Wise Fees: A Full Review 2024

Wise transfer fees

When you make a Wise international transfer you’ll pay couple of different transparent costs:

• Fixed fee: covering the fixed costs associated with the transaction. For major currencies this is usually $1.2 – $2

• Variable fee: covering the cost of the currency exchange. For major currencies this is typically around 0.36% - 0.4% of the transfer value

The total fee you’ll pay is always displayed before you confirm the transaction. Let’s look at the Wise transfer fees for 5 popular world currencies as an example:

*Fees correct at time of research 2nd October 2024

Wise fee calculator

To make sure you can easily check and compare the costs of sending money, Wise has a handy transfer fee calculator, which you can access online or in the Wise app. Just enter your payment details to instantly see the full cost, the exchange rate available, and the estimated delivery time. Here’s how:

1. Select the currency you’re sending to and from

2. Confirm how much you want to send, or how much you want the recipient to get

3. Choose how you’ll pay for the transfer

With the Wise fee calculator you can see the variable fee as a percentage and a total, the fixed fee, and the total cost. It also shows exactly what your recipient will receive, and when it’s likely to arrive in their account.

Check out the Wise transfer fee calculator here, to start saving on your international transfers today.

Wise limits

Wise money transfer limits can vary a little depending on the currencies involved. However, Wise is safe even for high value transfers, and limits are set to allow individuals and businesses to transact freely. If you’re sending AUD from your bank, you can usually send up to 1.8 million AUD per transfer.

In some cases the limits can change based on how you want to pay for your transfer. There’s a lower limit when sending AUD by card, for example:

• Card – up to 18,000 AUD

• PayID – up to 50,000 AUD

• RTGS – no limit

If you do run into a Wise limit you’ll be able to get information and advice about your options easily online or by opening an in-app chat with customer services.

Here’s a look at the per transaction limits Wise uses for international payments, split out by currency. We’ve covered some popular currencies here - you can learn more online in the comprehensive range of transfer guides provided by currency.

How does Wise pricing work?

Wise has its own payment network which lets it arrange international transfers faster and for a lower cost compared to banks which rely on the SWIFT network. This can cut down on the costs of transferring money and allows Wise to manage their pricing differently too.

As we mentioned earlier, Wise’s commitments include:

• Being radically transparent about costs

• Charging as little as possible – and lowering fees over time

• Using fair pricing so you only pay for the services you use

How much you pay with Wise will depend on the service you’re using, how you want to pay, and the currencies involved. However, you’ll always see the full fee upfront, with no hidden fees to worry about.

Sending large amounts with Wise

Wise is a safe provider which is already trusted by 16 million+ customers around the world, and overseen by global regulatory bodies everywhere it operates. That makes it a very safe provider to choose for high value international transfers. Even better, you can even get a discount on your costs if you regularly send Wise payments for yourself or your business.

If you send more than the currency equivalent of 20,000 GBP a month (around 38,500 AUD) you could get an automatic discount of up to 0.17%. There’s no need to pre-arrange the fee, which means everyone gets the best possible deal, every time. Here’s how the Wise high value payment discounts break down:

Wise card fees

As well as fast and secure money transfers, Wise also offers multi-currency accounts you can use to hold and exchange 40+ currencies, and a linked debit card for spending and withdrawals in 150+ countries.

You can add a balance to your Wise account yourself, or have someone else send you money using the local and SWIFT account details which come with your account. As the Wise account is a true multi-currency account, you can receive payments in a selection of foreign currencies and hold your balance for future use. Use your foreign currency balances for future payments to others, convert to another currency you need, or use your money to spend with your card when you’re abroad.

There’s no fee to spend a currency you hold in your account with a Wise card - and if you don’t have the currency you need you can just let the card convert for you, with the mid-market exchange rate and low fees from 0.33%. Here’s a rundown of the important fees you need to know about when using the Wise card:

Fees to add money to Wise Account

The Wise top-up fees you pay depend on how much you want to add, and which currency you’ll pay in. If you need to convert currencies to deposit them into your Wise account, a small fee will apply.

Wise account fees for holding money

It’s free to hold money in your Wise account. In fact, you can hold money in 40+ currencies for free including AUD, NZD, USD, EUR, GBP and CAD.

Fees for sending money from your Wise account 

Once you hold a balance in your Wise account you can use it to send payments to 160+ countries. Fees start from 0.33%, and vary depending on the currency you’re sending to and from.

Fees for receiving money into Wise account

You can receive payments to Wise using local or SWIFT account details. The costs can vary depending on the currency and the way the sender processes the transfer:

It’s free to receive payments in select currencies using local or SWIFT bank details - there are a couple of important exceptions:

• 10 CAD fee to receive payments via SWIFT in CAD

• 6.11 USD to receive a USD wire (ACH payments are free)

Wise ATM fees

With Wise, you’ll get some free ATM withdrawals every month, no matter where in the world you are. You can find how much is left of your free monthly ATM withdrawal allowance easily in the Wise app, so you’ll always keep on top of your costs.

Here’s how the Wise card ATM fee shapes up:

• The first 2 ATM withdrawals up to the value of 350 AUD/month are free.

• After this, a fee of 1.5 AUD + 1.75% of the withdrawal value applies

Wise foreign transaction fees

Many bank debit or credit cards will charge a foreign transaction fee whenever you spend or make a withdrawal in a foreign currency. The exact cost depends on the card you have, but it’s often about 3% of the value of the transaction. Wise does not have a foreign transaction fee. It’s free to spend any currency you have in your account, and if you need currency conversion you’ll pay a small fee from 0.33%, based on the currencies involved.

How does Wise pricing compare?

Before you choose a provider for your international payment it’s a smart idea to compare a few options, to make sure you’re getting the best available deal.

The good news is that money transfer specialist providers are often cheaper than using a bank. However, even some specialist providers might include a part of their fee in the exchange rate they use. That means you’ll need to look carefully at the overall costs and exchange rates to find the cheapest provider for your payment.

Conclusion

Wise aims to be fully transparent in its pricing. You’ll see the full cost of the service you need upfront before you commit, with no hidden charges or exchange rate markups. This can be a lot to take in, but it’s more transparent than bundling costs or hiding a charge in the exchange rate, which is what many other providers do.

Overall, Wise’s low fees and transparent approach to pricing makes it a market beating service for many customers.