All Insights | Personal Finance

Wise Business Review: Pros & Cons

Craig Ian

Updated: March 18, 2025

OUR RATING

Rated 4.5 out of 5

Our take: Wise Business is a strong choice for small and medium sized businesses seeking cost-effective, transparent solutions for international transactions. The clear fee structure and mid-market exchange rates offer meaningful savings and simplicity. However, some drawbacks include its lack of a full banking license, meaning it may be perceived as less secure than traditional banks. Additionally, Wise has no physical branches and does not rank as highly as some banks for customer service.

Key Features

Multi-currency account with over 50 currencies from a single account
High Rates On Savings Accounts in different currencies
Good rates for larger transfers
Listed on the London Stock Exchange & Top Tier Regulator
Batch payments allow businesses to pay up to 1,000 recipients simultaneously

Key Limitations

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KEY TAKEAWAYS

Global Reach: Wise is offering personal and business accounts. In 2024 they are serving over 10 million active customers, support 40+ currencies, and operate in 170+ countries. It’s particularly popular with small and medium-sized businesses managing multiple currencies.
Main Appeal: Wise’s appeal lies in its multi-currency account, competitive international transfer rates, and reasonable exchange rates. In some countries, Wise offers options for cash holdings in money markets and equity funds.
Mobile Friendly Platform: Wise’s app is highly rated for its quick transfers and favorable currency conversions. However, common complaints include delays, frozen transactions, and subpar customer service.
Regulatory Oversight: Wise is regulated by major financial authorities (e.g., FCA, ASIC) across various countries. The company is listed on the LSE which increases transparency compared to come of its competitors. It has seen a strong increase in profitability in the last few years.

Pros & Cons and suitability

Pros

CONS

Availability Checker

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WISE Snapshot

What Is Wise ?

Wise is a leading global currency exchange and transfer platform with three core offerings: personal accounts (Wise Account), business accounts (Wise Business), and a platform for institutional clients (Wise Platform). This review focuses on Wise Business, which now serves over 300,000 businesses.

Reaching Profitability, with a good service offering

Wise was established in 2011 and it is headquartered in London. The company is listed on the London Stock Exchange with a valuation of £8.26 billion as May 2024. According to their 2023 annual report, the company is profitable and had £846 million in revenue (up 51% YoY) with £239 million in EBITDA (up 97% YoY).

Company Info

Characteristic	Wise Business
Inception Date	🛈 2011
Headquarters	🛈 London, UK
Key Owner	🛈 Kristo Käärmann - founder (18%), AH Capital Management LLC (8%), Taavet Hinrikus (7%)
Company Evaluation	LSE £7.47 billion (October 2024)
Revenue	✅ £846 million (2023)

Features

Feature	Wise Business
Key Base Currencies	🛈 All Major Currencies
Transfer Speed	✅ Instant
Multicurrency	✅ Yes
Cash Interest	✅ High Rate
Mobile App	✅ Yes
Debit Cards	✅ Yes

I. Company

Business Profile

Since its founding in 2011, Wise has enjoyed fast growth in both user base and revenue. With time, they have added new services such as a debit card, business accounts, a payment system integration platform (for companies), and savings accounts. Nevertheless, their primary focus remained on currency exchange and international transfers. In 2024 they are serving over 10 million active customers, support 40+ currencies, and operate in 170+ countries.

Safety Considerations

The company’s headquarters are located in London, UK, but Wise has other group entities registered in EEA (Belgium), the US, Brazil, Japan, Australia, and others. For instance, it is regulated by the FCA in the UK and the National Bank of Belgium in EEA countries. Other regulators include ASIC in Australia, FINTRAC in Canada and MAS in Singapore. However, they are regulated as an electronic money company, not a bank which has safety implications, as per below.

Cash Custodians & Protection Schemes

Since Wise is not a bank, they are not part of a deposit protection scheme. The way that they are protecting customers’ deposits is through safeguarding (keeping your funds separate from the company’s fund). This practice could look different depending on your residency. Generally, customer funds are mostly kept in cash at one of the major depositary banks. Part of the funds could be held in the form of short-term government bonds of developed countries. The funds you invest through either Wise Interest or Wise Stocks are generally eligible for investor protection depending on your residency. For example, this amounts to up to €20,000 in EEA or £85,000 in the UK.

Security

Some of the security features include a dedicated fraud team, real-time notifications when spending money, two-factor authentication, logging in with your fingerprint, etc. The company also claims to run regular vulnerability scans, use independent finance and IT auditors, and be transparent in its data collection, processing, and storage policies. They are also running a bug bounty BugCrowd program which rewards users for finding security vulnerabilities. Wise is also monitoring any suspicious financial activities and employing standard “Know Your Customer” (KYC) practices when opening an account with them. Wise also complies with the Payment Services Directive 2 legislation.

II. Fee structure

Payment Processing Fees

For Wise Business accounts in the EU and UK, the fees are as following:

Local Account Number: obtaining local account in 22 currencies (including AED, AUD, CAD, EUR, GBP, and more) costs a one-time fee—50 EUR in the EU and 60 GBP in the UK. ⚠️ For most countries Wise has back-end transfer without need for an account, so having a local account number is not required. However, for customers in the EEA, UK, Switzerland and Singapore the fee is mandatory.
Local Payments (non Swift / non Wire): Receiving local payments in eight currencies (AUD, CAD, EUR, GBP, HUF, NZD, SGD, and TRY) is free.
USD / CAD payments: incoming USD wire/SWIFT payments incur a 6.11 USD fee, and CAD SWIFT payments cost 10 CAD.
SWIFT payments in other currencies don’t incur Wise fees, though intermediary banks may charge additional fees.
Card / Tap to Pay Payments: non supported. For businesses needing these options, a third-party payment processor like Square, Stripe, or PayPal can be integrated.

Exchange Rates and Fees

Fees are based on a percentage of the transfer amount and depend on the currency, with rates starting at 0.33%.

If you use debit or credit card there is on top a relatively high fixed fee as shown in the example below.

You can use the Wise Business Calculator to simulate the exact amount that the recipient will receive.

Wise business calculator example

The image shows a money transfer example where £1,000 is sent from the UK to a Euro account. After a total fee of £3.88 (comprising a fixed fee of £0.59 and a variable fee of £3.29, equivalent to 0.33%), £996.12 is converted at a rate of 1.19596, resulting in the recipient receiving €1,191.32.

An additional note highlights that non-SEPA EUR transfers may incur extra charges.

Savings account cash interest comparison with Revolut

Wise Business accounts also allow you to earn interest on your cash with them. The table below shows the current interest available with Wise Business compared with the alternative accounts at Revolut. It is worth noting that the higher interest Revolut accounts also come with monthly fees whereas the Wise Business account is available to all their account holders.

Cash Interest as November 2024

Currency	Wise	Revolut Grow	Revolut Scale	Revolut Enterprise
GBP	4.46% APY	2.25% AER	2.75% AER	3.51% AER
EUR	3.24% APY	2.25% AER	2.75% AER	3.51% AER
USD	4.74% APY	2.25% AER	2.75% AER	3.51% AER

WISE Assets

Wise also offers access to stocks through the iShares MSCI World Index Fund which is managed by Blackrock. This tracks around 1500 companies globally across different countries and industries. This is currently available with a 0.15% fund management fee from Blackrock and a 0.4% service fee from Wise, giving a total annual charge of 0.55%.

WISE VS REVOLUT: Simulation for different amounts

The table below compares currency conversions for Wise & Revolut (Standard Account) and across different transaction amounts including fees, allowances and spreads.

It shows the converted amount for 100, 1,000, and 5,000 units of the base currency for various currency pairs, including a specific comparison for 5,000 units with Wise. The data are as October 2024.

This comparison highlights the differences in conversion amounts between Revolut and Wise, with Wise generally offering more favorable rates across various currency pairs and amounts. Revolut tends to offer slightly better rates for smaller amounts across several currency pairs due to the free allowances.

For example, USD to EUR, USD to GBP, and EUR to GBP conversions show marginally higher converted amounts for Revolut at the 100-unit level. However, for larger amounts (5,000 units), Wise generally provides better rates, as seen in the comparisons for USD to EUR, USD to GBP, and other currency pairs.

Thus, Revolut might be more advantageous for smaller transactions, while Wise appears to offer more favorable rates for higher amounts.

Wise vs Revolut Standard Account Simulation as November 2024

From/To	For 100 (W)*	For 100 (R**)	For 1K (W)*	For 1K (R**)	For 5K (W)*	For 5K (R**)
$ to €	92.8	93.9	935.6	940.6	4,687	4,703.6 + $37.2 fee
$ to £	76.8	77.8	775	778.2	3,882.6	3,894.8 + $37.2 fee
$ to CHF	86.2	88	876.5	881.3	4,394.5	4,409.5 + $37.2 fee
€ to £	81.6	82.5	823.7	826.9	4,121.4	4,134 + €37.95 fee
€ to NOK	1,151.7	1,171.6	11,677.1	11,729.4	58,458	58,647.8 + €37.95 fee
€ to SEK	1,133.8	1,153.4	11,497.2	11,547.4	57,556.7	57,738.3 + €37.95 fee
€ to PLN	428	434.5	4,331	4,348.9	21,677	21,743 + €37.95 fee
£ to PLN	519.5	524.1	5,234.3	5,251	26,188.5	26,245.1 + £40

* Bank Transfer Simulation
** Revolut Standard Account

Additional Charges

Each debit card cost £3/ 4 EUR.

There are also 2 free ATM withdrawals up to £200 each month however over this limit there is a 1.75% and £0.5 charge for each withdrawal over this limit.

III. Platform & Features

Wise Account Currencies

Businesses can hold and manage over 50 currencies in their Wise account including all major currencies.

You can add money to your account in these currencies: AUD, BGN, BRL, CAD, CNY, CHF, CZK, DKK, EUR, GBP, HKD, HUF, IDR, JPY, MYR, NOK, NZD, PHP, PLN, RON, SEK, SGD, TRY and USD.

Others Features

Transfer Speed – most domestic transfers are nearly instant and international transactions completed within 1-2 business days. The platform provides real-time updates on the status of transfers.
Mobile App – The Wise mobile app is available for both iOS and Android devices.
Debit Cards
Batch Transfers – allow businesses to pay up to 1,000 recipients at once.
Team – Wise Business accounts can be managed by multiple team members, with customizable permissions to ensure appropriate access levels. Wise also allows you to put spending limits on the cards for different parts of the team.
Integration – Wise integrates with popular accounting software such as Xero and QuickBooks.

IV. WISE Reviews

Reputation

Wise Business is generally well-received by customers, who praise its transparency, ease of use, and cost-effectiveness. However, some users note the lack of traditional banking features as a drawback. On Trustpilot, Wise has a score of 4.3 out of 5, it has a 4.6 out of 5 on Google Play and a 4.8 out of 5 rating on Apple store, reflecting positive customer experiences.

Sign-Up Process: The sign-up process for Wise Business is straightforward and can be completed online. Wise stated that most verification is done within 5 business days however if the account is being opened by someone other than a company director or owner then it may require further checks.
Platform Interface/Ease of Use: Wise is primarily a mobile app with a clean and intuitive interface. The home screen shows your balance, transaction options, and recent transactions; customer support is not easy to find.
Transaction Process: Transactions can be accessed directly from the home screen. You can find recipients by various details and save them for future use. There are no extra charges for these services.
Customer Support: Wise offers customer support through live chat, email, and phone. While the support is generally well-regarded, some users have noted that response times can vary.
Areas for Improvement: While Wise Business is praised for its transparency and ease of use, some areas for improvement include expanding traditional banking services and offering interest on account balances. There have also been some complaints around delayed/freezing certain transactions.

Thank you for reading.
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