Talk Quesada forum

I have used TransferWise for many years now and have sung their praises.
This morning I made a transfer and watched it sailing across the screen only to stop, this for ‘security checks’. So I tried a further two times and the same thing happened. My U.K. bank account has been debited £5000. The money will take at least 4 working days to be refunded.
When the transfers were held up for the security check it said that the payment would take 4-10 working days to complete.
Hence I cancelled the payment, yet I still have £5000 missing from my account.
I phoned TransferWise and they told me that every so often random payments are pulled out for checking, there was no problem with my Debit Card or with the issuer, this was solely down to TransferWise and there was nothing they could do to override the system, even though my payment was extremely urgent and has caused me some embarrassment.
I will give TransferWise a wide berth in the future, they have really dropped me in the cart.
4-10 days is a joke!!!!

I know it is frustrating when a transfer takes longer than it normally does, but this came from a search of Transferwise's website. https://transferwise.com/help/16/status ... nsfer-take

I also use Transferwise regularly, but as a borderless account. Whenever the Euro/GBP rate is anything like favourable I transfer sterling from my UK bank into my euro account with Transferwise. This takes seconds to achieve the transfer, including the convertion. When I need some euros in my Spanish account, I just do a transfer from my Transferwise euro account. If you do this transfer to Spain on Tues, Weds, or Thurs during Spanish banking hours, it takes only seconds. Outside of these days and hours it could take a couple of hours, I have found. It never takes longer.

Perhaps you could use their borderless account instead of doing a direct transfer from UK bank to Spanish bank, it is only a few extra clicks on the computer or phone.

I use the borderless account as well and agree totally with your comments about a “few seconds” - it amazes me how quickly my mobile “pings” with the notification!

Yes agree with the posts, have used them for years.
Year or so back I had a security check, photo of me holding my passport.
Went OK, answer in minutes, then my transfer went ahead after 3 days. Never took the money beforehand.
I have the borderless account,
Interesting point on Tue Wed Thurs.
T

Interesting I’ve used TransferWise for years with no problems and recently opened € and £ borderless accounts which I’ve not used yet. Does the posts above suggest that if you have borderless you don’t risk the same security checks

I had a transaction delayed for security checks. They didn’t take my payment until checks had cleared.

I've used TransferWise all the time by transferring from my UK account to their bank account in London and once I confirmed that I sent the money by bank transfer...the euro equivalent is in my Spanish bank account within 10 seconds...

Ron Hill wrote:Interesting I’ve used TransferWise for years with no problems and recently opened € and £ borderless accounts which I’ve not used yet. Does the posts above suggest that if you have borderless you don’t risk the same security checks

I honestly do not know about the security checks, but, thankfully, I have not experienced any.

When I was using Transferwise to do a straight transfer from UK to Spain, I found that to get a same day delivery, I had to start the transfer between 8.00 am and 10.00 am UK time on Tue, Wed. or Thu; otherwise it could take 1 day. This was on advice from a telephone call to customer services. Apparently Spain is very busy on Mondays and Fridays dealing with weekend traffic, again told to me by customer services.

I use Transferwise all the time. I don't have a borderless account although I'm thinking of opening one. My transfers only take seconds at whatever time I send them on a week day. No sooner the transaction is completed then it is in my Sabadell account. I usually just send small top up amounts between 150 and 300 euros. I wonder if that makes a difference? Perhaps the checks are completely random but I wonder if it is the larger amounts that are selected for checking.

Mickey Braw wrote:I have used TransferWise for many years now and have sung their praises.
This morning I made a transfer and watched it sailing across the screen only to stop, this for ‘security checks’. So I tried a further two times and the same thing happened. My U.K. bank account has been debited £5000. The money will take at least 4 working days to be refunded.
When the transfers were held up for the security check it said that the payment would take 4-10 working days to complete.
Hence I cancelled the payment, yet I still have £5000 missing from my account.
I phoned TransferWise and they told me that every so often random payments are pulled out for checking, there was no problem with my Debit Card or with the issuer, this was solely down to TransferWise and there was nothing they could do to override the system, even though my payment was extremely urgent and has caused me some embarrassment.
I will give TransferWise a wide berth in the future, they have really dropped me in the cart.
4-10 days is a joke!!!!

I think the problem is the amount. At £5,000 money laundering checks come into play, and it would be the paying or receiving bank that would have caused the delay. They are obliged by law to check random international transfers of that amount or higher.