I recently had this happen with a security camera subscription. I wonder what's going on in the world of payment processing? It smells like when everyone adopts some new "hey we can do our billing with no fees" service that flops or stops charging. (I could be way off too, just weird when companies can't take your money)
Hey there OP, I'm not familiar with the visa you reference, but because you talk about it in conjunction with learning Muay Thai, this might be relevant:
The immigration departments HATE the education visas. Even if you use it for the intended purpose, if you want to stay after, you will be hassled at every renewal and often on your entries into the country. So, if the visa you are talking about is similar I'd be careful.
Also, while the banks here are maddening, opening an account isn't difficult the way you are probably hearing these days. Follow the process, be polite, be patient, you will be fine.
I specifically talk about not using Wise. People use Wise because it is cheaper and it is fast because they use local transfers. Brandon loves a smugly redirect people (although in fairness he is also overall quite helpful) and in true form is providing information that is orthogonal to the actual situation.
oh hey thanks, I wrote it here. You just swapping houses or changing areas? We actually moved during the initial application last year, I recall changing paperwork and then it being a hassle because we didn't know the neighbors for the home visit... But everyone was fairly accommodating. I have heard horror stories about people asking for bribes on the visit and living far from the office is bound to complicate everything. We served our guy coffee and tried to make him feel like a guest and not an official and it seemed to work well.