Upheld: handling of balance deposits, payment processing, and returned payment fees complaint against Wise Payments Limited

Decision detail

Summary

Mr D complained about Wise's handling of two balance deposits set up in September 2025. For the first deposit, Mr D sent 370 USD instead of the required 316.76 EUR, causing automatic rejection and return of funds with deductions. When Mr D subsequently sent 110 EUR for a second deposit, only 95 EUR arrived and was allocated to the still-active first transaction, causing further confusion. Mr D received less money back than he sent due to correspondent bank fees. Wise offered £25 compensation for unclear guidance. The ombudsman upheld the complaint but found Wise's offer fair, as Mr D's initial error caused the cascade of issues and Wise was not responsible for third-party bank fees.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman found that Mr D made an error by sending USD instead of EUR for the first transaction, contrary to the clear payment instructions provided by Wise. The allocation of the 95 EUR received to the first unfunded transaction was reasonable given that transaction remained active. While the information provided to Mr D was sometimes unclear, Wise clarified matters in its final response. The correspondent bank fees deducted from returned payments were not Wise's responsibility, and it was unclear which bank charged the excessive 50 EUR fee on the return. The £25 compensation offered by Wise for unclear guidance was fair given Wise did not make a processing error.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website