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Do I need to add money to my Wise account before sending to a Thai bank account?

Feb 26, 2026
2 months ago
John ********
ORIGINAL POSTER
never used WISE before. Do i have to add MONEY first before SEND? Or will SEND take care of the where from at some point? TY
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TLDR : Answer Summary
You do not need to add money to your Wise account before sending it to a Thai bank account. You can initiate a transfer directly from your home bank to Wise, and once Wise receives the funds, they will convert it to Thai Baht and send it to the designated Thai bank account. Users have discussed various methods, including bank-to-bank transfers and the potential fees associated with them, emphasizing that it's more cost-effective to use bank transfers rather than debit or credit cards for sending money.
James ******
Nationwide just blocked my banking app when I tried to transfer funds to wise.
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Andrew ********
James Gray did you try to tx a large or unusual amount. Santander did the same to me. Took ages to sort it out. Good luck. 🌞🌞😎
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Andrew ********
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Paul ***********
To answer your question directly.

No you don’t have to ADD money first before SEND. You can send directly to any account anywhere from your bank account following the Wise prompts.

It’s a very easy process.
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Jonny *********
I transfer from my homeland bank to local Wise account. Then Wise transfer the amount to Thailand after I notified Wise I made my transfer locally. Takes aprox 8 hours until money arrives.
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Stephen *****************
Either way....you can put money into your Wise account, then transfer....or Wise can transfer directly from one account to another.
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Greg ***********
you do not need a WISE multi currency account in order to send money to your Thai bank account using WISE. Just register in WISE as a user. Log-in, choose the amount you wish to send in your home currency, and it will appear converted into Thai baht, fees already deducted under "amount will be received". Order the transfer, then WISE will give you their bank account to which you will have to direct transfer your currency. Once your money has been cleared in the WISE account, the Thai Baht will show up in your Thai bank account seconds later
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PurpleO********
Wise both options

Can use them to transfer using account or card

Can also hold a wise account in any currency and add money, and simply change it to different currencies at mid market exchange rate.

Used it for years, both transfers and holding money in wise account, which is good for paying for things straight from wise account without needing the transfer part.

Easy and without issue.
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Barath *******
My bank said I can request for a draft. How is it different from using WISE or Revolut?
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John ********
ORIGINAL POSTER
Barath Faust im guessing a bank draft would need to be sent in a letter and figure a week to get there if not loss.
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Barath *******
John Cooler, taking it along with me for visa application and a little extra for expenditure. Thank you πŸ™
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Barath *******
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Graeme *******
You join wise set up all your info plus accounts you want the money to go to here in Bangkok think for memory you then get confirmation all is right to use. Just one trap I fell into due to being a bit slack on my first couple of transfers, used my debit card and charges were higher than using bank to bank transfer plus timing for getting your money here is Thailand depends on the Wise person carrying out the transfer and which Thai bank they use to transfer fund's. BBK Bank it takes about 5-6 hours but Kasagorn takes about 3 and has I said earlier direct debit card about 1 minute but extra charges
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SereneRas**********
Graeme Drake my transfer to Kasikorn from Wise is usually only seconds
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Graeme *******
SereneRaspberry6951 yes if using debit or CC card but as I said they charge more than bank to bank, which in most of my transfers takes between 3-5 hrs from when I pay Wise though my NZ bank.
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Graeme *******
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Frank *********
One time it's asking to add first to your account and another to use a bank transfer. There seems to be no possibility to choose payment method yourself sometimes
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John ********
ORIGINAL POSTER
Frank Peeters i kinda ran into that on first try and when it wanted me to start all over with the thai bank customer address i gave up and came here and asked.
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Frank *********
John Cooler it's fast either way. For some recipients i need to top up my account first but this usually doesn't take long, after which you can transfer the money. As long as you keep up with their many interface changes i think Wise is still a good option. Cheaper and faster than a conventional bank transfer and reliable in my experience
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Frank *********
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Jesper *******
You set up a transfer.....u transfer your funds from your home bank acct to Wise ....once Wise received your funds they will convert to thai baht and send to your thai acct.....there's only 1 fee (includes transfer and convertion) the promised amount will be sent to your thai bank acct ......Wise does not charge a fee if im sending SGD (home acct) to the SGD balance in Wise but there's a fee if I convert to thai baht and another fee for sending it to my thai acct.....I dont keep balance in Wise acct....I set up my transfer and pay Wise in SGD and Wise pay out in thai baht into my thai acct
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Barath *******
Jesper Ngiam, the fee is for one time transfer for any amount or is there a cap?

I may need to transfer to Thailand bank from SG account.

In Thailand one charge per withdrawal is $250 Thb, max withdrawal $3000 Thb.

Thanks!
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Jesper *******
Barath Faust there's no cap or minimum...it depends on how much u send...for example I pay 15sgd for my monthly allowance of 65k baht(2.6k sgd) and I pay $60+ for a transfer of 10k sgd hope this helps
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Jesper *******
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Jim *********
I have been using Wise for years. You set up a transfer to your Thai bank account and the transfer is held until you send the transfer amount to Wise from your in country bank account. Once they clear the money the transfer appears in your Thai bank account in seconds
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Ed ***********
You better use it to send money directly to a thai account from your own bankaccount. Don't put large amounts at Wise. Seen many stories that accounts were frozen and bad support about it. Or use Revolut ( which is cheaper in transfer costs too)
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PurpleO********
Ed Ferrageau stories 🀣 its always friend of a friend 🀣

Exactly that- just stories.
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Ed ***********
PurpleOtter5805 Monitor the Wise group
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Ed ***********
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John ********
ORIGINAL POSTER
Ed Ferrageau im using a low budget account with min funds, so i dont need worry about that. ty for the tip
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Mike ********
John Cooler I have done both ways. And I keep some in Wise because it earns 3.14% interest while in US portion
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Mike ********
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Ed ***********
From your own bank say
*****
baht via Wise to a Thai account
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Ed ***********
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John **********
It depends. I don't have a Wise account that can hold money, I just use it for transfers. So I set up the transfer in Wise between my 2 bank accounts and then I send money to Wise
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Robert *********
@John *********
and please note the exchange rate offered by Wise is WAY better than the rates the banks offer. Sometimes up to 2 baht more per dollar.
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John ********
ORIGINAL POSTER
@John *********
it looks like WISe will charge about $10 to move $1k usd and my bank charges $30. the receive bank charges 700 Baht with bank. not sure what thai bank will charge till i do it. TY
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Graham ******
John Cooler all Wise fees are clear up front and there are no charges beyond that
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Rob *********
John Cooler your Thai bank should not charge you anything as the funds are transfered from a Thai bank. You should be transferring to a Wise account in your country so that should not cost you either.
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John ********
ORIGINAL POSTER
Rob Findlay i read thai will charge at least 200 baht
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John ********
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Myles *******
U can do either. Add funds to Wise OR fund transfer from another bank/card
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Myles *******
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