Wise, formerly known as TransferWise, TransferWise has now been rebranded to Wise, but they have always been the same company. Wise (Previously Called TransferWise) has created the best way to move money around the world and makes it possible for us to send, spend and receive money internationally at real exchange rates and in the cheapest way.
Wise (formerly TransferWise) : Free account opening for individuals and businesses. Free bank accounts in 10 popular currencies as if you had a bank account in those countries. You can hold and convert 55+ currencies in your account, and only takes a few seconds to open a new account in the currency you need.
Send money to more than 80 countries, always with a low and transparent fee. You can use money in your multi-currency account to send to any of the countries on Wise.
What is Wise (TransferWise)
Wise (formerly TransferWise) was Founded in 2011 by Estonians Kristo Käärmann and Taavet Hinrikus and is based in the UK. Kristo Käärmann is a financial consultant and Taavet Hinrikus is the founder of Skype. When they traded between the UK and Estonia, they started directly depositing money in each other’s account in the required currencies, thereby saving a significant amount that banks would have charged them. They were guided by their own experience with international money transfers and the associated high fees, they founded Wise innovatively.
The platform connects people's needs for international remittances seamlessly and facilitates easy transfers, while allowing each user to get the current mid-market exchange rate for their currency. Before Wise appeared, we had limited options for transferring money and were often at the mercy of our banks. When transferring with a bank, we have no other choice but to agree to the bank's unfavorable pricing terms. The advent of Wise makes international money transfers cheap, fair, and simple. Now, Wise's multi-currency accounts are already helping millions of people and businesses manage their money internationally more cheaply, quickly, and transparently.
Wise currently has more than 13 million customers worldwide and processes USD 6 billion worth of money orders every month. Funding in the company stands at USD 689 million, making it one of the most valuable fintech companies in Europe.
How Wise (TransferWise) Works
Wise's slogan is a new way to deftly beat bank fees. This service takes pride in its minimal fees for international money transfers and currency conversions. Wise will mostly be familiar to users of international money transfer services. However, Wise routes payments a bit differently than other services of the same type.
When sending a payment, Wise doesn’t transfer the funds directly to the recipient. Instead, the funds are redirected to another recipient of an equivalent amount in the opposite direction. The recipient doesn’t really receive the money from the original sender. They actually receive their funds from another user making an equivalent transfer. The transfer method that Wise uses is called a peer-to-peer money transfer. Because of this, Wise can save its users a lot of money by avoiding currency conversions and additional cross-border fees. That's the reason why Wise can offer lower fees than other money transfer services.
Here's an example from real life: Rico in the UK wants to send money to Pelly in India. He sends his British pounds to Wise's UK account. Wise then automatically reconciles Rico his pound-to-rupee transaction with transactions made by other users who want to send money in the opposite direction, and crowdsources other users' rupees to assign to Pelly. In the end, Pelly in India receives rupees through a local transfer from Wise. That's a whole new way to send money abroad, the fees for money orders can be completely reduced.
Why you should choose Wise (TransferWise) to transfer and spend internationally
1. Real and Cheap Fees: Wise uses a mid-market exchange rate in their fees to users, which is updated n real-time when the trading market opens. Minimum 0.41% of rates to send money (varies by currency). At the same time, Wise also provides protection against exchange rate fluctuations during user transfers, so that users do not need to suffer from exchange rate differences. In fact, Wise does not charge an explicit transfer fee, only a small commission for its services. Wise is 83% cheaper than the conventional bank money transfer systems, the fees of sending money is negligible. With Wise's Multi-Currency account (also known as a Borderless Bank Account) you can pay your utility bills or mortgage without the currency conversion fee, spend online without foreign exchange fees. Minimum 0.33% of rates to convert a currency using your card. Free ATM withdrawals £200/30 days. Receive money for free (currently supports 10 currencies, non-wire transfer).
2. Transparent and Fast Transfers: When users choose a currency route on Wise, the platform tells them about the charges for the transfer upfront. Once users pay these charges, they don’t have to pay any extra or hidden fees. Wise does not keep any hidden charges from its users. In contrast, some other platforms or institutions charge users upfront for transfer charges and later charge them with hidden fee. Moreover, Wise does a really good job of improving transfer speeds. Wise reduces the time transfers take by having local bank accounts around the world which means it can make many transfers as fast as possible and sometimes instantaneous, or in just a few minutes.
3. Reliable Security: Wise has a 3D secure technology that adds an extra layer of security to prevent card frauds and keep users’ online payments safe. Wise claims to have "Bank-Level" data security, While we are not security experts, this has been proven as Wise has never had any security issues since it went live. In addition to that, Wise uses separate accounts to manage funds, that is, your money is managed separate from their operational funds in financial institutions like JP Morgan Chase and Barclays (depending on your location), etc.
4. Strict Regulation: Wise is heavily regulated due to its presence in many countries, such as: Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (USA), UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), Belgium and the European Economic Area (EEA), Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), Customs and Excise Department (CCE) of Hong Kong, etc. Strict regulation will undoubtedly further increase the security and reliability of the platform.
5. Easy to Use: Creating an account on Wise is simple and free of charge. Anyone can register either by email or by connecting their Facebook, Google, or Apple account with the service. Registered users can also download the Wise app on their iPhone or Android device, and easily complete their transfers on the go.
6. Powerful Business Account: Get a Wise Business account in minutes without the high rates, hidden charges, and monthly fees, and move between 55+ currencies instantly. You can apply for a Business Mastercard, you can get local bank details for 10 different currencies (one-time fee: £16/€23/$31) and effortlessly pay international invoices, bills, and employees with the real exchange rate in 80 countries. 50% of payments are instant or arrive in an hour, without high conversion or transaction fees, 6x cheaper than old-school banks, and 19x cheaper than Paypal. You can pay mortgages, rent, or bills without a local bank, and transfer money instantly between businesses, offices, etc. You can send money back home from wherever you’re working and send money to accounts abroad in whatever currency you’re paid.
Connect currency accounts to Xero or QuickBooks in real time to save time on manual admin. Pay up to 1,000 people in one click by uploading a spreadsheet with details for each transfer and submitting one payment. All you need is your recipient’s bank details or email, they don’t need a Wise account to get paid. Add team members to your account to help with payments, all past payment info is saved for the future. If you're a large enterprise with over $200,000/month in international payments, Wise will set you up with an API to help you scale.
7. International Debit Card: Wise offers the world's most international debit card. Order a card in just 5 minutes: Open a free account → Order a card and pay a one-time $9 (€7/£5) fee → Activate to start spending. The Wise debit card is powered by MasterCard, you can use it as an inexpensive tool for world travel. It is is a smart contactless card that lets you spend anywhere in the world at the real exchange rate. No markups, no sneaky transaction fees. If you have the local currency in your account, the Wise card will use it. If not, it will auto-convert your money at the real rate, for a tiny fee. Either way, it’s much cheaper than bank cards, online or in-person.
8. Attentive Service: Wise offers an extensive help center on their website that almost can answer all questions about their services and platform. When you encountering a problem with the inquiry or with a money transfer, the first step should be to click on the Help Center. If there is no answer you need, you can send an email with the transfer number to the support team and usually get a response within 3-5 hours. Of course, you can also send chat messages or make phone calls (call numbers for different countries are availed on the website) to support staff. Additionally, users receive timely communication and emails every step of the way on Wise. For example, Wise sends confirmation messages when you set up transfers, send money to Wise or make a payment to a recipient. The process is completely transparent.
9. Backed by Banks and Top Investors: Wise has partnered with online bank Monzo. This means that if you’re a Monzo customer you can now easily and cheaply transfer money internationally from directly within the app. Meanwhile, top investors like Richard Branson and PayPal co-founder Max Levchin have invested in Wise's vision. All of these show that Wise has a very high level of recognition in the industry.
10. Good Reputation: Wise has a 4.5 rating out of 167,588 reviews (at the time of writing) on Trustpilot with 85% of customer reviews saying that it’s an excellent service and only 5% that it’s bad. Trustpilot is a website used by businesses and services around the world, asking real customers to leave honest reviews. It is one of the best and most trusted review sites in my opinion. Trustpilot ranks Wise as an excellent service provider and Wise's strong reputation is recognized by customers around the world.
Wise does not replace banks completely, but since its inception, Wise has been revolutionizing the banking industry. Wise is far cheaper than banks and (depending on a few factors) many of its peers, and it makes sending money easier than ever!!! If you need to send money overseas, or need to receive money from overseas, or need to pay the wages of overseas employees, Wise will be a good choice for you, because it is really very convenient and excellent!!!