When deciding on an international money transfer service, you want to compare fees and exchanges rates as well as features to ensure you’re choosing the provider that works best for you. We compare providers Remitly and Wise side by side to give you all the facts before you commit.
The Remitly fee structure is varied. Fees change depending on whether you do an “economy” or “express” transfer, plus what currency you’re transferring and how much you’re transferring. Express transfers have higher fees, which tend to get higher the more you send. Slower economy transfers often stay quite low, around £1 to £3 no matter how much you send.
Wise charges two fees – a percentage of the transfer and a small flat fee that’s normally only a few pounds. The percentage fee ranges from 0.45% to 1.5% and can make the fee add up on larger transfers.
Winner: Remitly
Although it’s a close call, Remitly’s transfers tend to be cheaper across the board, especially for economy transfers. This doesn’t necessarily mean your transfer will be cheaper with Remitly – each provider offers different exchange rates, which we’ll go into below.
Let’s crunch the numbers: Sending £10,000 to the Philippines
Let’s put both providers to the test. We’ll look at sending £10,000 to the Philippines to see whether Remitly or Wise gives you a better deal. For the purpose of this comparison, we’ll look at sending the money via an economy transfer with Remitly.
Remitly £10,000
Wise £10,000
Fee
£1.99
£60
Exchange rate
1 GBP = 65.21 PHP
1 GBP = 65.956 PHP
Transfer speed
Same day
2 days
Amount received
PHP 652,100
PHP 655,607
Wise is the clear winner as its Philippine peso exchange rate is better than the rate Remitly offers you. Even though Remitly offers a lower flat fee of £1.99 for all Philippine peso express transfers, it still doesn’t save you money.
Which offers better exchange rates?
Remitly doesn’t have a standard rate rule, meaning its exchange rates can vary a lot. The margin normally ends up being 1% to 2% added to the exchange rate. For example, these are the rates for a transfer to Poland:
Mid-market rate: 1 GBP = 4.94 PLN
Remitly’s exchange rate: 1 GBP = 4.87 PLN
This is a margin of 1.4%.
Wise, meanwhile, converts money at the mid-market rate, meaning it never adds an additional margin on top. This means that, using the same example, if the mid-market rate is 1 GBP = 4.94 PLN, that’s the rate you’ll get.
The mid-market is what banks and transfer services use when they trade among themselves and measures what your money’s actually worth on the global market.
It should be used as a baseline to make sure you’re getting the best rate. Compare the rates given to you to the mid-market rate, which you can find on Google, and you’ll be able to see how much the provider is making off that transfer.
Winner: Wise
Both Wise and Remitly offer competitive exchange rates, but Wise guarantees the mid-market rate on all currencies. Remitly’s exchange rates vary currency to currency.
Remitly often offers deals for first-time users with exchange rates that are slightly better than the mid-market rate, so it’s good to keep an eye out for that. In general, however, Wise has the best exchange rates. That won’t necessarily mean it’s best overall – fees have to be considered too.
Remitly offers two transfer options: economy or express. Express gets your transfer there on the same day, often in a matter of minutes, but you pay a higher fee. Economy transfers take between one and five business days.
The speed of Wise transfers depends heavily on the currency and the payment method. If you pay with a card, your money often arrives immediately. However, if transferring via a bank transfer, it can take up to four business days.
Winner: Tie
There isn’t a clear winner as there are too many variables. Both services can get your money there within hours, depending on the payment method and the fees you’re willing to pay.
Remitly and Wise are both impressive services that can help you undercut the rates and fees from your bank. They’re neck and neck in several categories, but we think Wise has the overall edge.
Wise wins out when it comes to exchange rates while Remitly has slightly lower fees. Ultimately it’s always worth checking quotes from both providers, and depending on the currency, the fees and the amount, you may want to use either.
Remitly offers some more exotic currencies, but overall Wise has the greater selection.
We show offers we can track - that's not every product on the market...yet. Unless we've said otherwise, products are in no particular order. The terms "best", "top", "cheap" (and variations of these) aren't ratings, though we always explain what's great about a product when we highlight it. This is subject to our terms of use. When you make major financial decisions, consider getting independent financial advice. Always consider your own circumstances when you compare products so you get what's right for you. Most of the data in Finder's comparison tables has the source: Moneyfacts Group PLC. In other cases, Finder has sourced data directly from providers.
Isabel Sandercock-Brown was an international money transfers writer at Finder. She's written for a number of organisations, from the Salvos to Bumble. She has a Bachelor of Arts in Communications from the University of Technology, Sydney. See full bio
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Winner: Remitly