A change of address led to our Wise accounts being shut down

Article & website issues

• Many readers couldn’t access the blog due to the “HN hug of death”; the WordPress site ran out of disk (507 errors), prompting side discussion about poor WordPress performance, lack of caching, and how static hosting/Caddy/CDN would have prevented it.
• People shared Wayback Machine and other mirrors so the article could be read.

Summary of the Wise incident

• A New Zealand business updated its address with Wise and was asked for proof.
• They submitted a telecommunications “tax invoice” matching entity and physical address; Wise rejected it because it wasn’t labeled “bill”.
• A frontline agent insisted it must literally say “Telecommunications Bill” and suggested renting a coworking desk purely to get a lease as proof.
• A more senior rep later agreed the document was fine and resubmitted it, but shortly afterward Wise restricted and then moved to close both the business and personal accounts, citing “risk tolerance”, cutting off normal support and leaving funds trapped (status of final recovery unclear in the thread).

Reactions to Wise behavior

• Several commenters report similar Wise experiences: sudden freezes/closures, opaque “breach of terms” or “risk” language, difficult or slow appeals, sometimes affecting linked personal accounts.
• Others report years of smooth, cheap international payments with only minor KYC hiccups, and praise Wise’s pricing and sometimes its support.
• Many say they now keep only minimal balances on Wise and treat it as a passthrough, not a primary account.

KYC/AML, debanking, and bureaucracy

• Multiple comments connect this to overcautious KYC/AML and Suspicious Activity Reports: once risk systems trigger, institutions often must offboard without explaining why.
• Some argue support agents have no discretion; “your activities exceed our risk tolerance” is seen as boilerplate used for both real risk and internal mistakes.
• Others criticize the regime as theater that criminals easily bypass (e.g., editing PDFs), while ordinary customers get caught in rigid processes.

Proof-of-address & documentation problems

• Strong skepticism about using easily editable utility/telco PDFs as “gold standard” proof.
• Many note mismatches between local documentation norms (e.g., “tax invoices”, virtual offices, PO boxes, parent-company leases) and what global fintechs’ checklists expect.
• Several admit to routinely doctoring bills to satisfy inflexible forms, highlighting how the process incentivizes form over substance.

Fintech vs traditional banks

• Theme: fintechs are cheaper and nicer on the “happy path” but can be brutal off it—instant debanking, poor escalation, and no branch to visit.
• Counterpoint: large banks can behave similarly on AML issues; regulators give little recourse there, though traditional banks at least have clearer local oversight and dispute channels.
• Wise is repeatedly reminded “not a bank”; users are urged not to rely on any single nonbank provider for mission‑critical funds.

Alternatives and user strategies

• Alternatives mentioned include Revolut, xe.com, and (controversially) crypto rails; each has its own risk and support issues.
• Common strategy: use Wise/Revolut as secondary tools, sweep balances out quickly, and maintain a traditional bank or second provider as backup.

Meta: AI writing and customer service

• Some readers think the blog text itself looks ChatGPT‑generated, which they find off‑putting but irrelevant to the core complaint.
• Broader lament that customer service quality has collapsed across sectors: self‑serve, script‑driven agents, dropped calls, and no empowered humans once something diverges from standard flows.
• Several argue the real lesson isn’t “never use Wise” but “never put all your eggs in any one basket,” especially for financial infrastructure.