I am going overseas and I am considering getting a Wise/Revolut card. I am unsure which one to get. If I were to transfer money from my bank account to wise, would I be able to transfer it back once I don’t use it all (AUD left in the account)? Are there any fees that would incur to transfer in and out and how fast it would be?
I also have UP and ING but looking at the exchange rates, wise seems to have a better rate.
What other benefits about Wise over UP/ING?
Wise is great and the rates are also great
Wise charge a small fee, like 50c, to transfer funds to another account (same currency). So yes you could transfer back.
Does it charge you to transfer back to your bank account? Say if I deposited $1000 in wise and used only $500 AUD will I be charged fees if I were to transfer it back ($500) to my Australian bank account? How long does it usually take to transfer funds?
As I said it's a flat 52c (or thereabouts). Osko transfer takes seconds (assuming your bank has Osko).
Wise has some ridiculous fees for ATM withdrawals and their exchange rates are the same as Mastercard (and slightly better than Visa)
I just use a fee-free Mastercard and take an ING card if the destination has expensive local ATMS
I got one for Japan, it didn't even work most of the time. Always had to go back to citibank. I couldn't find an atm that didn't take a fee, but the 7/11 ones didn't take fees for my citibank account. I almost never used the wise and i paid $10 for the card.
Can you elaborate how the Wise card didn't work for you? Was it with POS transactions or ATM withdrawals. I'm interested as I was hoping to use it as my primary travel card for an upcoming Japan trip.
POS failed less in Japan than it did in south korea but still failed when I tried to pay at restaurants and stuff. I never did an ATM withdrawal in Japan as I could never find an atm that didn't have withdrawal fees. I had a citibank card that was free to withdraw from 7/11 atms
Agree citibank debit card and 7/11 atm combo worked well for fee free cash for me. There are 7/11s literally everywhere in Japan and from memory they all had an atm.
Is ING not the go to anymore for overseas travel?
August removal of fee free announcement for overseas withdrawal
Yeh saw that, already closed my account :D
You're counting bean here, the fee difference is negligible at best. If you are eligible, apply for a credit card with no forex fee, low or no annual fee. You will beat any wise or revolut rates once you take into account the bonus points earned and extra perks coming with it, with exception to cash withdrawal (regarding this Wise has pittance monthly limit too, about $250 a month and you're still at the mercy of the foreign atm). Commbank ultimate award is the best option right now with bonus points at sign up, 3 points per $1 spent, no forex fee, free international travel insurance included). Coles Mastercard is quite decent too.
As for atm withdrawal, just get ING or citibank card, ING you need some work for free atm withdrawal, citibank you might find plenty atm overseas charge no fees at all.
Forget about wise or revolut, they're not proper ADI and not covered by FSC scheme. If they go bust your money is not covered, not likely to happen whilst you are still on your holidays but still matters. Wise is only good to send money overseas. Revolut is useless, they came late to the market offering a product many decent bank already had ages ago. Most importantly these guys are overseas based and most of the benefits does not go back to the local economy.
I can see that the rates are negligible, e.g. for visa it is 1 EUR = 1.599762 AUD and for wise it is 1.59225 AUD (at the time I am writing this). It may seem negligible but when I input $1000, there would be $14.96 difference. I will be spending more than $1000 over there so the difference would add up to be more.
you're comparing apple vs orange, the rate you see on Visa is not the same rate you're getting when the transaction actually happen so there'll be times Wise rate will be higher and other time bank rate is higher. Bank work out the rate differently depending on the timing they choose to finalised the transaction. I've used card for overseas purchase plenty of time and the pending amount and the finalised amount do vary. And if you do care for such small percentage, better stack up both Wise, Revolut, and two other bankcard with free forex transaction with Visa and Mastercard each to ensure you'll win every single time because that 0.75 percent difference is materially insignificant when you're travelling (not discounting the fact that you're doing you math wrong, the difference for $1000 transaction is only around $7.5, for EUR1000 then that is $9.4).
You'll find that if you're looking to spend 1000+ overseas, Wise and Revolut is pathetic regarding the amount of cash you can withdraw over ATM, it's in the bench mark of $250 or something per month and you'll find yourself in expensive situation very soon.
Ah, also in case you don't know Revolut charges you some sort of premium exchange rate if you decide to do a transaction over the weekend (who know what timezone would that be). So you're sure to lose if you use them over the weekend.
Thanks for the correction, I use the EUR amount on the website to calculate the difference. Forgot to look at the difference between the two rates.
In terms of the pending and finalised amount, does VISA and Mastercard differ from each other?
I am new to using cards overseas and I am just finding ways to be cost effective.
@iceteacake: Also if you get ING rate from wise website to compare then it's questionable conduct on wise too. As I said if you have access to credit card then get it because the rebate you get back from point will always win the best rates on wise or revolution. But regardless of choice you will need at least 2 cards for back up: credit card will incur hefty fee for atm cash advance; wise and revolut will be pathetic withdraw limit (less than $350 a month extra fee after that, excuse me it's my money I want to get it when I want to 🤬) and finally atm get picky only accept one not other.
At the moment I suggest ditching revolut altogether because of their weekend surcharge, you'll be ripped off badly very quickly. You can do the hard work using wise and another bank if you have the time and report back to the community after the trip. But bear in mind wise will charge $10 for a physical card.
As for the unused balance once you get back, you can spend it in Australia like any other bankcard without extra fee so no need to worry.
@iceteacake: They're both on visa network? If it were me I'd get another card on the mastercard network to be on the safe side. If you satisfy ing conditions for free atm then why on earth would you consider any other card just for the sake of cheaper exchange rates? The odd of hitting an atm that knock you out on atm transactions fee far outweigh the gain. Your time spent on holiday should not be wasted on running around looking for a fee free atm if you already have an ing card.
@lgacb08: I got both Visa (ING) and Mastercard (UP) so hopefully it should be ok. Thanks for the advice!
As far as I know, UP is a Wise product so it uses Wise technology and systems integrated into Adelaide and Bendigo Bank hence it can call itself a bank so you should get same/similar rates when paying with your card using Up or Wise based on my personal experience.
Wise is great, have been using it for years but don't know yet if Wise or Revolut is better
Does anyone have a wise sign up refferal? I am trying to avoid the $10 card fee..
Are there any tax implications when are transferring in and out of various cuurencies and holding them in your wise or revolut account?
Wise card is like $10. It used to be free. The virtual Apple Pay card is still free I think. But you should get one anyway, there's no other fees for just having it and any associated Wise accounts. It is upfront about any fees before any transfer between your Wise accounts too. Nothing to lose by having it.