Wise Review (Formerly TransferWise): Is It Worth It?

Wise is the international money transfer and multi-currency account that used to be called TransferWise, and the rename is not new: the company changed its name on 22 February 2021. Sending money across borders in different currencies is still a pain with most banks, which is why I moved my freelance and affiliate income to Wise years ago and have stuck with it since. Setting up an account costs nothing, so trying Wise for yourself alongside reading the rest of this review is a reasonable way to see whether it fits your own transfers.

What is Wise?

Wise began as a way for two Estonian friends working abroad to stop losing money on currency conversion. Taavet Hinrikus worked for Skype in Estonia but was paid in euros while living in London, and Kristo Käärmann worked in London but had a mortgage to pay in euros back in Estonia. Each month, the two men checked the mid-market exchange rate, then Kristo put pounds into Taavet’s UK account while Taavet sent euros to Kristo’s account back home, so neither paid a bank’s conversion markup.

That workaround became the company, first as TransferWise and, from February 2021, as Wise. Early backers included Virgin, Seedcamp and IA Ventures, and in July 2021 the company took the step of listing directly on the London Stock Exchange as Wise plc, at a market value of roughly £8 billion at the time. Wise now says it serves over 18.9 million customers worldwide, which is a different kind of proof of legitimacy than an early-stage startup can offer.

How does Wise work?

Wise avoids sending money across borders at all. Instead, the company holds local bank accounts in the countries and currencies it supports, and a transfer becomes two local movements rather than one international one.

If you send euros to a pounds account, for example, Wise takes your euros into its own euro account and pays the recipient out of its own pound account, rather than actually converting and wiring your money abroad. Two local transfers cost Wise far less than one cross-border one, and that saving is what shows up as a lower fee for you. Wise always uses the mid-market rate for the conversion itself (the same rate you’d see on Google or Reuters), while a typical bank sets its own, less favourable rate and folds its margin into that rate rather than showing it as a separate fee. You can see the exact fee and rate for your own transfer using Wise’s own calculator before you send anything, which is more reliable than any example I could print here since rates move constantly.

How to make a Wise transfer. Signing up needs your name, email address, home address and a phone number, after which Wise verifies your identity from a photo ID (passport, national ID card or driver’s licence) and a proof of address such as a recent bill. Once that’s done, you can log in and send money:

1. Open “Transfers” in the sidebar and select “Send money.”
2. Enter the amount and currency you’re sending, and the currency your recipient should receive.
3. Review the fee, the exchange rate and the final amount your recipient will get, all shown before you confirm anything.
4. Add a recipient, using their name and either their Wise account details or their bank account details; Wise saves this for future transfers.
5. Review the full transfer summary.
6. Confirm to send it.

Wise sends a notification at each stage: when the transfer order is placed, when your payment to Wise clears, and when the recipient’s money lands in their account. How long that whole process takes depends on the currency, the country and how you’re paying, which the next section covers. I’ve used Wise both to pay freelancers abroad and, more often, to receive payments in different currencies, including my Amazon affiliate earnings, through my own Wise account.

What is the Wise Account?

Wise’s multi-currency account, previously branded the Borderless Account, lets you hold and receive money in 40-plus currencies through local account details in places such as the UK, the EU, the US and Australia. For me, that means clients can pay directly in pounds, US dollars or Australian dollars without either of us losing money on a currency conversion.

You can also receive foreign currency through PayPal, but you either build PayPal’s fees into your price or absorb them, and PayPal’s conversion margin runs higher than Wise’s. A Wise account starts in your home currency once you open one, and you add other currencies as you need them, each with its own account and routing details, much like opening a local bank account in that currency. Money that arrives in a currency you’re holding stays there, converts to another currency in the account, or converts back to your home currency at the mid-market rate, whichever you choose. Receiving money into a Wise account carries no fee, which is a real difference from what most regular bank accounts charge for an incoming foreign payment.

Wise and PayPal

Plenty of bloggers and freelancers receive affiliate or ad income through PayPal in US dollars while banking in another currency, and lose money converting it every time. Linking a non-US Wise account to PayPal as a withdrawal method used to be inconsistent in my own experience: some support agents told me it wasn’t possible, and it took me a few attempts and a different agent before someone set it up manually. Wise and PayPal now support Interac e-Transfers in some markets too, so the exact linking process is worth checking directly with PayPal support for your own country rather than assuming it will or won’t work.

The upside, when it works, is that you can move money from your PayPal balance to your Wise account for free, then convert and withdraw it at Wise’s rate and fees rather than PayPal’s.

How do you add money to your Wise account?

Wise runs entirely online, so you cannot fund an account with cash or a cheque. The available options depend on the currency, and typically include the following.

1. Direct bank transfer. Paid straight from your own bank account, usually the cheapest and most common option, taking around 1 to 3 business days. The account you send from needs to be in the same name as your Wise account; a joint-account holder can be added at the end of the transfer instead.
2. Debit or credit card. The fastest option, landing almost instantly, but it carries extra card-processing fees and the lowest transfer limits of the payment methods on offer.
3. Wire transfer. Suited to large amounts: it usually lands within a few hours and carries the highest limits, though your own bank may charge you separately for sending a wire.
4. Local bank transfer methods. A number of European currencies support local instant-transfer schemes in addition to a standard bank transfer; which ones are available depends on your currency and country, so check the payment options shown at checkout for your specific transfer.
5. Apple Pay and Google Pay. Available in the Wise mobile app, working the same way these wallets do elsewhere; a card linked through either one still carries that card’s own fees.

Exact daily and per-transfer limits vary by currency, country and payment method, and Wise lists the current limit for each combination on its own site rather than as one fixed number, so check that page for your specific transfer instead of relying on a figure that might be out of date by the time you read this.

How to fund a transfer from your regular bank account

1. Start the transfer on Wise as normal: amount, currency and recipient.
2. Choose bank transfer at the payment step, which gives you an account number and a reference number for Wise’s local account in your country.
3. Make the transfer from your own bank, using that account number and reference, online, in branch or by phone.
4. Wait for Wise’s confirmation once the funds arrive.

Withdrawing money from your Wise account

Withdrawing money in the same currency as your Wise balance to your regular bank account costs a small fixed fee. Withdrawing a different currency means converting it first, at Wise’s mid-market rate, into the currency your bank account actually holds.

Wise limits

Limits depend on both the currency and country you’re transferring from and the payment method you use to fund the transfer, and Wise publishes the current limit for each combination on its own site rather than a single number that applies everywhere. Check the limit for your specific currency and payment method there before relying on any figure quoted elsewhere.

Wise pricing

Signing up for Wise costs nothing, and there’s no subscription or account-keeping fee. Receiving money is free too, regardless of the currency or where it’s sent from.

You pay for two things only:

1. Sending money that needs converting to a different currency. This carries a conversion fee, a small percentage that depends on the currency pair, plus a smaller fixed fee, both shown before you confirm the transfer. Wise advertises fees as low as 0.1% on some routes, though the actual rate for your transfer depends on the currencies and amount involved.
2. Paying by debit or credit card. This adds a percentage-based card fee on top of any conversion fee, and the exact rate depends on the currency and card type; some currencies allow fee-free debit payments.

Both fees are shown in full before you finalise a transfer, and Wise’s own calculator gives you the exact number for your amount and currencies rather than a generic example.

How long does Wise take to process a transfer?

Wise tells you the estimated delivery time for your specific transfer as soon as you enter the amount and currencies, and that estimate depends on four things, in order of how much they typically affect the timeline.

1. The countries you’re sending between.
2. How you’re paying: card payments are usually near-instant, while bank transfers take longer.
3. When you pay: Wise processes transfers during normal banking hours in the sending country, and public holidays can add a delay.
4. Whether your identity needs re-verifying for that transfer.

Can you get a Wise card?

Wise issues its own debit card, called the Wise card, on either the Visa or Mastercard network depending on your country, and it works in more than 150 countries and territories across 40-plus currencies. I use mine to pay for tools I buy in US dollars straight from my USD balance, and for spending in euros while I’m in the eurozone. Wise automatically spends from whichever currency balance matches the purchase, and switches to another balance at its own rate if you don’t hold enough in the matching currency. There is still no Wise credit card, only the debit card tied to your Wise balances.

What is Wise Business?

Wise Business is the company account version of the same idea, aimed at anyone paying suppliers, contractors or staff in more than one currency. Wise says the product now moves more than £12 billion a month for over 900,000 businesses, with 70% of payments arriving within 20 seconds and 95% within 24 hours. You can invoice and get paid in US dollars, euros, pounds and other major currencies without a hidden markup, pay a large batch of people at once from an uploaded spreadsheet, and reach recipients who don’t have a Wise account themselves as long as you have their bank details. Wise Business also offers around-the-clock support by phone, email or chat.

What’s Wise customer service like?

My own experience with Wise support has been consistently good. When I needed a BIC and IBAN to receive payments in pounds from a UK site, and Wise normally only issues a UK sort code and account number for that currency, support created the extra details for me and kept following up until everything worked. Wise now offers support by phone, email and live chat, so getting a real answer no longer means waiting on a callback in a specific timezone the way it once did.

Wise’s help centre covers most account setup and troubleshooting questions on its own, and the company also runs a blog covering both Wise-specific updates and general advice on international money and business.

Handy Wise tools

Wise offers several free tools that don’t require an account.

• Currency converter: converts between major currencies at the live mid-market rate, with no markup added.
• Rate alerts: lets you set a target exchange rate and get notified when the market reaches it, useful if you’re not in a rush to convert.
• SWIFT/BIC code finder: looks up or validates a bank’s SWIFT/BIC code by bank name or country.
• Wise app: available on iOS and Android, and covers sending, receiving, tracking and cancelling transfers, plus uploading verification documents, from your phone.

Wise competitors

PayPal and Payoneer are the two alternatives I’ve used enough to compare directly.

Wise vs PayPal

I still use PayPal for clients who don’t offer another payment option and for some USD payments. Wise’s fees are consistently lower and, just as importantly, more transparent: you know the cost upfront, and the recipient never pays a fee, unlike PayPal, where the sender and receiver have to work out between them who absorbs the cost. Being able to receive Amazon affiliate payouts into a Wise account, which PayPal doesn’t support, is the deciding factor for me.

Wise vs Payoneer

Payoneer is the other option I tried before settling on Wise. It does support Amazon affiliate payments, but I found its interface clunkier and its support slower to help than Wise’s, so I stopped using it once Wise covered everything I needed. Whether the two providers’ accounts can be linked to each other varies by country and changes over time, so check current compatibility directly with either provider’s support rather than relying on someone else’s experience from a different country.

Is Wise legit?

Wise is a regulated financial company, not an unregulated app moving money on trust. It holds an e-money licence from the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority and equivalent authorisations in the other countries where it operates, and its full list of licences by country is published on its own site. Beyond the regulatory paperwork, Wise has been a publicly traded company on the London Stock Exchange since July 2021 and reports serving over 18.9 million customers worldwide, which is a harder thing to fake than a badge on a website. I’ve used it for years without an issue, but the regulation and the public listing are the parts worth checking yourself rather than taking my word for it. Current rates and fees are visible on Wise’s own site before you commit to signing up for anything.

About the author. This guide is written and maintained by the Wonderful Wanderings editorial team. Wonderful Wanderings was founded in 2012 by Sofie Couwenbergh. The team covers money-saving tools for independent travellers and remote workers, including the banking, currency and insurance products worth using, and updates this page when a product’s name, fees or features change.