Compliance: a never-ending battle? Why Wise customers are increasingly suffering from regulatory measures
Wise (formerly TransferWise) is considered a flagship fintech company for low-cost international transfers. However, the reality of recent months paints a different picture: regulatory authorities in the US and Europe are repeatedly intervening. For customers, this means more bureaucracy, frozen accounts and legal uncertainty.
US: Million-dollar fine for AML deficiencies
In July 2025, several US states agreed on a multi-state consent order against Wise. The reason: deficiencies in its anti-money laundering (AML) programme.
- Penalty: USD 4.2 million.
- Requirements: stricter reviews, stricter due diligence, expanded reporting requirements.
Consequences for customers: more KYC requirements, longer processing times and the risk of frozen transactions until reviews are complete.
CFPB: Misleading fees and unclear disclosures
In May 2025, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ordered a modification of the existing consent order against Wise US Inc. The objections were:
- inaccurate information about ATM fees,
- insufficient disclosure of exchange rates,
- failures to issue refunds when transfers did not arrive on time.
This raises the accusation that Wise is not complying with the promised transparency in its pricing model. For affected customers, this opens up the possibility of claiming additional payments.
EU/Belgium: Compulsory rectification of KYC
In Europe, Wise had already come under scrutiny from the Belgian National Bank (NBB) at the end of 2024. During audits, the supervisory authority found that address verification was missing for numerous customers.
- The result: an official remediation plan.
- Obligation for customers: subsequent submission of documents.
- Sanction: failure to comply could result in account suspensions or closures.
Since then, many users have reported frozen balances and slow communication with support.
Affected reports: Lost track? Lack of differentiation between ‘complete’ and ‘delinquent’
Based on our evaluation of reader/user reports from several countries that have been coming in for months, it appears that Wise is no longer consistently distinguishing between customers who have already been fully identified and delinquent users. Numerous affected parties state that they have submitted all requested documents (identity, proof of address, source of funds) properly and in full — yet identical documents have been requested again. In several cases, access has been blocked without prior notice.
In these situations, the support team appears to be overwhelmed: standardised responses, contradictory information in parallel tickets and long response times. Taken together, this suggests that Wise’s internal remediation processes are faltering under pressure and that misclassifications (complete vs. incomplete) are not being reliably corrected. We emphasise that these are reports from affected parties that suggest this pattern; there has been no internal confirmation from Wise as yet.
Recurring pattern: compliance deficits at the expense of customers
The cases show a clear pattern: Wise is struggling to implement international AML/KYC obligations and transparency requirements. The consequences are borne by customers:
- frozen transfers,
- sudden requests for additional documents (sometimes repeatedly),
- non-transparent fees and account suspensions without apparent warning.
While regulators collect fines, private customers struggle with blocked payments or the risk of not getting their credit back in time.
Conclusion
Wise remains an important player in international payments. However, the series of supervisory measures makes it clear that the weak point lies less in technology than in compliance and customer communication. From the perspective of those affected, the impression is one of a permanent construction site, where even properly identified customers are put through the verification mill again.
Note: This is a journalistic analysis. It does not constitute legal advice. All information is provided to the best of our knowledge and belief, based on publicly available sources (CFPB, Minnesota State Portal, Reuters, The Paypers, as of September 2025).
Sources:
Minnesota State Portal, 09.07.2025
Reuters, November 2024
CFPB, The Paypers, May 2025
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