Wise was created to make international money transfers easier, cheaper, and faster. It accomplishes this by establishing its own payment network, which eliminates the inefficiencies and high costs associated with making foreign payments.
It has always been a Wise mission to offer reasonable costs, and it is now on a mission to aim to achieve free money transfer when transferring overseas payments.
Individuals and customers, who would otherwise need to receive, hold, or exchange currencies could also benefit from a Wise multi-currency account. Further, you can always get real exchange rates and can hold and handle 50+ currencies in the same place.
History Of Wise Money Transfer
Wise, formerly known as TransferWise, is a FinCEN (Financial Crimes Enforcement Network) registered and licensed as a money transmitter in the US states and territories.
It was formed by two Estonian Fintech innovators friends in 2010, Taaret Hinrikus, Skype’s first employee, and Kristo Karmann, both working in the United Kingdom. This is after they both experienced the high cost of bank-powered international money transfers.
They received massive encouragement and support from mega investors who believed and bought their idea. The two investors were PayPal’s co-founder Peter Thiel and Virgin founder Richard Branson.
Later, it was launched in 2011 to make international money transfers easier, faster, and cheaper. Since then, it has grown to be a famous money transfer company with over 12 million people and businesses worldwide using it.
This ranges from using the service to make small payments to enterprise-level customers moving millions within a month. Transactions range to over $8 billion a month, and savings of around $4 billion a month compared to local banks.
From TransferWise to Wise
To better reflect the full range of financial services it provided, for example, the Wise bank accounts used for living, working, traveling, and doing business, TransferWise rebranded itself to Wise(wise.com).
WISE: Key Points
Key features
- Open a multi-currency account that holds and exchanges more than 50 currencies.
- Transparent pricing-all the costs and transactions cost are shown clearly on the website or Wise App before confirming any transaction.
- Modern money transfers Option-Wise uses its payment network to make complete transactions, making it fast, cheap, and reliable.
Key Stats
- Send money to more than 80+ countries.
- It consists of more than 13 million people who transact more than $8 billion a month, saving $4 million compared to other financial institutions, including banks.
- With the Wise international debit card, you can spend or withdraw in 200 countries.
- With a Wise multi-currency, you can hold and spend 54 currencies.
Opening An Account In Wise Money Transfer
- You can go to the website and register for free as a new user. It will ask you for an email address, your country of residence, and a password.
2. Select the type of account you want to open
3. Select your country
4. Complete the 2FA step and set your password.
The system automatically will send you an email with a unique security code or a link to verify your contact information, and boom, your account is open. For easy navigation of your account, one can also use the Wise App for their transactions and tracking them.
How Does Wise Work?
Through Wise, one can send money to 80+ countries around the world. The payments can be done online or in the Wise App and deposited in the recipient’s bank account. Unlike other Money Transfer providers, your recipient won’t need to create their Wise account to get their money.
With Wise, you can send any amount of money you wish, or otherwise specify the amount you would like your recipient to receive, by entering the amount you wish to send.
As soon as you have funded the payment, by sending dollars to a Wise account, Wise will then pass the equivalent currency to the recipient country from the Wise account.
Wise is a fast and safe form of money transfer since it uses its payment network, and costs are significantly lower than other traditional methods of moving money, such as banks. Further, through the app or online, one can keep track of the way the money is moving.
How Long Do Transfers Take With Wise
Transferring money through Wise is much faster compared to other money transfer providers including banks. Transfers can arrive within 24 hours or even instantly depending on different factors. Roughly, 40% of these transactions are instant, in other words, they don’t take more than 20 seconds, while 80% are credited within 24 hours.
Generally, transfer arrival will depend on the currency and countries involved, payment method, and payment value. For amounts below USD 7000, they usually arrive much faster than those above USD 7000 (GBP 4500 and €4500 EU). The good part is that one can see the estimated delivery time before you even arrange payment.
How Much Money Can You Save With Wise?
It is in every person’s interest to go for the cheapest way of money transfers, provided they are safe. Wise is known for its low and transparent fees.
But generally, the saving amount usually depends on the specific provider, the currencies, and where you are sending the money. So, how much can you save when using Wise instead of an alternative specialist provider?
To get a flavor, let us look at sending money online from your USD account to maybe a friend in the United Kingdom.
For an amount like USD 1000, with Wise, your recipient gets 739.84 GBP; with western union, they get 714.41 GBP, which is 27.40 GBP less and finally, with PayPal, the recipient gets 699.29 GBP which is 42.52 GBP less than Wise. In our comparison, your recipient will get more with Wise.
Currencies Supported By Wise Money Transfer
Wise supports over 54 different currencies in more than 80 different countries. These currencies and countries are always updated all the time. It supports some of the major currencies, which include: the USA, GBP, EUR, AUD, CAP, NZD, and NGD, among others.
Is Wise Transfer Safe?
As of February 2022, there were more than 145,000 reviews of the company, and 92% of the customers rated Wise’s services as excellent or, in other words, great. So, this shows that they got many people and their customers trust them.
In addition to the legal safety standards, Wise applies a scope of manual and automated processes to keep customer money safe. These include:
- 2-factor Authentication-This is usually required every time you log in and every time you want to make a transfer.
- Regular editing of processes.
- 24/7 anti-fraud operation.
What Is Wise Best For?
Pros of the Wise
let’s dive into some of the major advantages of using Wise as a money transfer method.
- Safe to use: 100% secure
Many people are usually very cautious when it comes to their hard-earned money. So they usually ask if it is safe to use Wise(TransferWise). The answer is yes. Wise is a licensed financial institution regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority(FCA) and Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs(HMRC).
Further, corporate accounts are usually kept separate from those consumer accounts. Further, it applies automated processes to keep customer money safe. This includes 2-factor authentication, regular editing of processes, and 24/7 anti-fraud operation.
- Low Fees: Cheaper than other money transfer providers
Wise fees are much cheaper than traditional banks, financial institutions, and exchange offices because they charge up to 5% hidden fees when making an international money transfer or even a currency exchange. Furthermore, it’s all transparent.
- Low Currency Exchange Rate
Wise provides a chart of the actual market rate- the average of a given currency’s sell-side and buy-side rates, which is a very fair value compared to the same exchange rates in the banks and other money transfer providers.
- Wide Coverage
Wise offers a very wide coverage as compared to other platforms. You can send money to over 80 countries in over 50 different currencies.
Despite all these good things that Wise comes with, it also has shortcomings. It’s not all roses and butterflies.
Cons of Wise
Here are some of the not-so-good sides of Wise:
- Transfers can be slow
Wise money transfers can be slow or fast depending on payment method, countries, and currencies involved as well as the value of a payment. The journey can take a few days or even over a week if the transfer is funded through bank accounts instead of debit cards or credit cards. This is because it usually takes time for Wise to receive, convert, and deliver your money abroad.
Transferring money to the United Kingdom or Portugal can take an average of three days to reach when funded from a bank account.
- Limited Phone Support
Though this is the same as most financial institutions, it’s worth pointing out. You can only reach support customer service by phone during the weekdays.
Other Wise Benefits
Wise Multi-Currency Account
The Wise multi-currency account has many similarities to a bank account and PayPal, though it doesn’t have the many expensive and complex fees that come with using PayPal and bank accounts.
With a multi-currency account, you can do the following:
- Hold more than 55 currencies and spend just like any other local when traveling abroad or relocating.
- Pay your mortgage or even bills without the currency conversion fees.
- Spending online without foreign exchange fees.
- You can get a MasterCard debit card in more than 200 countries worldwide.
- Get paid like any other local with international bank details in 10 currencies, which include: USD, CAD, GBP, EUR, AUD, NZG, SGD (Singapore dollars), TRY (Turkish lira), RON (Romanian lei), and HUF (Hungarian Forint).
- Also, you can receive your salary, pension, tax benefits, etc.
Despite all these benefits, there are as well some things that one can’t do within the account:
- One can’t opt for an overdraft.
- You cannot earn interest on the money stored in the Wise multi-currency account. Unlike in the banks, where you can get some interest depending on the amount you’ve stored.
- Accounts are mainly subjected to many regulations, which can cause money to be frozen.
Wise Debit Card
The Wise debit card is powered by MasterCard and can be used mainly for buying food and services in more than 200 countries. It covers about 70% of all the countries they serve, and one can apply in most countries, including the US, United Kingdom, New Zealand, Singapore, and EEA countries.
With the card, one can save a fortune when traveling, online shopping, or even moving abroad. Further, spending money in the same currency is free if your Wise debit card is linked to your multi-currency account.
Wise Business Account
One can sign a wise business account in your location anywhere in the world. This is convenient, especially if you want to grow your footprints.
With a Wise business account, you can do the following:
- Receive payments from abroad.
- Get debit cards for spending in any currency.
- Pay your overseas employees.
- Integrate Wise in your online store.
Wise Money Transfer – Conclusion
Wise has great options for sending as well as receiving money internationally. It is a fast, cheap, and the most trusted money transfer financial institution as it applies scopes of manual and automated processes to ensure the safety of the customers’ funds. Wise accounts also hold dozens of foreign currencies in many countries.
Further, the exchange rates and transaction costs are low compared to the other money transfer providers. Their system or mode of operation is a transparent fee to your services as you will always know the full cost of your transaction before you commit.