My Lloyds Bank app also shuts down if you navigate away from it, and you have to log back in and start all over again. Presumably so as to not leave things "open" and therefore vulnerable if your phone is stolen or lost.

In my experience, recognised devices become unrecognised whenever any cookie cleaning happens and sometimes when a software update happens too. And sometimes, it happens because the bank/other institution won't recognise a device for ever. They want to recheck it's still you. My Lloyds bank card is like this, too. Every so often it won't let me just flash to pay, I have to stick the card into the machine and enter my PIN.

All part of tightening up security, I imagine.

Does navigating away include opening a new tab - is there an equivalent for that on a phone?
There's no consistency on bank sites sometimes. I'm familiar with a back button on the site itself taking me back to a signed in screen while using the back arrow on the browser might well log me out.
But then, sometimes, I click the forward button - even a minute or so later - and it takes me back in without any new signing in needed.


Imagine fingerprint technology just to get your wallet (a physical one) open
Or a DNA reader in your pocket or purse that if there's no match sprays dye over your cash.

Yes, the tendency these days, instead of solving crime, is to treat everyone like a criminal and be constantly ready to remove privileges, including access to ones own money. Enough psychological kicks in the teeth could push some vulnerable people over the edge. Customer service is a thing of the past.

This morning I just did a transfer of over $30k using the Wise app and no questions asked, the money arrived in my UK bank seconds later.

This is a bit worrying. Having to upload a selfie was bad enough, but uploading a flash seems a bit much.
Fortunately the last time I used Wise the worst experience was identifying traffic light images about 20 times in a row before Wise was satisfied with my traffic light identifying prowess and let me in, and then all was good.

How did I miss that first time around?

Does the post count even if lights are not visible? How about bicycles; does the rider count even if there's no visible part of the bike? And what if you can't tell if it's a bicycle or a moped because it's too far away or blurry?

And buses when they're in the background. Unless it's a schoolbus as they're easy.

UK expat here shortly to be returning from USA to UK. Does anyone know what could happen in this type of scenario with Wise?

I have all my money in US Dollars with Wise in preparation for returning to the UK permanently. I currently have a US phone number. I arrive in the UK, open a bank account in GBP and exchange those dollars in the Wise app to GBP to pay into the new GBP bank account. It's a six figure amount so Wise's algorithms are alerted and I have to go through a verification process. But I no longer have my US phone number. And all my documents (utilities, driving licence, statements etc) show my last address here in the US.

What's the best way around this? I am concerned that my funds would be frozen and unavailable to me for who knows how long. Has anyone here actually changed countries with Wise?

Thanks in advance.

My daughter just moved from the USA to the UK about 18 months ago and was in exactly the same situation as you describe, moving hundreds of thousands of USD to the UK bank account she opened on arrival. She held onto her US number for a while and now has a cheaper alternative US number. I have a US Skype number which receives calls and texts but I think she now has a cheaper or free alternative. She converted her US phone to a sim-only phone (unlocked) and on arrival added a UK e-sim so she had both a new UK and her old US number on the same phone.

When my wife and I did the move in 2016/17 she dropped her US number and got a UK sim instead of her US sim, and I held onto my US sim and number for about 6 months until after we had moved loads of money using Wise to buy our house in England.

Thanks for that, DL. Very interesting.

Does Wise have a UK phone number or any customer service in the UK? Perhaps the first thing I should do is inform them of my new UK address once I get my old driving licence back (I already have a rental agreement in place). Then take care of the financial side.

I’ve never had to call them, I did my address change online from within my account, but Google is your friend if you want to find a customer service number in the UK.

tel:+44-20-3695-0999

This might be one of those scenarios where using Wise and paying a percentage on the full amount might cost more than a flat fee and lower exchange rate from a regular bank. If you have a regular bank in the US worth a call and asking, with the amount you need to exchange you should be looking for the dealer rate.