Use Wise for low-cost international money transfers. Learn to set up your account, manage currency balances, and earn interest on idle cash holdings.
Sending money across borders often feels like a gamble due to hidden bank fees and poor exchange rates. Wise (formerly TransferWise) is one of the most reliable ways to handle international payments today — whether you are paying suppliers in Asia, sending funds to family in Europe, or receiving payments from overseas clients.
This tutorial walks through the entire process: setting up your account, understanding why Wise's fees are lower than banks, sending your first transfer, and using features like multi-currency balances and interest-earning jars.
Why Wise Stands Out for International Transfers
Wise is well known for using the mid-market exchange rate — the same rate you see when you search "dollar to euro" on Google. Most banks add a hidden markup on top of the real rate, which quietly increases the cost of every transfer. Wise does not do that; it charges a transparent, flat transaction fee instead.
The platform also goes a step further in honesty: its built-in comparison tool shows how Wise's fees stack up against competitors like Chase, Moneygram, and PayPal. In the video walkthrough, the comparison showed Chase costing roughly €22 more and PayPal roughly €34 more on a sample transfer. Notably, Wise even flags when a competitor offers a lower fee — an unusual level of transparency in the financial services space.
| Service | Exchange Rate Used | Fee Transparency |
|---|---|---|
| Wise | Real mid-market rate | High — fees shown upfront |
| Traditional banks (e.g. Chase) | Marked-up rate | Low |
| PayPal | Variable / higher markup | Moderate |
| Moneygram | Varies by corridor | Low to moderate |
Setting Up Your Wise Account
Creating an account requires basic personal information followed by an identity verification step — typically scanning a QR code and uploading ID. Once verified, you land on the Wise dashboard, which displays your currency balances and gives you quick access to send, receive, and manage money.
If you have not registered yet, the step-by-step guide to opening a Wise account covers the full sign-up process in detail.
Managing Multiple Currency Balances
One of Wise's most practical features is the ability to hold money in multiple currencies inside a single account. From the dashboard, click New to open a balance in any supported currency — euros, Canadian dollars, British pounds, and many others.
Each currency balance comes with local bank account details once funded and verified. This means someone in Europe can send you euros directly to your Wise EUR account, and someone in Canada can send CAD to your Wise CAD account. You can then hold those funds and convert them when the exchange rate is favorable, or send them onward.
Practical use cases mentioned in the tutorial include:
- Receiving client payments in USD while living abroad
- Holding dollars and converting to euros when the rate improves
- Getting paid in euros by European partners and spending locally
How to Send Money Abroad: Step by Step
The main transfer interface is straightforward. Here is the exact workflow shown in the tutorial:
- Click "Send" on your Wise dashboard to open the transfer calculator.
- Enter the amount — you can enter either the amount you want to send or the exact amount the recipient must receive. For example, if you have an invoice for €1,500, type that in and Wise automatically calculates how many dollars you need to send.
- Note the rate lock — the exchange rate shown is guaranteed for the next 14 hours, so your recipient will receive the exact amount you specified.
- Choose your payment method — options include:
- Wise balance (lowest transaction fee)
- Connected bank account (auto-deducted)
- Wire transfer (you send money to Wise first)
- Debit or credit card (fastest, but the most expensive option; processes in roughly 3 hours)
- Add a recipient — you can search for a Wise user, enter bank details manually, or upload an invoice PDF and let Wise extract the details automatically.
- Enter bank details — for European recipients, this means their IBAN (which starts with two country letters, e.g. DE for Germany, BE for Belgium) plus name, country, city, address, and postal code.
- Review and confirm — a summary screen shows the full breakdown of fees, the locked exchange rate, the delivery estimate, and the recipient details before any money moves.
Once confirmed, Wise sends real-time status updates on the transfer so you always know where your money is.
Payment Method Comparison
| Payment Method | Speed | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Wise balance | Fast | Lowest fee |
| Linked bank account | Standard | Low fee |
| Wire transfer to Wise | Standard | Low fee |
| Debit / credit card | ~3 hours | Higher fee |
Receiving Money with Wise
Wise is not only for sending. Each currency balance you open comes with local bank account details, so international contacts can send you money as if you had a local bank account in their country. This is useful for freelancers working with overseas clients, e-commerce sellers with foreign suppliers, and anyone living or working abroad.
Once received, you can hold the funds, convert them, or spend them directly with the Wise card.
The Wise Card: Spending Abroad Without Fees
Wise issues both a physical and a digital Visa debit card. When you pay with the card abroad, it draws directly from the matching currency balance in your account. For example, if you are in Paris and use your Wise card, the payment comes out of your EUR balance at no additional conversion fee.
For a deeper look at how the card performs for everyday travel spending, see the Wise Card Review 2026: Is It the Best Travel Card?.
Earning Interest and Investing Through Wise
Holding cash in a Wise account does not have to be passive. Wise offers two ways to put idle funds to work:
Savings Jars
You can open a "savings jar" within any currency balance. In the tutorial, creating a USD jar showed an advertised rate of up to 4% interest on US dollars, paid on government bonds. This is notable because most traditional bank accounts offer far lower rates on held foreign currency.
Stock ETF Option
Wise also allows you to allocate funds into a stock ETF — specifically an MSCI World ETF was shown in the tutorial. The platform displayed a historical performance figure for illustration, but as with any equity investment, returns are not guaranteed and the value can fluctuate. This feature is unusual for a money transfer service and makes Wise closer to a full financial management tool.
To understand the full picture of what Wise offers beyond transfers, the Wise Review 2026: My Honest Experience With International Transfers covers features, limitations, and real-world use in more depth.
Who Is Wise Best For?
Wise suits a wide range of users:
- Freelancers and remote workers who get paid in foreign currencies
- E-commerce sellers who pay overseas suppliers regularly
- Expats and travelers who want to hold and spend multiple currencies without markup fees
- Families sending money to relatives abroad
- Small businesses managing international invoices
It is less relevant for purely domestic transfers, where a standard bank account works just as well.
Verdict and Recommendation
Wise delivers on its core promise: transparent fees, real exchange rates, and a workflow that removes the guesswork from international transfers. The ability to hold multiple currencies, receive local bank account details, earn interest on idle cash, and spend abroad with a Visa card makes it a genuinely versatile financial tool — not just a transfer service.
The main trade-off is that card payments carry higher fees, and transfer speed varies by corridor. For the lowest cost, keeping a funded Wise balance and using that as your payment source is the recommended approach.
For anyone who regularly deals with foreign currencies — whether for business, freelancing, or personal reasons — Wise is a strong default choice over traditional bank transfers.
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