Why we use Wise to transfer money overseas

How do YOU transfer money overseas?

We used to do it with a traditional wire transfer from our Canadian bank until we heard about Wise (formerly “Transferwise”).

Now we save about 3% per transfer and we get the money in our overseas account within seconds.

Our major issue before deciding to use Wise was trust. Who are these people? Are they going to steal my money?

Wise is listed on the London Stock Exchange and valued at 11 Billion US. It was started up by the same people who started up Skype and has investors such as Richard Branson and Fidelity Investments (I know Fidelity because I’ve had mutual funds with them for over 10 years through my bank). They have over 13 million customers around the world.

Once I knew all the above I decided to try a test using Wise.

Look at the difference (this test was done in September 2021 so don’t get shocked by the exchange rate. Look instead at the exchange rate difference and the difference in the money you receive)

A. A traditional bank transfer with my bank

Amount to transfer $2500 CAD

Exchange rate: .6487

Gross amount 1,621.75 Euros

Less transfer fee

(6 CAD *.6487) – 3.89 Euros

Net Euros received 1,617.86

Our Canadian bank has a daily transfer limit of $2500 and a transfer fee of $6 CAD per transaction. The money takes 2 days to reach our Spanish bank.
Biggest disadvantage – the padded exchange rate.

B. A transfer using Wise

Amount to transfer $2500 CAD

Fees: -13.70 CAD

Net 2,486.30 CAD

Exchange rate: .67064

Net Euros received 1,667.41

Above were the results of our 1st transfer with Wise. The fees with Wise are actually higher than fees on a bank transfer but the big difference is the exchange rate. The reason is that Wise uses mid-market rates (ie. real rates) set by the market, not padded rates like the banks. So they don’t make their money on the exchange rate, they make money on the commission.

Analysis – Transferring using Wise (vs the bank) we saved 49.55 Euros, the equivalent of $74 CAD on a $2500 CAD transfer. $74/2500 = 2.96% saving.

Not only do I save money, transfers are done almost instantaneously. After my 1st transfer above, I set up my Wise account so that all I have to do is click a few buttons. The average time it takes me to exchange/transfer my Canadian dollars – from my Canadian bank to my Spanish bank – is under 10 seconds. The first time Wise was telling me that the transfer was done in 7 seconds. I couldn’t believe it. I went to my Spanish account and the money was sitting there. 7 seconds!! That’s unbelievable.

3% might not seem like a huge saving. I transfer about $2500 Canadian from my Canadian bank about once a month so I save $75. It won’t change my life but it’s enough to cover my monthly electricity and internet bills.

But imagine if you need to transfer money to make a major purchase like house or a car. That 3% will result in big savings. That’s why you should chose Wise.

Want to use Wise? Register here. It’s easy.

Note: we get a small commission if you register using the link above. But we totally stand by it, we use Wise for ALL our transfers. 100% recommended, I swear by it!