Alternatives to Wise for Money Transfers
Table of contents
Author: Keith Hodges
We only list companies that are trustworthy and appropriately licensed. Our aim is to give you a comprehensive view of the regulated money transfer marketplace.
DisclosureMoneyTransfers aims to help users find the best money transfer provider for their needs. To support our free service, we may earn a commission from some of the providers listed in our search results. The commission may also impact the ordering of the providers shown. Our reviews are independent from this and are based on our editorial policy, research and testing of dozens of remittance providers on the market.
Table of contents
Wise is one of the biggest money transfer companies on the market. They offer services which include multi-currency accounts and a business accounts.
Alternatives are needed as many people feel it lacks in customer service. Also, it's a ‘one-size-fits-all’ type of product. So a specialist provider can sometimes be a better choice.
Search Now & Save On Your Transfer
Instantly view live exchange rates, fees & features.
Alternatives to Wise include OFX, WorldRemit, and Xe, which provide specialized services like cash pickup, account management, and access to remote locations. These options offer low fees, additional transfer methods, and enhanced customer support, catering to users needing tailored solutions more than Wise does.
Wise vs others in the money transfer space
To be transparent, Wise is one of the best money transfer providers on the market.
The company offers transfers at a total cost of 0.33%. This is made up of giving its customers the mid-market rate and a fee for transfers.
There’s also a lot to like about its multi-currency offering. You can access local accounts and spend in different currencies. So, it’s great for travelling or living abroad.
So why the need for alternatives to Wise?
Account managed transfers where needed
Sending to cash pickup locations
Businesses in need of a more tailored offering
Access to some harder to reach markets
Where forward contracts or other currency tools are needed
.svg)
Regency FX
The biggest gripe most users have with Wise is the access to customer service.
Getting an answer to a question once logged in takes around 24 hours. Wise's account management as service is in its very early stages.
Regency FX is a currency broker. This is different from Wise in that the entire service is account managed. This comes with email and telephone access.
Also, you’ll agree rates per transfer, so can negotiate the cost down. Whereas Wise is a set fee with no wiggle room.
Exchange rate | 0.3% - 1% |
|---|---|
Fees | No fees |
Transfer limits | No limits |
Send to | Bank accounts |
Account manager | Yes |
Forward contracts | Yes |
Available | Globally |
Regency FX is a specialist in large money transfers, where an account manager is essential. You’ll usually pay a little more than you would with Wise, but cost is made up in the service you receive.
Also, just to note, currency brokers will offer zero fees, and the cost will be in the exchange rate instead. This is different from Wise, who offer exchange at the mid-market rate, but have the fee as a set percentage.
With Regency FX, and other currency brokers, you will get access to forward contracts. This can help secure rates on large transfers.
Unlike Wise, Regency FX is purely about sending money. So you won’t get a multi-currency card or local accounts.
Please share your experience with Regency FX
Would you recommend Regency FX?
Anonymous
Say they will give you free quote, make it seem all they want is your email but then once you provide that they ask for everything else too
Elmo Saunders
Selling house in Okinawa, want to transfer from yen to USD when exchange rate is better than 120 to 1. Want to transfer from Okinawa bank account to Charles Schwab account in USA.
Anonymous
Comparison shows best outcome, but they want to give a quote via email or phone. Let's see...
Dominic Bolongaro
DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY! In particular do not use James Low. There are a number of 1 star reviews on here all saying the same thing. They provide a rate, when quoting for the transaction, which is in line with (or better than) other FX services. They then, once funds are received, give you a rate significantly lower than other FX services. In essence shaving off as much as they can get away with. In my case I refused to accept the initial rate and they readjusted twice before I was happy to proceed. Even then the rate I had to accept was a good few hundred pounds lower than other FX services. In my opinion they, and in particular James Low, are running a racket not a legitimate FX service.
Anonymous
It's a 10.
David Piper
Superb service, great rates
Simon Smith
Regency FX are great. Sending my earnings in Saudi home, and the guy that looks after me is brilliant
Claudio Velazquez palacios
Pay all transacción ok tank
Geoffrey Brooke
A very stressful experience. Their verbal quote was a lot higher than what they actually offered us once they had our money. On the Monday, Jamie at Regency FX verbally quoted us €1.1714/£, which was better than anyone else on the day. So we transferred our money to them, but by Thursday, he quoted us less than €1.14/£. The spot rate on Google had hardly changed and other FX companies were still quoting around €1.17/£. Fortunately, we were in no hurry to send the money so asked that they refund us if they couldn't get near €1.17. By Friday afternoon, Jamie quoted us €1.1647/£, which we reluctantly accepted (to reduce the hassle factor), which seemed to be about average when compared to other FX traders. Most of the initial reviews we had seen seemed quite positive, but when we looked further, we saw that there were others who had a similar experience.
Xe
Xe has long been a leader in the money transfer space, alongside Wise.
They offer access to more countries, including harder to reach locations. The Xe alternative also has around 500,000 cash pickup locations globally. This puts them on par with the likes of Western Union as well.
Exchange rate | 0.3% - 1.5% |
|---|---|
Fees | $1.99 to $2.99 |
Transfer limits | No limits |
Send to | Bank accounts, mobile wallets, cash pickup locations |
Account manager | Yes (where needed) |
Forward contracts | Yes, but not in all cases |
Available in | USA, UK, Canada, Australia, Europe and more |
Xe also offers account management on larger transfers. If using this service, it is possible to have the fees removed as well. We add them here to be clear that most will pay a fee to send with Xe.
The Xe app is on the best money transfer apps. It offers a couple of perks you do not get with Wise. Notably a very well-rounded currency converter, historic currency charts and rate alerts. This can be downloaded and used without needing an account.
As with Regency FX, Xe does not have a multi-currency account option. Wise would still be the better option if you need access to local accounts. Xe however will excel in fast, account managed (where needed) international transfers.
Please share your experience with Xe
Would you recommend Xe?
Anonymous
The transfer rate was way lower than displayed on the comparison site.
Anonymous
Great for large transfers.
Anonymous
Fast, great rates, easy to use. Good for large transfers.
Paul Ansems
XE money transfer scam -stay away-WARNING Don't use this company! After several successful transfers. This time, I sent the money and they received it. After 7 days with no reason that they would cancel it. I sent their compliance team everything they asked. I found my privacy threatened but sent them anyway. I asked for a supervisor or manager but was denied. They obviously hang onto your money as long as possible and after making money from it like interest. If the exchange rate amount is too high and drops after holding it then they cancel it. WARNING Don't use this company!
WorldRemit
WorldRemit is a great alternative to Wise for transfers into hard to reach locations. They also support more methods withdrawal methods. These include sending airtime, mobile money payments and cash pick up.
For WorldRemit, daily limits are lower (at $9,000). Although, if you need to send more than a few hundred dollars, we would recommend sending to a bank account. For this, Wise is a better option than WorldRemit anyway.
Exchange rate | 0.5% - 1.25% |
|---|---|
Fees | From $1.99 |
Transfer limits | $9,000 per day |
Send to | Bank account, airtime payments, mobile wallets, cash pickup locations |
Account manager | No |
Forward contracts | Not available |
Available in | USA, UK, Canada, Australia, Europe and more |
The access offered by WorldRemit is pretty much global, barring things like sanctioned countries.
Please share your experience with WorldRemit
Would you recommend WorldRemit?
Andrew Judd
My account was deactivated. No reason given. I don’t have multiple accounts. One recipient was a scammer and I deleted them. I’ve helped out many friends with medical expenses. Wisdom tooth extracted 2500 and 1000 for some food. That’s all Motorcycle accident 5000 that’s all Flight home and medicine for grandfather 6000 That’s all. The scammer offered a video. I don’t buy any videos I’m visiting a friend who is a teacher and offered to pay 2600 for a flight and 16000 for luggage, swimsuit and rent on her place while she is off work and holidaying. Now I have to go to a post office and use western union
Terry Twala
Very efficient.
Anonymous
Very misleading, live exchange rate does not match with their app is showing. Fast and seems to be secure, I use them when I'm in need to send fund ASAP.
Anonymous
different price from shown here
Anonymous
exchange rates on comparison website are quite high
Anonymous
Only phone app.
Stanley Davidson
After setting up a valid account with all true and real identity, the system blocked me without any valid reason. Upon calling Customer Service & requesting a reconsideration & a valid reason why I was blocked, Customer Service said that I "violated some TOUs" (Terms Of Use) without stating exactly what I did. My ONLY action was an ATTEMPT to do a normal wire transfer. One can't do anything but to do a wire transfer, & it WAS NOT completed. How do they block my account for something, whatever it was, that I supposedly committed? When I requested the reason for the block they'd said that "it's Company policy to not provide reason(s) why an account is blocked", so exactly how am I supposed to not do something if I re-read their Policy against such action when I can't find why I was blocked? It was asked repeatedly why/what Policy(ices) was/were broken enough to cause the account to be blocked, but they'd completely refused to answer or acknowledge the question, they'd just kept completely silent. That ended the conversation because anything further would remain in total silence, so it was useless to ask anymore questions. I will be 💯% posting this exact statement on www.trustpilot.com for the world to see how undeserving this company is when mistreating a customer for no valid reason. Please enjoy the review!!!
Anonymous
Awesome service
Anonymous
I cannot figure out how to fund my transfer with my bank account instead of a debit card. The Chat service took way to long to answer my questions. Frustrating experience.
Robert Myles
Hi All a good place to send money to ghana
Jake Reynolds
Is this company an app? Or does it run a proper website? Who knows? Customer service is only through their app so I am guessing that if you dont do 100% of your transactions through your phone, forget WorldRemit. I dont use my phone because after all the extra strong passwords, and bio id, and 2 step verify, and whatever comes next they are STILL UNSECURE.
Anonymous
The money I sent got stuck without a return because I couldn't provide a bank statement as proof. The bank account I was having didn't have that privilege. All requirements should be stated beforehand.
Anonymous
app not working. tried to use on my smart phone and woudnt sign up.
Airwallex
Airwallex is the best Wise Business alternative.
The platform is business only, Wise on the other hand, offers everything, to everybody.
Exchange rates are decent at 0.5%. There’s also 12 multi-currency accounts, 2 more than you get with Wise Business.
The account also offers things like expense management and batch payments.
Exchange rate | 0.5% |
|---|---|
Fees | No fees |
Transfer limits | Up to $5,000,000 |
Send to | Bank accounts |
Account manager | No |
Forward contracts | Not available |
Available in | USA, UK, Canada, Australia, Europe and more |
Sending is restricted to bank transfers. But you can use virtual cards and physical cards for spending or withdrawing money as well.
For business support, compare providers covering specific aspects of international business finance.
Please share your experience with Airwallex
Would you recommend Airwallex?
Anonymous
Airwallex's FX service has made my life so much easier. The transfers are super quick, happening in seconds because Airwallex uses its own local payment network, not SWIFT. I also love that I can easily open foreign currency accounts with local bank details. This means my clients from different countries can send local transfers to my account without any hassle. It's a great solution for anyone looking for fast, reliable international money transfers. Highly recommend!
Ejike
Unfortunately Airwallex would collect your information only to realize that they don't have presence in your business region. Sad!
Should I be using Revolut?
Revolut is a regularly used alternative to Wise for international transfers.
Where Revolut does excel is its P2P network.
If you’re making regular payments to someone else on Revolut, it’s fast and cheap to do so.
But, using Revolut as an alternative to Wise generally, we’d say don’t do it.
You pay around 0.4% to transfers, and an additional 1% on weekends. After you’ve sent $1,000 in a month, these costs start to increase.
Finding the right option
When looking to send money, we recommend searching based on the amount you need to send and where you need to send it.
A search will give you live rates and show who is the best Wise alternative for your specific needs.
In cases where Wise is the best option, you can still compare to other companies.
Find a Wise Alternative
Check live rates for sending money abroad.
Revolut Alternatives
Revolut offers low transfer fees, good exchange rates on smaller transfers, free Revolut to Revolut transfers, and many great banking features.
Alternatives to Zelle
Zelle is fast, free, and easy as long as you’re sending money within the US But the moment you try to send funds internationally, well, you can’t.
Best Venmo Alternatives
Venmo is one of the most popular apps in the US for personal payments and social spending. It’s great for splitting bills, paying friends, or quickly sending money to someone nearby.
.png)
Alternatives to Cash App
As far as mobile services go, Cash App is widely considered to be a safe and reliable P2P app, but does not support international payments.
Contributors
Please share your experience with …