TransferWise is an online money transfer service, designed to allow individuals to transfer money up to eight times more cheaply as compared to a bank.
This service uses a smart new approach in enabling people to send and receive money safely from abroad without the high fees added by most high-street banks.
It’s system is beautifully simple as it bypasses pricey international payments entirely by using two local transfers instead of one international transaction.
How TransferWise Works
If you want to convert your pounds to euros using TransferWise, all you have to do is, send the money in pounds to TransferWise’s UK based account. The equivalent amount will be sent from TransferWise’s euro account to the recipient.
What this means is that, with this smart system the money never actually moves across borders, and the currency conversion is done using the real mid-market exchange rate.
With this, customers can avoid traditional banking fees altogether and they don’t lose money by transferring at an unfair rate.
TransferWise Benefits
Using TransferWise will get you in on the following benefits:
- You can send money abroad eight times cheaper than using your regular high street bank.
- The service’s transaction costs are always transparent, as compared to some other providers which add a markup to the real exchange rate in addition to their fees.
- TransferWise international payments on major routes from the UK as well as Europe, are delivered within 24 hours as compared to the 3-7 days for a regular bank. Most 25 percent of all transfers from the UK to Europe are being delivered within seconds.
- You can arrange your online transfer for convenience.
- TransferWise is regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority, and is trusted by 3 million users around the globe.
- Your money gets sent directly to your recipient’s bank account.
- TransferWise service works both for business and personal use.
- Also, TransferWise has built a borderless account. It is much like a currency account which enables you hold over 40 different currencies and send and spend money overseas easily with the use of your contactless TransferWise debit Mastercard.
TransferWise Sign Up
You can easily sign up on TransferWise be it for personal or business use and get access to money without borders.
To sign up:
- Visit transferwise.com/register#/
- Click on the account type of your choice, either personal or business.
- Enter your email address
- Create a password
- Pick your country of residence
- Then click on the “Sign up” link
Alternatively, you can continue with Apple, Google or Facebook.
TransferWise Login
To login to your account:
- Visit transferwise.com/login/
- Enter your email address
- Key in your password
- Click on the “Log-In” option.
You can also log in with Facebook, Google or Apple.
Forgot Password? Reset TransferWise Login Password
If you have forgotten your password:
- Visit transferwise.com/login/
- Click on the “Forgot Password” link
- On the new page, just key in the email address you registered with and TransferWise will send you a link to reset your password.
- Click on the “Send password reset link”.
How Much Does Using TransferWise Cost?
On a pound sterling to euro transfer, the upfront fee you are required to pay is 80p plus 0.35% of the transfer amount. Thus if you are transferring £1000 into euros by bank transfer, you will pay £4.29 for the service.
TransferWise Exchange Rates
Anytime you send money using TransferWise, the transaction is made using the real, mid-market exchange rate. This is the one you’ll find if you Google your currency pairing.
Howbeit, most banks do not offer this rate to retail customers. Rather, they add a markup to the mid-market rate in order to keep the difference for themselves.
How Safe is TransferWise?
The TransferWise service is fully regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Just like the large banks and financial institutions, this platform verifies it’s users to protect against fraud and money laundering.
How to Use TransferWise
To use TransferWise for transfer:
- Visit the TransferWise website.
- Enter your details and the recipient’s and how much money you want to transfer.
- You can either key in your debit card details or send the money to TransferWise from your online Bank account.
- Thereafter, the money will be sent directly to the recipient’s bank account, even if they do not have a TransferWise account themselves.
- You will get a confirmation email when the money has been received and another when it has been paid to the recipient.
Most transfers happen the same day. Normally, it takes 3-7 working days to complete an international payment.
How Long Do Transfers Take?
Most of the transfers to Europe from the UK are completed within one business day.