When it comes to currency exchange companies the phrase ‘penny wise pound foolish’ springs to mind.
Unless you have 10’s of 1000’s to transfer just go with the one you feel comfortable with. The difference barely adds up to a cup of coffee.
My vote goes to currencyfair.
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TorFX seems easy to use to make transfers
You know, Madame has Revolut installed on her iPad…
It’s also a question of timing - here’s the reaction to the ECB interest rate decision at 2.15 -
Half a cent in 10 minutes - that’s 5 euro’s on 1K GBP. Maybe a couple of coffee’s - or even a beer!
on the 23rd August we had 1.1749 - that’s 10 euro. Blink and you missed it though.
No. They want an ID selfie if that makes sense - so a photo of your passport where they can see a photo of you on a document.
Then they want a less than 3 months old evidence of your address.
So I tried to send them a photo of my passport and it just stuck on a page saying “is your photo clear?”
Yep, there site doesnt work well, thats what I reported to them what 6 weeks ago probably. Telephone and hopefully get someone more user friendly. I will email them later and tell them people are having trouble.
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Now that I’m not rushed off my feet I’ve come back to this. My Wise account had been blocked as I didn’t manage to do it any earlier. Less panicked, I’ve read it properly and also discovered that if I’d scrolled down below “is your photo clear?” I could have gone onto the next stage. 
. And I hadn’t realised I also needed to take a selfie after the passport photo. I had the option to click on “do automatically” which I did. Slightly alarming to find their software taking charge of my camera and telling me to move closer! Anyway, photo taken, verified that matches ID and I am back in Wise. Relieved, I must say. I really didn’t want to have to change.
You’re right there Brian. I never wanted a smart phone but it became apparent a few years back that we couldn’t function in the financial sector especially without them.
@AngelaR Did you have any joy with the “specialist team”?
Not at all, Sue! I was supposed to get an email in a couple of days but, needless to say, nothing happened. On the day my account was due to close I transferred all the money I had retained in it out and took copies of the relevant statements, having decided that if they wanted to cancel the account I’d find another way.
However, going back in today I found that not only do I seem to have an account but the big scarey banner that had been at the top of the page telling me it would all be closed on the 20th had now disappeared.
Can’t say I’m chuffed, but as long as the account’s there, I’ll carry on using it for transfers however I’m not keeping any more money in it!
I’ve always been cautious of that - if ever I’ve needed to pay money out of my Wise £ or € accounts I’ve put the money in at the time I want to transfer. I think I’ve got a balance of about 20 in each of them at the moment.
Fingers crossed now all well for you too. I don’t think they’ve earned themselves any brownie points with this. Could have been so much better handled. I wonder what’s on Trustpilot? Just looked - do I see you Angela? 
Don’t think so - no idea how to use Trustpilot 
When I recently sold a car I got the funds transferred into Wise - all went ok, but then when I paid a relatively small deposit on a new car, suddenly they wanted me to plot my family tree! I responded to their email saying that I used them versus my french bank as understood their transfer would be quicker and a smoother process. I said if I have to go through this every time then I will have no choice but to switch. Haven’t heard a dicky bird since and the recent payment for the scooter went through within a couple of hours. But I wont hesitate to shift if they make the process difficult.
I found the Angela on Trustpilot, @SuePJ and although it isn’t me, it could have been 
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How interesting! 
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I was saying “Yes yes yes” to a number of the 1 star reviews… mainly people who’d been using Wise for years and found that it was no longer the company it once was!
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There’s an interesting article about Revolut in Wired.
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Wasted at least 2 hours yesterday trying to use Wise’s verification system.
Possibly the worst application I’ve every come across.
After countless unsuccessful attempts at taking a selfie of my passport, I somehow got to a link where I was able to upload a previously scanned copy.
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Well done! I never found that
It really is a pain, it took 3 days off and on to finally get it to work 
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I have not had any problems having used Wise for UK account transfer to Wise to convert to Euros this month then to French account. 4 times incl 2 in past week or two (not much cake so I slice it thinly )
About 2 months ago a couple of transfers took longer, say 8-16 seconds instead of less than 1 second-7 seconds. 1 around that time took overnight shock horror .
As ever the true delay is always longest after the French bank can take it, but doesn’t credit it for longer.
I have found always transfer when the French bank is open and it’s very quick, say 2 hrs give or take after Wise has sent it to them. Avoid nights and weekends to French accounts because it’s always well into the following day that the French bank will credit it, clearly waiting for a batch process. You’re better off waiting to the next morning the French receiving bank is open before you do it fron Wise then it shows credited quickly in the French account (this is CrAg).
I’m sticking with Wise. Starling would be where I’d go if I moved. Thank goodness we have relatively decent banking services ex-UK and fintechs. I’d really like to do everyrhing in France but it’s not practical due the gaps, inefficiencies, costs and restrictions that seem to keep popping up on French banking.
I paid the balance for my van yesterday when I collected it. I was wondering how Wise may work, after the initial experience, and wonderful, the transfer went through like a dream - maybe I’ve been lucky🤔