This helps Wise to curb money laundering, so do be honest. Wise acts as a middleman between you and your payee, much like a bank or e-wallet. To get started, all you have to do is sign up for an account, and then head to “send money” once logged in.
Enter amount to send in USD.
I personally use Wise and I love its ease of use and their ability to transfer money across countries, across currencies, and even within the country! We’ll convert to the right currency wherever you spend or withdraw cash, only ever at the mid-market rate. Your main account is where your physical card will spend from, if you have one. It’s where you can hold your main currencies that you use most often. A business account should only be used for business transactions, even if you’re a freelancer or a sole proprietor.
Select who you want to send money to and which pay-out method to use. You can’t get all details at the same time — you’ll need to request details for each currency separately. You can get account details for each currency that we offer them for. But you can only have one set of account details per currency. A personal account should only be used for personal transactions. Wise may request additional documents to verify your identity or business.
Wise’s Features
Navigation of the Wise website and app is user-friendly, with no glitches during our test of the platform. It takes anywhere from a few seconds to five business days to receive money through a Wise transfer, depending on the currency being sent. The company says half of its transfers arrive within an hour. Wise lists 50 countries where you can send money from the U.S. You also may be able to send money to someone in another country if the recipient’s bank account is in U.S. dollars, euros or British pounds.
Is Wise a free service?
- You don’t have to link your bank account to Wise (unless you’re sending from Canada or the US).
- A Xoom user can add cash to a prepaid mobile phone account or can pay international bills; neither of those features is available from Wise.
- This can be done easily online or right from your smartphone, with on screen prompts to guide you every step of the way.
- We’re building the best way to move and manage the world’s money.
Wise states that while your transactions start processing immediately, conversions can take up to two business days to process, and that international regulations will vary. Keep your currencies to hand in one place, and convert them in seconds. Receive money internationally too, with account details for 21 currencies. Let’s say you have a family member in the US, and they want to send you money. With your Wise account, you’ll just need to share your USD account details with them.
Over 60% of Wise transfers arrive instantly, with 90%+ getting where they need to be in 24 hours or less¹. Read some of the stories of how Wise helps people manage their money in our Lives Without Borders series. All investment services are provided by the respective Wise Assets entity in your location.
You don’t have macroeconomics made simple to link your bank account to Wise (unless you’re sending from Canada or the US). Wise is renowned for having the lowest fees or add-on charges for FX conversion and this comes across when you use them. I personally use it extensively for making transfers in multiple currencies – EUR, USD, GBP, CAD – and it works well. If I had to make these exchanges through my bank, or credit card, or god forbid at a currency exchange counter, I would pay much more. You don’t have to pay to open an account, though sending money will incur fees that vary by currency. The main draw of using Wise for converting across currencies are there hyper competitive exchange rates.
Wise’s Pricing
- They must partner with local banks in each of the regions they operate in.
- Perhaps the biggest difference between the two is that OFX does not charge transfer fees and Wise does charge them.
- If you’re looking for an international money transfer service that’s cheap, Wise might not be the best pick.
- Your recipient doesn’t need a Wise account to get their money.
- Transfer fees depend on the amount being sent, the type of currency the recipient will get and the payment method.
Wise lets you hold 40+ currencies safely, and switch between them on the go in the Wise app. You’ll also get local account details for up to 10 currencies, to receive local payments from all over the world. With Wise you can hold and exchange 40+ currencies, send money to 50+ currencies, cheaper and easier than banks, and spend in 160+ countries with your Wise Multi-Currency Card. If you’d like to make payments through Wise, you’ll need to verify your account, and top-up with a credit or debit card. There’s a small fee to pay into your Wise account(s) with cards, but once you’re topped up, you can then go ahead and make transfers. You can send money from the U.S. to another country using a bank account (ACH), wire transfer, debit or credit card, international SWIFT network, Apple Pay or Google Pay.
You can send money that’s in your Wise account to a bank account outside of Wise whenever you like. We’ll charge a fixed fee and a conversion fee when you send to a different currency. Sending and receiving money between Wise Accounts in the same currency is free.
Wise is a publicly held company whose stock is owned by shareholders. The company’s stock began trading on the London Stock Exchange in July 2021. By the way, Wise prides itself on not using automated systems to answer customer service calls. Through the Wise Assets program, you can invest money from your Wise account in the iShares World Equity Index Fund—its holdings include stock in Apple, Microsoft and Tesla.
You can add as many currencies as you like to your main account. Learn how to pay bills in Italy, using different methods like post offices, banks and online platforms. Wise is campaigning to stop banks and brokers hiding their fees. Both owners and members can spend money and see all transactions in the group but the Owner legally owns all the money contributed to the group.
And since our price is transparent, you know exactly what you’ll get on the other side. If you’re using the Wise debit card, you’ll have a specific limit as to how much you can withdraw each month before incurring costs (which will vary depending on where you’re based). There’s also a handful of conversion, account funding and ATM fees to consider, too. We offer the Wise debit card that lets our customers spend in 150+ currencies worldwide with low conversion fees.
What about taxes on my Wise account? Should I report my account to my tax authority as foreign accounts?
They must partner with local banks in each of the regions they operate in. Once you’ve registered for an account, Wise might need to verify your identity, typically by uploading a picture of your photo ID and proof of your address. This step usually takes two business days to complete. Wise works really well for international money transfers and foreign exchange conversions. In fact, Wise moves more internationally than Western Union!
