Wise vs Currencies Direct: Fees & Reviews Compared

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

Below we compare them on their fees and reviews.

Fees

	Wise	Currencies Direct
Homepage
Transfer Fee	Variable fee – 0.4% – 0.6% of total amount (on average) Fixed fee – £0.2 – £0.3 on average.	No fee
Average Exchange Rate Markup	No markup	0.4% to 1.4%
Minimum Transfer Amount	$1	$1
Maximum Transfer Amount	$6,000,000 USD $1.8 million AUD $1.5 million CAD €6,000,000 EUR £5,000,000 GBP	£25,000 through the mobile app £300,000 by placing a special request

Reviews

	Wise	Currencies Direct
Trustpilot Rating	4.3	4.9
Number of Trustpilot Reviews	193,700	9,400
iOS App Rating	4.6	3.5
Number of iOS App Reviews	29,500	100
Android App Rating	4.7	3.5
Number of Android App Reviews	503,000	500

Features

	Wise	Currencies Direct
App Transfers	Yes	Yes
Online Transfers	Yes	Yes
Phone Transfers	No	Yes
In-person Transfers	No	Yes
Available Countries	170	200
Number of Currencies	50	70
Payment Methods	Bank account Debit card Credit card Direct debit Apple Pay Google Pay iDeal Trustly SOFORT POLi PayPal	Bank account Debit card Credit card Check
Receiving Methods	Online wallet Bank account	Bank account
Cash Pickup Option	No	No
Payments Flexibility	Web platform Mobile app	Web platform Mobile app Phone In person
Supported Languages	English, Spanish, French, Portuguese, Italian, German, Chinese, Japanese, Indonesian, Hungarian, Ukrainian, Polish, Romanian, Turkish, and Russian	English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, Norwegian, Swedish, German, Chinese, and Korean
Transfer Speed	0-2 days (within minutes for over 50% of transfers).	1-2 hours within Europe 1-2 days for overseas transfers
Dedicated Dealer	No	Yes
Instant Custom Quote	Yes	N/A
Business Features	Recurring transfers Batch payments Invoicing Multi-user access Digital multi-currency wallet Rate alerts API integration	Spot contracts Forwards contracts Limit orders Stop-loss orders Recurring transfers Digital multi-currency wallet Rate alerts API portal
Debit Card	Wise multi-currency debit card	Currencies Direct multi-currency debit card
Cancellation Policy	Users can cancel a transfer as long as they’re able to see the “cancel transfer” option on their transfer	N/A
Suitability	Small money transfers	Large money transfers

Company Comparison

	Wise	Currencies Direct
Year Founded	2011	1996
Headquarters	London, UK	London, UK
Other Office Locations	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)	Orlando (USA), Saint John (Canada), Mumbai (India), Albufeira (Portugal), 3 locations in South Africa, and 19 locations in Spain
Annual Trading Volume	£76.4 billion	£9.5 billion
Number of Employees	4500	550
Number of Clients	16 million	430000
Regulatory Institutions	FinCEN in the USA FINTRAC in Canada FCA in the UK ASIC in Australia National Bank of Belgium in the EU	FinCEN in the USA FINTRAC in Canada FCA in the UK Bank of Spain in Spain and the EU ACPR in France FSB in South Africa
Awards	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)	Credit Rating of Level 1 (Dun & Bradstreet Corporation, 2010) National Business Awards Finalist (National Business Awards, 2016) Most Positive Client Reviews (Money Transfer Comparison, 2017) Consumer Champion of the Year (Money Age Magazine, 2017) Money Transfer Provider of the Year (Money Age Magazine, 2016, 2017,2018, 2019, 2020, and 2021) Best Rated Money Transfer (Money Transfer Comparison, 2019, 2020, 2021)

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

Currencies Direct Pros & Cons

Currencies Direct Pros

• 4.9 out of 5 on Trustpilot based on over 8,000 reviews
• No transfer fees
• Free Amazon gift card for new paying customers
• Multiple payment options
• Amazing customer service
• Favourable exchange rates
• Extensive knowledge base
• Highly convenient
• Range of flexible solutions for everyone
• Global service coverage
• Solid currency coverage
• Local coverage
• Decades of experience
• Fast money transfers
• Exchange rate alerts option

Currencies Direct Cons

• Not focused on small money transfers
• Limited deposit options
• Limited smaller currency coverage
• No option for instant custom quotes
• Lack of cancellation policy
• Not available in some US states
• Mobile app has transfer limits

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