Wise, formerly TransferWise, is a financial tech company that many prefer as a convenient way to send and receive money internationally.
It offers some of the best exchange rates as it aims to make money transfers easier, faster, and cheaper. Today, more than 12 million people around the world trust Wise and it operates in over 80 countries worldwide. However, a money transfer service is much more than just cost-saving.
In this review, we take a closer look at Wise/TransferWise and discuss all its merits and demerits to help you understand all you should know about the service before signing up for it.
Wise/TransferWise Review – UPDATED 2022
Founded by two friends in London in 2010, Wise was created with a mission to make it easier for people to transfer money abroad. They quickly grew to become one of the largest international money transfer services in the world because of transparent fees, impressive exchange rates, and an amazing online user experience.
While many other services claim to charge no fees and then impose healthy fees on the exchange rate, Wise uses the interbank rate to show you the fees you pay without even signing up. It offers a calculator tool that shows you upfront fees for the amount and currencies you want to transfer. There is no sort of hidden charges or bundling; you get complete transparency.
If you want to hold, receive, or exchange currencies frequently, the multi-currency account for individuals and businesses gives you the real exchange rate and lets you handle up to 55 currencies in one place. Creating an account and sending money with Wise is extremely simple and quick. You can expect recipients to receive money quickly. It is also much cheaper than PayPal, Western Union, or banks.
Wise transfers are surprisingly fast; quite speedier than banks. Up to 40 percent of the international transfers are instant while 80 percent get completed in 24 hours.
The time it takes for your money to get transferred depends on the countries and currencies, the amount, and the payment mode. If you make a transfer off-hour or on a holiday in the recipient country, it can take a little longer to reach. The app gives you the estimated time of delivery before you initiate the transfer.
Money Transfer
Users can send money to over 80 countries in the world with the Wise transfer. You can make payments online or through the app and see them deposited into the recipient’s bank account instantly. This means your recipients don’t have to create a Wise account to receive money. As Wise uses its own payment network, it offers lower costs compared to the traditional methods of transferring money cross-borders.
Wise also eliminates middlemen generally involved in international transfers, so the savings are passed on to users in the form of low fees. This even ensures the money arrives faster.
It is easy to initiate a transfer from your account by simply specifying the amount you want the recipient to get. You can fund your account with your native currency and the provider transfers the equivalent to the recipient in the destination currency.
Wise money transfer is cheap, safe, and fast. All the functions are monitored by regulatory bodies and you can always track your money as it transits, through the app or online. This function is quite useful for anybody willing to send money to another country.
Whether you are sending a one-time payment to somebody living abroad or want to make regular payments to support a family or fund an international loan, Wise can save you a lot of money while making the transfer convenient and hassle-free.
Multi-Currency Account
Those who like shopping online or traveling frequently and those who require sending or receiving international payments regularly would benefit from a Wise multi-currency account that provides you an easy, cheap way to manage money across borders. The account can be opened easily online or through the app to get the facility to hold and exchange 54 currencies in one account.
With this account, you can view all your balances at a glance, send money to over 80 countries and receive an international debit card to spend and withdraw money across the world. The account allows you to get local account details in ten currencies including USD, EUR, GBP, NZD, AUD, CAD, and more to receive payments without any fees from over 30 countries, without having to deal with any monthly fees or minimum balance.
The multi-currency account with Wise is ideal for anybody living, studying, or working abroad, people traveling frequently, or those with international income or spending. Whether you want to cover your expenses abroad on a vacation or work as a freelancer for international clients, Wise makes it super easy to hold, send, convert, spend and receive money in a wide range of currencies.
Business Account
Businesses can open a multi-currency account and make easy international transfers with Wise. They not only get to enjoy many of the features of individual accounts but also get a wide range of business-related perks. A business account allows getting paid in ten currencies using local account details and withdrawing from Stripe, Amazon, and other platforms. You can also send batch payments and pay up to 1000 people in multiple currencies with a single file upload.
A wise business account lets you integrate the service with your online store as well as cloud-based accounting programs like Quickbooks for easy reconciliation. Wise allows businesses to pay overseas employees, receive payments from international clients and enjoy much cheaper rates than banks and PayPal. The user interface not only facilitates adding team members but also helps automate the workflow and stay updated on the account activity.
With Wise, you also get a multi-currency Mastercard debit card for your teams and members that work for in-store and online payments. You can use your account dashboard or mobile app to track all the payments made with this card. There is only a one-off charge for full business account functionality and no minimum balance or monthly fee to deal with.
Pros
- Transparent fees
- Instant and fast transfers
- Guaranteed safety
- Multi-lingual online support
- Personal and business services
- No exchange rate markup
- Services available on mobile app
Cons
- No support for phone calls
- No cash transactions
- Limitations on larger funds
Final Thoughts
Wise offers excellent options for making fast, low-cost payments to other countries. It comes with everything you would want in a money transfer service including support for many countries and currencies, transparent fees, instant transfer, cheaper rates, and mobile app support.
It is an ideal service for businesses and individuals who want to make one-time or regular small payments easily and affordably.
