禁漫天堂

09/03/25 @alan279.聽 Go to the "Help" area of the Wise site after you're logged in.聽 Someplace on it there should be a "Contact Us" button.聽 Write them to describe the problem, succinctly but not leaving anything important out.

When something similar happened to me, it was because their correspondent bank, Banco Rendimento in S茫o Paulo, needed "additional information":聽 effectively, all the information that they'd have on me if I had an account with them, on their own forms.聽 I finally gave up on them because they were difficult to contact and extremely slow in communicating what they needed.聽 Besides, I wasn't interested in a second banking relationship so far away.聽 Wise was helpful, but they have no real control at this end, and all they could do was refund my money.

This was several years ago, right after the pandemic, so I hope that things have improved.聽 But that was why I stopped using Wise for transfers, although I still use them for our multicurrency emergency fund (you could think of it as our "Trump Fund"), and am really happy with them on that.

Please keep us posted, I for one will be interested in your progress.

@abthree

I emailed Wise.

Wise doesn't have chat or WhatsApp.

I can't call Wise, as Google requires me to recertify my Voice account with a US cell phone number.

It's always something. 馃槙

09/03/25 @abthree I emailed Wise.
Wise doesn't have chat or WhatsApp.

I never had any trouble getting timely email responses from Wise.聽 It never occurred to me to want to talk in real time to anyone in London, or Tallinn, or wherever they're based.聽

The last time I tried to reach Banco Rendimento, on the other hand, they're in Brazil, but their WhatsApp took you to an endless no-exit loop, they didn't allow phone access, and they insisted on two business days to analyze everything I sent them before they would respond.聽 So under ideal circumstances we could have one email exchange a week: if I sent them something on Monday, they might respond on Thursday, and if I answered immediately, I might hear from them again the following Monday.聽 I hope i's better now.

Wise gave me a US phone number, but Google Voice terminated my calls to the US.

Wise promises 1+ days response time to emails.

I'll let you know how it goes.

@alan279

Wise did this with me once. I sent what they requested and they quickly sent my money.

On the other hand, Remitly did this once and PERMENANTLY BLOCKED ME. I have appealed to Remitly, but remain blocked. Remitly will not provide me with any information as to why they blocked me.

I tried Wise on my computer. I had to select my personal or business account. I selected the business account and saw no history of transactions. I logged out and logged into my personal account. Everything was there and I repeated last month's transfer. Money was in my Brazilian bank in seconds.

I deleted the Wise app and reinstalled it and everything looks okay.

09/04/25 @alan279.聽 Fantastic -- so glad that it worked out for you.聽

Wise support requested more documents via email. The links in the email didn't work. The app says they have all the information they need. The left hand may not know what the right hand is doing.

I do have personal and business accounts on Wise. And I learned how to switch accounts in the app! I've only used my personal account. I wonder why I created a business account.

@alan279 My here again gone again friend. I am sure I told you months ago that you could not trust WISE. I went through this experience last year.聽 聽聽 My bank was not an acceptable bank. I wore white after Labor Day. Who remembers, however it will not revert Find your alternative NOW.

Roddie in Retirement馃槑

@alan279

Two more days of email exchange with Wise customer support and they now want a selfie with my Brazilian ID.

... and they now want a selfie with my Brazilian ID. - @alan279

I am seeing this as a requirement more and more frequently. Receita Federal asked it of someone recently, and I had to provide one as well...

09/07/25 ... and they now want a selfie with my Brazilian ID. - @alan279
I am seeing this as a requirement more and more frequently. Receita Federal asked it of someone recently, and I had to provide one as well...
- @Peter Itamaraca

And not just in Brazil.聽 Tomorrow I need to renew my access to the Alumni Services at my US university on a Zoom call with my govt-issed ID in hand.

I鈥檓 using (or have been using) Wise too, but once I had a weird problem: they made an error and executed a transfer twice, and once they noticed, they sent me a message that I had to approve an additional charge on my credit card, in order to pay for the second transfer. Unfortunately I didn鈥檛 see the message immediately, and within two (2) hours, I got an email that my account was now blocked - I kid you not. Obviously I still approved the second charge (since it was money that had been credited to my BR account), and soon I discovered that my Wise account had never been blocked, not even for an hour. However, this experience made me look for an alternative, and since then I have been using Western Union, which has been working very well for years. The money is credited directly to my NuBank account, and I think the cost is about the same. But I could be wrong, maybe it is significantly more expensive.

Long story short: it鈥檚 good to have an alternative ready in case you need it.

Western Union account verified. I now have two US bank accounts, two Brazil bank accounts and Wise and Western Union for international transfers.

Thanks!

Western Union account verified. I now have two US bank accounts, two Brazil bank accounts and Wise and Western Union for international transfers.
Thanks! - @alan279

Related question: are there bank accounts that have an international account number (IBAN)? Making an international transfer directly into the account should be considerably cheaper than having to use an intermediary.

09/11/25聽 Related question: are there bank accounts that have an international account number (IBAN)? Making an international transfer directly into the account should be considerably cheaper than having to use an intermediary.
- @Kurterino

Yes.聽 Brazilian bank accounts in real, brick-and-mortar banks (I wouldn't know about online and other "near-banks", but their management should be able to tell you) have IBANs.聽 I've been making SWIFT transfers from my US account to my Banco do Brasil account that way once a month (and twice in the month that I pay my Brazilian income tax) for years, except for a several month detour to Wise and back.

@abthree

As far as I know, I won鈥檛 be able to open an account with banks like Banco de Brasil, unless I have a document with my address on it, and since I live in an invas茫o, I don鈥檛 have anything like that. So for now, I鈥檒l have to work with these intermediaries to transfer money鈥�

09/13/25聽 As far as I know, I won鈥檛 be able to open an account with banks like Banco de Brasil, unless I have a document with my address on it, and since I live in an invas茫o, I don鈥檛 have anything like that. - @Kurterino

You do lead an interesting life!聽 Best of luck with that.聽

09/13/25 As far as I know, I won鈥檛 be able to open an account with banks like Banco de Brasil, unless I have a document with my address on it, and since I live in an invas茫o, I don鈥檛 have anything like that.聽 - @Kurterino
You do lead an interesting life! Best of luck with that. - @abthree

It鈥檚 an invas茫o that has been established in the 1960s, since then it has become kind of a cultural landmark, we get lots of tourists. The one thing I don鈥檛 understand is utilities: there was no electricity nor running water until about 5 years ago, now we are connected, however nobody here has to pay for it. As far as I understand, the city (village) is footing the bill, but I don鈥檛 know the specifics. Bottom line is, we鈥檙e getting electricity and water free of charge.

@Kuterino

So here's the question i searched on:

"Quais os bancos onde eu posso abrir conta sem comprovante de resid锚ncia?"

And the response surprised me:

"Bancos como InfinitePay, Banrisul (conta digital) e C6 Bank (conta no exterior) permitem abrir conta sem comprovante de resid锚ncia, ou exigindo apenas o CPF, atrav茅s de processo 100% digital. O Santander e o Ita煤 tamb茅m oferecem essa possibilidade via abertura online, que solicita apenas que os dados sejam informados pelo interessado. A CAIXA possui a Conta CAIXA F谩cil, que dispensa comprovante de endere莽o, mas a abertura n茫o 茅 online."

OR (thanks Google)

"Banks like InfinitePay, Banrisul (digital account), and C6 Bank (overseas account) allow you to open an account without proof of residence, or simply by providing your CPF (Individual Taxpayer Registry), through a 100% digital process. Santander and Ita煤 also offer this option online, requiring only the applicant's personal information. CAIXA has the CAIXA F谩cil Account, which does not require proof of address, but opening is not online."

mberigan

09/13/25聽 The one thing I don鈥檛 understand is utilities: there was no electricity nor running water until about 5 years ago, now we are connected, however nobody here has to pay for it. As far as I understand, the city (village) is footing the bill, but I don鈥檛 know the specifics. Bottom line is, we鈥檙e getting electricity and water free of charge. - @Kurterino

We have a similar invas茫o near us, and that's something I've always wondered about, too.聽 They clearly have lights, and I assume that they have water, as well.聽 At least, we go by it often enough that if there were a lot water being transported, we would have seen some sign of that.聽

Since you have electricity and if you're interested, you could try getting a home internet connection.聽 That bill can serve as proof of residence like any other utility bill, as long as it's in your own name.

09/13/25 The one thing I don鈥檛 understand is utilities: there was no electricity nor running water until about 5 years ago, now we are connected, however nobody here has to pay for it. As far as I understand, the city (village) is footing the bill, but I don鈥檛 know the specifics. Bottom line is, we鈥檙e getting electricity and water free of charge.聽 - @Kurterino
We have a similar invas茫o near us, and that's something I've always wondered about, too. They clearly have lights, and I assume that they have water, as well. At least, we go by it often enough that if there were a lot water being transported, we would have seen some sign of that.
Since you have electricity and if you're interested, you could try getting a home internet connection. That bill can serve as proof of residence like any other utility bill, as long as it's in your own name. - @abthree

I don鈥檛 think I could get internet, we don鈥檛 have phone service (landline). However I could get Starlink, I鈥檝e verified on their website, and that would get me a document with the address on it too. But: if the bank sends documents via mail, it would undoubtedly come back to them with the 鈥楿ndeliverable鈥� stamp, so that wouldn鈥檛 work either.

re: electricity : it鈥檚 a strange situation, because the lines within the invas茫o have been installed by the inhabitants, not by the operator. It鈥檚 very amateurish, with extension cords buried an inch (or less) in the sand. Also we get regularly blackouts, usually because of fried disjuntores or fried lines (as I mentioned, most of these lines are just regular extension cords, so they can鈥檛 handle much).

I think that the local government has decided to pay for the bill because this place does attract tourists, which is good for everyone, and probably also for health reasons (fridges are important). Also the consumption isn鈥檛 that big, nobody uses A/C.

Water is easy: before we were connected to the water supply, every house had its own well, and a pump powered by a generator (those who could afford one). Obviously the quality wasn鈥檛 great (brown / yellow color), but it was good enough to shower.

@Kuterino
So here's the question i searched on:
"Quais os bancos onde eu posso abrir conta sem comprovante de resid锚ncia?"

And the response surprised me:
"Bancos como InfinitePay, Banrisul (conta digital) e C6 Bank (conta no exterior) permitem abrir conta sem comprovante de resid锚ncia, ou exigindo apenas o CPF, atrav茅s de processo 100% digital. O Santander e o Ita煤 tamb茅m oferecem essa possibilidade via abertura online, que solicita apenas que os dados sejam informados pelo interessado. A CAIXA possui a Conta CAIXA F谩cil, que dispensa comprovante de endere莽o, mas a abertura n茫o 茅 online."

OR (thanks Google)
"Banks like InfinitePay, Banrisul (digital account), and C6 Bank (overseas account) allow you to open an account without proof of residence, or simply by providing your CPF (Individual Taxpayer Registry), through a 100% digital process. Santander and Ita煤 also offer this option online, requiring only the applicant's personal information. CAIXA has the CAIXA F谩cil Account, which does not require proof of address, but opening is not online."

mberigan - @mberigan

According to Google, most of these do have IBAN account numbers (except InfinitePay, it seems). Even Itau accounts seems to be capable of receiving international transfers. So I鈥檒l probably get one of these.

Im wondering why NuBank isn鈥檛 on the list that Google gave you: I know from experience that you can get an account without proof of address, however they don鈥檛 have IBAN numbers.

@Kurterino

If you can get a Nu account, can you get a Pix key and do an international transfer to the Pix key?

Just a thought.

@Kurterino
If you can get a Nu account, can you get a Pix key and do an international transfer to the Pix key?
Just a thought. - @alan279

How would that work, without an IBAN number? If I want to make a transfer to an account in another country (from Switzerland), I need either an IBAN or the necessary information for a Swift transfer. As far as I know, NuBank doesn鈥檛 have this capability.

I transferred money from a US account to Banco do Brasil using Pix for the BB account via Western Union. I have Pix for Nu, so maybe that would work, too?

Western Union accepted my Pix key for my Nu account, I didn't complete the transfer, but WU verified my Nu account number. If you'd like me to test this transaction, I can try it, but it may take days to complete. My first WU transfer took a week.

Western Union accepted my Pix key for my Nu account, I didn't complete the transfer, but WU verified my Nu account number. If you'd like me to test this transaction, I can try it, but it may take days to complete. My first WU transfer took a week. - @alan279

聽 There鈥檚 a bit of a misunderstanding here: transferring money to my NuNank Pix account works very well via Western Union or Wise, and it鈥檚 very fast: except once when it took almost 24 hours, otherwise it arrived on my NuBank account in less than 5 minutes.

However, these intermediaries add cost to every transaction, it would be cheaper to make a transfer from my Swiss account to my BR account, that鈥檚 what I鈥檓 trying to achieve.

@Kurterino

What is the cost of your transactions?

@Kurterino
What is the cost of your transactions? - @alan279

I don鈥檛 know how to break it down, as in who (Western Union and NuBank) charges how much, but on my last transaction (about 200 US$), I received about 5% less on my Pix account than I should have received according to the official exchange rate.

Wise will tell you the fees before you make a transaction. Today, Wise says the exchange rate is

1 USD = 5.3169 BRL and 1,000 USD will buy me 5.255,23 BRL, with fees of 11.59 USD.

@alan279

I have had no issues with Wise other than I had to give my SS number to continue using the app. Once I had a password issue and I requested a callback and within 30 seconds they called and resolved. Been using since you posted so far ok.

Wise will tell you the fees before you make a transaction. Today, Wise says the exchange rate is
1 USD = 5.3169 BRL and 1,000 USD will buy me 5.255,23 BRL, with fees of 11.59 USD. - @alan279

The Western Union app also shows you how much you鈥檙e getting charged and how much is getting sent to the BR account, plus the added fee. However, they use their 鈥榦wn鈥� exchange rate, which is considerably worse (for the customer) than the official exchange rate, so in the 5% I mentioned, I counted this as an added fee. Without it, the fee is only 1.5%.

Where is the official exchange rate published?

09/17/25 Where is the official exchange rate published? - @alan279

There's no one "official" exchange rate for a freely traded currency, like USD or BRL.聽 Wise's "midmarket" rate is probably as good a snapshot of the going commercial rate as any, and it's always available on their website, constantly changing during the trading day.聽

@alan279

Try XE.com if you want mid-market up to date rates...

@abthree

Of course, I meant the current exchange rate which is published 鈥渆verywhere鈥�. I鈥檓 aware that different banks or exchanges might have slightly different rates, but they are usually pretty similar in the same country.

In order to see the difference, I made two transfers on the same day, of approximately 82$ (US), one from a Swiss to a Brazilian bank account (using the IBAN), the second from Western Union (using my credit card) to my Brazilian Pix account (NuBank). The WU transfer took a minute or two, while the bank transfer took a few hours, but still arrived on the same afternoon. I received 414 Reais on my Pix account, and 426 on the bank account. 426 is just a few Reais less than what my conversion app indicates (less than 10 Reais off), so the difference is very noticeable , if you consider how much money you need to transfer in an entire year. Let alone if you transfer a large amount to make a purchase. I guess that transfers via Wise (or any other intermediary, if there are more than these two) are similarly expensive as Western Union.

It鈥檚 definitely worth it to have a bank account which can be used for direct bank-to-bank international transfers.

09/30/25 @Kurterino.聽 Good experiment -- thanks for sharing.聽 WU has always been the high priced choice.聽 I've been wondering whether they've responded to market pressures and lowered their rates from when I used to send money to Brazil with them in the 2014-15 timeframe.聽 It seems that they have -- somewhat!