Wise Payments
reviews and complaints

My bank uses adjusted exchange rates to take profit, as TransferWise (TW) says banks do. However, TW fees are more than high enough to wash out those adjusted rates. My bank doesn't charge wire transfer fees, so TW is significantly more expensive. I applaud TW for its transparency, but the fact that they use percentage-based fees (e.g. instead of flat fees) means that their fee structure, aside from transparency, is not so different from major banks. The fees easily make them less cost effective, even though they offer comparisons of themselves and banks (including mine) in their marketing pages. I am not sure how they're getting this wrong: my bank, which they compare themselves with directly, is actually consistently cheaper. My international banks in Japan are also cheaper. One of my experiences: TW used SWIFT to transfer USD to JPY (to Japan); they charged conversion and wire fees between $100-$200 (for a large transfer), then intermediary bank(s) took about $20. When I've tried similar wires with my bank, they've charged 0 in fees, converted to JPY at a comparable (often better) rate than TW, and used an intermediary bank (Citibank) that does not charge fees when SWIFT transferring funds to Japan. Also, surprisingly, funding a borderless account (e.g. 'Add USD') is costly. Why is there a fee to *receivea wire transfer so that you can hold a balance at TW? Many of even the less-good wire-capable banks charge no fee to receive wires. Finally, Japan is broken. 1) You need to have excessive documentation to verify your identity if you want to transfer to your own account, which means you are unlikely to be able to do it if you are overseas (unless you take your My Number card on international trips). 2) The app says that SWIFT transfers to Japan are only suitable for amounts greater than JPY 10M. Meanwhile my bank allows me to SWIFT transfer any amount into Japan and doesn't charge me any fees. 3) But wait, there's more. Remember 1) up there? It seems to depend on the time of day that you make a transfer—or something. If you try again at a different time of day or perhaps while connected to a different wifi or cell network, it might just work. So far I've actually used TW a lot, but mostly for the convenience factor: it's simpler to set up transfers via local banks rather than to deal with international transfers, "standing wire instructions", etc. By using TW, in many cases you are able to avoid phone calls, faxes, etc. However, TW is definitely NOT the most cost effective option in basically any of my experiences so far. I am slowing down with TW usage as I establish my own channels for transfers. For example, the cheapest way for my to transfer / convert USD (from the US) to JPY (to Japan) is to use an international USD wire with my bank (zero fees anywhere including intermediaries), then sell the USD for JPY in my local Japan account. For larger transfers the difference between this and TW can be hundreds if not thousands of dollars saved. Don't buy into the marketing before you do your own research with your own existing banking options. You may be paying more without realizing it.