That they can is obvious. They are an EMI, they can freeze your account for any reason -- citing AML/KYC procedures. A bank can too, but banks tend to be more serious, and as ironic as it is they treat their clients properly.
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Wise account gone
- Thread starter galadrel
- Start date
Go ahead and do that please. If you do it, and it can be proved that your information is authentic, I will buy a Gold membership and upload a call with an ex Wise employee in the hidden forums. A call which will prove what I said.
Just a few remarks...
In general, my long-term opinion re: Wise (and Revolut) is quite well-known here, I think. Anyone interested can look e.g. here https://www.offshorecorptalk.com/th...est-how-diversify-the-money.43188/post-282826..
Be advised that an account freezing can happen with any financial institution, nowadays.
Not necessarilly.
This means nothing.
Yes, this is one of possible explanations. But I guess that more likely @Sols is right here https://www.offshorecorptalk.com/threads/wise-account-gone.46334/post-325608
The amount of money is not a decisive factor for such a case.
It corresponds to an information that I possess.
Well... in my deep opinion (and according to my experience), it depends on the particular bank and particular EMI. It might seem that such a problem is better to solve with a bank than with an EMI, as with the bank you usually can approach some clerk personally; but in many cases, it does not help you as this frontline clerk has zero decision-making power. And try to reach someone competent e.g. in Societe Generale or a similar bank – next to impossible. Yes, small local banks are usually better re: this; but there are other risks (as they are small).
In general, my long-term opinion re: Wise (and Revolut) is quite well-known here, I think. Anyone interested can look e.g. here https://www.offshorecorptalk.com/th...est-how-diversify-the-money.43188/post-282826..
I hear you, I'm just saying for such an amount a bank would never freeze your account cause it's such an insignificant amount. Well, they don't have the regulators breathing down their necks. Wise's a pretty good service, never had an issue before this, if I did it was usually to confirm my identity and that always was resolved very quickly. Though, I should have just used Payoneer. Interesting thing about Payoneer is that they might freeze your account, but I've never actually had them freeze the ability to transfer money to a local bank or use the card, which I think is a bit more respectful.
Be advised that I have already witnessed exactly this. With an European bank. Today's situation is ... as it is.
I cannot comment. TBH, I have never been interested in having an account with Payoneer nor following closely what they were doing, so I am lacking the information...
Please do that. Keep exposing the banks’ behavior.
Everyone remember that Wise, like any other emi/bank, is not safe.
Keep on any account only the money that you can afford to lose, only the amount you need for the next 30 days. Everything in excess, convert to crypto.
It’s not about the amount. The cause of the problem is scientifically explained here: https://www.offshorecorptalk.com/threads/the-brain-of-a-public-servant.46323/
Btw, it also applies to non financial entities. For example, I have been battling for the last 7 days to have my Steam games account reactivated - it was frozen due to “suspect fraudulent activity”
I am not a 14yo kid who stole his parents’ credit card, just a normal guy who likes to spend a few hundred bucks with his own card to buy some games to play on his Rog while on the plane. To convince the monkeys I had to provide them with all sort of supporting documentation.
@galadrel I sympathize with your issue and my opinion (as a long time Wise user - let's hope I don't jinx myself!) is similar to others here. Your personal Wise account (in Wise's mind) needs to be used for personal use only, understanding that you're a small-time web developer taking in occasional pay for whatever big/small jobs you did. "Personal" use in their mind: convert your USD/EUR to whatever currency, send it to your (own) bank account in other countries, or to your aunt in Timbuktu on a monthly basis, use their Visa card to pay for something (legal!), top it up from your own bank account, rinse, lather, repeat.
Payoneer, on the other hand, is a complete opposite. They DO NOT want you to use it for personal purpose; if your Timbuktu aunt feels like paying you back (to your Payoneer account), they WILL reject it. They want you to use it strictly for business - they want ALL your payees to be a business (that doesn't belong to you, if they can somehow prove it). Connect it with Stripe, PayPal, Amazon, whatever. It sounds perfect for your web development gig. Payoneer isn't "cheap" but it works (for me).
And goes without saying, never the Twain shall meet, keep your business business, your personal personal.
Good luck with the "appeal", go email the CEO maybe, at least to get your money back.
Payoneer, on the other hand, is a complete opposite. They DO NOT want you to use it for personal purpose; if your Timbuktu aunt feels like paying you back (to your Payoneer account), they WILL reject it. They want you to use it strictly for business - they want ALL your payees to be a business (that doesn't belong to you, if they can somehow prove it). Connect it with Stripe, PayPal, Amazon, whatever. It sounds perfect for your web development gig. Payoneer isn't "cheap" but it works (for me).
And goes without saying, never the Twain shall meet, keep your business business, your personal personal.
Good luck with the "appeal", go email the CEO maybe, at least to get your money back.
Payoneer's hell if you were to invoice each client individually. They treat the client as a criminal, and then they'll harass you for a while until you just forget about their service. Didn't use it much and after 2-3 years of inactivity account got closed and I've reapplied. I've gotten a response on the Wise appeal, of course to tell me I need to resubmit my documents, so that's at least nice that it didn't take them 40 days to just respond, means there's a human there, still don't expect anything other than them sending the money back.
Smalltime is indeed the keyword. Because this is just funny, and it's just harassment, in my opinion, as these KYC/AML procedures are. Harass the little guy but make it 1% more expensive for the big guy to launder money which he'll do anyway because money talks. I guess anything qualifies as a business account, but indeed Stripe does not require you have to a company to sign up.
No, I get it. My advice (as well as others reading this thread) still stand though, keep your business business, keep your personal personal, and keep Stripe out of your personal, as this may not be the last time this 'hiccup' happens. Keep us posted and best of luck.
Just got an email confirming I got the boot permanently. Now as for Payoneer, I had an account there opened same time as I did Wise. But of course Wise made using Payoneer redundant, so I didn't use it at all, save for a few times, and the times I did I invoiced clients individually, worked for those few times even though it was a hassle for me and the clients. No idea if account's still active, I know it would tell me I'm blocked if it wasn't (as they close accounts for inactivity and then you have to reopen), so I am waiting for support to reset those security questions that I long have forgotten.
Well at least you got your "closure" (no pun intended!!) from your Wise love-hate relationship, and I hope you get your money back quickly. So I think we can all chalk it up for "using Stripe on personal Wise" as the root cause, and of course they will never really tell you why.
Payoneer is a pain, I agree, unless you want to take the time and open an account with business banking (Currenxie, AirWallex etc) - I assume your customers are all over the world (hence using Wise and not your local bank). I was going to say if your customers are mainly in the US (and you sound like a US person), I've had good luck with Novo, it was easy to qualify as a freelancer. Payoneer charges $ to withdraw your Payoneer balance to your own bank account, which is pretty shitty. They do charge for inactivity fee (after 12 month of non-use) but I haven't heard of anyone getting booted out for not logging in often. Just make sure you have the original phone number and email you used (when you signed up) and worst case they'll want you to change your password. They do this today (about once or twice a year) even when you use it often.
Come to think of it I am not sure if Airwallex would open account for freelancer (i.e. someone who does not have an LLC or incorporation), maybe someone else here can address.
It is what it is, I don't really like that they do that instead of just telling you to pack your s**t and get out, but I understand how these platforms work so it is not surprising. But Payoneer should be fine with Stripe, they'll hassle you if you get payments from private persons but companies should be fine. Or so I hope.
Tried Paysera, but not even sure why I signed up, no cards for non-EEA countries, nice to have I guess a SEPA account but other than that not sure why I even had it, it did seem more business oriented. Other than that, I've not seen any other options for personal accounts, and beyond Payoneer which I've used before I am not sure it's even gonna matter. I hope it ends up smooth, but time will tell.
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