TransferWise Debit Card is out!

[eyeswideshut]

Very interesting!

Does anyone know if you could use this card for sending money back to parents in your home country? And would it meet the tax deduction requirement for Japan?

My initial thought was to get the card, send it to my parents and let them withdraw twice a month for support and then claim the support deduction on my taxes ... but I believe the tax law requires the money going to an account my parents control, not just using a debit card.

Unless you can get a transferwise card in my parents name but linked to my account? Any thought.

I was told by my accountant that I should not use Transferwise but do a proper wire transfer initiated by a Japanese bank. Not sure how hard and fast that rule is so if anyone has heard otherwise I would be keen to hear it.

[Chris]

Very interesting!

My initial thought was to get the card, send it to my parents and let them withdraw twice a month for support and then claim the support deduction on my taxes ... but I believe the tax law requires the money going to an account my parents control, not just using a debit card.

Unless you can get a transferwise card in my parents name but linked to my account? Any thought.

Doubt this would work. The money would still be in your name not your parent's. Also the tax deductible you're referring to counts one account as one person.

If you're supporting two parents then you need to transfer to an individual account in each parent's name.

You should also look into the gift and inheritance tax limits and definitions for your home country too. There are likely rules in place to prevent people withdrawing cash from someone else's account otherwise people would just do that to evade gift and inheritance taxes.

[Yokohama]

I was told by my accountant that I should not use Transferwise but do a proper wire transfer initiated by a Japanese bank. Not sure how hard and fast that rule is so if anyone has heard otherwise I would be keen to hear it.

I would also like to learn if anybody has used Transferwise money transfer statements to show you are supporting dependents abroad.
After my bank raised fees recently, I switched to transferwise, and just did my first transfer. I was planning to use their transfer statements to show I support relatives living abroad, similarly as I used the statements from my previous bank. But if that is not accepted, then that would complicate things.

[dangocurry]

I was told by my accountant that I should not use Transferwise but do a proper wire transfer initiated by a Japanese bank. Not sure how hard and fast that rule is so if anyone has heard otherwise I would be keen to hear it.

I would also like to learn if anybody has used Transferwise money transfer statements to show you are supporting dependents abroad.
After my bank raised fees recently, I switched to transferwise, and just did my first transfer. I was planning to use their transfer statements to show I support relatives living abroad, similarly as I used the statements from my previous bank. But if that is not accepted, then that would complicate things.

Yes, I have used transferwise transfer to show that I'm supporting dependents abroad. Just get the PDF from transferwise, added some official proof such as passport which has same address and name(also added my passport copy) and gave it to my Payments dept at company. Done without any complications. Been doing this from 2019. I know many people who use this method to claim dependent reduction.

[Yokohama]

Great, thanks for that info!

[MajesticSoup]

Might have been stated earlier in this thread but please remember that TransferWise is not a bank and thus does not offer any form of protection in the event that something happens to funds stored on your account.

[fools_gold]

Might have been stated earlier in this thread but please remember that TransferWise is not a bank and thus does not offer any form of protection in the event that something happens to funds stored on your account.

That's a good point. Customer deposits aren't protected like with a bank, but they are supposed to be kept separate from the company's own money. I don't think I'll be depositing any large amounts of money with them long term..just travel money when I go abroad.

Anyway, the card arrived today. It looks like it was sent from Singapore which explains why it took so long

[dangocurry]

Looking to get the transferwise card but have some doubts.
I read somewhere on the forum that we have to do physical transaction for the card to activate first time before using it online. But as per their site
https://transferwise.com/help/articles/ ... topic-1407

there's no such need for it. Can someone confirm this information who have got the card?
For eg, I have balance in USD in transferwise, I get the card and use it directly to order something in USD.

Also, read that on the transferwise site that if we use balance for transferring any amount to another country, the fees are less.
https://transferwise.com/help/articles/ ... topic-1350

I think it's listed as the first way on the above link. As far as I understand, when someone has some balance, they should go to that balance and use send money option from there, then the fees are less. Am I understanding it correct?

[fools_gold]

I had to activate mine. Just log in and enter the six digit number on the front of your card. Apparently you need to make one chip and PIN payment before you can use the contactless feature. Maybe that's what you're thinking of...

[dangocurry]

I had to activate mine. Just log in and enter the six digit number on the front of your card. Apparently you need to make one chip and PIN payment before you can use the contactless feature. Maybe that's what you're thinking of...

I see, so for contactless payment, one has to make these transactions. Given there's no chance of traveling for sometime outside now, where can one make these transactions? Sorry for the stupid question.