Wise (www.wise.com)
Global Payments & Money Transfers Made Easy

Wise (formerly Transferwise), is an online multicurrency digital bank account which enables customers to send and receive money internationally across 80 major countries in 54 major currencies quickly, efficiently and at the best exchange rates (like the ones you see on Google). The receiver does not necessarily need to be registered on Wise - you'll just need their bank account details. With Wise, making and receiving international money transfers are made easy and cost-efficient for international businesses. 

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Additionally, Wise users get access to their own virtual bank accounts in the US, EU, UK, Australia, Canada, Singapore and more (with even more coming soon), enabling customers/clients around the world to pay you easily and conveniently like they would pay any local. Furthermore, you get access to a Wise Debit card which you can use for making online and offline payments, along with ATM withdrawals all around the world. 

 

Wise started out as a simple overseas money transfer service in 2011. It was co-founded by Taavet Hinrikus (one of the founding members of Skype) and Kristo Käärmann (an experienced financial services consultant). Wise headquarters are in London, but the company now has offices all around the world.  

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Why is sending money internationally cheaper through Wise than with traditional banks?

 

When you want to send money abroad with Wise it feels like the money is going straight from your bank account into your recipient’s account.

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In fact, there’s a bit more going on behind the scenes. Wise has accounts all over the world. When you want to send money abroad, you actually pay with your local currency into Wise’s local account. Then the Wise account in the overseas country you want to send money to will send local currency to the recipient. The money you pay never actually crosses borders.

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For example, imagine you are sending money from the UK to family in the US. You would log in to your Wise account and link it with your British bank account, you would also enter your US recipient’s bank details. This is just like setting up a new payee in your bank account.

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When ready, Wise will transfer the requested amount of British pounds (£ GBP) into their own UK account. Wise would then alert its US account, which would then send the agreed amount of US dollars ($ USD) to the recipient. The company makes its profit through fees on these transactions, which are clearly calculated upfront before any commitments are made. To get an idea of how much cheaper it is to use Wise for international money transfers compared to traditional banks, you can use their converter on their home page before you even have to register.

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