Hello

Does anyone use "Wise" as a mechanism for transferring money to Spain? Sterling has recently hit a multi-year high. Wise provides the ability to hold Euro denomination funds, with interest paid.

I wonder can this be used to lock-in advantageous rates, to subsequently transfer into your own, or others, Spanish bank accounts?

Do funds need to be reconverted to a GBP account prior to an international transfer? If so I guess this may attract an additional fee, offsetting any exchange rate gain.

kind regards

I use WISE to transfer money from my UK bank to my N26 account. I've transferred quite a bit recently because of the exchange rate. However, I don't get interest on my N26 account but still get 4.5% interest on my current account in the UK.

N26 looks interesting. thanks for the heads up. Can it be set up in UK? Presumably it will need an NIE wherever you are?

Holding in Wise is within a "Jar" denominated in euros "invested in a fund holding government-guaranteed assets", 3.24% at present. Not a bad rate for instant access.

I use wise every month to transfer my meagre private pension from the Uk.
I suppose if you have money to burn you could leave it with them for ages and hope that the rate goes back to the heady days of the early 2000's. BUT you would have to hold it in £UK and only convert when the rate suited. Or do it today at 1.19 and hope the £ tanks and earn or the reconvert. But you will pay twice for that.

You pay them for every conversion from currency to currency, I have a £, €, and Oz$ but leave the money in £ until i need it. Once in € there is no charge for me to transfer to my bank in Spain.

I have found though, if you add funds to the wise account using the app or the website, there is (or was) a charge.
But transferring from my UK account to the £ balance from the bank to wise is always free.

Thanks for that. If you leave it with them in GBP then you can get 4.46% instant access. Bit lower in Euro. Both OK. As long as you can transfer directly from Euro denomination then the hedged approach is good. Having said that the long term (2028!!) forecast is for 1.3, so I guess if it isn't needed yet, ride that rise. Presumably driven by higher bond rates over the period of the current government.

For info N26 can pay interest at 2% https://n26.com/en-es/savings-account
UK current account at 4.5% is pretty good going!

None of that interests me (sorry joke). I get money. Move it. Spend it.... Thats what it was designed for.
I dont care if my meagre pension gets me 1.20 or even 1.00 to the quid.
As long as there is a Tinto or two a month and the odd Tapa I'm happy.

In fact im falling asleep as im typing this and would rather watch paint dry.

Wise is currently paying 2% for €uros and 3.2% for sterling held in Wise accounts—they call it 'cashback'. It is paid net of tax every month on the balances held in the Wise multi-currency account.

They charge for converting currency (the amounts involved vary), but transferring currency from Wise to other accounts in the same currency is free. So I hold both sterling and €uros with them and receive monthly cashback.

When I transfer €uros to my Sabadell account in Spain that is free to send and receive.

There are no account fees, they offer free debit cards (Visa) and you can have direct debits.

I have found their service fantastic for over four years, including customer service, which is always very quick to respond to queries. The transfers and exchanges are processed in seconds.

Used Wise for many years. Generally excellent service . Have UK and Euro account as they also offer a debit/credit card which is very useful.
Had a dispute with a travel firm, they took up on my behalf and gave me full refund.
Yes there is a fee sterling to Spanish Euro account but exchange rate offered compared to many other brokers and banks mitigates this cost.

Wise do not offer a credit card:-

'The Wise debit card isn't a credit card, so you'll need to top up your balance in advance - but you can't run up interest fees, and there's no credit check to apply for your account and card. It only takes a few minutes to register for a Wise Account and upload your documents for verification.'

Neither do they do loans.

Yes you are quite correct however I am used to the fact that in Latin America card readers often only accept it as a single payment "Credit card".
As you point out you must have a supporting balance to use it.

I was not trying to be pedantic - just trying to make sure any Wise newbies get it straight as typically (Sabadell never stop pushing it) financial setups offer a credit card.

Wise actually offer 3 types of debit cards - one is free, and the Infinity visa option costs 6€ one-off and comes with more benefits. There is also an option to register for a virtual debit card.

Not at all, you are absolutely right to do so ...