How to use Wise in the UK as an expat

Use Wise to hold 40+ currencies including GBP, and receive payments in 20+ currencies. Order a Wise card for spending and withdrawals, and send payments to 140+ countries, all with the mid-market rate and low, transparent fees. Let’s dive right in.

At a glance: Wise in the UK

💡 Using Wise in the UK
Wise money transfers	Send money from the UK to 140+ countries, with quick or instant delivery times* and the mid-market rate for conversion.
Wise account	Open online or in-app, to hold 40+ currencies including GBP, and receive payments in 20+ currencies. No ongoing account fees apply.
Wise card	Get the Wise card for some no fee ATM use monthly, and easy payments on and off line. Digital Wise card also available.
Wise Business account & card	Business customers can access all the perks personal customers get, plus extras like batch transfers, API access and cloud accounting integrations.
Wise large transfers	Progressive, automatic discounts when you send 20,000 GBP+ over a month, with dedicated support on hand.

About Wise

Wise was founded in the UK in 2011 and now serves many countries globally, with an active user base of over 12 million customers. Wise offers account, card and payment services which focus on transparent pricing and driving down the overall costs of managing your money across borders. This can make life cheaper and simpler for expats in the UK and in many other countries globally, who need to make frequent cross border payments, travel a lot, or need to receive transfers in a selection of foreign currencies.

How to use Wise to money transfer

Wise money transfers reflect the company’s core values of transparency, fairness, speed, and convenience. You can set up your payment with just a phone or laptop, and get instant, clear and no obligation pricing which shows the exchange rate, fee, delivery estimate and what your recipient will receive, with no hidden costs or sneaky fees.

Here’s how to send money with Wise:

1. Register or log into your account: Create a Wise account or log in via the app or website.
2. Model your transfer: Tap the Send button and enter how much you’re sending or how much the recipient needs to receive
3. Add recipient details: Select a recipient from your account or add a new one following the prompts
4. Choose how you’ll pay: Options can include bank transfer, debit/credit card, or your Wise balance
5. Review your quote: You’ll see the exchange rate, fees, and estimated arrival time which you can check and compare
6. Confirm and pay: Follow the prompts to pay using your preferred method

Once your money is on the way you can track the transfer in your Wise account and receive updates once it has been paid to the recipient’s bank.

How to open a Wise multi-currency account

Expats in the UK may find the Wise multi-currency account particularly useful as it lets you hold 40+ currencies all in one place. That makes it easier to manage your GBP transactions alongside your home currency, and plan your payments and spending when you travel.

Accounts also offer ways to receive incoming payments in 20+ currencies. Local account details are available for 8+ currencies which can be received with no Wise fee, while there are also SWIFT and wire account details for other currencies, which have a low, fixed Wise fee for incoming payments.

Here’s how to open a Wise multi-currency account and set up a GBP balance:

1. Register: Create a Wise account via the app or website by providing your email, phone number, and country of residence
2. Get verified: Follow the prompts which may require you to upload an image of your government issued ID document and an address document
3. Open a GBP balance: Tap the + icon or select Add a currency, then Open a balance, and GBP as the required currency
4. Add GBP to your account: You can add money by selecting GBP and tapping +, or by making a bank transfer to Wise using your local GBP account details (account number, routing number) which are available in the app
5. Send or spend: You can now send a payment or order your Wise card for spending

How to use a Wise account in the UK

Wise accounts and the Wise card offer flexible ways to manage your money across multiple currencies, which can make it easier to plan your day to day finances, even if you’re working between GBP and your home currency. Here are some common ways expats in the UK use Wise to save time and money:

• Hold and exchange GBP alongside other currencies, using the mid-market rate – this makes it easier to lock in a good exchange rate or plan upcoming payments in foreign currencies
• Receive payments in 20+ currencies – helpful if you receive salary or payments from others in your home currency as well as getting money in GBP
• Send money from the UK with your bank or from your Wise balance – Wise balance payments may have higher limits and there’s not normally a cap on the balance amount you can keep in your account
• Spend with linked Wise card – spend and withdraw at home and abroad, in 150+ countries, with some no fee ATM use* and no fee to spend a currency you hold
• Spend online with digital cards – generate up to 3 digital cards for online spending, which you can destroy and replace as needed for extra security

*Wise will not charge you for these withdrawals, but some additional charges may occur from independent ATM networks

How to use Wise to receive money

There are several ways to use Wise to receive money, depending on your preferences.

Receive money sent with Wise into a local bank account. If someone sends you a payment with Wise you can ask them to have it delivered to your UK bank account. Just give the sender the account information associated with your preferred account, and the money will be deposited directly there.

Receive money sent with bank transfer into your Wise Account, with local account details. You can also choose to have payments sent to your Wise account using local account information. Just open the Wise app and tap on the currency you need to get the account information you need to pass to the sender. It’s free to receive GBP with local account details.

Receive money sent via SWIFT into your Wise Account, with SWIFT details. Finally you can give your sender the SWIFT account information available in your Wise account to get paid in 20+ currencies via SWIFT. For this service there are low fixed fees per transaction, varying by currency

How to get a Wise card in the UK

You can use your Wise card to spend and make cash withdrawals in 150+ countries, with no fee to spend a balance you hold in your account. If you don’t have the balance required for a specific payment the card can automatically convert from the account balance which incurs the lowest possible fee, which means you’ll get a good deal whether you convert in advance or use the autoconvert feature.

Here’s how to get a Wise card in the UK:

1. Register or log into your account: Create a Wise account or log in via the app or website.
2. Request your card: Tap the Cards tab and follow the prompts to order your physical card for a one-time fee of 7 GBP
3. Create a digital card: In the Cards tab, tap the digital cards option to create an instant digital card to spend with Apple Pay, Google Wallet, or online
4. Receive your physical card and start to spend: Your physical card usually arrives in 2 – 6 working days in the UK, or you can get expedited delivery to have your card within 4 working days

How to use a Wise card in the UK

You can use your physical Wise card to tap and pay in stores, spend online, make chip and PIN payments, or cash withdrawals, both in the UK and when you travel. The card is issued on major networks – Visa or Mastercard – which are available in 150+ countries, making it a flexible option for day to day spending.

You can add your physical Wise card to a wallet like Apple Pay to make mobile spending easier – or you can use the digital Wise card instead,

Using Wise digital cards

As soon as you have ordered a physical card you can also get a digital Wise card to spend online, in-store and abroad safely. That means you don’t have to wait until your physical card is delivered to spend.

Digital cards don’t have the same card information as the physical Wise card. This adds security particularly when you shop online with new retailers. Spend with your digital Wise card and then freeze it if you have any concerns about the card being compromised. You can also delete that digital card, and generate a new digital Wise card instantly if you prefer.

Using a Wise Business Account in the UK

The Wise Business account offers the perks provided for individual customers with some extras to make running your business across borders that bit easier. You can still hold 40+ currencies and receive payments from customers in 20+ currencies using your account information. You’ll be able to order a Wise card for spending and withdrawals, and you can send payments to suppliers and contractors in 140+ countries.

Aside from this, you can save time with cloud accounting tools, batch transfers to send money to up to 1,000 people with one upload, and an API to streamline workflow.

You can open your Wise Business account by downloading the Wise app and tapping the Sign up button. You’ll be prompted to enter your personal contact information and some details about your business, including name, company type and registration number. You’ll be asked to upload documents such as government issued ID for yourself as account owner, and also the UBOs (Ultimate Beneficial Owners) and controllers of the business.

If you need to stop your application at any stage you can simply save and return to it later – or reach out to the Wise team for help if you require it.

Here’s a quick rundown of how you can use Wise Business in the UK:

• Hold a balance in any of the 40+ supported currencies, and exchange between them with the mid-market rate
• Receive incoming payments in 20+ currencies using local and SWIFT account information
• Send money to 140+ countries, with volume discounts on higher value transfers
• Spend with your linked Wise card and issue expense cards to your team for business spending
• Get time saving perks like accounting integrations, API and batch transfers

Wise large amount transfers

Need to send a large transfer internationally? With Wise you get a discount on fees when you send over 25,000 GBP (or equivalent), and your currency conversion still uses the mid-market exchange rate with no hidden fees or markups.

Wise offers high limits on overseas transfers, which vary by currency but generally sit at around 1 million GBP in value. From GBP you can usually send up to 20 million GBP per transfer with Wise, with lower limits if you pay using your card.

Discounts on fees are applied automatically, and if you ever need help navigating a Wise high value transfer there’s a dedicated customer support team who can walk you through everything that’s needed for a simple and secure payment.

Is Wise safe to use?

Wise is safe to use, with multiple layers of security built into its app and desktop site, and the behind the scenes processing of your transactions.

Wise security measures include:

• Protection from industry-leading security systems and regular audits
• 24/7 customer support in English, plus options for 14 other languages
• Automatic and manual security including over 1,000 anti-fraud specialists
• Customer funds are safeguarded with major UK institutions like Barclays
• Biometrics and encryption as well as 2-factor authentication on the Wise app
• Customizable controls on the app so you can set the limits you’re comfortable with
• Real time notifications when you transact, so you can see exactly what is spent and when.
• Digital cards for additional security when shopping online
• Freeze your card in a couple of taps of the Wise app, and unfreeze whenever you’re ready

Is Wise regulated in the UK?

Yes. Wise Payments Limited is authorised as an Electronic Money Institution (EMI) by the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).

How to contact Wise customer service in the UK

You can contact Wise customer service in the UK 24/7 by logging into the Wise app and heading to the Help pages. Here you can answer a few questions about the problem and be directed to the most appropriate form of support, such as an in app chat, direct phone number, or an email contact for the team you need.

• Wise in app help: Log in and click Help or ? and select Contact us to get your options
• Wise help if you can’t log in: Open the desktop Wise site and go to the Help page. Select Contact us to get your options

Useful resources

• Wise – Landing page for Wise UK services with navigation links to personal and business features
• Wise Business – Landing page for Wise Business accounts and services
• Wise high value payments – Learn about Wise volume discounts on high value transfers
• Wise personal pricing – Overview and links to detailed pages about Wise fees
• Wise business pricing – Overview and links to detailed pages about Wise business fees
• Wise security – Details of Wise security and protection features
• Wise help – Explainer and contact information to contact Wise in the case or problems