bank account locked ?

[Topah]

I went to ATM today and my card did not work anymore. I went to the bank branch and after pretty long wait my account was finally unlocked. They made some phone calls and looked my passport. I did not ask why it was locked first place but is there more strict control now for farang bank accounts? Luckily there was no issues at the end.

 

And other thing... At the branch there is English language signs on the screen which warn "it is illegal to open bank accounts to other"... Maybe they are starting to check who can have a bank account?

 

[CharlieH]

Minor bank error and nothing more, probably a simple security check.

 

Title adjusted. Pure speculation on your part.

[AlfHuy]

I transfered 250£ from my HSBC business account in UK to my Wise account.

Money left HSBC instantly and arrived in seconds at Wise.

Got email from Wise they need more informations before they can release the funds.

Which company, where based, why I did send the money etc.

 

What a load of rubbish.

 

That's my company.

Do they think I am money laundering 250£?

 

 

 

 

 

[NanLaew]

6 minutes ago, AlfHuy said:

I transfered 250£ from my HSBC business account in UK to my Wise account.

Money left HSBC instantly and arrived in seconds at Wise.

Got email from Wise they need more informations before they can release the funds.

Which company, where based, why I did send the money etc.

 

What a load of rubbish.

 

That's my company.

Do they think I am money laundering 250£?

 

 

 

 

 

 

Such are the travails of not being a "high net worth customer".

[GrandPapillon]

19 minutes ago, AlfHuy said:

That's my company.

Do they think I am money laundering 250£?

 

 

 

 

 

Yes ????

[KannikaP]

Maybe because it is a business account. I did £300 twice this week with no problems.

[Thaifly88]

12 hours ago, KannikaP said:

Maybe because it is a business account. I did £300 twice this week with no problems.

So many small transaction close together may raise a red flag 

[mvdf]

If the sending account's name and the receiving account's name are not identical, Wise will flag the transaction and do some checks.

 

If multiple transactions consisting of small amounts are made in short succession, those too will be flagged as it is indicative of money laundering (structuring, to be more specific). Structuring is a money laundering strategy wherein the reportable threshold is circumvented by transacting small amounts. If however those small amounts are added up, the total amount cumulatively surpasses the reportable threshold.  

Edited May 12, 2021 by mvdf

[JohnOFphon]

14 hours ago, AlfHuy said:

I transfered 250£ from my HSBC business account in UK to my Wise account.

Money left HSBC instantly and arrived in seconds at Wise.

Got email from Wise they need more informations before they can release the funds.

Which company, where based, why I did send the money etc.

 

What a load of rubbish.

 

That's my company.

Do they think I am money laundering 250£?

 

 

Exactly the same thing happened to me!!!

Something is going on with WISE...formerly...TransferWise.

They asked....who sent me the money....I had been sending money from the same account for 3 years or more...

Then....they held my money for 6 days...includes weekend. 

Sent me another email,,,,again....this time asking the legal name and address of the sender.

Warning me it could take another1 to 4 days before they would release!!!!!!

But after looking up the legal name of my bank......I didn't realize my branch bank had a different corporate name.

I sent this to them and they released my money in less than 5 minutes.

 

 

 

Almost the same thing happened to me.

I have been sending the same amount of money every month to my Wise Borderless account and then on to Bangkok bank here.

2 weeks ago they sent me an email asking me "who sent me the money?"

Also wanting to know the birthdate of the sender???/

And where was I residing now.

I answered right away, but it wasn't what they wanted to hear.

Held MY money in their NY bank for 6 days.

Second email asking " the legal name of the sending bank"

I had to research my bank to find the answer. Seems my local bank has a corporate name that is different different. 

After answering they released MY money.

Same transfer year after year and they get a hair up their a.....

 

Edited May 13, 2021 by JohnOFphon

[KannikaP]

1 hour ago, Thaifly88 said:

So many small transaction close together may raise a red flag 

I do not understand your answer. I DID do small transactions close together and no red flag was raised.

And as for 'instant' transfers via Wise, I tried £50 at 5am this morning...........it will take 5 hours, no mention of reason to send.

 

[theoldgit]

15 hours ago, AlfHuy said:

I transfered 250£ from my HSBC business account in UK to my Wise account.

Money left HSBC instantly and arrived in seconds at Wise.

Got email from Wise they need more informations before they can release the funds.

Which company, where based, why I did send the money etc.

 

What a load of rubbish.

 

That's my company.

Do they think I am money laundering 250£?

 

 

 

 

 

 

Is the business account in your name or the name of the company?

 

If it's not in your actual name they will want to check, I had a similar issue when my bank in Jersey were using a subsidary to transfer to Transferwise, and I had to jump through hoops for a couple of months to prove the cash came from me.

 

I noted earlier in the week that on their website Wise now have a warning when you make a transaction advising that the funding account must be in your name.

[sandyf]

"Maybe they are starting to check who can have a bank account?"

They have been doing that for a long time.

In 2014 I had an email from my bank that if I did not attend the branch by 1st July and provide further information access to online banking would be discontinued. The account was opened in 2000 and online banking started 2009.

[wwest5829]

16 hours ago, AlfHuy said:

I transfered 250£ from my HSBC business account in UK to my Wise account.

Money left HSBC instantly and arrived in seconds at Wise.

Got email from Wise they need more informations before they can release the funds.

Which company, where based, why I did send the money etc.

 

What a load of rubbish.

 

That's my company.

Do they think I am money laundering 250£?

 

 

 

 

 

It appears Wise is tightening security. I also was asked for additional security. A thought 1. hackers do look to withdraw repeated small amounts from hundreds/thousands of accounts at times 2. question about why money is sent? Well, for me, checking the Wise box for "long term living expense in Thailand" meets the Royal Thai Immigration requirements. I recommend cutting a little slack here ...

[Jaxxper]

I’m assuming the signs are a reaction to the issue that Kasikorn had a few months back that hit the news. I’ve definitely seen such signs in my local Kasikorn.

[Colabamumbai]

Wise money transfers never cross a border. Wise has accounts in most large cities. Wise transfers show as domestic deposits and are not recognized as funds for extensions of stay. 

[ripstanley]

Just now, Colabamumbai said:

Wise money transfers never cross a border. Wise has accounts in most large cities. Wise transfers show as domestic deposits and are not recognized as funds for extensions of stay. 

I did my extension of stay late last month using income method. All my transfers were through Wise and were accepted by Immigration. Bangkok Bank show them as international transfers

[AlfHuy]

2 hours ago, theoldgit said:

 

Is the business account in your name or the name of the company?

 

If it's not in your actual name they will want to check, I had a similar issue when my bank in Jersey were using a subsidary to transfer to Transferwise, and I had to jump through hoops for a couple of months to prove the cash came from me.

 

I noted earlier in the week that on their website Wise now have a warning when you make a transaction advising that the funding account must be in your name.

My business but different business name.

[jomtienisgood]

17 hours ago, AlfHuy said:

I transfered 250£ from my HSBC business account in UK to my Wise account.

Money left HSBC instantly and arrived in seconds at Wise.

Got email from Wise they need more informations before they can release the funds.

Which company, where based, why I did send the money etc.

 

What a load of rubbish.

 

That's my company.

Do they think I am money laundering 250£?

 

 

 

 

 

They consider 250GBP as a test for them to see if they are watching you.. 555555 lol????????

[AlfHuy]

1 minute ago, jomtienisgood said:

They consider 250GBP as a test for them to see if they are watching you.. 555555 lol????????

They can watch my A..

[chilly07]

Don't understand the problem with Wise. They have the transfer bank account details and the deposit account details plus all intermediaries and have validated them before approving them. Plenty of evidence that Immigration accept Wise FTTs for extension purposes. Better still if your account is with a partner bank in Thailand. 

[GrandPapillon]

global regulators are asking financial institutions to be the agent of those regulators to make sure there is no money laundering or some other "illegal" aka "tax evasion" money being used in the global money pipeline

 

regulators have criminalized the "no-action" approach that banks and financial institutions used to have, now if they don't act or don't do anything actively to "stop" fraudulent transactions, then they become automatically "agents" of the criminal money activity, and they can be taken to court over this. This is what happened with a lot of big banks when they were "cleaning" money for Iran and Venezuela despite the embargo.

 

yeah, it's <deleted> up, but it's the only way they found to stop "money laundering" and "dirty money", basically your money doesn't belong to you, you only have been granted a temporary license to store your "wealth" for transactions, and it has to be clean.

Edited May 13, 2021 by GrandPapillon

[mvdf]

A friend of mine working for HSBC told me over dinner around a month ago that there was an incident when an employee of a company accessed the company's Hang Seng corporate account and sent (via Wise) around 900K HKD to an account controlled by an accomplice. The money was never recovered as the transfer was timed in such a way that the cut-off time for same-day crediting of funds was met. It was quickly withdrawn. So it makes sense that they are being very careful.

[The Theory]

On 5/12/2021 at 4:09 PM, Topah said:

"it is illegal to open bank accounts to other".

I didn't know that it was possible to do so, was the sign toward bank employees ????????????

because I can not open an account for someone else !!! 

[dabhand]

14 hours ago, The Theory said:

I didn't know that it was possible to do so, was the sign toward bank employees ????????????

because I can not open an account for someone else !!! 

 

I believe this is related to individuals opening accounts that other people then operate and are used for receiving funds from scamming operations. Those opening the accounts are paid for their assistance after handing over ATM card etc.. Numerous instances of this happening, principally on the customs or lonely hearts scams where there is a need for a disposable bank account in the name of a patsy. The patsy ends up in trouble while the unknown scammer escapes to scam again and again. 

 

Sounds like the banks are at least trying to address the problem here.  

[KannikaP]

On 5/13/2021 at 6:32 AM, mvdf said:

If the sending account's name and the receiving account's name are not identical, Wise will flag the transaction and do some checks.

I sent money from my Wise account to my son in Dubai with no flags or checks. People do not always send money to themselves!

[PeachCH]

2 hours ago, dabhand said:

 

I believe this is related to individuals opening accounts that other people then operate and are used for receiving funds from scamming operations. Those opening the accounts are paid for their assistance after handing over ATM card etc.. Numerous instances of this happening, principally on the customs or lonely hearts scams where there is a need for a disposable bank account in the name of a patsy. The patsy ends up in trouble while the unknown scammer escapes to scam again and again. 

 

Sounds like the banks are at least trying to address the problem here.  

 

[MadMuhammad]

On 5/12/2021 at 4:27 PM, AlfHuy said:

I transfered 250£ from my HSBC business account in UK to my Wise account.

Money left HSBC instantly and arrived in seconds at Wise.

Got email from Wise they need more informations before they can release the funds.

Which company, where based, why I did send the money etc.

 

What a load of rubbish.

 

That's my company.

Do they think I am money laundering 250£?

 

 

 

 

 

 

I've been questioned by Wise twice and my Australian bank I transfer from once in the past 9 months.  ie: where do the funds come from, where are they going, proof of source. How they choose who gets checked seems to be random though

[jomtienisgood]

On 5/13/2021 at 2:15 PM, mvdf said:

A friend of mine working for HSBC told me over dinner around a month ago that there was an incident when an employee of a company accessed the company's Hang Seng corporate account and sent (via Wise) around 900K HKD to an account controlled by an accomplice. The money was never recovered as the transfer was timed in such a way that the cut-off time for same-day crediting of funds was met. It was quickly withdrawn. So it makes sense that they are being very careful.

Is it possible to compare 900K HKD to 250GBP?????? Where is the relevance???????

[mvdf]

4 hours ago, jomtienisgood said:

Is it possible to compare 900K HKD to 250GBP?????? Where is the relevance???????

 

Crime comes in all magnitudes.

[jomtienisgood]

6 minutes ago, mvdf said:

 

Crime comes in all magnitudes.

A wise man has spoken. 55555