Do you wish to transfer money to someone else in another country? Want to avoid the excessive costs connected with bank transfers and PayPal? Then we propose that you continue reading our Wise (formerly TransferWise) review, which gives a comprehensive assessment of an international sending and receiving platform with low fees and an easy-to-use interface.
When it comes to currency conversion rates, not all are created equal. This is especially true when you are moving money and your bank or a transfer agency is involved.
Suppose you are in the United States and have attempted to send USD to a UK account. Your bank guarantees “zero percent fee” and undeniably “free money transfers.”
What if we told you that you could receive that mid-market rate while moving money from one country to another? There should be no hidden costs. You should be able to transfer funds across accounts in various countries at the current exchange rate. If this sounds appealing, Wise, previously TransferWise, is the answer. It does not just halve your fees. Wise charges a fraction of the costs you’d pay if you sent or received money internationally through PayPal or your bank. You’ll often discover that the costs are close to $0.
What exactly is Wise, and how can it help you with your money issues?
Wise is a UK-based company that believes money should have no limits. The company was created by Kristo Käärmann and Taavet Hinrikus.
Taavet worked for Skype in Estonia and was paid in EUR while living in London. Kristo, on the other hand, was working in London to pay off his Estonian mortgage. Their plan was straightforward. Once a month, they checked the mid-market pricing. Kristo then moved euros to Taavet’s UK account, while Taavet transferred pounds to Kristo’s. When they received the money that had been promised to them, there were no unpleasant surprises.
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The pricing
The most significant advantage of Wise, previously TransferWise, is its pricing transparency. Costs will vary depending on how much you are sending, the country to which you are sending it, and the currency used. A brief examination of several circumstances, however, reveals that the costs are ridiculously low across the board.
Simply use our fees calculator to see how your money is changed in real-time. If you wish to learn more about their rates, go to their price page. Because each transfer is unique, this calculator is offered.
Let’s start with the fundamentals, then look at some hypothetical transfers to evaluate how cheap Wise’s price is.
You begin, here are the typical costs to expect while working with Wise:
- It is entirely free to create and manage an account.
- It is entirely free to keep currencies in your accounts.
- Free multi-currency bank account details creation (such as IBAN and routing numbers).
- Receiving direct money transfers in EUR, USD, GBP, PLN, AUD, and NZD Is free of charge (transfers from EUR to EUR or USD to USD).
- Fees for converting any currency – 0.35 percent to 3 percent – the price was usually always closer to 0.35 percent throughout my tests.
- You will be charged 0.2 percent for setting a direct debit to your account.
Features
Wise features are classified into numerous groups based on how you want to use the service. Wise is a money transfer service that is often utilized for international transfers to keep fees low while maintaining the genuine exchange rate.
The bulk of the features in our Wise review operate on the same basic premise: you either get paid or you pay someone else money. Wise then converts or keeps the money in the same currency and deposits it into the account of your choice. Wise’s skills are limited to this. Sending and receiving money across international boundaries might be perceived as a tough undertaking, but the Wise interface simplifies the process.
The following are the basic sorts of product and service characteristics:
- Transferring money from one bank account to the next.
- The transfer of huge quantities of money International money transfers are made possible via the use of quick and low-cost exchanges.
- A multi-currency account allows you to receive, spend, and save money in many currencies.
- A multi-currency debit card linked to a multi-currency bank account. This is beneficial if you really need to spend more money at a specific place while traveling abroad.
- Tools for paying several invoices to a variety of recipients all across the world.
- Compatibility with some of the most widely used invoicing tools.
- You may be able to speed up many of your transaction and collections operations if you have API access.
- A clear transfer calculator that tells you how much you’re getting paid in fees (usually close to nothing), the current exchange rate, and how long it’ll take for cash to reach your final account.
- Monthly statements to assist you in keeping track of how much money has been spent and collected in your accounts.
- Even if your consumer or provider doesn’t even have a Wise account, transfers can be executed.
Wise Business, formerly TransferWise for business
You may set up a Wise Firm account for your eCommerce business, which allows you to get paid with exceptionally minimal costs from anywhere in the globe. You may also keep your money and subsequently convert it into over 40 different currencies. This allows you to send money anywhere in the globe without worry.
So, how exactly does that work?
Essentially, you obtain local bank account information, which allows you to accept payments in major worldwide currencies such as Euros, US dollars, and British pounds.
You then provide these bank credentials to your receiver, allowing you to avoid the exorbitant markups associated with foreign payments, most notably those made through PayPal, Stripe, and wire transfers. Accepting payments from other firms and people may be done in the same way.
What’s fantastic is that anyone may utilize Wise Business for personal spending and payment collection. Create separate company and personal accounts to keep your funds distinct. There are a few minor distinctions between personal and business accounts (for example, you can’t acquire a corporate debit card in some countries but can typically get a personal debit card), but they both work the same way. The separation is designed largely to keep your costs separate.
The following persons and organizations benefit from Wise Business accounts:
- Customers or clients from foreign countries make payments to online shops.
- Contractors or suppliers from foreign countries are used by online sellers.
- For freelancers, there is a global customer.
- Parents may provide financial aid to students or family members who need it.
- Businesses that automate the payment of significant sums of money to contractors and other individuals.
It’s pricey enough to run your own company. Why are you forced to pay so much for your employees or yourself? This is something that Wise is working to correct. PayPal and bank fees are “simply part of the business,” according to several people. That’s one perspective.
If you have a business account with PayPal, you won’t have to pay anything between 2% and 10% for international transactions. Credit card fees may easily spin out of control when making overseas payments. Worse, many of these payment processors try to blame conversion rates for their problems. The biggest issue is that they usually disguise charges by using out-of-date transfer rates. They say it’s part of the transfer fee, but it’s just money they’re holding onto.
Receiving funds through a Wise Business account means paying little to no fees, depending on the type of payment, when it is made, and where it is going. Overall, you shouldn’t be concerned because the expenditures are frequently less than 2%. In my experience, every payment I’ve received has included a fee of less than.50%. That’s fantastic when compared to PayPal’s costs.
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Exchange rate locking
When you transfer money, Wise automatically locks the exchange rate for a set period.
This is 24 hours for the great majority of countries. Others will have to wait 42 hours. The exchange rate for BRL (Brazilian Reals) is fixed for 72 hours. This guarantees that large swings in the currency rate do not have an impact on you at the last minute.
We recommend using the Wise, previously TransferWise, Calculator to get a sense of the costs and currency rates you may expect from the service. Each transfer is split down into costs so you know precisely how much you’re paying for exchange rates and Wise’s fee (which is usually close to nothing).
Multiple transfer types
Wise’s many offers are available individually. This, I believe, is because companies must rank on search results for a variety of keywords and provide some form of tailored content when interested visitors visit their website. Quick transfers, business accounts, personal accounts, eCommerce transfers, and freelancer accounts, on the other hand, are all basically the same thing.
You will be able to make and receive foreign payments for clients, customers, and friends after creating an account. That’s it. So I’m making an effort to ensure that some of Wise’s promotional material does not perplex you.
Your payments as an internet corporation are the same as payments between family members in other nations.
However, the prices and method in which your money is sent are determined by the type of transfer you choose, the currency being sent, and the time it is sent.
Overall, the alternatives differ according to the type of transfer. The good news is that Wise always tells you of your options before shipment, and most of the time they are far less expensive than PayPal or other payment methods. The only option that looks to be excessively costly is the credit card fee when transferring USD–and using credit cards for overseas payments is typically not a smart idea.
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The Wise Mobile app
Wise also offers a mobile app that lets you make transfers while you’re on the go. You may also review previous payments and replicate them with the click of a button to expedite the payment process. This is perfect if you have recurrent monthly payments. They just introduced Apple Pay as a payment mechanism.
For both business and personal relationships, the program is simple to use. I can see all of my prior transfers and payments, send money to all of my contacts, and convert money between my Wise accounts.
Another reason we appreciate the app so much is that it provides you payment alerts. Is your contractor wondering when their money will be sent into their account? To check the status, all you have to do is open the app.
Are you perplexed as to why a client or customer’s payment is taking so long? Examine the app. It’s comparable to checking the status of a UPS or FedEx shipment. Wise notifies you precisely where your money is, whether it’s being converted on their end or sent to your bank account. They also provide an expected date for the money to arrive, all inside the smartphone app.
We discovered throughout our Wise study that the mobile app has a simple option for freezing and unfreezing your debit card. Everyone who travels has a story about something being lost or stolen. The last thing you want is for someone else to try to use your debit card while you’re away. When you can’t find the card, go to the app and disable it.
Wise security
The FCA requires Wise to keep any money collected from clients separate from the money used to run their business.
As a consequence, even if Wise goes bankrupt (unlikely with over 6 million clients and growing), your money will be safe and paid back from a separate account. Other appropriate security considerations are as follows:
- Cloudflare provides DDoS defense.
- The software is updated and patched regularly.
- Servers that are tightly protected and have audit logs to see who is accessing the servers.
- Servers that have been hardened using tight firewalls.
- Wise is GDPR compliant and SOC 1 Type 2 and SOC 2 Type 2 certified.
- There are other user-based security options available, such as phishing tracking, two-step login authentication, and tips for creating and preserving strong passwords.
Customer support
Wise’s FAQs are well-organized, with sections for transfers to and from each currency Wise offers. You could also learn about the mid-market rate, which not all firms explain. If you have a question, you may start a live chat with a customer care professional.
The Wise Help Center has an area where you can input a phrase to receive a knowledge base article that will walk you through the answers. In terms of direct support modules, online chat is the most user-friendly, and I’ve used it with excellent response rates.
You may also contact customer care by email, phone, or social media. The one disadvantage I’ve discovered is that you won’t usually get a response outside of typical business hours.
Aside from that, Wise customer support is kind and helpful.
The debit card
You may also apply for a Wise debit Mastercard, which is linked to the previously stated borderless business account.
Currently, debit card is only accessible in a few countries.
Furthermore, in several of those nations, you may only apply for a debit card if you have a personal account. For example, because I had a US account, I could only receive a debit card through my personal Wise account, not my company account. Support for this appears to be on the way.
How can the card be used?
For starters, the debit card is contactless and enables you to spend a lot of money anywhere in the globe at the exchange rate you specified. Paying with any of the currencies in your account is always free. If you need to change to another currency, Wise has very cheap conversion fees as well as no transaction fees.
You may also withdraw money from an ATM, although the maximum amount is quite little. When you reach the maximum for that currency, you will be charged a 2% fee. In general, we recommend understanding your currency’s debit card limit (detailed below) and limiting ATMs as much as possible. The debit card may be used to complete the majority of your transactions.
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Who should consider a wise debit card?
It’s ideal for eCommerce enterprises with customers who travel to different countries. You might even use it to make purchases from providers who accept other currencies.
You may use it in your own country just like a standard debit card, but it’s handier while traveling, such as as a student studying abroad in Europe or a business person who goes to other countries and doesn’t want to worry about foreign fees.
We recommend researching the debit card fees and restrictions in your local nation, as they vary depending on your region and card usage.
The following are a few instances and highlights:
- ATM withdrawals are free until you reach a certain limit. Here are some monthly restrictions: 250 USD, 350 SGD (Singapore), 350 AUD (Australia), and 200 GBP (United Kingdom) (USA). That’s not much, but it may come in handy for individuals in a situation while traveling overseas.
- Maximum daily limitations for paying in person using the card’s chip and PIN: 2,000 USD, 17,500 AUD, NZD (New Zealand), and SGD, and 10,000 EUR and GBP.
- The following are the maximum monthly restrictions for utilizing the chip and PIN to pay in person: 10,000 USD, 52,500 AUD, NZD, and SGD, and 30,000 EUR and GBP.
There are additional constraints when going contactless, utilizing a magnetic stripe, or making an internet transaction. Overall, all of those solutions seem to be comparable to the chip and PIN usage constraints.
Aside from the incredibly low ATM withdrawal limitations, the debit card is handy for online purchases and in-person payments in a variety of currencies.
Our sole caution in this Wise, previously TransferWise, review is to never use the Wise debit card at an ATM or, at the very least, be aware of the restrictions so you don’t go over.
Pricing for debit card
The Wise debit card is the most convenient way to spend money. There aren’t many charges linked with the card, according to our Wise study. To be clear, if you do not intend to use the Wise debit card, you do not need to apply for one.
It’s an advantageous feature for business travelers or tourists who find themselves spending many currencies as they travel from one location to the next.
We’ll look through debit card restrictions in greater depth later, but here are some fees to keep in mind:
- Signing up and acquiring a debit card are both free of charge.
- Spending using the currencies in your account is completely free.
- Converting a currency with your credit card – 0.35 percent to 3 percent (this is the same as converting with the Wise dashboard, thus you’re not losing money).
- They charge a “Mastercard rate” for spending in unusual currencies. This might imply any number of things. I’d try to stay away from it.
- Withdrawals from ATMs up to $250 per month are free.
- Withdrawals of more than $250 per month are subject to a 2% fee.
In general, the debit card works in the same way as any other debit card provided by your local bank. The two main things to avoid are using it for ATM withdrawals and spending in strange currencies. Aside from that, the transfer prices remain unchanged, and most of the features are free.
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The bottom line
Wise is an excellent platform for moving money over the world. It was made by two people who went through the same problems and built a tool out of their experiences. It’s only going to become better, thanks to a streamlined onboarding process, cheap costs, and high transparency. You may be certain that your funds will be safe because they are backed by large investors and secured by the FCA.
Wise has been growing its business to different other regions of the world, while being primarily a firm for European, US, Singapore, and Australian users. What’s even better is that almost all of the world’s main currencies are supported in some fashion.
