Transferwise requires my bank login username and password?????

[robert k]

9 hours ago, Sander Martin said:

Even if you send USD and take the money out as USD in Phillipines its not good because you have to change the USD into Pesos somewhere. I compared the SM mall exchange rate to Transferwise exchange rate and TW was giving 1.2 pesos more per Australian Dollar (i sure its around the same ammount less per USD exchanged).

I never lost that much exchanging USD for piso at an exchange. About 0.6 php is the most I would stand for and I check the rate on the spot to determine if I will be exchanging currency.

[earthdome]

9 hours ago, Guy F. said:

Here is a reply from Transferwise:

"When sending from USD and utilizing the Bank Debit (ACH) payment method, each customer is required to log in to their bank’s online banking system and verify their banking details. That is always the case for that payment option. Should you have further questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to get in touch. We are always happy to help."

Logging into your bank's online system and verifying your banking details is not the same as giving up your username and password. Do we need more clarification?

Transferwise has you enter your login and password ON their Transferwise website. You can not go to your own bank website and login. That is the problem. Your login and password is being transferred via the Transferwise website.

 

I was in the midst of doing a transfer using transferwise with the bank ACH payment option and saw this.

Edited March 31, 2016 by earthdome
clarify

[Dave Hounddriver]

13 minutes ago, earthdome said:

Transferwise has you enter your login and password ON their Transferwise website. You can not go to your own bank website and login. That is the problem. Your login and password is being transferred via the Transferwise website.

I share your hesitation to do that, but as I am thinking about it I start realizing that all the ATMs around the Philippines are connected to North America via the Internet.  I know this because in a remote province, when the Internet is down you cannnot access your money from North America.

So this means every time you enter your password into an ATM you are doing the same thing as what you discuss here.  I don't like it, not one little bit, but there may be some logic to it.  Every review I see of Transferwise is pretty good except for the few guys from Nigeria or those who have names like Muhammed.who say they cannot get Transferwise to work for them 

[earthdome]

7 minutes ago, Dave Hounddriver said:

I share your hesitation to do that, but as I am thinking about it I start realizing that all the ATMs around the Philippines are connected to North America via the Internet.  I know this because in a remote province, when the Internet is down you cannnot access your money from North America.

So this means every time you enter your password into an ATM you are doing the same thing as what you discuss here.  I don't like it, not one little bit, but there may be some logic to it.  Every review I see of Transferwise is pretty good except for the few guys from Nigeria or those who have names like Muhammed.who say they cannot get Transferwise to work for them 

As I said in my opening post. When asked about this my bank said they were aware of some financial services companies who do this. They would not say whether they considered it secure. I for one will never do this because it is a very bad practice from an IT security standpoint.

I have been investigating another method for sending money from your home country bank account to a bank account in the Philippines which would only cost 1% with a great FX rate. I should be able to report back on it next week.

[Dave Hounddriver]

8 hours ago, earthdome said:

I should be able to report back on it next week.

Its too bad you need a week to report back :-(  I need something now.  I've been waiting for funds for 3 months so that I can try the Transferwise system.  I jumped through all the hoops until I got near the end of the transfer process and then:  "Your Canadian bank is not supported for our direct banking option".  I looked at the list and the top 8 banks in Canada are on it but all the regional banks are not.  This is the very first time I have found an app that accepts the top 8 banks and does not yet accept ATB accounts.  Someone is asleep at the switch.

So I shall have a quick look at other options suggested here and then go back to my old standby and pay the higher fees.

[Sander Martin]

21 hours ago, robert k said:

I never lost that much exchanging USD for piso at an exchange. About 0.6 php is the most I would stand for and I check the rate on the spot to determine if I will be exchanging currency.

Well i went to SM again yesterday and had a look at their Aud to php rate and then checked the internet for mid market rate. 1.7pesos less per dollar. SM exchange is prob the worst place to exchange money as their rates really suck, but even the independent places skim over a peso per aud out of your pocket. Ill try to remember to compare USD next time, it might not be as bad as there are more Americans here then Aussis and Filipinos love USD :D.

Im happy with Transferwise.

Btw why not do a manual transfer from your internet bank into Transferwises account? Thats what i do. They give me their account details, i log into my internet bank and transfer the money. My bank in Australia doesn't charge me anything for transfers into Australian bank account. My Estonian bank charges me like 0.1 euros. Shouldnt be to expensive in the states?

[Dave Hounddriver]

2 hours ago, Sander Martin said:

why not do a manual transfer from your internet bank into Transferwises account?

Because their email replay said that my bank is not supported by their system and there were no alternatives except for (expensive) SWIFT transfer.

But not to worry.  I went on-line and searched for "alternatives to Transferwise" and found this great site that has NO fees and is peer to peer so you can negotiate with other people who want to exchange money.  What that means is you get MORE than the midmarket rate.  Many people in Philippines are trying to get rid of their pesos and buy other currencies but when they go to the bank to exchange the money they end up getting worse than midmarket rates.  So they go online and offer to trade pesos for dollars at slightly BETTER than midmarket rates for the one buying pesos.  Its making me $100 MORE than you guys who use Transferwise.

So thanks for all the tips guys.  I'm on a roll now!

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

. OK, I admit.  Its the morning of April 1st and I still don't have a better alternative to Transferwise so this was just an April Fools moment  

Edited April 1, 2016 by Dave Hounddriver

[virginprune]

I use world remit, small amounts you just put in your card details but for larger amounts bank to bank it is done through Sofort banking. This requires my details of Internet banking, I have had no issues arising from this method.

[robert k]

3 hours ago, Sander Martin said:

Well i went to SM again yesterday and had a look at their Aud to php rate and then checked the internet for mid market rate. 1.7pesos less per dollar. SM exchange is prob the worst place to exchange money as their rates really suck, but even the independent places skim over a peso per aud out of your pocket. Ill try to remember to compare USD next time, it might not be as bad as there are more Americans here then Aussis and Filipinos love USD :D.

Im happy with Transferwise.

Btw why not do a manual transfer from your internet bank into Transferwises account? Thats what i do. They give me their account details, i log into my internet bank and transfer the money. My bank in Australia doesn't charge me anything for transfers into Australian bank account. My Estonian bank charges me like 0.1 euros. Shouldnt be to expensive in the states?

It might have something to do with the fact that where I would pick up my money from WU there was an exchange 15 meters away. If the exchange didn't offer good rates you would just allow WU to convert it. In fact WU rates seemed to get better at that location. My guess is they realized they were leaving money "on the table". 

It only cost me USD 2.99 to transfer USD 2,999 1/10th of 1 percent. I don't think Transferwise could touch that?