Macsta

Likewise I have had issues with a Transfer Wise payment this past week.

As others have stated I have made previous transfers with TW before with no problems so this may be a new issue, possibly related to the new government demanding tighter financial scrutiny of international transfers.

My other concern is the complete lack of professionalism by TW.

My TW online account states the transfer of funds is complete but I have not received the funds in my HSBC account. I have emailed TW three times, the first time in reply to their request for further information and proofs, but I have not received any response whatsoever despite this issue beginning on 23rd August.

I didn't use HSBC Global as I had previously no issues with TW transfers but from now on I will revert to Global to avoid what seems to be new regulations.

Some new MM2H applicants may wish to factor these problems into their choice of an initial FD bank. I chose HSBC (despite being able to get a better FD rate elsewhere) for their Global transfer facility.

Davita

To those who are finding difficulty transferring/exchange into MYR I can only add that I regularly use TransferWise to transfer/exchange from my HSBC Premium GBP Account in Channel Isles to my HSBC Premium IDR Account in Jakarta. I do it in GBP 5-10,000 batches depending on how good is the rate.
HSBC Premium transfers are free but their exchange rate, even when getting a manager's preferred rate, cannot beat TransferWise total package. I have even Tx/Ex from my GBP account in JKT to my IDR account in JKT to get a better rate than the bank.
I'd suggest any issue must be with the Malaysian banking system as Indonesian transactions, so far, have been flawless.

Macsta

So after a fourth email TW responded

"I know that providing a bank statement or a payslip is inconvenient for you, though our partner bank requested one to credit the amount on the recipient’s account. Please, let me know if you want to proceed (then, please send us the required document by answering this email) or if you want a refund"

Having read Ian's post #15 I took the refund which has duly been paid.

I asked for a reason why previous transfers had been "unchallenged" and now it has changed plus why their (my account section) show the money has been paid when in fact it has not?

No reply to these question just an automated email saying my refund had been processed.

macmagrduer

Finally sorted out. After getting a helpful TransferWise agent to agree to help me over a week period of time so I did not have to start the story again with each email into the black hole.

This agent stated that indeed it has to do with much tighter banking rules in Malaysia that are on the look out for money laundering. His recommendation was to do 100,000rm lots and to provide my MM2H approval letter with each wire which he agreed to keep on file and attach on my behalf after I ordered each transfer. As I am under 50 that requires three transfers for me and the third one is in the webosphere now with the first two successfully deposited at CIMB.

I've also attempted to purchase a vehicle with a wire to the dealer for 120,000rm which is also currently in the webosphere so we will see if they ask for an invoice or if the amount is still low enough to pass the sniff test as it is going to a registered business rather than a personal account.

TW did come through in the end once I got the right service wrep in the mix. Unfortunately no direct email address for him for future needs but if you push long enough you can move up the decision making chain.

IanBlakeley

Phew

The conversation I had suggested RM200k was the tipping point, I've sent another couple of transfers towards the new place pitching it at £25k ~ RM131K, so far so good, although it seems to arrive one day after they say, either they're over optimistic or HSBC only do their credits at the end of the day. Just need to do one more to meet the stage payment then the rest later in the year, hopefully the rate will have a midweek bounce.

macmagrduer

Glad your's are going through! I've also noticed that it is definitely the day after they say funds should have arrived. For example the car dealer says they have not received and TW says that the funds were paid out on 27th. Looking at the car dealer's bank's website it shows telegraphic transfers received before 5pm will be credited that day. My assumption is that we are so far ahead of Europe and the USA that by the time all the buttons are pushed on the 27th its way after 5pm here. Fingers crossed.

Macsta

My transfer was well below 200,000 RM and it still got blocked but if required sometime in the future I will try again with sub 100,000 RM.

It's all very well having to ring reps and plead for your money to go through but when you are working to a deadline the uncertainly has to be factored into the benefit of the rate saving. Hopefully it is only a temporary situation.

Davita

Once again i repeat that all concerns on this thread re: Malaysia TransferWise must be due to the MYR banking system
Last night, at around 7:30pm KL time, my wife Transferwised GBP 5,000 from our HSBC CI account to our IDR account in Jakarta and it was in my JKT bank before 3 pm this afternoon.

Macsta

Davita no one is contesting your view it is the Malaysian banking system causing the issue (confirmed by macmagrduer post at 4:34 am yesterday) but just because your transfers are going smoothly does not excuse the poor service I (and Ian Blakely) have received from TW.

The Malaysian banking system cannot be held responsible for TW poor communication and their notifications stating "payment complete" when they are not.

The thread is about "TW issues".

Davita

The thread does touch on problems concerning TransferWise and that's why I posted. I've used TW for many years between four different continents and the only time I had a concern was because the bank that received the money did not do due diligence. It could be the banks that aren't complying with your issues and not TransferWise.
i.e. I had an email from TW saying 'payment complete' overnight...... but the bank did not post the deposit until this afternoon. i.e. TW completed their side of the transaction but the bank took their time to actually deposit into my account.
Any communication with TransferWise would require them to communicate with the bank concerned and that is possibly where delays may occur.

Macsta

Davita to be fair you previously posted:

Clearly not all concerns.

My view is TW were sorely lacking in their level of communication, especially when you are entrusting funds to a third party. This is the responsibility of TW, their own internal processes and MY banking issues play no part in keeping a customer fully informed.

Regarding the actual transaction I am confident it is not TW fault as they are a broker to broker service who has to abide by local regulations, as they advised me:

"due to governmental regulations our partner bankcurrently requires some additional information"

I have made use of TW before (with money to MY) with no problems and as I stated previously I will use them again but they say the test of a company is their response when there is a problem and three days for an international company to reply in my view is unacceptable.

It surely is a testament to the fine service TW have provided over the years that you rigorously defend them, so in the main they must be doing a great job

Davita

Macsta I'd just like to say it has been a pleasure to debate with you. Your posts show you are a gentleman and willing to see all sides...as I hope I do. The intent of our discourse was to indicate to others that it isn't always the first conclusion that is the cause of many problems...a little analysis can find there may be other issues which aren't, at first sight, the possible cause.
i think we were on the same page to bring this up and I'm happy you resolved your issues.

Macsta

Hi Davita, thank you so much for such a polite and genuine post which speaks volumes of your fine character. For sure we are both (hopefully) endeavouring to make public, views and information of benefit to all forum viewers. Since discovering this forum I have benefitted greatly from the advice posted from yourself, and others who have graciously shared their experiences and made the process and transition to a life in Malaysia a whole lot easier for many of us who have or hope to follow.