Revolut vs Wise (TransferWise)

Revolut

Revolut allows you to send up to $9,000 per month with no transaction fees. If you go over the limit and have a basic, Standard account, Revolut will take an extra 0.5% off the exchange rate in addition to the margin it would normally take. Upgrading to a Premium or Metal account will remove this limit, though.

Monthly fees for having an account range from £0/mo for a Standard account, to £6.99/mo (around $11 CAD) for a Premium account, to £12.99/mo (around $20 CAD) for a Metal account. You’ll probably only need a Metal account if you’re transferring large amounts, though.

You’ll have to pay wire transfer fees when sending money to a recipient outside the EU or if the transfer is not in euros. These fees can be unpredictable and potentially quite large depending on the payment. Other fees may also apply, including a one-time payment of £4.99 (around $8 CAD) for the delivery of your Revolut account card.

Wise

TranferWise’s fees will also vary depending on where the money is going and the payment method but will be clearer, more predictable and typically lower for all except the larger transfers.

As an example, sending $500 to the Philippines could cost you around $9 if you pay by bank transfer or around $17 if you pay by debit. Similarly, sending $2,000 to the US could cost you around $21 if you pay either by domestic wire transfer or as a bill payment, or it could cost $68 if you pay via credit card.

Revolut

Revolut will offer mid-market rates with some caveats depending on the type of transfer:

• Sending major currencies (check Revolute’s website for a list of major currencies): 0% markup
• Sending THB, RUB, UAH or TRY: 1% markup
• Sending all other currencies: 0.5% markup
• Sending beyond your subscription limit: 0.5% markup
• Transferring outside of forex market hours (Sat & Sun, UTC): An additional 1% mark-up for transfers in THB, RUB, UAH and TRY; an additional 0.5% markup for all other currencies.

• Example: Sending money to Russia

  For example, say you need to transfer Russian rubles within your subscription limit:

  • If the mid-market rate is 1 CAD = 49.4371 RUB
  • Revolut’s exchange rate would be 1 CAD = 48.9427 RUB during normal forex market hours (representing a 1% markup) or 1 CAD = 48.4484 RUB outside of forex market hours (representing a 2% markup).

Note that if you are a standard account holder (not a premium or metal account holder) and exchange £5,000 or more (or the equivalent in any currency) in any rolling month, you will be considered a “high-frequency customer” and will be subject to a lower exchange rate than usual. The margin on such exchange rates is often 0.5% higher than the margin Revolut normally takes.

Wise

Wise offers the mid-market rate all the time for all currencies without any special conditions.

• If the mid-market rate is 1 CAD = 49.4371 RUB
• Wise’s exchange rate would be the same as the mid-market rate

Revolut

Revolut says transfers will usually take 3-5 days, but that you can speed it up by paying extra or by signing up for the Premium or Metal account upgrades.

Wise

Wise says payments can be done in 1-2 days depending on the destination.

Revolut

To sign up for Revolut, you will need to create an account and can then request to receive a card. Once you have your account and card, you will need to top up your Revolut account from your bank account before you can use it.

After this, you can start holding multiple currencies in your Revolut account, access overseas ATMs and take advantage of Revolut’s travel money options.

Wise

To send money with Wise you will have to create an account. Then you can enter the details of your transfer and make your deposit to Wise, which it will send onwards overseas.

You can also hold multiple currencies in your Wise account with Wise Borderless.