Personal Finance

International Money Transfer - TransferWise

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  • Oct 15th, 2023 10:07 pm
Deal Addict
Feb 29, 2012
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gei wrote: The TransferWise page, when you select the "Bill Payment" method, mentions that it is only supported by BMO and National Bank.
It would have been nice if Transferwise had mentioned that they'd added a new payment option buried under another little-used payment option. Have you verified that there's no extra % fee when you pay that way?
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Dec 20, 2004
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Faith24 wrote: It would have been nice if Transferwise had mentioned that they'd added a new payment option buried under another little-used payment option. Have you verified that there's no extra % fee when you pay that way?
It may be new - but yes I'm surprised they didn't mention it either. I would not have discovered it myself... I only did because I was prepared to make a wire transfer to fund my borderless account. There is definitely no charge for this.
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Feb 7, 2002
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Has anyone paid by credit card? Their fee is 1.75% for credit cards, if your card has cash back or points, it may be okay as long as your credit card company doesn't treat the payment as a cash advance.
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TRK9 wrote: as long as your credit card company doesn't treat the payment as a cash advance.
... and that's the problem.
Member
Nov 27, 2011
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Canadia
TRK9 wrote: Has anyone paid by credit card? Their fee is 1.75% for credit cards, if your card has cash back or points, it may be okay as long as your credit card company doesn't treat the payment as a cash advance.
Faith24 wrote: ... and that's the problem.
I pretty sure it comes up as payment for services/purchase on credit cards... someone on here confirmed they paid with a Cash Back CC and received the cash back credit for the transaction.
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Aug 29, 2012
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Faith24 wrote: Transferwise offers direct debit as a payment method, with BMO and other Canadian banks. As it happens Transferwise uses BMO as their Canadian bank, so after you authorize their payment service "Transcendremit", it will show up in your list of Payees along with other bill payments, and you can pay them like any bill. Payments are also processed quicker via BMO than with other banks. You still have to grant them unlimited irrevocable authorization to debit your account.

With other Canadian banks you still have to give them your account login information (card number and password) each time, in addition to pre-authorizing them.

You can avoid this highly risky and insecure payment method by using debit card payment now, but it costs an additional 1.15% to pay by debit card in Canada.
That's why I only use TransferWise with my PC bank account in which I leave no money at all. I have nothing to lose, since I never leave any money in my account for a thief to snag. I just pay all my bills when my pay is deposited there and transfer the rest to another bank.
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TENSEVEN wrote: I pretty sure it comes up as payment for services/purchase on credit cards... someone on here confirmed they paid with a Cash Back CC and received the cash back credit for the transaction.
Transferwise changed their payment processor recently, so past experience may not apply. It may also depend on the particular credit card, so it's impossible to say without trying it with your own card. Even if it worked one time, it might not work the next time, since it is actually a cash advance - not recognizing it as such is an error that could be corrected at any time.
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Transferwise belatedly got around to announcing the new bill-pay method of payment (at BMO/National Bank only) in an email today:

"Question: What do your utility bill and next money transfer have in common?

Answer: You can pay for both of them through your bank's website or app.

We're happy to announce that TransferWise is now a registered payee with BMO and National Bank. So you can pay for transfers the same way you pay your bills online:

1 Add TransferWise as a payee on your bank's website. Here's how.
2 Set up a transfer on TransferWise and choose "bank transfer" as the payment option.
3 On your bank's website or app, send the exact amount of your transfer to TransferWise – just like you're paying a bill.

The money should reach us in 2-3 business days. We'll email you when we get it.

You can even do this for large transfers. No need to go to a branch to make a wire transfer anymore – unless you want to. Maybe you're old school. We respect that.

Thanks,
The TransferWise Team"

Note that their chatty announcement still makes no mention of the most important thing - how much (if anything) does it cost?

Update: I asked Transferwise, and they confirmed that there is no cost for this method of payment.
Last edited by Faith24 on Oct 12th, 2017 5:03 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Dec 20, 2004
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They consider it a bank transfer - and like the wire option, there is no cost whatsoever for this.
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Poutinesauce wrote: But even if you have them as a bill payee, how do you pay specific transfer to specific people with them?
Apparently you initiate the transfer on their site, then do a bill pay when you get to the payment part. Haven't tried this method yet though.
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You initiate a transfer on their site and they will give you a rate in CAD that is locked in for a certain amount of time. Then you simply send them a bill payment for that exact amount.

Alternatively, you can use bill payment to fund a Transferwise borderless account and then fund your transfer from the borderless account balance.
Member
Nov 27, 2011
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Canadia
gei wrote: You initiate a transfer on their site and they will give you a rate in CAD that is locked in for a certain amount of time. Then you simply send them a bill payment for that exact amount.

Alternatively, you can use bill payment to fund a Transferwise borderless account and then fund your transfer from the borderless account balance.
It's exactly this. I've used the Tangerine Bill Payment both to fund transfers and fund my borderless account
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Feb 29, 2012
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TENSEVEN wrote: It's exactly this. I've used the Tangerine Bill Payment both to fund transfers and fund my borderless account
Tangerine? There hasn't been any mention by Transferwise of supporting payment via Tangerine bill payment. They said BMO and National Bank only. Have they yet again introduced a new option without mentioning it?
Member
Nov 27, 2011
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Canadia
Faith24 wrote: Tangerine? There hasn't been any mention by Transferwise of supporting payment via Tangerine bill payment. They said BMO and National Bank only. Have they yet again introduced a new option without mentioning it?
Yes, TRANSFERWISE only mentions BMO on its website and I believe that might have been the case before.

But 2 weeks ago I noticed TRANSFERWISE listed as a bill payment payee when I searched with Tangerine. So I did a test payment of $1 and it showed up in my borderless account the next day.

So then I subsequently used it to fund a USD transfer and it went through with no issues as well.

I'm guessing they just haven't updated the website yet to mention supporting payments through Tangerine bill payment
Deal Addict
Sep 19, 2009
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Toronto
TENSEVEN wrote: Yes, TRANSFERWISE only mentions BMO on its website and I believe that might have been the case before.

But 2 weeks ago I noticed TRANSFERWISE listed as a bill payment payee when I searched with Tangerine. So I did a test payment of $1 and it showed up in my borderless account the next day.

So then I subsequently used it to fund a USD transfer and it went through with no issues as well.

I'm guessing they just haven't updated the website yet to mention supporting payments through Tangerine bill payment
Can you please explain what are the steps for a transfer when using bill payment? I am trying to do a transfer in a EU country and I can see "Exchange rate (Not guaranteed)" when preparing the transfer.

Do you need to fund the Transferwise account in advance or after placing the order? If it is after, considering that the bill payment in not instantaneous, is the rate kept for the duration of the bill payment transfer?

Thank you.
Member
Jan 28, 2010
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Montreal
andrew4321 wrote: Can you please explain what are the steps for a transfer when using bill payment? I am trying to do a transfer in a EU country and I can see "Exchange rate (Not guaranteed)" when preparing the transfer.

Do you need to fund the Transferwise account in advance or after placing the order? If it is after, considering that the bill payment in not instantaneous, is the rate kept for the duration of the bill payment transfer?

Thank you.
No, rates that show "Not guaranteed" are not kept during the processing time. I did a couple of transfers and it takes 2 business days to complete the processing (online bill payment) and the rates keep changing during the period. However, they have a "rate limit" which stops/interrupts the processing if the rate goes below the limit. by default, the limit is 3% but you can change it.

As for the process, you can initiate the transfer and then you can pay them through online bill payment (I did it with BMO). it takes 2 business days for them to get your payment and then they complete the transfer the same business day. it might be instant if you have sufficient funds in their borderless account and you pay through it but I never tried.
Deal Addict
Sep 19, 2009
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CanadaDealSeeker wrote: No, rates that show "Not guaranteed" are not kept during the processing time. I did a couple of transfers and it takes 2 business days to complete the processing (online bill payment) and the rates keep changing during the period. However, they have a "rate limit" which stops/interrupts the processing if the rate goes below the limit. by default, the limit is 3% but you can change it.

As for the process, you can initiate the transfer and then you can pay them through online bill payment (I did it with BMO). it takes 2 business days for them to get your payment and then they complete the transfer the same business day. it might be instant if you have sufficient funds in their borderless account and you pay through it but I never tried.
Thank you for your answer CanadaDealSeeker. I watched this video https://transferwise.com/help/article/1 ... a-transfer and I am still confused. The sequence of steps, as I understand it, is like this:

  1. I start with no funds with transferwise
  2. enter the transfer on transferwise.com. Let's assume it is 1000CAD and "Exchange rate (Not guaranteed)"
  3. I can put a "rate limit", let's say 1% - is this limit from mid-market rate when the order is placed?
  4. transferwise waits for me to do the bill payment - you said it takes 2 business days for my money to reach transferwise
  5. transferwise does the exchange and deposits the exchanged amount into the recipient account.

My question is how would I know how much to do the bill payment for? Since "Exchange rate (Not guaranteed)" the rate will be certainty different than what I see on the screen when I place the order. I think they say somewhere on their website something about 1% markup for CAD-USD exchange, for smaller currencies I am certain that is more than that 1%. They have If I just transfer 1000CAD as I placed the order for, most-likely the transaction will never be completed as the transaction was estimated at mid-market rate. And BTW, how long does it take to get money sent as bill payment back if they cannot complete the order, any fees?
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Jul 15, 2009
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Right now, it says that for 1000 CAD you will get 621.75 EUR. The CAD amount is fixed once you go ahead with the transfer but the foreign currency amount can change with rate fluctuations. So you start the transfer and it gives you instructions about the bill payment for $1000. After a few days, you get about 621.75 EUR, but it could be a little less or a little more depending on how the rate fluctuates over the next few days.

If you need an exact amount of foreign currency, I think you can do that with their borderless account, but that's new and I have never used it.

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