BANGKOK, THAILAND – Online money transfer provider Wise was set to overhaul how it operated in Thailand from 19 May 2026, after securing a local license under direct supervision of the Thai central bank.
What Wise is – and why many people used it
Wise was an online service that allowed users to send money from one country to another, usually faster and cheaper than many traditional banks and without hidden fees. Many foreign residents in Thailand, such as Germans transferring money home or receiving pensions from abroad, relied on Wise for their regular payments. The service was also popular with people who shopped internationally or settled invoices in other currencies.
Until now, Wise had not held its own local authorization in Thailand and had operated through a foreign entity. This changed when the Bank of Thailand gave the company approval to operate as a regulated financial service provider in the country. The step increased state oversight and brought both new options and clear restrictions for customers.
What Wise introduced under the Thai license
With the new Thai license, residents in Thailand were able to send baht directly from their Wise accounts abroad. This meant, for example, transfers to countries such as Germany without relying on intermediate foreign accounts. Previously, such payments had to be routed through overseas accounts, adding complexity for many users.
Wise also introduced the widely used Thai system PromptPay, which enabled transfers and receipts using a mobile phone number or ID number. Account holders could then pay at market stalls or small shops by scanning a QR code, even where no bank cards were accepted. In addition, Wise offered a physical Wise card for the first time, with delivery directly to Thai addresses.
What got worse – and why it mattered
The flip side of tighter regulation was significant for many customers. Users who had previously held US dollars, euros or pounds in their Wise accounts in Thailand and sent them abroad directly could no longer do so from May 2026. Every international transfer now had to be made in baht, which meant two currency exchanges instead of one in many cases.
In practice, someone sending 1,000 US dollars first had to convert the amount into baht and then back into dollars in the recipient country, incurring exchange-rate charges twice. The same applied to incoming payments: if someone in Germany sent 500 euros to a Wise account in Thailand, the amount was automatically converted into baht. The money no longer arrived as euros but as baht, removing the previous benefit of holding several currencies at once for travel or international business.
The card stopped working at Thai ATMs
Another restriction affected the Wise card ordered in Thailand. Customers who received this Thai-issued card could no longer withdraw cash from ATMs within Thailand. Instead, the company recommended using the PromptPay QR code function for in-store and everyday payments.
This worked well in many modern shops and larger outlets but was not accepted everywhere. Numerous markets, smaller restaurants and taxis in Thailand still mainly relied on cash, leaving a gap for users who had previously withdrawn funds from machines.
Abroad, by contrast, the card remained fully functional. People travelling to Europe or other countries could continue to withdraw money from ATMs outside Thailand as before. The restriction applied solely to domestic cash withdrawals within the kingdom.
What users needed to do – and what was planned for April
Until May 2026, nothing changed in day-to-day use of existing Wise accounts in Thailand. The company stated that all current accounts would continue to operate as usual until the cut-off date. However, customers who no longer lived in Thailand were advised to update their registered address details in their Wise profiles.
Without an address change, Wise would continue to treat those accounts under the new Thai rules, including the baht-only requirement for transfers. In April, the company planned to request additional identity documents from its customers, in line with requirements set by the central bank. Wise said it would announce at a later date which specific documents would be needed and urged users to monitor its emails carefully in the coming weeks.
More control, less freedom – the expat trade-off
The new license made Wise appear more official and, at least on paper, safer in Thailand. Increased regulatory scrutiny was intended to strengthen oversight of cross-border payments and digital financial services. For many long-term foreign residents, however, the changes reduced the flexibility that had made Wise attractive in the first place.
Whether the new PromptPay features and the locally issued card would compensate for the loss of foreign-currency holding options depended on individual usage patterns. Expats who frequently managed multiple currencies or relied on ATM withdrawals in Thailand faced clear disadvantages. For others, particularly those focused on domestic QR payments and simple outward transfers in baht, the revamped service could still prove useful.