Western Union vs Wise: Fees & Reviews Compared

Both Western Union and Wise are popular international money transfer services. But which one is better?

Below we compare them on their fees and reviews.

Fees

	Western Union	Wise
Homepage
Transfer Fee	Based on the sender’s location, transfer amount, and payment method. Usually, there’s a fee that’s as low as $0-$15, but some can be as high as $100 if sending to an exotic location or paying by credit card.	Variable fee – 0.4% – 0.6% of total amount (on average) Fixed fee – £0.2 – £0.3 on average.
Average Exchange Rate Markup	1% – 5%	No markup
Minimum Transfer Amount	$1	$1
Maximum Transfer Amount	Depending on the sender’s country: $50,000 if identity verified $3,000 if identity isn’t verified	$6,000,000 USD $1.8 million AUD $1.5 million CAD €6,000,000 EUR £5,000,000 GBP

Reviews

	Western Union	Wise
Trustpilot Rating	3.9	4.3
Number of Trustpilot Reviews	50,800	193,700
iOS App Rating	4.8	4.6
Number of iOS App Reviews	630,000	29,500
Android App Rating	4.6	4.7
Number of Android App Reviews	28,000	503,000

Features

	Western Union	Wise
App Transfers	Yes	Yes
Online Transfers	Yes	Yes
Phone Transfers	Yes	No
In-person Transfers	Yes	No
Available Countries	200	170
Number of Currencies	130	50
Payment Methods	Bank account Debit card Credit card Cash	Bank account Debit card Credit card Direct debit Apple Pay Google Pay iDeal Trustly SOFORT POLi PayPal
Receiving Methods	Online wallet Bank account Cash pickup Home delivery	Online wallet Bank account
Cash Pickup Option	Yes	No
Payments Flexibility	Web platform Mobile app Phone In person	Web platform Mobile app
Supported Languages	English, Spanish, French, Danish, Norwegian, Turkish, German, Italian, Russian, Swedish, Chinese, Dutch, Polish, Ukrainian, Portuguese, Japanese, and Finnish	English, Spanish, French, Portuguese, Italian, German, Chinese, Japanese, Indonesian, Hungarian, Ukrainian, Polish, Romanian, Turkish, and Russian
Transfer Speed	Within minutes for cash or debit card transfers 1-3 days for transfers between bank accounts	0-2 days (within minutes for over 50% of transfers).
Dedicated Dealer	No	No
Instant Custom Quote	Yes	Yes
Business Features	N/A	Recurring transfers Batch payments Invoicing Multi-user access Digital multi-currency wallet Rate alerts API integration
Debit Card	Western Union® Netspend® Prepaid Mastercard	Wise multi-currency debit card
Cancellation Policy	Cancellations are possible as long as the money hasn’t been claimed by the recipient.	Users can cancel a transfer as long as they’re able to see the “cancel transfer” option on their transfer
Suitability	Small money transfers	Small money transfers

Company Comparison

	Western Union	Wise
Year Founded	1851	2011
Headquarters	Denver, CO, United States	London, UK
Other Office Locations	Brazil, Sweden, Australia, New Zealand, Poland, Austria, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, China, Japan, Malaysia, Malta, Singapore, Switzerland, South Korea, United Kingdom, etc.	London (UK), Austin, Dallas, Tampa, and New York (USA), Bangkok (Thailand), Dubai (UAE), Riyadh (Saudi Arabia), Hong Kong (Hong Kong), Shanghai (China), Singapore (Singapore), Tokyo (Japan), Seoul (South Korea), Jakarta (Indonesia), Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia), Manila (the Philippines), Mumbai (India), Brussels (Belgium), Budapest (Hungary), Cherkasy (Ukraine), Tallinn and Tartu (Estonia), Zürich (Switzerland), São Paulo (Brazil), Mexico City (Mexico), Cape Town (South Africa), Sydney and Melbourne (Australia)
Annual Trading Volume	$300 billion	£76.4 billion
Number of Employees	10500	4500
Number of Clients	150 million	16 million
Regulatory Institutions	State licensing in the USA FINTRAC in Canada FCA in the UK AUSTRAC in Australia	FinCEN in the USA FINTRAC in Canada FCA in the UK ASIC in Australia National Bank of Belgium in the EU
Awards	Digital Edge 25 Awards (2016) Payments Innovation of the Year (2016) Candidate Experience Award (Talent Board, 2017, 2018) “Way to Go” Champion Award (Denver Regional Council of Governments, 2019) Regional Partner Award (Education for Employment, 2019) Humanitarian Logistics Award (American Logistics Aid Network, 2020) Consumer Payments Innovation Award (FinTech Breakthrough Awards, 2021)	Best European Startup Under 3 Years Old (Europas, 2013) One of The World’s Top 10 Most Innovative Companies in Finance (Fast Company Magazine, 2014) Boldest Smaller Company (FT’s Boldness in Business Awards, 2014) Ernst and Young UK Entrepreneurs (2015) Top 20 out of 50 on Glassdoor’s Best Places to Work in the UK (2022) Made it in the FinTech50 list (in 2013, 2014, 2017, 2018, 2019, and 2021)

Western Union Pros & Cons

Western Union Pros

• Diverse payment methods
• Availability of cash pickup locations
• High rating on Trustpilot
• Excellent mobile application
• An abundant industry experience
• Comprehensive information repository
• Exceptional convenience
• Worldwide service reach
• Robust currency handling
• Rapid fund transfers
• Fee and rate prediction tool
• Beneficial rewards scheme

Western Union Cons

• Not optimal for substantial money transfers
• High transaction fees
• High markups on exchange rates
• Absence of hedging options for businesses

Wise Pros & Cons

Wise Pros

• No markups on exchange rates
• Comprehensive global service reach
• Impressive currency support
• Widespread local presence with branches in more than 28 countries
• Custom quotes are available without signup
• Diverse payment methods encompassing bank accounts, debit and credit cards, PayPal, and more
• Highly rated on Trustpilot
• In-depth knowledge repository
• Ideal for small transactions
• Fast money transfers, with half of all transactions completed in minutes and the rest within 0-2 days
• Outstanding web platform and mobile app experience

Wise Cons

• Some Challenges with customer service
• Cash pickup isn’t an option
• Lack of dedicated currency dealers
• Less-frequented countries and currencies might incur high transfer fees
• Inadequate for large monetary transfers
• No support for lesser-traded currencies

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