How do Wise make money

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Accepted Answer

Wise makes money mainly by charging upfront fees on currency conversion and international money transfers, alongside business, card, interest and platform income.

Wise is not a bank and says it does not lend out customer money, so its income comes from the services it provides through its three products: Wise Account, Wise Business and Wise Platform.

Conversion and transfer fees: When you send or convert money between currencies, Wise charges a fee shown before you pay, which can be a percentage or a fixed amount depending on the currencies. It converts at the mid-market exchange rate rather than adding a margin to the rate.
Business fees: Wise Business customers can pay extra for certain features, such as batch payments at high volume or receiving some international wire payments sent over SWIFT.
Card and ATM fees: Standard card spending in a held currency is often free, but cash withdrawals above a monthly free allowance carry a fee. On the US pricing page, for example, each ATM withdrawal costs 1.95 USD plus 1.95% once you have withdrawn 250 USD in a calendar month.
Interest on balances: Wise earns interest on some customer funds held with partner banks, after deducting any return it passes on to customers who have opted in to earn interest.
Wise Platform: Banks and large companies pay Wise to plug its cross-border payment infrastructure into their own services.

Since the fee depends on the currencies involved and the type of account, the Wise pricing page is where to check what a specific transfer, conversion or withdrawal will cost before you make it.