Freelancers are not getting 2.5% incentives anymore from November 2022 – Wise to Bangladesh

Banks Have Stopped Paying Incentives to Freelancers Using Wise (Formerly TransferWise) for Remittances to Bangladesh

I’m writing this post so you don’t panic the way I did when my freelance incentives suddenly stopped showing up.

Wise (formerly TransferWise) has become a vital part of life for freelancers in Bangladesh. Up until October 2022, we were getting government incentives on every remittance we sent through Wise to a Bangladeshi bank account.

Then, suddenly — right as Bangladesh’s economic crisis began making headlines — MTB (Mutual Trust Bank) stopped paying out incentives to freelancers starting in November.

Across multiple Wise community groups on Facebook, users reported the same thing: incentives were being paid normally up to November 1, 2022, and then they vanished overnight without any prior notice from the banks.

To make things worse, banks are now hinting that they may try to reclaim the incentives they previously paid out — claiming the earlier payments were made “by mistake.” Funny, right? Ha ha. What a ridiculous system.

I’ve seen plenty of comments about this all over social media. But I wanted to verify it firsthand, so I reached out to the banks directly.

Eastern Bank Limited told me the same story: Wise has a partnership with MTB, and MTB is no longer paying any incentives to freelancers.

So I went directly to MTB, opened an account, and asked them about the incentives myself. They confirmed the same thing — freelancers no longer qualify for incentives. Ha ha.

They even claimed Bangladesh Bank never instructed them to pay incentives to freelancers in the first place.

So my question is — if that’s true, then how have they been paying us out for years? Lol.

Honestly, this whole thing looks like clear-cut fraudulent behavior to me. The banks are exploiting the lack of clear declarations from Bangladesh Bank about freelancer incentives — and pocketing the difference. Truly stressful.

What’s worse, banks are even hinting at reclaiming the incentives they paid out in previous years.

So now I’m left wondering — why have I been paying around 1,500 BDT every year for my Freelancer ID card? What was the point of it all? Where are my incentives?

If I remember correctly, the ICT Ministry promised freelancers a 10% incentive. And now they’re refusing to pay even 2.5%. Ha ha — pretty sad.

Let me know your thoughts in the comments.