Is Wise a good choice for withdrawing money in Thailand?

@Colin ********

once I open my account, to myself.

@Ruth ******

ok, I'm not sure how to do that, but I guess that it would be the same, or similar to sending money to another person.

Start by tapping the green button (send) at the bottom of the screen once you're logged in. That will take you to the next screen, where, at the top you will choose the currency you want to send to, e.g. USA dollar to THB (Thai Baht), or send to the same currency.

Most will send from their own home currency, to a foreign currency, such as Thai Baht (THB). If transferring to a foreign currency, adjust the amount in your home currency & it will automatically adjust the foreign currency depending on what you enter. (There are drop down arrows to allow for changing currencies). Below your 'home' currency, there's a another option for how you prefer to do a transfer. I use 'Manual Bank transfer fee' as it's easier for me and cheaper fees (PayID is a lower fee also, but I haven't done it that way before). Whatever you choose there, it will adjust the fee according to how much money you choose to send. How much you enter in your own currency isn't exactly what is sent, because the fees are deducted from what you are sending to Wise for transferring. The actual amount that will be sent to the other account is what Wise will convert, shown below, along with the current exchange rate. The large drop down box at the bottom, is the actual amount in the other currency that will go into my account. Set all that, then tap the green "continue" button.

On the next screen, in the field at the top, you necessary to enter 2 or 3 bits of info, to identify who the money is going to. This is where I cannot help you further as I haven't done transfers to myself, but it does show some info as to what is required, but that may change if you enter your own name and/or other details.

Others who might read this and do Wise transfers to themselves, might be able to chime in and help with more info.

I hope this helps you a little.

@Colin ********

thank you, but now how do you load the money into Wise?

@Ruth ******

I guess that because you are sending money to yourself, the best and cheapest option is to use the Manual Bank transfer option. As I said, beyond what I've been able to tell you, I can't give you any more info on how to send to yourself.

If you've been able to get through the part that I described and also entering whatever details are required to send money to yourself, somewhere on a screen that you'll come to (about the third or maybe fourth screen), you will see, I think the details of the person (you) that the money will be sent to. There, a little over halfway down the screen you'll see 'Reference ID' or Reference Number'. Press on that number &'then tap on "copy" that you'll see pop up. You will also see the amount that you need to send to Wise from your chosen bank account, which will, later be transferred to your account where you want your money to end up. You will then need to log in to your bank account from where your money will come out of. The screen which I just mentioned also contains other information that you'll need to enter for the initial transfer to be able to send your money to Wise, who will in turn send to your account you want the money to go to. When logged in to your Bank Account you'll need to find an option to 'Pay' or 'Pay Anyone', or whatever the option is called with your Bank. Basically, it's the same as sending to another person. If you can find that, you will need to enter any details from the "Wise" screen that you have open. The amount that you must enter when in your Bank account, MUST be exactly the same as what it is on the Wise screen. The reference number that you copied, MUST be entered also where a reference number option appears. If there's more than one option there at any point, it won't do any harm to enter it in two fields, if you're not sure. If you can get this far to complete the transfer from your Bank Account, next is the last step.

As you are progressing through the screens of the Wise App, at some point, you'll also see a button that you tap, to let Wise know that you have transferred the money to them. If you successfully get through that, then, Wise will let you know when the money has arrived in your nominated account.

I don't think that there is any more that I can help you with, without literally 'looking over your shoulder' and guiding you through it.

If you need any more details about what I've described, please PM me rather than continue here.

Now, I must go to bed, as it's early morning here and I need to get some sleep before I go to work.

@Colin ********

sounds right, though it's all unclear at the moment. You'll have to put a certain amount in thai bank, for your bank book updates, and showing it at renewal time. But 'just enough' to satisfy them, use wise ATM for the rest