Wise Business vs Personal: What’s the difference? [2025]

Wise was founded in the UK in 2011, with a mission to make it easier, cheaper and faster to transact internationally.

Today, Wise has over 12 million personal and business customers around the world, and offers low cost international payments, as well as multi-currency personal and business accounts with transparent pricing and mid-market rate currency exchange.

Personal customers can open a Wise account online or in the Wise app for free, to hold 40+ currencies, send payments to 140+ countries, and get a linked debit card to spend and withdraw in 150+ countries.

Business customers pay a one off fee to get full account access, and get all of these features, plus multi-user access, batch payments, cloud accounting integrations and more.

We’ll cover everything you need to know about fees and features for both Wise personal and business services in this article.

Wise business vs personal: Key points

Let’s start with some key features available with Wise personal and business accounts in the UK.

👥 Wise personal accounts in the UK:

• Free to open - apply online or in app, and upload your proof of ID

• Hold and exchange 40+ currencies, send payments to 140+ countries

• Get local account details for 8+ currencies

• Currency exchange uses the mid-market exchange rate

• One time fee of 7 GBP to get a Wise card

• Manage your money via the Wise app, with transaction notifications, and options to freeze and unfreeze your card

💼 Wise business accounts in the UK:

• Free to open online or in app using proof of ID and business documents and a one-off 45 GBP to access account features.

• Hold and exchange 40+ currencies, send payments to 140+ countries

• Get local account details for 8+ currencies, to get paid by clients, marketplaces and PSPs

• Currency exchange uses the mid-market exchange rate

• Order business debit cards and expense cards for your team, for 3 GBP each

• Multi-user access to add team members and manage their permissions

• Batch payments to up to 1,000 people at once

• Xero and QuickBooks integrations

• Manage your money via the Wise app, with transaction notifications, and options to freeze and unfreeze your card

What is the difference between a Wise business and personal account?

There's plenty of overlap in what you can do with a Wise personal account vs Wise business account. Both account types have neat multi-currency functionality, options for low cost international transfers, SWIFT details to receive in 20+ currencies, and low, transparent transaction fees.

Wise personal accounts are designed to allow individuals to manage their international personal finances seamlessly in one place, with no account opening charge and no ongoing fees.

Wise business accounts are different in that they also offer some business friendly extras- with a low one time fee for full account access. As with the personal account, there are no ongoing fees to pay for Wise business.

Wise Personal vs Business: Quick comparison

Here’s a quick head to head of Wise business vs personal accounts, so you can see which features are available for each account type:

Wise Personal vs Business fees

* Information checked on 7th November 2025

To sum up, there’s no fee to open a Wise personal account or business account, but you’ll need to pay a one time fee of 45 GBP to access full features of the Wise business account.

Both Wise personal and business accounts allow you to receive money conveniently with local account details for up to 8+ currencies, hold 40+ currencies, and send payments to over 140+ countries.

You’ll be able to order a Wise card for yourself as a personal customer - and if you have a business account you can order cards for yourself and your team for easy expense management. Business customers also get perks like batch payments and accounting integrations.

These are good examples of business-specific features that highlight what business accounts can do relative to personal accounts.

Do I need a Wise personal or business account?

You may be wondering whether you even need a business account.

👥 Wise personal accounts come with multiple tools to help you manage your personal finances across multiple currencies.

💼 If you’re running a UK registered business, a Wise business account offers the perks of the Wise personal account, plus some business friendly extras which can make your life easier.

How to open a Wise personal account

It’s easy to open a Wise personal account - and the process can be completed entirely online or in the Wise app. Here’s what you have to do:

• Open the Wise app or desktop site

• Register with your email, Facebook, Apple or Google ID

• Upload your ID document to complete the verification step

• Top up your account, order an international debit card or set up your first transfer

To open a Wise personal account, you’ll usually need to upload an image of your photo ID - like a passport. You may also be asked to show a proof of address, and/or a selfie with your photo ID for verification purposes. You’ll be able to do all this from your phone, and can get help from the Wise team any time if you run into difficulties.

How to open a Wise business account

Here’s a brief step by step guide on how to open a Wise business account:

• Open the Wise app or desktop site

• Select Register and add details about your business, and yourself as the account holder

• Pay the one time 45 GBP fee

• Upload your personal and business documents to complete the verification step

• You’re ready to go once the Wise team has verified your account

The exact information and paperwork needed to open your Wise business account can vary based on your business type.

You’ll be guided through the process by online prompts, and can reach out to the Wise team in the app if you need more information. If you don’t have everything required to hand when you start the process you can simply save and come back to it later. Easy.

Can I have a business and a personal account on Wise?

Yes. You can have a personal Wise account to manage your own money across currencies - and also open a separate Wise business account for your company finances. That makes it easy to keep your own and your business’ finances separate, so you can keep on top of everything.

Can I open two Wise accounts?

You can open one Wise personal account, and add in one or more Wise business accounts, depending on how many different UK registered companies you operate.

Can I change my Wise account from business to personal?

You don't need to change your Wise Business account to a personal one. You can simply open a personal account alongside your business account. Personal Wise accounts are free to open, with no minimum balance and no monthly fee.

Conclusion

Wise personal and business accounts both have some really helpful features for anyone who lives, works, travels, or runs a business internationally. Being able to hold and exchange multiple currencies in the same place makes life easier - and because Wise offers the mid-market exchange rate whenever you exchange currencies in your balance, spend with your card or send a payment, you can also cut your overall costs.

Use this guide to figure out if Wise personal or business is best for you. Wise personal covers the tools you need to manage your money across borders day to day - while Wise business adds in extras that can help save even more time and money for freelancers, entrepreneurs and business owners.