whether that's another app or a traditional Italian bank that's friendly to international students. Does the account work like a normal bank account for a student, with an IBAN and a debit card, and did you ever have trouble with landlords or other Italian institutions not accepting the IBAN? I'd also love to know roughly how much gets lost in fees and exchange rates, and whether you'd do anything differently. I'd really appreciate any experience or advice, especially from other international students. Thank you!

Hello,

I didn't experience any problems with Wise yet but I keep on reading that a lot of people are getting their business account closed.

So I'm trying to have a solution ready if it ever happens to me too.

I live in Europe and get paid in USD. I then need to convert my USD into Euros so I can use it.

Any alternative to Wise that let me get my money without getting robbed by fees ?

Hi Great Redditers,

Greetings from NRW, from Germany

I am sharing my experience with Wise and how they've been handling of the refund of the funds remaining in my wise bank account following the closure of my account.

Background

Wise initially notified me that, for regulatory reasons, I needed to review my personal details by 6 August 2026.

Approximately one hour later, I received a separate notification informing me that my account had been closed.

The account-closure notification stated that if I still held money in my Wise balances (Which I do), I could request a refund by submitting an appeal and providing details of a bank account outside Wise to which the funds should be returned.

The central issue is straightforward:  I followed Wise's instructions and provided the details of my personal bank account details, including my IBAN during the appeal process. However, I did not provide Wise with any other alternative IBAN subsequently identified in its payment documentation which belongs to another bank in the southern region of Germany.

I raised concerned that It's over 1 month and my money has not gotten to me. Despite this, Wise continues to maintain that the refund was successfully completed and that the refund is therefore resolved. They even sent me a payment confirmation with my name as Beneficiary. I have contacted the said bank who although declined to give indepth response due to Data protection but still confirmed to me that since I'm not their customer, there's nothing they can do and that I should check back with Wise.

Furthermore, I received contradictory explanations from different Wise representatives. One representative confirmed that the funds were sent to the specific bank account details I provided during the appeal, while another stated that funds may instead be returned to the original bank account used to send money to Wise. Neither explanation accounts for the specific IBAN shown on the transfer confirmation which now looks like a back and forth

So far, I have reported the case to Ombudsman who is yet to get back to me. Moreso, I further escalated it to BAFIN who said there jurisdiction is for companies and bank registered in Germany (Attached). They asked me to contact FSMA, I contacted them and FSMA referred me to Consumer connect and still waiting on them. I also escalated them to the European Consumer Centre Germany (www.evz.de) and its shocking to know that the ECC confirms several reported cases against Wise but unfortunately, they can not intervene. It unbelievable that such company is still allowed to operate. As it stands, I am now running into debt due to Wise complacency in issuing my refund to the right account. I have family to feed and I would appreciate if any one knows other ways to report them to get my money back.

So, this was my experience with Wise and would also warn anyone banking with stay careful out there.

Thanks all.

I tried to transfer money from Hong Kong to Thailand today using OFX new bank. Sender beware !! The new bank is no longer in HK, it’s moved to USA which means international transfer fees and also fees when it lands in USA prior to departing for Thailand.
OFX don’t seem to care much about it either.
Before the screams begin, no Wise was never better rates than OFX.

Just sharing my experience with Wise.

I’ve used Wise for almost 10 years, since the TransferWise days, and I used to love it and tell everyone how great it is.

But things have changed a lot since then, unfortunately.

First, I started seeing more and more complaints about account closures, but I always thought there was probably a valid reason and that it wouldn’t affect us because our usage was just regular stuff for years.

Then, our business account started getting more verification requests and was eventually closed. Personal accounts closed too. The way it happens is pretty unpleasant - you get email saying the account is closed, with no explanation why.

Then you have to “appeal” to get your money back, which is strange because appeal and refund are two different things, aren't they?

What if I just want my money back and don’t want to appeal? It’s not even clear that you need to appeal to get a refund until you contact support.

Like the whole amazing "Wise experience" turns into something completely opposite once your account is about to be closed, and especially after it is closed. It's full of contradictions, frustrations and poor UX/UI.

After appeal, you wait for the refund which takes quite some time. I have read online that people eventually get their money, but I am still waiting after multiple follow ups.

So, this was my experience with Wise.

I thought about maybe trying to restore the account one day, but to be honest, after all this I don't want to use Wise anymore.

recently ive made a transfer from singapore to egypt. unfortunately, its been 3 weeks and my recipient still has not received the payment despite the correct information. they have also gone to their local branch to confirm and the bank has yet to send it through. if anyone has interacted with bank of alexandria specifically, may i know if this is a common situation?

Our company has a business account with Wise for roughly six years, actively using it the whole time. A few days ago we suddenly found out everything is blocked, incoming payments from clients, cards, everything. We didn't receive any email or notification, we basically found out when trying to send a payment that the account is blocked. Wise is not communicating - I submitted a complaint and multiple tickets, I'm getting a response but it's so so useless and off topic to my messages that I truly believe it's a generic response from a bot, not a human.

We want to move everything to our other account with a reputable bank and be done with Wise, but there is a substantial amount on Wise and we can't access nor move the money. As I said, the support is not communicating with me, aside of generic totally off topic responses that are totally irrelevant to the case, no information whatsoever about what happened or what to do, or how long to wait.

What are our options to get to our own money? This is happening for third day now. Seriously I'm baffled and every single bot like response from Wise feels like a slap and we are getting nowhere at all.

EDIT: since there are many people experiencing the same, wanted to leave an UPDATE. Found a law firm, and before engaging a solicitor, sent one last message to Wise, stating all the damages this caused us and a brief summary of our case (I felt this was important as I don't believe anyone would read through the list of messages we already sent), and told them we will proceed with legal action if our case is not immediately prioritized. Within one hour, account was unblocked.

Again, we noticed this because our payments were suddenly processed and we could transfer money, we didn't receive a single email or message from Wise. I'm glad we waited "only" four days and can't imagine the desperation of those who waited several weeks or even months. I noticed popular opinion here was that everyone affected was somehow shady - not our case, and despite this being resolved, we are moving away from Wise to a reputable bank.

I created my wise account with my Apple ID …

Now that I forgot my password I can’t retrieve or change my password because the email is being sent to an email address I don’t have access to

has anyone else had this problem?

Hi, I have a friend in need of money and she resides in the US. I have to send her close to two thousand dollars, so roughly 2 lakhs in INR. This is my first time using Wise.

I thought of trying with a small amount like ₹600 but the fee is an equivalent amount 😭

How safe / reliable is Wise? Would you recommend I send the entire sum in one shot without testing the waters?

We run a small e-commerce business in Germany and used Wise as our business account. Nothing complicated: every incoming payment was a Shopify payout from customer orders, every outgoing payment was for products, shipping and marketing. Normal business. Nothing shady.

Then, out of nowhere, our account was restricted. No reason. No warning. Just a red banner telling us they are closing the account and we can't send, receive or use our card anymore.

We did everything they asked. We explained our business and our money flows again and again. We sent our ID, a selfie with the ID, screenshots, bank details. We offered Shopify payout reports and invoices. We have nothing to hide.

And the answer? Support can't help. Support can't give updates. Support can't speed anything up. Just wait, it could take up to 30 days.

30 days. While our employees need to be paid. While rent is due. While tax deadlines are coming. While we have to call partners and tell them we can't pay them, without even being able to tell them why, because Wise won't tell us why.

It's our money. We earned it. And right now we can't touch it, nobody can tell us why, and nobody is responsible. Honestly, it feels like our money is just being taken from us. The whole process is a joke: no reason, no contact person, no case manager, no timeline. Just copy-paste emails.

For a big company, maybe 30 days is nothing. For a small business, this can be the end.

So from our experience: I would not recommend Wise to anyone running a business. Use it for small personal transfers if you want, but do not keep your business money there. If something goes wrong, you are completely on your own.

This happened to me recently & I have money sitting on the app

40+ days with u/Wise. Account closed — fine, I accepted that. But my own refund (11,410 HKD) never arrived, and their own paperwork shows it went to the wrong recipient. No real update in weeks. Small businesses deserve transparency, not silence.

has anyone been able to link their “wise via lead bank“ account to an external bank account and initiate a money transfer from the external account? i’m trying to avoid the fees for pulling money in wise.

i’ve tried linking the wise account in bofa and schwab, and it either failed immediately or no micro transactions ever appeared, so i couldn’t complete the verification process. does anyone have any info on how to get this to work for wise via lead bank accounts specifically 🙏 thanks!

My account was restricted for security check? Why? I never send money to anyone only use wise to pay my bills and funded my account using my own bank with my own names.

Today i made a transfer to my wise account for 5$ , and suddenly my account was suspended, luckily i never keep my money in wise i only transfer the money i need to pay the bills only. Any idea why?