What is Wise?
Wise is an international money-transfer and multi-currency account provider. It offers a personal account for sending, spending and converting money, a business account with batch payments and team cards, and Wise Platform, an API product that lets banks, fintechs and enterprises add cross-border payments, multi-currency accounts and card issuing to their own products. The product runs on the web and in mobile apps, and the company site is wise.com. iThub lists it as commercial software; the core product is closed source, so this profile has no GitHub repository.
According to the company's own story page, Wise was launched in 2011 as TransferWise by two founders who were moving money between pounds and euros and wanted to avoid bank exchange-rate margins. It later added a multi-currency account, a debit card and a business account and changed its name to Wise. The company describes its fee model as the live mid-market exchange rate plus a small, upfront fee, and its mission page says it was founded in London.
Regulation is by country. In the United Kingdom, Wise Payments Limited is authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority as an electronic money institution under firm reference 900507, and Wise Assets Ltd is authorised by the FCA under registration number 839689. Wise publishes a regulation article listing the local entities and licences in other regions, for example Wise Payments Canada Inc. as a FINTRAC-registered money service business, Wise Payments Hong Kong Limited as a licensed money service operator and Wise Europe SA for the European Economic Area. Which entity serves you depends on where you live.
For developers, Wise Platform documentation describes a REST API with JSON responses and OAuth 2.0 authentication. The reference documents resources such as quotes, recipients, transfers, balances, profiles and cards, offers a production server and a sandbox, and lists OpenAPI descriptions for download. The current API version shown during this check was 2026Q4. Access requires credentials from Wise, and available features depend on business type and location.
Wise is not a bank in most places it operates: the company states that it safeguards customer money rather than lending it out, and its UK page says FSCS cover applies only to the Wise Assets product. Cash and cheque deposits are not accepted. This profile is a summary of official pages checked on November 7, 2026, not financial advice.
Wise screenshots
Explore the interface. Open a screenshot to view it at full size.
Capture of the official wise.com send-money page: the transfer calculator with sending and receiving amounts, delivery estimate, total fee and rate guarantee, as shown for Switzerland.
Capture of the official Wise UK pricing page showing the fees-at-a-glance list. Fees differ by country and change over time.
Capture of the official Wise Platform API reference overview: REST and OAuth 2.0 notes, download links for the OpenAPI description, language samples and the production and sandbox servers.
Capture of the official Wise Platform documentation home page showing the four payments products offered through the API.
Source: official Wise project page.
Key capabilities
- International money transfers Send money to bank accounts in other countries from a bank, card or Wise balance. The company states the fee is a percentage that varies by currency, with a minimum fee for small amounts, and that same-currency transfers between Wise accounts are free. Its UK pricing page showed sending fees from 0.24%, while a transfer page showed fees as low as 0.1%, so check the calculator for your route. See the send money page.
- Mid-market exchange rate Wise says it uses the mid-market rate without markup and shows the fee separately before you confirm. For some currencies you can lock in a rate for a stated time, shown in the calculator as a guarantee window. Delivery time estimates are also shown per route, and the company notes that speed claims depend on individual circumstances.
- Multi-currency account One account holds and converts balances. The UK account page says it supports over 40 currencies for holding, converting, spending and sending, while the company story page cites over 50, so the exact list depends on your country. Opening an account is free and there is no subscription. See the account page.
- Local account details to get paid Get account details such as IBAN, sort code or routing numbers so people can pay you like a local. The pricing page says account details are available for 22 currencies, domestic payments in AUD, CAD, EUR, GBP, HUF, NZD, PHP, SGD and USD are free, and USD wire or Swift receipts carry a fixed fee, listed at 6.11 USD on the UK page. Wise does not accept cash or cheques.
- Wise debit card A Wise card spends balances abroad without a foreign transaction fee when the balance is in the same currency, and the company says it works in 150+ countries. The UK pricing page lists a one-off 7 GBP card fee, 250 GBP of free ATM withdrawals per month per account and 2.69% on the amount above that, with some ATM operators charging extra. Digital cards and instant freezing are available in the app.
- Large transfers and volume discounts Fees drop for larger amounts, and the company says a discount applies once monthly transfers pass 25,000 USD or the equivalent on its US page and 20,000 GBP or CHF on UK and Swiss pages. The discount applies automatically and resets at the start of each month. Dedicated support is mentioned for large transfers.
- Wise Business A business account for sending, receiving and spending with team cards and permissions. The business page lists batch payments to up to 1,000 contacts in one action, receiving in 22 currencies and accounting-software integrations, and says over 900,000 businesses use it. Business pricing is separate from personal pricing. See the business page.
- Wise Platform API Banks, fintechs and enterprises can build payments on the Wise Platform. The documentation lists products for multi-currency accounts in 160+ countries, sending payments, receiving in 40+ currencies and issuing cards, plus guides for correspondent payouts, enterprise payouts, embedded accounts and embedded payouts. Each customer integration requires credentials and approval.
- API reference with sandbox The REST reference documents authentication through OAuth tokens and SAML, strong customer authentication, profiles, quotes, recipient accounts, transfers, balances, batch payment groups, webhooks and settlement. It provides a sandbox at api.wise-sandbox.com and a production server, versioned API releases, downloadable OpenAPI files and a changelog. The documentation also offers a Docs MCP server for coding assistants.
- Webhooks and transfer lifecycle The API reference lists webhook subscriptions and events including transfer state changes, payout failures and refunds. A transfer needs a quote, a validated recipient and funding before payout, so integrations should poll or subscribe for status and handle exceptions, as the documentation describes.
- Safeguarding of customer money Wise says customer money is safeguarded in dedicated bank accounts or high-quality liquid assets, kept separate from company funds and not used to run the business. Its security page names major banks as holding institutions and states that the company does not lend customer money. Review the regional terms for how safeguarding applies in your country.
- Security controls and certifications The company's security page lists two-step authentication, biometrics, card freezing, real-time notifications and 24/7 fraud monitoring. It states certifications and attestations of SOC 1 Type 2, SOC 2 Type 2, PCI-DSS and ISO/IEC 27001, with business customers able to request SOC reports under NDA. A bug bounty and phishing reporting channel are also listed.
- Interest and stocks products Some regions offer optional products where balances are invested in funds, branded Interest or Assets, with annual fees listed on the pricing page. The company marks them as capital at risk with growth not guaranteed, and they are provided by separately authorised Wise Assets entities. They are optional and not part of basic transfers or spending.
- Mobile and web apps The service is available on the web and as a mobile app; the security page cites over 30 million all-time downloads. Features vary by country, and Wise publishes a feature-availability checker and country-specific pages. Check that the product you need, such as card issuing or receiving a given currency, is offered in your region before you rely on it.
- Support and status Help is offered by email, chat and phone, and the company states support is available around the clock in English plus 14 other languages. A public status page reports service incidents, and a complaints process is linked from the legal footer.
Where Wise fits
Sending a single international payment
Enter the amount and both currencies in the calculator, then compare the total fee, the rate and the delivery estimate before paying. Check whether the calculator shows a rate guarantee and whether funding by bank transfer or card changes the fee. Confirm the recipient's name and account details exactly, because the recipient requirements differ by route.
Getting paid by overseas clients
Open local account details in the currency your client pays in and share them on invoices. Confirm which payment types are free and which, such as USD wire or Swift, carry a fixed fee, and check whether your country is eligible to hold that currency. Then convert or hold the balance as needed.
Running contractor or supplier payouts from a business account
Use batch payments to pay many contacts at once and connect accounting software for reconciliation. Test with a small batch, check the volume-discount threshold for your region and review team permissions so that card and payment rights match job roles.
Integrating payments into a product through the API
Request credentials, build against the sandbox first and follow the guide for your model, such as enterprise payouts or embedded accounts. Implement quotes, recipient validation, funding, webhook handling and strong customer authentication where required, and plan for the approval and compliance steps Wise requires.
Spending abroad with a card
Order the card where available, hold the destination currency and spend from that balance to avoid conversion. Check your country's ATM allowance and fees in the app, since the free monthly limit and charges differ by region, and keep a second payment method for ATMs that add surcharges.
Reviewing safeguarding and regulation before moving larger sums
Identify which Wise entity holds your account, check its licence in the regulation article, read the safeguarding terms and note that deposit-guarantee protection is not the same as safeguarding. Compare it with a bank or another provider for your corridor and amount, and decide how much to hold in the account.
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