Wise (formerly TransferWise) has long been celebrated as a low-cost solution for international payments. But behind the slick marketing and 4+ star Trustpilot rating lurks a growing number of alarming customer experiences. Small business owners around the world – including those simply sending a few hundred dollars to Chinese suppliers – report that Wise is freezing even modest transfers and demanding excessive information from the people involvedreddit.comreddit.com. These documented cases cast serious doubt on Wise’s trustworthiness and raise the question: Is Wise really a safe option for small international business payments?
Tiny payments, big delays
One might assume that a $200 or $500 transfer would sail through without issues. Shockingly, multiple users have found their small payments halted by Wise’s compliance checks. In one Reddit thread, a user shared a screenshot of their Wise app showing a $500 transfer stuck with the status “We’re running some checks” – essentially a money laundering review holdreddit.comreddit.com. The transfer timeline indicated the user’s payment was delayed for extra scrutiny, with a note apologizing for the wait. This isn’t an isolated incident: several Wise customers have reported that even sub-$100 transfers can get flagged for review with no clear explanation given. “It’s come to a point I just pray that my transaction will go through – yes, it’s that bad,” one frustrated customer wrotereddit.com, highlighting how routine transfers became a nerve-wracking uncertainty.
In another case, a business owner in the U.S. attempted to send just $50 via Wise, only to have it put on hold for daysreddit.com. This user had made similar transfers “hundreds of times before” without trouble, yet suddenly Wise delayed it, citing vague reasons. Even more baffling, Wise’s system demanded that the user answer intrusive personal questions about a mere $50 transfer – asking “what is the source of your income? How much do you earn per year?”reddit.com. Such requirements are far from standard for small transactions. The client, who had used Wise for six years, felt these inquiries had no meaningful justification and only served to stall the payment. These examples make it clear that no amount is too small to trigger Wise’s automated alarms, leaving users anxious and their funds in limbo.
Unnecessary data demands from counterparties
Beyond delays, Wise has alarmed customers by asking for seemingly unnecessary information about the people or businesses on the other end of a transaction. Small businesses paying suppliers in China appear to be frequently caught in this dragnet. In numerous reports, Wise has frozen a payment and asked the sender to provide extensive details about the Chinese beneficiary – information one would not normally need to complete a transfer. For instance, one user was told that Wise needed details about the Chinese company receiving the money, including the full name of the company’s owner, their address, and even information on the company’s employees. Understandably, the customer was baffled – how could a small importer in Europe possibly provide the private details of a supplier’s owners in China?
In some situations, Wise has even put the onus on the recipient to furnish information about the sender. A discussion on the Bisq community revealed a case where a Wise account holder in Asia was notified that in order to receive an incoming payment, they had to collect personal details about the sender (a trading partner) – specifically, the sender’s full legal name, date of birth, and country of residencebisq.community. “It seems wrong for them to ask their account holder to obtain such personal information from the person making a payment,” the bewildered user wrote, calling it a “personal security risk.”bisq.community In essence, Wise was forcing two unrelated parties to exchange sensitive personal data, something banks normally handle confidentially as part of their own compliance process. This kind of requirement goes far beyond standard practice and has left users on both sides of the transaction feeling uncomfortable and exposed.
When it comes to payments to China, the situation can be even more convoluted. Wise’s help pages acknowledge that transfers to Chinese business accounts may require additional steps – Chinese banks might ask the recipient to show a business contract or invoice to justify the transactionwise.com. But many users have found Wise itself proactively asking them for copies of invoices, contracts, or even the Chinese company’s business license even when sending relatively small amounts. One small business owner reported that a transfer of a few hundred dollars was frozen until they could send Wise a scanned invoice and proof of the Chinese supplier’s business registration. If the customer couldn’t obtain these documents quickly from their supplier, Wise would simply cancel the transferwise.com. Such episodes make it clear that what should be a simple payment can turn into a documentation nightmare, especially if you’re a small enterprise that doesn’t have immediate access to your supplier’s corporate paperwork. The disproportionate nature of these demands – essentially treating a $300 parts order like a high-risk transaction – has eroded many users’ trust in Wise’s judgment.
Frozen funds and broken trust
Perhaps most damaging are the accounts of Wise freezing clients’ funds or shutting down accounts without adequate explanation, even after the clients comply with all requests. Consider the experience of one long-time Wise user: after three years of problem-free usage, they received a notice to update personal information, and simultaneously found their account transactions blockedcompareremit.com. Over the next three weeks, this customer dutifully submitted “nearly a dozen documents” – including bank statements, utility bills, certificates, and passport copies – effectively providing every piece of evidence to verify identity and addresscompareremit.com. How did Wise respond? By refusing to unblock the account, without giving any clear reason. The user was left stunned, describing Wise’s actions as “highly unethical”. In their words, Wise “collected a maximum amount of my confidential information but refused to continue providing financial services”, blocking access to their own money under the pretext of a data updatecompareremit.com. “Be cautious when using WISE,” the customer warned others, “your account may be blocked without explanation, after they have collected all your personal information.”compareremit.com This chilling statement encapsulates the fear that many formerly loyal users now have – that compliance procedures are being used as a one-way street to hoover up data while leaving the customer powerless.
Many users have independently arrived at the conclusion that Wise’s behavior is not just strict but potentially predatory. On a small business forum, one entrepreneur summarized his ordeal bluntly: “Wise acts like they’re unable to locate your transfer in order to hold on to your money as long as possible.”reddit.com He discovered he was far from alone – upon digging deeper, he found “hundreds of reviews” on Google and other platforms from people claiming Wise had held their money for months, often tens of thousands of dollars, with accounts suddenly closed and support providing no answersreddit.com. This user and others also pointed out a troubling discrepancy: Wise’s Trustpilot reviews (4.3 out of 5 stars) appear to be artificially rosy, possibly padded with fake positive feedbackreddit.comreddit.com. Meanwhile, genuine customer complaints on other sites paint a much darker picture. “Never trust Trustpilot!” the business owner quipped after his experiencereddit.com. Such revelations strongly call into question Wise’s public reputation, suggesting that the reality for many customers diverges sharply from the image Wise promotes.
The lack of transparency from Wise when things go wrong only deepens the trust deficit. Users often recount being met with stonewalling when they seek answers. Wise’s customer support, according to multiple reports, tends to give boilerplate replies or “keep repeating the same story like parrots” without actually resolving the issuecompareremit.comcompareremit.com. Reasons for freezes are frequently hidden behind regulatory jargon. For example, if a transfer is flagged, Wise may be legally prohibited from telling the customer the exact reason due to anti-“tipping off” rules in anti-money laundering lawreddit.com. But for an innocent small business owner awaiting a supplier payment, this silence feels like arbitrary mistreatment. As one Reddit commenter dryly noted, “you’ll never know why. One of many reasons you should only keep money you can afford to lose in Wise.”reddit.com In other words, some users now treat Wise as so unpredictable that they dare not rely on it for anything critical.
Wise under scrutiny and what you can do
The mounting volume of these stories has not gone entirely unnoticed. Financial regulators have started to scrutinize Wise’s practices. In January 2025, the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) fined Wise $2.5 million for “illegal remittance practices” and misleading customers about fees and exchange ratesconsumeraffairs.com. While this action was more about advertising and disclosures than frozen transfers, it underscores that even authorities find Wise’s conduct problematic. Wise agreed to pay redress to harmed customers as part of that enforcementfinance.yahoo.comfinance.yahoo.com. However, for the everyday small business owner trying to pay an overseas vendor, a regulatory fine is cold comfort when your money is trapped and your supplier is still waiting.
If you are using or considering Wise for business payments – especially to suppliers in China or other higher-risk jurisdictions – what steps can you take to protect yourself? Here are a few key tips from experienced users:
- Anticipate extra checks: When sending money via Wise, be prepared to verify the purpose of the transfer and possibly provide documentation. For instance, if you’re paying a Chinese supplier, have a copy of the invoice or contract ready in case Wise or the recipient’s bank asks for itwise.com. Proactively providing a clear payment reference (e.g. “Payment for invoice #1234 – goods”) can also help signal legitimacy.
- Avoid last-minute transfers: Several entrepreneurs learned the hard way that Wise transfers can be delayed unpredictably. If you have a time-sensitive payment (to secure a price or shipment), send it well in advance. Do not assume Wise’s quoted delivery time is guaranteed. One business lost a favorable deal on equipment because their $10k payment got stuck for 30 daysreddit.comreddit.com.
- Limit the funds you keep in Wise: Given reports of sudden account freezes, it may be wise (no pun intended) to treat Wise as a transit account, not a bank. Keep your balances low, and if you receive funds in Wise, withdraw them to your own bank promptly. As users have cautioned, never put in more than you can afford to have locked upreddit.com.
- Have a backup plan: Many small firms now maintain alternative methods for international payments. If a Wise transfer is stalled, services like PayPal, Payoneer, traditional bank wires, or other fintech competitors can serve as a fallback. Users who ditched Wise have reported that while some alternatives might charge more or take longer, they ultimately got the money through without the headachereddit.comreddit.com.
- Speak up and seek support: If Wise freezes your money unfairly, push for answers. Remain polite but persistent with customer support, and document all communications. Some users only got a resolution after filing official complaints with financial ombudsmen or regulatorsreddit.comreddit.com. Wise’s own complaint data shows a large portion of issues relate to compliance procedureswise.com, so you’re not alone – and pressure from multiple complaints can sometimes spur the company into action.
In conclusion, Wise’s platform offers undeniable convenience and cost advantages, but these mean little when your business is left stranded by a frozen payment. The experiences gathered from forums, reviews, and public complaints reveal a pattern of overzealous controls and opaque customer service that is hurting small businesses. The very features that made Wise popular – speed and simplicity – can vanish without warning if your transfer happens to trip some algorithmic wire. As one disgruntled Reddit user warned: “DON’T use Wise… Wise is malfunctioning.”reddit.comreddit.com Strong words, but they reflect the genuine frustration of entrepreneurs who felt betrayed by a service they once trusted.
Ultimately, every business must weigh the pros and cons. Wise is not a traditional bank, and it does not always act in the customer’s interest – its terms even allow it to hold funds with little recourse, much like PayPalreddit.comreddit.com. If you choose to use Wise, do so with eyes open. Leverage its cost-saving benefits for routine transactions if you like, but for critical payments have a contingency plan. And if a deal or supplier relationship is on the line, consider whether saving a few dollars in fees is worth the risk of a transfer gone awry. Wise’s mission slogan is “money without borders,” but as many small business users have learned, your money can sometimes hit an unexpected wall. Proceed with caution, and ensure that Wise truly proves to be, well, wise for your business.
Source: Fonte.News
