Transferwise Banned Me (After 9 years)

Jimmy35

Been a client of theirs for 9 years.
Regular remittances and loads of people recommended.
They closed my account for the spurious reason of 'sending money to a sanctioned state'
After 9 years.
I live in Spain.
I send money to the UK, Spain and also to Sri Lanka where I have an outsourced office.
Neither of these are sanctioned states.

Any similar experiences?

greyteam1959

No.
And it is Wise not TransferWise.
An 'outsourced office' ??
Have you been using a personal account for business use ??
Perhaps that could be the reason for closing your account.

SiliconChip

The reason they've given sounds spurious, if they don't want their customers to send money to a particular country for any reason they can control that by making the country unavailable in their systems. Having said that, I wouldn't be at all surprised to find that it's your transfers to Sri Lanka that have cause the problem, given it's dire financial state at the moment.

None of which really matters, if WISE don't want you as a customer they are perfectly at liberty to deny you access to their services at any time.

wmb194

Jimmy35 said:

Been a client of theirs for 9 years.
Regular remittances and loads of people recommended.
They closed my account for the spurious reason of 'sending money to a sanctioned state'
After 9 years.
I live in Spain.
I send money to the UK, Spain and also to Sri Lanka where I have an outsourced office.
Neither of these are sanctioned states.

Any similar experiences?

Echoing SiliconChip, even if Sri Lanka as a country isn't technically the issue my thought is that it could be to do with the route the money took to reach Sri Lanka (if it was a bank in Sri Lanka). It could be that it passed through an intermediary bank in a sanctioned state?

Chino

wmb194 said:

my thought is that it could be to do with the route the money took to reach Sri Lanka (if it was a bank in Sri Lanka).

Why would it be due to that? The means by which the OP's account with a Sri Lankan bank is credited with funds is entirely at the control of Wise, not the OP.

wmb194

Chino said:

wmb194 said:

my thought is that it could be to do with the route the money took to reach Sri Lanka (if it was a bank in Sri Lanka).

Why would it be due to that? The means by which the OP's account with a Sri Lankan bank is credited with funds is entirely at the control of Wise, not the OP.

Not true, it depends on what the intermediary banks do with it. Wise would only control the first step. It could be an issue that was then reported back down the line and Wise has pulled the trigger without asking questions. Anyway, it was just a thought.

Daliah

wmb194 said:

Chino said:

wmb194 said:

my thought is that it could be to do with the route the money took to reach Sri Lanka (if it was a bank in Sri Lanka).

Why would it be due to that? The means by which the OP's account with a Sri Lankan bank is credited with funds is entirely at the control of Wise, not the OP.

Not true, it depends on what the intermediary banks do with it. Wise would only control the first step. It could be an issue that was then reported back down the line and Wise has pulled the trigger without asking questions. Anyway, it was just a thought.

However the money might get sent, it is entirely outside the control of a user.

It is however, possible that the recipient is on some sort of embargo or fraudster list.

wmb194

Daliah said:

wmb194 said:

Chino said:

wmb194 said:

my thought is that it could be to do with the route the money took to reach Sri Lanka (if it was a bank in Sri Lanka).

Why would it be due to that? The means by which the OP's account with a Sri Lankan bank is credited with funds is entirely at the control of Wise, not the OP.

Not true, it depends on what the intermediary banks do with it. Wise would only control the first step. It could be an issue that was then reported back down the line and Wise has pulled the trigger without asking questions. Anyway, it was just a thought.

However the money might get sent, it is entirely outside the control of a user.

It is however, possible that the recipient is on some sort of embargo or fraudster list.

Yes, of course, but you know what financial institutions can be like. The reason given might be incorrect, too. 

When you Google it Sri Lanka does have some sanctioned organisations and should be subject to enhanced money laundering checks e.g., https://sanctionswiki.org/sri_lanka/

Jimmy35

I have been doing this same transfer through them for years. It goes to a company bank account.

My UK company accounts are all up to date and submitted by a chartered accountant.
Sri Lanka (despite having a single sanctioned entity (terrorists!) ) is not a sanctioned state.
I think there is something else going on.
Further they have been holding onto the money I sent them on May 31st despite promising to send it back within 2-3 days.

Disgusting.

Further, looks like these guys are in trouble with other former users: https://www.google.co.uk/maps/place/Wise+(formerly+TransferWise)/@52.6309497,-9.7504385,5z/data=!4m11!1m2!2m1!1stransferwise!3m7!1s0x48761ca65123ffeb:0x37c2cab05a88454f!8m2!3d51.5237501!4d-0.0767065!9m1!1b1!15sCgx0cmFuc2Zlcndpc2UiA4gBAZIBEGNvcnBvcmF0ZV9vZmZpY2U?hl=en

You can see my review on there.

I will be taking them to small claims for the return of the money and will be charging them daily for as long as they choose to hold onto it.

masonic

Jimmy35 said:

I will be taking them to small claims for the return of the money and will be charging them daily for as long as they choose to hold onto it.

Any reason why you've ruled out using the Financial Ombudsman Service?

robatwork

Jimmy35 said:

I have been doing this same transfer through them for years. It goes to a company bank account.

My UK company accounts are all up to date and submitted by a chartered accountant.
Sri Lanka (despite having a single sanctioned entity (terrorists!) ) is not a sanctioned state.
I think there is something else going on.
Further they have been holding onto the money I sent them on May 31st despite promising to send it back within 2-3 days.

Disgusting.

Further, looks like these guys are in trouble with other former users: https://www.google.co.uk/maps/place/Wise+(formerly+TransferWise)/@52.6309497,-9.7504385,5z/data=!4m11!1m2!2m1!1stransferwise!3m7!1s0x48761ca65123ffeb:0x37c2cab05a88454f!8m2!3d51.5237501!4d-0.0767065!9m1!1b1!15sCgx0cmFuc2Zlcndpc2UiA4gBAZIBEGNvcnBvcmF0ZV9vZmZpY2U?hl=en

You can see my review on there.

I will be taking them to small claims for the return of the money and will be charging them daily for as long as they choose to hold onto it.

Those reviews all look like people who have been asked to prove identity of themselves or the recipient and that puts their nose out of joint. 

They should have returned your money more quickly I agree, possibly they are applying the regulations too zealously. 

However I have used them regularly for many years, with small and large sums, and always been reliable for me. 

Let us know how your court action goes - I'll wager they will return the money before it gets anywhere near a judge.