Yes Pulaski I agree Wise is not a bank - and this means that they do not loan money so they cannot lose it with loan defaulters.

'What’s a financial protection scheme?

Unlike Wise, banks lend out the money deposited by their customers. If a large number of borrowers are unable to repay their loans, then a bank may become insolvent and be unable to return customer funds. This is why the governments make them insure their deposits by participating in country-specific deposit insurance schemes like FSCS, FDIC or German Einlagensicherung, for example.

Wise does not lend out customer money. Instead, we safeguard the money you hold in your Wise account.'
Their statement concerning safety is here https://wise.com/help/articles/29498...y-wise-account

It is up to every individual to decide what services with Wise they use and how much money they have in their Wise accounts having carried out a risk assessment.

I agree with Pulaski I have had a Wise account for years and have been very pleased with how it works but I tend to use it for money exchange/transfers eg my pension is paid into the UK wise account and as it is on the same date each month it s quickly transferred over to my French Bank.Likewise if I am going to the UK or elsewhere that is not in the Euro zone then I have a small balance available to use but mostly I use my French credit card

Yes for receiving money- however I believe you are not opening a bank account, just that WISE makes arrangement with the particular bank to designate WISE accounts by customer name- otherwise accounts would be covered by local deposit insurance a in the USA or the UK- something WISE specifically says is not the case. Also it is a bit hard to believe with 'Know Your Customer Rules' a US or UK bank would delegate responsibility for that in the case of opening an account to WISE- if they are simply opening an account for the customer, then facilitating transfers, one could then keep the account without using WISE.

I could be wrong, but I do not believe that one can open a bank account in a country without any communication from the bank itself and be the owner of the account.

It’s not designated only by name (or certainly the UK account isn’t.) your account number is unique for you and can be used for sending And receiving money as well as direct debits and all of the debit cards that you can have associated with that account.

Much the same practice as Revolut who give you a bank account number but also are not strictly a bank

So in spainrico's world, and Wise's apparently, only banks can lose money and collapse? Er no!

You would take Wise's explanation at face value? I am speechless!

As has been said you make your own risk assessment.

I’ve certainly not seen Wise say that only banks go bust ?

Id never like to lose any money but I have enough confidence in Wise to keep and move five figure sims around quiet happily.

I am fairly certain that with a Wise "borderless account" you are effectively being given access to an account (one account) that Wise has opened, not getting an individual account with the bank. What you are getting is similar to, what is known in the US as a "payble though account", where you get privileges to use someone else's account (granted a payable through account is primarily for banks), but I agree, I am more than a little surprised that any reputable bank would allow the sort trojan horse arragnement that Wise has with it's bank to allow customers of Wise to use the Wise's account with the bank. I can't help but wonder whether the bank is given the opportunity to veto new Wise "borderless account" customers? ... I think that is very likely And I am certain that the bank will have the right to terminate borderless account customers who are doing things that the bank does not approve of.

with respect your understanding of the concept is incorrect …. Certainly with regards to the UK and Euro account.

You are making out it’s some halfwit tinpot company.

I haven’t got the time to explain how it works but have a good read of the Wise site and also the many authoritative reviews that are plentiful online.

Wise's explanation compares themselves only to a bank, by implication saying that they're not going to go bust because they aren't a bank. They might not go bust for the same reasons that banks fail, but there are plenty of other ways to lose money and collapse.

I knew of someone, actually spoke to him, who lost the proceeds of the sale of his home in the UK after he retired, and the proceeds of selling his Spanish holiday villa. He had placed all the proceeds in an uninsured account for a very short time while he purchased a larger villa for his retirement. It entirely ruined his retirement plans, and his life. Yes, that has affected my risk appetite for placing significant money in an uninsured account, even for a fairly short time.
That might be your assessment of me, but with all due respect, you have no idea what I understand, what I know, my experience, and what informs my opinions. Clue: it's facts, not marketing materials.

You may also have failed to notice, that I was originally responding to other people, not to you.

They make it very clear they are not a bank.

I would agree that I certainly wouldnt put my life’s worth in their hands but as mentioned happy to use it as a very functional and valuable financial resource.

How many people transfer large sums to a solicitor ….. and not unheard of to be lost or misused.

It doesn’t matter who you were responding to …… Sorry but your explanation in a previous post about how the accounts work is factually incorrect …. Trust me.

You say “I’m fairly certain” …… hardly factual.

Correct. I agree with that, and never said otherwise. However some people seek to perceive Wise as a 1:1 substitute for a bank. It might be close, but there is a difference, I would suggest that difference is important. You and I will apparently disagree on that point for as long as Wise remains solvent, but if that were ever to change then I suspect your opinion might shift to align with mine. I totally agree with that, but you have blown my "Wise is not a bank, your deposit is not insured" out of all proportion And that's is precisely my point! A segregated account (which is what Wise brags about as being a suitable replacement for deposit insurance) can be abused, or client monies not transferred to it, and the fraud is only uncovered when the scheme collapses and a court-appointed receiver discovers that the segregated account is underfunded. Then who is your claim with, because in the case of a Wise borderless account, it is neither against the underlying bank, nor is your deposit insured.​​​​

Yes I know in the UK they provide a sort code, and account number; and in the USA a routing number and account number- I just highly doubt it is an actual account with the owner being the WISE client. For example if I walk into a UK bank and using the sort code/account number WISE gives me, will they confirm that deposit insurances covers the account ? Or for that matter let me send a wire transfer without going through WISE ?

No, I'm not. The reality ​​​​​​⠀‹is that any commercial business can go bust, leaving creditors with a loss. That is the reality of dealing with any business, and only banks, and few other financial services businesses, such as stock brokers, building societies, and insurance companies have a comparable compensation scheme to banks' deposit insurance.

​​​​​​⠀‹yep …. You are correct