Whats your thoughts about Transferwise now?

[StuartG]

Hi
Have just opened an account with TW for my UK LLP. Any concern to have if I start receiving large amounts from my clients typically located in Africa (Mauritius, Madagascar, Tanzania, Rwanda among others).?Talking about USD50-100k inwards.

Running an food trading business

My account is three years old and seven figures through it annually with no problems; occasionally they want extra information

 

[JohnLocke]

Have had my account with TW for about 1 year no problems with any transactions, all working smooth.

Second that, so far not a sinble problem at all, they work smooth for mee too and only asked a question one time which was sorted out in minutes.

 

[Spinat]

Thank you all for your nice reviews and comments. TW has been working great for me for a very long time.

 

[AM2018]

It says;

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My Guide to setup EMI and Banking for a Georgia company

 

[JohnLocke]

It says;

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My Guide to setup EMI and Banking for a Georgia company

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[4br]

Does anyone know how Transfer Wise handle SWIFT payments?

I want to make a payment to TransferWise by Euro SWIFT and there are the options:

BEN - in this case TransferWise would pay the fee
SHA - fees shared by banks
OUR - bank sending the payments pays fees

Does anyone know if TransferWise are able to accept BEN payments? the support didn't give a proper answer.

 

[BlueMist]

Does anyone know how Transfer Wise handle SWIFT payments?

I want to make a payment to TransferWise by Euro SWIFT and there are the options:

BEN - in this case TransferWise would pay the fee
SHA - fees shared by banks
OUR - bank sending the payments pays fees

Does anyone know if TransferWise are able to accept BEN payments? the support didn't give a proper answer.

It depends on the corresponding banks, something you do not have any influence on. If you choose OUR you will pay all fees but money will reach in full, if you choose SHA, you may pay half fees and corresponding banks will charge from the amount sent some fees, so TW will credit a smaller amount than you sent. If you choose BEN, nothing will be charged by your bank but intermediary banks will take a cut from the amount sent, so TW will credit less.

 

[4br]

It depends on the corresponding banks, something you do not have any influence on. If you choose OUR you will pay all fees but money will reach in full, if you choose SHA, you may pay half fees and corresponding banks will charge from the amount sent some fees, so TW will credit a smaller amount than you sent. If you choose BEN, nothing will be charged by your bank but intermediary banks will take a cut from the amount sent, so TW will credit less.

Is a BEN payment only taken out of the sum you are sending? Or can it also come out of the receiving account?

 

[BlueMist]

Is a BEN payment only taken out of the sum you are sending? Or can it also come out of the receiving account?

You have no influence on that. Some banks have incoming transfer fees as well. E.g. if incoming bank transfer fee $5, so if you send $1000 and intermediary banks will cut $20 + receiving bank $5, you will receive $975. If you send SHA you will pay $1000 + $10 and intermediary bank $10 + receiving bank $5, you will get $985.

This is just an example because you have absolutely no influence on that fees. For instance some banks may charge OUR fee of $25 but recipient will get money in full. However the same bank may have SHA fees of 0$ and now it is a lottery, maybe recipient will get money in full or maybe intermediary banks will take a cut. And there is no way to predict that fees, the only way is to try both OUR and SHA and see how it works. I have never sent anything BEN.

Few years back I had a client who was sending payments from Europe to Asia using SHA fees, because the payments were not small, intermediary banks were taking a fee of approx. €200 on each transfer. In the end I asked the client to send payments with OUR instructions and it turned out it cost him 1/3 to cover all the OUR fees.

 

[4br]

You have no influence on that.

If I am right, is there no circumstance in which any money is taken from the recipient's account? The money is either taken from the sender's account or from the amount being sent?

 

[eomeakyl]

If I am right, is there no circumstance in which any money is taken from the recipient's account? The money is either taken from the sender's account or from the amount being sent?

The recipient's bank may charge a fee for receiving the transfer. So money can be taken from your account, from the amount you're sending and from your recipient's account.

Does anyone know how Transfer Wise handle SWIFT payments?

I want to make a payment to TransferWise by Euro SWIFT and there are the options:

BEN - in this case TransferWise would pay the fee
SHA - fees shared by banks
OUR - bank sending the payments pays fees

Does anyone know if TransferWise are able to accept BEN payments? the support didn't give a proper answer.

TransferWise sends using BEN. TransferWise can receive any type of SWIFT. So yes, TransferWise can accept BEN payments.

Probably it'll be cheapest if you send from your bank using BEN. TransferWise's fees are much lower than most banks. Intermediary banks may still charge fees, but from my experience using TransferWise this is more rare. SHA and OUR tend to be more expensive. Unfortunately there's really no way to know beforehand. You don't know what the fees will be until after the transaction has been executed.

 

[4br]

Thanks @eomeakyl . Have you tried sending money to your TransterWise account using BEN, OUR, SHA?

This is one of the most concise write-ups I could find:

1. " Share" (SHA): The costs are shared between the beneficiary and the issuer of the payment, at each transaction: the costs of the issuing bank are borne by the one sending the funds, the costs of the intermediary and beneficiary banks will be deducted from the amount and therefore borne by the beneficiary. The more institutions involved, the higher the costs will be. This system is used for about 60% of market transactions.
   
2. "Ben" (BEN): the transaction costs are invoiced to the payment beneficiary, as a deduction from the payment amount. This system is not very widespread and accounts for only 10% of market transactions.
   
   
3. "Our" (OUR): the issuer of the payment chooses to cover all costs. This ensures that the beneficiary receives the full payment. This model represents about 30% of market transactions.

Source: BEN, SHARE, OUR: 3 options for international payments

 

[eomeakyl]

Thanks @eomeakyl . Have you tried sending money to your TransterWise account using BEN, OUR, SHA?

I don't usually send EUR wires to TransferWise. I've sent USD wires to TransferWise without issue (TransferWise now charges $7.50 to receive USD wires). If I was going to send a SWIFT I'd use BEN. SHA is the default but I find it is often expensive to use SHA because then the banks try to charge everybody. If you use OUR or BEN then sometimes fees are lower because the banks will only charge one party (in theory they're all meant to have the same fees, it's just not how it works from my experience).

 

[4br]

I had a reply back from the TransferWise support, which reads:

... there shouldn't be any issues by paying with the mentioned SWIFT payment methods (BEN, SHA or OUR). When the sender is making the payment from their bank, they should have these options available and they can choose accordingly, whichever is the most convenient. However, we do recommend discussing this with the sender beforehand to avoid any surprises.

While on the website it says:

When you send via SWIFT, make sure your bank will cover any fees associated with the payment.

However, that doesn't really make sense, since the BEN charges are evidently taken from the transferred balance and not the receiving account.