Is it WISE? (Of interest to Brits only, maybe)

After a period of a few years not using remittance (UK to PH) I did one recently and was very surprised at how well BCRemit (they only do UK to PH) compared with WISE (formerly Transferwise).

The two financial elements are, of course, exchange rate and remittance fee. Then there is efficiency, including speed if that is an issue.

For efficiency I rate BCRemit and WISE as the best I am aware of and equal.

But for the £4000 I remitted, BCRemit charged £4.99 and WISE wanted £22.11 - a vast difference. BCRemit gave an exchange rate of 68.60 and WISE 68.59 (so, again, no significant difference).

So, on efficiency and exchange rate there was, at the time I sent, no significant difference BUT the fee was MUCH higher for WISE.

BCRemit had a limit of £5000 per month when I used them a few years ago but you would need to check that for being up-to-date as I sent 4k and so didn't test that limit.

Getting back to using BCRemit involved no new verification but WISE wanted a selfie with passport and then a separate passport scan. Two questions I asked were not replied to in their email (which had my enquiries within it) and the reply was used only to ask for further verification. This may be a mark against their efficiency but the reply might still arrive.

The real problems came from my UK bank - as usual and, of course, for the benefit of the customer! I have no issues with them checking the person accessing my bank account is me but the endless questions about what the money is for is tiresome (even to the point of asking if any money used to help family will be repaid). I get the feeling that soon it could be impossible to transfer money online without a visit to the branch (it might even become almost impossible to use OUR own money)! And don't forget, UK citizens, Case Law over a period of 300 years has stated that once you deposit money into a UK bank it becomes their property!

 

Thanks very interesting!

I will definitely try BCRemit, in the meantime I used Remitly twice recently, the first time they gave me a rate of 69+ php. Which was higher then the rate that day. Second time lower. Charge of £3:99 for £1000. They required no documentation and i was given a wide choice of places to collect cash from in dumaguete.

I was told by Wise recently that my money transfer was OK and sent, then NO we want this document that document. Sent them but no not good enough. The questions were endless and over £1000. I will not be using them ever again or recommending them to anyone else. Previously I was a very big supporter of Transferwise now Wise and used them for many years without issue.

I understand that Wise if you close the account will transfer all the funds back to where they originated from. Let's see....

Final thought.
To have a good few of these money transfer companies available makes sense.

 

I have used Wise in the last few days and no questions asked, just the usual standard selection of what the money is for during the process on the app. Have been using them for two years. After the transaction I was asked to complete a short survey of how satisfied I am with them. My response was that I am very satisfied, as I know are many ex-pats, but that if the recent move to becoming 'Wise Philippines', or whatever it will be called, is going to lead to lots more bureaucracy, then I for one will be gone and that I am sure many other existing customers will do the same. Who knows if they will take note.

 

Maybe they just Don't like my Face anymore...
I'll try getting a shave!

Seriously though they were fine previously.

I think over a certain limit per year they start to have to fill in extra documents, who knows, these days it's all down to computers really.

BCRemit going with next as said and happy with Remitly.

 

Perhaps they have changed but I would have put Remitly at the very bottom of the pile for remittance - in fact, I would have dug a deep pit so they could be put even further down. My experience, maybe 4 to 5 years ago, was of them refusing to remit money (which I said was for food and general household expenses) unless I provided masses of IDs and also receipts for the spending of that money! That is an obvious Catch-22 in which we allow you to move your money after you prove how you spent it! I think I exchanged 30+ emails with them over one remittance.

It resulted in me writing to the head of the Company and getting a response from him as to how could they do things better - at the time I considered them so hopeless that I couldn't be bothered and found Transferwise and BCRemit (now my favourite based on most recent use).

But based on your information I will look again - sometimes these companies give a very good exchange rate and/or fee for a first transaction and hope the customers does not look elsewhere in the future.

 

I just used BCRemit and was very easy. New company so tested the water with £500. Uk Filipino company apparently.

I think that these money exchange companies go through periods of being good and bad and one's changing circumstances can have a bearing. Saving grace being there are plenty out there to choose from...

My position is that I will not use Wise or World First. Each to their own.

Unfortunately bank security and the computers that run them do make decisions that sometimes seem a right pain in the proverbial.

 

https://twitter.com/bcremit?t=lwy1Db9MQRvk8OBfbRF7Wg&s=09

 

To be sure, every money transfer service in Europe (including the UK) does these customer identification checks only because relevant law and regulations say they must.
These laws concern primarily safeguards against money laundering and terrorist financing. The EU law specifies an amount of 10,000€ as the transaction threshold above which transfer companies must do something called "enhanced customer due diligence", such as requiring additional documentation and asking additional questions about the purpose of the transfer.
The law states that if the beneficiary of the transfer lives in a "high risk country" the requirements are even more stringent. Luckily for us the Philippines has not been designated as such.
So, if you find a money transfer service that doesn't ask these questions, it is only because they don't comply with the law. Chances are these companies won't succeed in operating like that for very long.

 

I'm in China for the past 10 years and I exchange my RMB with the local balikbayan company I just deposit 30k RMB every month in their bank and 30 minutes later it shows up in my metro bank account and all for 400 peso charge and the google rate of the day and has never let me down and never a question from anyone, so maybe if your anywhere other then the Phils, maybe a route you could go down is find the local established balikbayan companies where your situated and check the form.......just a suggestion