Wise
 

On a closed thread a couple of years ago a number of people recommended remitting from the UK through Transferwise, now Wise. I presently use the PNB. It seems to have a consistently lower exchange rate and charges slightly more to send to my PNB account so I'm thinking of changing to them. But they are quick, yesterday money was sent here in less than 3 hours and that's not using a debit card online, just a bank transfer and an email informing them.

How long do those of you using Wise have to wait?

Re: Wise
 

I have used Wise for about a year now to transfer money from my UK bank account to BPI here in the Philippines. Transfer is very quick.... sometimes about 20 minutes and the exchange rate is excellent. Charges are minimal and very competitive. I use my bank debit card. Well recommended.

Re: Wise
 

My experience of using Wise for many years is excellent both in terms of exchange rates and the total time for money to each my BDO account. Time wise depending of the day of the week and time of day can vary between a matter of minutes to three hours. However I must stress that any transfer taking longer than one hour is very rare. In fact transfer times during the last twelve months have shortened considerably.
I transfer direct from my UK account.

Re: Wise
 

Your last sentence explains why this company is the preferred outfit of the Indian scammers in their many call centres."Jim Browning's" You Tube videos are a very interesting watch if anyone out there is bored and has a little spare time on their hands.

Cheers.

Re: Wise
 

I use wise all the time. Sent money last Monday, it was credited to our account Wednesday. That is the normal time it takes in our case.
We previously used XE currency but even though there is not cost for sending the funds it works out more expensive than wise becuase XEs exchange rate is not so good as Wise.

Re: Wise
 

I drag and drop to my hsbc account to keep it topped up but use Wise to send our monthly expenses directly to our PNB account. Usually get a few more pesos than going the hsbc route. Wise is often in our account within a couple of hours. If not it's usually PNB at fault. Also hsbc Philippines to PNB can take a couple of days.

Re: Wise
 

Should mention that in my case the funds are normally in my account within a few hours. They send an email to confirm that the funds have been deposited and I can draw immediately....(BPI) But I am warned that in some instances... depending on bank and branch that although the money is with the bank...it can take up to 48 hours before it can be drawn upon. Guess the bank or branch are playing with the money. Nonetheless... well recommended. Never had a problem.

Re: Wise
 

Have used them for about 18 months, transfer funds normally available for withdrawal in about 2 to 3 hours hours.

Another service they provide is a bank account which you can open up with them on line, you get the full sort code and account nr you get opening a bank account in the UK. So for anyone who has to get their pension/funds sent here on a particular date it could be quite useful.

Re: Wise
 

Many thanks for all those positive responses. They explain why the PNB in London suddenly started to improve their service about a year ago. But they can't match the rate, so I will give Wise a trial.
Yes, it's the local banking system here where there are the problems eg lack of reliable and convenient ATMs when you get just a bit out of town. Plenty of gas stations go up, but unlike the UK few ATMs at them