Top 5 Wise alternatives: compare fees, features & benefits
If you run an online business selling to international customers, you'll need a way to easily collect payments in multiple currencies and transfer funds across borders to pay suppliers or staff. Whilst Wise may be one of your options, you may like to consider its alternatives to see which one suits your needs best.
What is Wise?
Wise is a UK-based financial technology company focused on simplifying global money transfers. Its platform is designed to help consumers and businesses send funds overseas easily at a low cost.
For businesses, Wise’s products include:
Multi-currency accounts
Virtual debit cards
Batch international transfers
Accounting software integrations
With a Wise multi-currency business account, customers can accept and hold payments in nine currencies and transfer funds to over 70 countries at competitive rates. Additional payment options are available for vital markets.
Best known for supporting consumers and micro-businesses, Wise offers a simple and fast but basic service at low costs.
The top alternatives to Wise
Here are the top alternatives to Wise.
Airwallex: Founded in 2015, Airwallex is a global financial platform to collect, hold, convert and send multi-currency payments,designed for businesses only.
HSBC: Established in 1865 in Hong Kong and serves as an international bank which offers business accounts.
Payoneer: A payments platform designed for marketplace sellers and freelancers to collect, hold and send payments.
PayPal: A well-established payment gateway that’s been operating globally for over 20 years. eCommerce brands use it to process payments from credit cards, debit cards, and bank transfers.
Revolut: Established in 2015, a UK-based financial technology company offering digital financial services to consumers and businesses.
Compare the top 5 alternatives to Wise
Type | Payment methods | Cost | |
|---|---|---|---|
Airwallex | Global financial platform to collect, hold, convert and send multi-currency payments. Designed for businesses only | Collect via 160+ payment methods including cards, send payments to 150+ countries. Trade in 60+ currencies | 1.65%+ 30c AUD to collect local payments. Currency conversions at 0.5-1%. |
HSBC | International bank with business account | Bank transfers, including SEPA and SWIFT payments, direct debits | Up to $30 monthly fee for international business accounts, currency conversions up to 2% above interbank rate1 |
Payoneer | Payments platform designed for marketplace sellers and freelancers to collect, hold and send payments | Accepts Visa, Mastercard, Amex cards & bank transfers (varies by region). Multi-currency account in 9 currencies | Pricing varies. Free Payoneer to Payoneer payments, 2-3% on all other payments. Currency conversion at 0.5-3%2 |
PayPal | International business account for collecting and sending funds | Varies on size of business; enterprises can accept card payments, PayPal and 10+ local payment methods from 200+ countries3 | Complicated fee structure that varies by transaction type. To receive international payments, 3.6%.4 Currency conversion at 3% above the base exchange rate |
Revolut | A business account designed for freelancers and startups | Accepts payments from 100+ countries using Revolut Pay, major credit and debit cards, instant bank transfers and mobile payments5 | Multiple plans available. Grow plan offers 0.2% on local transfers and 0.6% on international transfers after allowance. Currency conversion rates vary between plans5 |
Find out for yourself how Airwallex compares to Wise.
Why choose Airwallex over Wise?
Airwallex | Wise | |
|---|---|---|
Multi-currency account | 23 currencies | 9 currencies6 |
Global payout coverage | 150+ countries | 70 countries6 |
Speed of payout | 85 countries - same day 65 countries - instant | Some same day, some instant6 |
0% domestic transaction fees | ✅ | ❌ |
0% international transaction fees | Yes, when sending via local payment network | No, fixed and variable fees, starting at ~0.33%7 |
FX rate | 0.5-1% | As above8 |
Account management | ✅ | ❌ |
Online payment acceptance | ✅ | ❌ |
Debit cards | ✅ | ✅ |
Earn interest | ❌ | ✅ |
Expense management | ✅ | ✅ |
Bill Pay / Accounts Payable | Yes, invoice upload, approval flows, payment execution and accounting reconciliation | Basic, via integrations with Quickbooks and Xero invoices6 |
Accounting integrations | Xero, NetSuite, Quickbooks and more | Quickbooks and Xero6 |
What questions should I ask when choosing alternative providers to Wise?
Here are the top 10 most important questions for you to consider when choosing an alternative to Wise. Use these as a handy guide when doing your research.
What are the transaction fees?
What is the currency exchange markup?
Are there any account set up or management fees?
How extensive is the geographical coverage?
What currencies can be held in your business account?
What funds management services do you provide?
What security measures do you have in place?
What integration capabilities do you offer?
Do you provide dedicated account management support?
Do you offer corporate and employee cards?
Conclusion
Airwallex and Wise are both known for offering competitive cross-border money solutions for businesses.
For global reach, Airwallex is hard to beat. With a multi-currency business account, businesses can accept and hold 23 currencies and handle transactions to 150+ countries. With Airwallex, customers enjoy 0% international transaction fees to 110+ countries using our local payment rails.6 Wise only supports holding 9 currencies and global payout coverage to 70 countries with fee charges for international payments.
Airwallex includes account management services, payment links and plugins, and expense management capabilities. For accounts payable solutions, Wise offers a basic offering, integrating with a few software providers.6
Our verdict? Wise offers simple, easy, low-cost global money transfers for consumers and smaller businesses, but larger enterprises may struggle.
Airwallex is a fast, cost-effective international money transfer service. It supports more currencies, software integrations and offers important services like account management, online payments and expense management.
Consider Airwallex for an end-to-end financial solution built to solve all kinds of cross-border payment challenges.
Find out for yourself how Airwallex compares to Wise.
Sources & references
https://www.business.hsbc.com.au/en-au
https://www.payoneer.com/about/pricing/#pay-your-supplier
https://www.paypal.com/au/enterprise/payment-methods
https://www.paypal.com/au/webapps/mpp/merchant-fees
https://www.revolut.com/business/accept-payments/
https://wise.com/au/pricing/business
https://wise.com/au/pricing/business/send-money
https://wise.com/au/pricing/business/receive
Disclaimer: We wrote this article in Q3 2024. The information was based on our own online research and we were not able to manually test each tool or provider. The information is provided for educational purposes only and a reader should consider the specific requirements of their business when evaluating providers. This research is reviewed every six months. If you would like to request an update, feel free to contact us at [email protected].
This information doesn’t take into account your objectives, financial situation, or needs. If you are a customer of Airwallex Pty Ltd (AFSL No. 487221) it is important for you to read the Product Disclosure Statement (PDS) for the Direct Services, which is available here.
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Izzy is a business finance writer for Airwallex. She specialises in thought leadership that empowers businesses to grow without boundaries.
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