Wise and Starling offer a different range of features because they’re both different financial products, but we’re comparing how they are for travel and spending abroad.
Wise is a fintech company with a primary focus on money transfers and international finance. Wise Payments Limited is an authorised e-money institution regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).
Starling is a bank, regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA). Deposits up to £85,000 are protected by the FSCS.
Wise vs Starling: Vital statistics
Finder score
Not yet rated
4.7
★★★★★
Customer satisfaction survey
Not yet rated
4.9
★★★★★
Free spending abroad
Arranged overdraft
No overdraft available
15%, 25% or 35% EAR
Representative example
N/A
If you use an arranged overdraft of £1,200, you'll be charged interest at 15% EAR variable.
Both of these accounts come with colourful cards, so they’ll stand out in your wallet when you go to use them abroad. Wise offers a bright green card and Starling has a teal, vertical card.
If you’re after branch access then you’re out of luck with both of these options. Wise is strictly digital only, so doesn’t allow any cash deposits at all and you need to top up your card via bank transfer or another payment method. With Starling you can deposit at the Post Office.
Wise isn’t a bank account so you can’t apply for overdrafts, while you can with Starling – the interest rate you’re offered will depend on your personal circumstances and credit score, although Starling’s overdraft interest rate scale starts at 15% EAR.
There’s no interest paid on balances in the Wise account, while Starling pays 3.25%.
Starling was also a winner in Finder’s 2024 Banking Customer Satisfaction Awards, coming joint first in our customer satisfaction survey, where it scored 4.9 out of 5 stars. 100% of its current account customers said they would recommend the brand to a friend.
You’ll be able to organise your spending easily with a range of features that include visual breakdowns of spending and budgeting. Wise has 15 different spending categories while Starling has a whopping 53, so you can get into the gritty details of every last penny or cent spent abroad.
You can also contact customer service in each app and there’s phone support available, too. If you misplace your card you can freeze your account, then when the panic is over and you find it again you can unfreeze it yourself.
There are slightly different fee structures to send and spend money abroad, with Wise using the mid-market rate and Starling using Mastercard’s real exchange rate. Wise charges £0.59 plus 0.33% of what’s converted and Starling charges a local network fee and 0.40%.
Tie: While Starling has more features and depth to those features, Wise is generally slightly better value when it comes to sending money abroad.
Round 2: Spending in the UK
Free card transactions in the UK
Contactless card limit
£100
£100
Apple Pay
Google Pay
Samsung Pay
Free ATM withdrawals
£200 per month, 2 free withdrawals
Limited to 6 withdrawals per day, with a daily limit of £300
Wise and Starling both have Apple Pay, Google Pay, Samsung Pay, £100 contactless limit and free card transactions in the UK. The only difference in this section comes down to cash withdrawals, with Starling superior there. Wise lets you withdraw £200 each month for free in up to 2 withdrawals. Anything over that will incur a 1.75% charge and a 50p charge per withdrawal. Starling has no monthly limit, but it does have a daily limit of £300, up to a maximum of 6 transactions each day.
Winner: Starling. It’s hard to beat free unlimited monthly withdrawals.
Round 3: Using the card abroad
Free foreign transactions
Yes if hold that currency on the card yet small conversion fee if not
Wise lets you hold multiple currencies on its card, which can be a blessing and a curse. Say you have euros and spend euros, there is no cost. But if you have another currency on there, say pounds, then spend in euros, you’ll get charged a small currency conversion fee.
Starling is much simpler. There’s no charge for overseas spending and it has unlimited monthly cash withdrawals as well, with the same daily limit of £300 and 6 transactions.
Winner: Starling, for its higher monthly withdrawal and unlimited spending limits.
Both accounts are free and neither has a paid premium option. They both have business account options as well.
Where Starling excels in this category is in its joint accounts, teen accounts and debit cards for kids. Wise only offers its account to those over 18 and has no joint accounts.
Winner: Starling, because of its wider range of account options.
Round 5: Signing up
Apply through the app
Quick application
Credit check
Card delivery fee
£7
Free
Card delivery timescale
2-6 working days (UK), varies for different countries
When you think of fintech you think of speed, precision and simplicity. Both of these accounts offer that with their signing-up process. It’s all done through their respective apps and then physical cards are sent in the post. Wise says cards will arrive in 2–6 days, while Starling says 3–5 working days.
The big difference here is the cost of the card. Wise charges £7 for a card and Starling’s card is free.
Winner: Starling, because the card is free.
Overall winner: Starling
Wise and Starling offer similar experiences and what you’d expect from fintech companies. With quick application processes and slick apps, simplicity and functionality are front of mind to make everything easy for customers. In that sense, they’re both worthy challengers.
But Starling pulls clear because it doesn’t charge extra for a lot of the things that Wise does. And knowing everything is unlimited or included in the account means you don’t have to worry about extra expenses while travelling or spending abroad.
Wise does compete well in terms of money transfers and if you want to have multiple currencies in the same account interface. But it isn’t a bank and the limitations because of that make Starling a better option overall.
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Jason is a writer and editor. He worked as a senior subeditor for Finder for 5 years and in that time became familiar with a wide range of financial products and services. Before that, he worked for Australian Associated Press. He has a BA from Macquarie University in Australia. Jason loves to help other people find new ways to save money. See full bio
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