Wise Business

Wise Business is the commercial arm of Wise plc, the cross-border money transfer company founded in London in 2010 as TransferWise by Kristo Kaarmann and Taavet Hinrikus and listed on the London Stock Exchange in 2021. A business working across borders needs to receive money in foreign currencies, hold it, convert it and pay suppliers, contractors or employees abroad, which through a conventional bank usually means foreign accounts, correspondent charges and an exchange rate with a markup buried inside it. Wise Business replaces that with one online account, published fees and the mid-market exchange rate.

The centrepiece is a multi-currency account. A business can hold and manage balances in more than forty currencies from one login and, more importantly, obtain local account details in a set of major currencies. Those details give a genuine local routing and account number for US dollars, an IBAN for euros, a sort code and account number for sterling, and equivalent identifiers for Australian, New Zealand and Canadian dollars, Singapore dollars, Hungarian forint, Turkish lira and Romanian leu, among others depending on registration country. A client in the United States can pay by domestic ACH or wire as if you were an American company, and the money lands in your Wise balance rather than being converted at an intermediary bank's rate. That removes the need for foreign subsidiaries or offshore bank relationships for many small international businesses.

The transfer mechanics are the original product. Wise prices each transfer using the mid-market exchange rate, the rate banks and currency markets trade at with each other, and charges a separate fee displayed before confirmation. There is no markup hidden inside the rate, which is the core difference from a bank or from a PayPal conversion. Fees are calculated per corridor and typically run from a fraction of a percent up to around two percent, with major routes such as dollars to euros at the low end and less liquid routes costing more. Speed depends on the corridor and how the transfer is funded. Where Wise can move money through its own local accounts in both countries rather than through SWIFT, transfers complete in minutes or the same day, while some corridors still take one to two business days. Funding can be by bank transfer, card, or local payment rails in supported countries.

Batch and recurring payments cover the operational side. A business paying fifty contractors in twenty countries can upload a single batch file or use the API to create all of those payments at once, schedule them, or set up recurring transfers for rent, salaries and subscriptions. Recipients do not need a Wise account, because payments settle into an ordinary local bank account. Every transfer produces a receipt and an audit trail, and balances move between your own currencies at the mid-market rate at any time.

The Wise Business debit card extends the account into spending. It draws from your multi-currency balances and converts at the point of sale using the same published rate, so a business with euro and dollar balances can spend both without pre-converting. Cards can be issued to team members with individual spend limits and controls, virtual cards can be generated instantly for online subscriptions, and the card works with Apple Pay and Google Pay. A monthly ATM withdrawal allowance is typically included before per-withdrawal fees apply, with allowances depending on the country of registration.

Team features and integrations make it usable as a company financial system. Roles and permissions restrict who can create, approve or view payments, and approval workflows can require a second person to authorize transfers above a threshold, which matters for fraud control in a small finance team. Transaction data exports to CSV and connects to accounting platforms such as Xero, while the Wise API and Wise Platform let software companies embed transfers into their own products.

Compared with its competitors, Wise differentiates on pricing transparency rather than breadth of banking services. A traditional bank offers credit, cash handling and in-branch service, but adds a markup to the exchange rate, charges SWIFT and correspondent fees, and takes days to settle. PayPal moves money internationally and holds balances, but converts at its own rate with a spread usually several times a Wise fee. Revolut Business offers a similar account and cards, but applies exchange rate limits and weekend surcharges on lower tiers. Airwallex competes most directly on the same proposition with more emphasis on platform APIs and card issuing for technology companies. Payoneer is strong with marketplace sellers such as Amazon and Upwork vendors, and brokers such as OFX beat Wise on very large single transfers where a human negotiates the rate. Wise wins on cost clarity and on receiving money like a local.

Pricing has three parts. Opening and holding a Wise Business account is free, as is holding balances in the supported currencies. Activating local receiving account details can carry a one-time fee that varies by registration country, so it should be checked during signup. Each transfer costs a small percentage plus a fixed fee, both shown before confirmation, and receiving into your local account details may carry a small inbound fee in some currencies. Card issuance may involve a delivery charge, and a paid plan tier for larger teams adds extra users and higher limits. Wise publishes fees per corridor on its website, and because they change with market conditions and regulation, the fee for a route should be checked there.

The limitations are structural and worth stating plainly. Wise is not a bank. Depending on the jurisdiction it operates as an electronic money institution or a licensed money transmitter, so customer funds are safeguarded in segregated accounts or low-risk liquid assets rather than held as insured deposits. Protection schemes differ by country, and some US products involve partner banks with pass-through deposit insurance arrangements that need confirming for a specific balance. There is no lending, no overdraft and no business loan. Cash deposits and cheque handling are not supported, and certain entity types, industries and countries are restricted during onboarding, which involves verification that can take days. Card availability, plan features and supported currencies vary by registration country, and support is app and chat based with no branch network.

Wise Business fits remote-first companies paying contractors in several countries, e-commerce sellers receiving marketplace payouts in foreign currencies, agencies billing overseas clients, software companies with international customers, startups that want to hold a few currencies without foreign bank accounts, and anyone whose bank quotes a conversion spread exceeding the Wise fee. It does not fit businesses that need credit facilities or overdrafts, cash-heavy operations, companies whose regulators or investors require funds to sit at a chartered bank, purely domestic businesses with no foreign currency exposure, or organizations that need a full treasury relationship from one institution.

Against the alternatives, Wise is rarely the only financial provider a business uses. The common pattern is a domestic bank for payroll, taxes and credit, with Wise Business handling international receiving, currency holding and outbound payments where its fees are lower. On that narrow job it is one of the cheapest and most transparent options available.