
Wise Business Review: Fees, Exchange Rates, Functionalities, and Monito's Verdict

Guide

Writing for Monito, Olivia is here to help users navigate the world of money transfer fees, exchange rates, and tips and tricks that help you make your best decisions.
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Read moreTransferwise for Business is now Wise Business!
The business offering from Wise, formerly TransferWise, Wise Business is an online-only banking alternative to classic, corporate business accounts that hold geographic and interactive limitations. Wise Business is international, allowing you to hold and manage money in over fifty currencies, and to send money from your multi-currency account to the over eighty countries on Wise. For premium users, Wise Business also allows you to hold bank account details, with information such as an account numbers, IBANs, SWIFT/BIC, and sort codes, in British Pounds, Euros, US Dollars, Australian Dollars, New Zealand Dollars, Hungarian Forint, Romanian Leu, and Singapore Dollars. Gone are the restraints of traditional business accounts: Wise Business allows you to do modern business in the borderless world.
What Monito Likes About Wise Business
- Great mobile app;
- Pay invoices in over 70 countries;
- Batch pay up to 1,000 invoices and salaries at once;
- Business debit cards for employees;
- Give select employees access to money management;
- Move money between over 55 currencies;
- Receive international payments without big fees.
What Monito Dislikes About Wise Business
- No employee credit cards;
- Features that are free on personal Wise accounts (like IBANs) are paying with Wise Business;
- Card availability is limited by location and is largely unavailable outside of Europe.
Important: TransferWise Is Now Known as Wise
As of early March 2021, TransferWise is no longer calling itself TransferWise. Instead, TransferWise has renamed itself Wise to broaden its appeal and encapsulate the full range of services it offers. Transferwise for Business is now consequently Wise Business.
Since its foundation in 2011, TransferWise has come to be known as a well-established and much-loved brand in the international money transfer industry, offering some of the cheapest transfers available according to data from Monito's comparison engine. However, TransferWise has grown to offer new services, such a multi-currency debit card, foreign currency bank details, and other bank-like financial services.
While TransferWise for Business is now called Wise Business, it's important to note that nothing changes for you as a customer. You're still able to use the service as usual with the same set of login details that you used on TransferWise. (If you use a password manager, you'll need to re-enter your login credentials the first time you sign in.) These changes also apply to TransferWise and TransferWise Borderless, which are called Wise and Wise Multi-currency Account, respectively. To find out more about these changes, be sure to take a look at Wise's original blog post announcing the rebranding and Monito's commentary.
Multi-currency, Transfers, and Payments
Being part of the Wise (formerly TransferWise) world, Wise Business essentially gives you a multi-currency account that allows you to hold and manage money in the over fifty countries
You can use Wise for Business to make payments to more than eighty countries, and they generally are either instant or arrive within the hour. Thanks to the leaner rates offered by Wise (formerly TransferWise) your transfers will be made at near midmarket exchange rates. Wise Business claims that sending payments through them is up to nineteen times cheaper than doing so with PayPal, a mainstay in the online business account world.
On top of its general payments system, Wise Business also allows you to make up to 1000 batch payments at once by uploading a spreadsheet with all the details for each transfer. This is an appealing offering for businesses as it is something that might make it a lot easier to handle international payroll or expenses reimbursement. Of course, you can also set up recurring payments, and Wise stores all past payment info, so you don’t have to reenter details every time.
Banking Alternative
While Wise Business (formerly Transferwise for Business) is free to use for making international transfers, accessing payment tools, accounting integrations, and team features, you can also access more advanced features giving you everything you need for international banking and flexibility much like a multicurrency bank account, notably through personalized account details, for a one-time set-up fee of USD 31 for the international banking package.
For this USD 31 starter fee, Wise Business will provide you with the following premium features:
- Banking details like an IBAN, sort code, routing number, or account number, depending on the country you’ve selected and their requirements;
- Direct debits;
- The possibility to receive payments from a third party;
- The possibility to withdraw money from platforms like Shopify, Stripe, and others.
These features will allow you to get paid as cheaply and seamlessly as possible no matter where your customers are, without needing to open separate bank accounts to maintain your business. In our opinion, the one-time USD 31 fee is well worth the features that it provides and the practicality of being able to run your business out of one account.
However, if you don't want to pay the USD 31, you can opt for a totally free account which comes with a few limitations, such as a lack of account details in multiple countries, Stripe and Shopify withdrawals, direct debit facilities, and a few other services.
Wise Business
Debit Card
If you are located in Europe or in the European area, Wise Business (formerly Transferwise for Business) provides you with a multi-currency debit card that you can use in over fifty currencies. The physical Wise Business card is in a more sober navy blue, but you also spend virtually through the card details in your app.
A Wise Business account comes with one free debit card, but you can order additional team members cards for £3 each, allowing expenses to be better delegated and preventing staff from having to use their personal cards on business expenses. Wise Business allows you to monitor transactions and spending, and accounting integrations make it easy to filter and manage transactions.
Outside of Europe and the European are, the Wise Business debit card is only available in Canada, Singapore, Japan, Australia and New Zealand. Countries outside these areas can still access most other Wise Business banking features.
Wise Business is part of the larger Wise (formerly TransferWise). You can read more about Wise as a whole in our in-depth review of its personal account offerings.
Frequently Asked Questions about Wise Business (formerly TransferWise for Business)
How much does a Wise Business account cost?
A Wise Business account is free to open and use for managing and transferring money, but a one-time £16 fee will get you extra banking details like an IBAN, account number, routing number, or SWIFT code.
Can I hold local account details with Wise Business?
You can hold local account details with Wise Business, formerly TransferWise, in the following currencies: British Pounds, Euros, US Dollars, Australian Dollars, New Zealand Dollars, Hungarian Forint, Romanian Leu, and Singapore Dollars.
What currencies can I manage money in with Wise Business?
You can manage money in the fifty following currencies with Wise Business, formerly TransferWise for Business: British Pound, US Dollar, Euro, Canadian Dollar, Australian Dollar, Swiss Franc, New Zealand Dollar, Philippine Peso, Swedish Krona, Singapore Dollar, United Arab Emirates Dirham, Argentine Peso, Bangladeshi Taka, Botswana Pula, Bulgarian Lev, Chilean Peso, Chinese Yuan, Costa Rican Colón, Czech Koruna, Danish Krone, Egyptian Pound, Georgian Lari, Ghanaian Cedi, Hong Kong Dollar, Croatian Kuna, Hungarian Forint, Indonesian Rupiah, Israeli Shekel, Indian Rupee, Japanese Yen, Kenyan Shilling, South Korean Won, Sri Lankan Rupee, Moroccan Dirham, Mexican Peso, Malaysian Ringgit, Nigerian Naira, Norwegian Krone, Nepalese Rupee, Peruvian Sol, Polish Zloty, Pakistani Rupee, Romanian Leu, Russian Ruble, Thai Baht, Turkish Lira, Tanzanian Shilling, Ukrainian Hryvnia, Ugandan Shilling, Uruguayan Peso, Vietnamese Dong, West African CFA Franc, South African Rand, Zambian kwacha.
Is Wise Business safe?
Wise (formerly Transferwise) is a long-established name in the online financial world and is fully licensed and authorized. It employs over 2,000 employees and is one of the biggest names in the field.
Officially, Wise (formerly TransferWise) and consequently, Wise Business is not a bank and consequently not covered by financial protection schemes like the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) or the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC). This means that your money is not insured by these schemes if Wise were to go under. However, Wise follows safeguarding rules set by the big financial authorities around the world such as the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in the United Kingdom and the European Economic Area and the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) in the United States. As a result, Wise stores your money in accounts at established financial institutions like Morgan Chase and Barclays, and so if Wise were to go under, your money would be safe.
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