Wise vs Instarem: Fees & Reviews Compared

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

Below we compare them on their fees and reviews.

Fees

	Wise	Instarem
Homepage
Transfer Fee	Variable fee – 0.4% – 0.6% of total amount (on average) Fixed fee – £0.2 – £0.3 on average.	Depends on the selected countries, the transfer amount, and the selected payment method.
Average Exchange Rate Markup	No markup	0.3% – 0.6%
Minimum Transfer Amount	$1	$1 ($50 for India)
Maximum Transfer Amount	$6,000,000 USD $1.8 million AUD $1.5 million CAD €6,000,000 EUR £5,000,000 GBP	Depends on the origin country and the selected payment method.

Reviews

	Wise	Instarem
Trustpilot Rating	4.3	4.4
Number of Trustpilot Reviews	193,700	8,000
iOS App Rating	4.6	3.7
Number of iOS App Reviews	29,500	530
Android App Rating	4.7	4.3
Number of Android App Reviews	503,000	7,800

Features

	Wise	Instarem
App Transfers	Yes	Yes
Online Transfers	Yes	Yes
Phone Transfers	No	No
In-person Transfers	No	No
Available Countries	170	60
Number of Currencies	50	30
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 PayNow PayID POLi FPX Interac
Receiving Methods	Online wallet Bank account	Bank account Alipay wallet in China Cash pickup in the Philippines
Cash Pickup Option	No	Only for the Philippines
Payments Flexibility	Web platform Mobile app	Web platform Mobile app
Supported Languages	English, Spanish, French, Portuguese, Italian, German, Chinese, Japanese, Indonesian, Hungarian, Ukrainian, Polish, Romanian, Turkish, and Russian	English
Transfer Speed	0-2 days (within minutes for over 50% of transfers).	1-2 days
Dedicated Dealer	No	No
Instant Custom Quote	Yes	Yes
Business Features	Recurring transfers Batch payments Invoicing Multi-user access Digital multi-currency wallet Rate alerts API integration	Bulk Payments
Debit Card	Wise multi-currency debit card	amaze by Instarem
Cancellation Policy	Users can cancel a transfer as long as they’re able to see the “cancel transfer” option on their transfer	Without a cancellation fee if the transfer hasn’t been processed. Contact customer services to discuss cancellation if the transfer has been processed.
Suitability	Small money transfers	Small money transfers

Company Comparison

	Wise	Instarem
Year Founded	2011	2014
Headquarters	London, UK	Singapore
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)	Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, Lithuania, India, Hong Kong, Japan, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Australia
Annual Trading Volume	£76.4 billion	$3 billion
Number of Employees	4500	300
Number of Clients	16 million	1 million
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 ASIC in Australia The Bank of Lithuania in the EU MAS in Singapore CED in Hong Kong Central Bank of Malaysia in Malaysia Bank of Indonesia in Indonesia Kanto Local Finance Bureau in Japan Reserve Bank of India in India
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)	Singapore Fintech Award (Singapore Fintech Festival, 2017) FinTech Rising Star Award (India FinTech Awards, 2017) Outstanding Digital Cross-Border Money Transfer Service (India FinTech Awards, 2017) Blockchain Innovator Award (Swell by Ripple, 2018) Excellence in Payments (Fintech Australia, 2018) Best Value International Money Transfer Provider Award (Mozo Experts Choice, 2020 and 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

Instarem Pros & Cons

Instarem Pros

• A wide array of payment choices
• Exceptional customer service
• High rating on Trustpilot
• Instant, free quotes providing transparency and avoiding hidden costs
• Attractive foreign exchange rates
• Quick money transfers
• Exclusive amaze card
• Robust mobile app for easy access
• International service reach covering over 60 countries
• Broad currency coverage

Instarem Cons

• Not ideal for large financial transfers
• Limited support for multiple languages
• Limited support for less common, exotic currencies
• No cash pickup options (only available for residents in the Philippines)
• No hedging tools such as forward contracts or limit orders for businesses

See More Comparisons:

Wise vs Key Currency
Wise vs VertoFX
Wise vs Moneycorp
Wise vs Caxton
Wise vs Corpay