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09/03/25 @alan279.  Go to the "Help" area of the Wise site after you're logged in.  Someplace on it there should be a "Contact Us" button.  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 São Paulo, needed "additional information":  effectively, all the information that they'd have on me if I had an account with them, on their own forms.  I finally gave up on them because they were difficult to contact and extremely slow in communicating what they needed.  Besides, I wasn't interested in a second banking relationship so far away.  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.  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. 😕

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.  It never occurred to me to want to talk in real time to anyone in London, or Tallinn, or wherever they're based. 

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.  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.  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.  Fantastic -- so glad that it worked out for you. 

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.     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😎

@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.  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’m 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’t 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’s 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  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.  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.  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’t 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 invasão, I don’t have anything like that. So for now, I’ll have to work with these intermediaries to transfer money…

09/13/25  As far as I know, I won’t 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 invasão, I don’t have anything like that. - @Kurterino

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

09/13/25 As far as I know, I won’t 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 invasão, I don’t have anything like that.  - @Kurterino
You do lead an interesting life! Best of luck with that. - @abthree

It’s an invasão 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’t 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’t know the specifics. Bottom line is, we’re 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 residência?"

And the response surprised me:

"Bancos como InfinitePay, Banrisul (conta digital) e C6 Bank (conta no exterior) permitem abrir conta sem comprovante de residência, ou exigindo apenas o CPF, através de processo 100% digital. O Santander e o Itaú também oferecem essa possibilidade via abertura online, que solicita apenas que os dados sejam informados pelo interessado. A CAIXA possui a Conta CAIXA Fácil, que dispensa comprovante de endereço, mas a abertura não é 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 Itaú also offer this option online, requiring only the applicant's personal information. CAIXA has the CAIXA Fácil Account, which does not require proof of address, but opening is not online."

mberigan