Why does Wise charge a transfer fee

Wise charges a transfer fee to cover the real costs of sending and converting money, rather than hiding its costs inside a marked-up exchange rate.

According to Wise, many banks and other providers describe their transfers as free but make their money by giving customers a worse exchange rate. Wise instead converts at the mid-market rate, the live rate without a profit margin added, and shows its charge as a separate fee.

• Transparent pricing: Because the fee is listed on its own, the cost of a Wise transfer is visible up front instead of being built into the rate.
• Operating costs: Moving money between countries involves paying local banking networks and maintaining pools of currencies around the world, and the fee pays for this.
• Conversion costs: Exchanging one currency for another has a real cost, which differs depending on the currencies involved.

Under Wise pricing, the cost of a transfer depends on three things: the amount you send, how you pay for it, and the exchange rate. The fee itself is made up of these parts:

• Fixed fee: A flat charge that covers the basic cost of processing the transaction. Third-party reviews put it at roughly $0.50 to $1 for many transfers.
• Variable fee: A percentage that reflects the cost of converting between the specific currencies in the transfer.
• Payment method: The total changes with how you fund the transfer, so paying by bank transfer can cost a different amount from paying by credit card.

To see the exact charge for a transfer, enter the sending currency, receiving currency and amount on Wise's own fee page, which breaks down each part before you confirm.