Revolut vs. Wise (TransferWise)

Revolut is a digital bank that offers customers a range of benefits, especially in the field of currency exchanges and international money transfers. Wise is a specialized money transfer provider that offers mid-market rates. So which can give you better value for money when you’re sending money abroad?

The fees and rates used in this comparison are accurate as of December 28, 2022.

Lower fees:
Tie

Exchange rates:
Wise

Fast transfers:
Wise

Which has lower fees?

Revolut

Revolut charges membership fees, ranging from $0 for the basic option to $16.99 per month for the top tier option. You’ll probably only need the top tier option if you’re transferring large amounts, though. There are also various fees, such as for card delivery.

For transfers themselves, you’ll incur wire transfer fees when sending money to a recipient outside the EU or if the transfer is not in euros. These fees can be unpredictable and potentially quite large depending on the payment.

Wise

Wise’s fees will also vary depending on where the money is going but will be clearer, more predictable and typically lower for all except the larger transfers.

Winner: Tie

Revolut can come out ahead if you’re sending money to Europe, but for most other locations it will be more expensive to use. Wise allows you to avoid those unwanted wire transfer fees, and will often be cheaper.

Which offers better exchange rates?

Revolut

Revolut will offer mid-market rates with some caveats:

• Transfers with major currencies: 0% markup
• Transfer amounts above the limit for your subscription: 0.5% markup
• THB, RUB, UAH and TRY transfers: 1% markup
• All other currencies: 0.5% markup
• THB, RUB, UAH and TRY transfers outside forex market hours: Additional 1% markup
• All other currency transfers outside forex market hours: Additional 0.5% markup

Wise

Wise offers the mid-market rate all the time for all currencies without any special conditions.

• If the mid-market rate is 1 AUD = 0.671450 USD
• Wise’s exchange rate would be the same as the mid-market rate

• What is the mid-market rate?

  The mid-market rate is the current middle-of-the-market price for a currency pair, found halfway between current buy and sell prices.

  It’s used as the official exchange rate for a currency. You can easily check the mid-market rate online to see what kind of markup you’re paying on a quoted exchange rate.

Winner: Wise

Wise offers mid-market rates without all the caveats.

Which is faster?

Revolut

Revolut says transfers will usually take 3–5 days, but that you can speed it up by paying extra or by signing up for the Premium or Metal upgrades.

Wise

Wise says payments can be done in 1–2 days depending on the destination.

Winner: Wise

Wise’s 1–2 days is less than Revolut’s 3–5 days.

General features

	Payment methods	Receiving options	Minimum and maximum transfer amounts	Transfer speeds	Currencies
Revolut	Revolut account	Bank transfer, Revolut account	Minimum: $1 Maximum: no limit on most currencies	3 – 5 days	30+
Wise	Bank transfer	Bank transfer	Minimum: $1 Maximum: $1,000,000	1 – 2 days	45+

Revolut

To sign up for Revolut, you’ll need to create an account and can then request to receive a card. Once you have your account and card, you will need to top up your Revolut account from your bank account before you can use it.

After this, you can start holding multiple currencies in your Revolut account, access overseas ATMs and take advantage of Revolut’s travel money options.

Wise

To send money with Wise you will have to create an account. Then you can enter the details of your transfer and make your deposit to Wise, which it will send onwards overseas.

You can also hold multiple currencies in your Wise account with Wise Borderless.

Read review: Revolut
Read review: Wise

Bottom line

Revolut is mainly designed for travelers, but it can also be effectively used for international money transfers in certain situations. They only launched in the US in 2020 and Wise has been established there since 2016. In most cases, Wise should be the better option as they offer better exchange rates, low fees, a wider selection of currencies and faster transfers.

To get the best deal on your next transfer, compare other transfer providers to find one with competitive rates in your preferred currency.

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