What Do You Use Wise Account for?

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Wise

• 

  JVHifi on 15/09/2024 - 21:23

  +2

  For me, wise is a better option for transferring funds overseas/receiving funds as their spreads are extremely competitive and also if you want to store funds in numerous currencies in advance of travel/spend.

  If you’re just looking at spending on transactions overseas, I believe there shouldn’t be any fees with wise and all the fee free international transaction accounts (Up/bendigo/macq/revolut, etc.) should use the standard Mastercard/visa exchange rate so it may not matter much which bank you use

• 

  Bredo on 15/09/2024 - 21:26

  I think wise main usage isn't to pay while travelling overseas. Like you said, there are far better debit and credit options for that which are free.

  The main purpose (I think) to use wise it's to send money overseas or receive money from overseas (kind of like having an overseas bank account)

• 

  askbargain on 15/09/2024 - 21:39

  • hold other currencies

  • receive money from other currencies

  • the conversion fee is hidden in Mastercard/visa exchange rates. You can be better, same or worse with Wise. Also very minor point that small transactions on other card will round to higher cents.

  • paying physical card unlocks the virtual cards (might be wrong here)

  • no main bank can send money overseas for cheap

  • 

    witsa on 15/09/2024 - 21:59

    I thought the MasterCard fee was just the official exchange rate?

    Maybe there's a negligible amount but I don't think it's ever 0.33% - that's quite high

    • 

      R-Man on 16/09/2024 - 00:17

      nah neither the MasterCard nor Visa rates are the official rates (like xe.com). I don't know what the markup is or should be though.

      • 

        Ocker on 16/09/2024 - 08:06

        +1

        Both use the 24hr interbank market mid rate for the day of the transaction. Most banks will add a 3% commission to the rate. 28 degress use the actual rate with no loading

  • 

    changyang1230 on 16/09/2024 - 00:46

    Holding other currency is an important one.

    I had to use a credit card to pay a refundable "damage waiver" for one of the holiday accommodations in UK, where they take 250 GBP at first and refund 240 GBP at the end of the stay (with a bull defecate 10 dollars "admin fee").

    Normally the conversion process from AUD to GBP and from the GBP back to AUD would have cost us some fees (even for those that promise low exchange rate); however because the refund is actually kept in the wise card as GBP, we can keep it there as GBP and not suffer the conversion loss.

    • 

      askbargain on 16/09/2024 - 21:01

      +1

      it should be a hold. it shouldn't process.

      • 

        changyang1230 on 16/09/2024 - 22:41

        You would think so but this company definitely did it as a proper credit card transaction and a refund; it comes out as two separate transactions. Super dodgy and it really left a sour note on my travel.

        In fact, we forgot to pay them the damage waiver during our busy travel, and though we realised on the last day and paid it at 4pm, and arrived at the UK country village at 5.30pm, they never sent through the key safe code and I had to beg a random grocery store worker to lend me his phone to call this after-hours number, and was luckily patched through after 5 minutes wait.

        They pretty much used the damage waiver fee as a ransom to make sure that they made the additional 10 pounds per stay in "admin fee".

        Scums.

        (Sorry I digressed)

        • 

          knobbs on 20/09/2024 - 09:17

          +1

          @changyang1230: I had this with a 3rd party company I booked through Expedia. Got charged their hold+fees then refunded only the "hold" amount they charged. Such bs practice if it's a hold then put it on hold don't charge the amount and fees and process a refund later less fees

          • 

            changyang1230 on 20/09/2024 - 10:50

            @knobbs: Yeah. Is it also UK by any chance?

            I am guessing it is done as two separate transactions because if it’s hold then they can’t simply refund 95% of the hold and keep 5%? Just a guess.

            • 

              knobbs on 20/09/2024 - 11:52

              @changyang1230: Nah was in Blue Mountains. Lucky no foreign transaction to loose even more. Yeah it was in 2 transactions, one through like a normal everyday transaction and the next as a refund - the fees they impose with no alternative to a no fee option.

• 

  soan papdi on 15/09/2024 - 22:29

  +1

  So you need to pay 10 dollars for a debit card.

  https://www.ozbargain.com.au/deals/wise.com

  Referrer receives £50 for every 3 signups, who must all spend at least £200 each on qualifying payments. Referee receives a discount on their first transfer, or they receive a free physical card (Keep clicking the referral randomiser until you receive the offer you want).

• 

  dtc on 15/09/2024 - 22:35

  As far as i can tell, for an Australian based traveler the only benefit to Wise is if you feel like playing the FX market and loading up on FX well before you travel. Perhaps if you are paying a big hotel or travel bill up front before you leave it might have some minor advantage.

  Ubank, for example, is free, has a virtual card, uses the mastercard/visa exchange rate, it doesnt have withdrawal limits (other than the ones you set yourself), can use at an ATM (although the ATM owner may charge a fee).

  There are some international transaction fee free credit cards as well

• 

  ihfree on 15/09/2024 - 23:05

  • backup travel card
  • geoblocked purchases
    
    • eg: steam deck
• 

  R-Man on 16/09/2024 - 00:16

  +1

  You said it perfectly mate. For a travel card, Up and Bankwest as you have mentioned + Macquarie bank are the better choice.

  Don't forget Wise's terrible ATM restrictions of $350 AUD per month, then you get charged both a flat fee and % fee. Absolute joke for countries like indonesia where you gotta pay cash - and their ATMs are free.

  But to answer your question, Wise is really good if you're going to be based in the location for a long period and going to work there. I now use Wise to pay my rent in EUR. I am able to set an auto-convert trigger for the exchang rate I want. I still have to pay Wise fees but it's all same same for other providers of money transfers.

  • 

    Neilzy on 16/09/2024 - 11:11

    Any good cards/accounts you recommend for the SE Asia/indonesia scenario you've mentioned above? We're going to VN for 6weeks over the xmas/LNY period and are not wanting to carry the lump of cash to exchange at the 'Jewlery' stores there

    • 

      BuzzBuzzBuzz on 16/09/2024 - 11:15

      +1

      Up, Macquarie or Bankwest.

      Up has the best app, and is my preference.

    • 

      R-Man on 17/09/2024 - 18:07

      +1

      Those 3 that Buzz mentioned are basically equal in features, importantly they will not charge you ATM fees or international transaction fees. I agree that Up is the best experience. The app lets you see your balance in AUD and Foreign currency.

      I hope you will find fee free ATMs in Vietnam, I've never been. Try to only use Bank ATMs ideally attached to a branch. It's worth consulting Tiktok to check!

      In Indonesia bank ATMs were all free. But in Thailand omg $9 fees 😠 In Bangkok it's best to take your cash to the "superrich" money changers for absolute bargain rates.

      Lastly remember to never, ever, allow the ATM to convert to AUD for you. Ever. That's how they fleece you 13-15%. Always hit "decline" or "continue without accepting".

      • 

        timhn on 18/09/2024 - 10:02

        I hope you will find fee free ATMs in Vietnam, I've never been

        VPBank and TPBank are ATM fee free.

• 

  holdenmg on 16/09/2024 - 11:26

  The Wise card once was free…
  https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/668152

  not anymore :+(