Wise debit card

[neils2004]

Hi,
Has anyone had experience using a Wise debit card internationally ?
Thinking of obtaining one for use in Europe and the UK.

 

[Viridis]

I carry around a piece of paper in my travel wallet where I wrote, when I first received my Wise card 6 or 7 years ago - "use credit for ATM withdrawals with M/C, Visa and Cirrus". I cannot find it on the website now but that was the instruction at the time. Once you have actually logged into your Wise account, under "Card" the fees and daily limits are explained related to the country of issue of the Wise card. For clarity log into your account and do an on-line query (Help) and they usually respond with 24 hours. Help is in the pull down menu under your account name - where you log out.

That’s really helpful - thanks very much!! I’ll pass it on

 

[RooFlyer]

Namibian dollars can't be put onto the Wise card. But South African Rand can, an as N$1 = 1 SAZAR. it works nicely.

Hefty A$4 fee though.

 

[Flyinfish]

Hi,
Has anyone had experience using a Wise debit card internationally ?
Thinking of obtaining one for use in Europe and the UK.

Used mine extensively through Italy earlier this year and had zero problems.

 

[clifford]

I don't have a physical Wise Visa debit card, only a virtual one in GBP, in my Google wallet. This works well pretty much wherever contactless can be used, but I recently had an experience at a Hofer (Aldi) store in Vienna, where the machine said nyet. So I tried my physical Westpac MC and it would only accept it being swiped, and with the PIN. It also dispayed the sum to be paid in AUD instead of EUR (very sneaky). I shall avoid Hofer in the future.

 

[luckypierre]

Used mine extensively through Italy earlier this year and had zero problems.

Used our physical wise card in Italy , Spain and UK this year, no problems. The digital wise card we keep “frozen” as a back up if needed.

 

[mx838383]

I’ve used the wise card for Europe and it has come in quite handy. I've got both physical card and virtual card.

Tips:

1) get both physical and virtual card in case your phone runs out of battery. Thanks to Viridis for letting me know it uses NFC so still works without data.

2) if you have physical card make sure you have activated it by going to an ATM and do a quick account balance (usually 0 cost). Make sure to select savings for balance check. If the card has not been activated, it will not work. I did a very late last minute activation (nearly forgot) before flight to Europe and activated at Sydney airport via Travelex ATM machines (0 cost for account balance). I think you can still activate overseas at any ATM but I didn’t want to risk it.

 

[Viridis]

1) get both physical and virtual card in case you don’t have internet or your phone is out of battery and you need to make a purchase - your virtual card won’t cut it.

If your virtual card has been added to your phone wallet, you shouldn’t need an Internet connection to make a purchase - the technology uses NFC

Phone running out of battery is a different story

 

[mx838383]

If your virtual card has been added to your phone wallet, you shouldn’t need an Internet connection to make a purchase - the technology uses NFC

Phone running out of battery is a different story

Thanks I didn’t realise it used NFC. Good to know.

 

[Pushka]

If your virtual card has been added to your phone wallet, you shouldn’t need an Internet connection to make a purchase - the technology uses NFC

Phone running out of battery is a different story

OT but the virtual rail card in Japan apparently works even when phone is flat.
I have both cards too. Might try it out for first time overseas in a couple of months before a longer trip next year.

 

[albatross710]

OT but the virtual rail card in Japan apparently works even when phone is flat.
I have both cards too. Might try it out for first time overseas in a couple of months before a longer trip next year.

@Pushka speaking of Japan when purchasing Shinkansen tickets online the card needs to be a physical card because when you go to collect the ticket the machine wants a physical card to be inserted for linking to the booking. Most of the time we used the Shinkansen app and the tickets were linked to our IC card anyway. I had one instance on the JRWest Kanawaza service where we could not get digital tickets and the station's booking machinery was asking for the physical Wise card.

Separate jars won’t prevent fraud. If your preferred jar doesn't have enough funds, it will take it out of the next currency, that has the most money in it. The best way to stop fraud is to go into settings and restrict the amount of money you can spend per day either tap and go or from an ATM.

The 'holding' jars are not accessible to card transactions. The card will only access the 'balances.' Jars and currency balances are different.

As it turned out we had quite the Japan holiday complete with smug 'international currency trader' smirk as we spent my holiday money which was in JPY transferred at 1.1 while we watched the exchange rate drop as low as .94. Towards the end my JPY was exhausted and I was buying at .95-.97

In Japan had zero issues with the Wise card. Only made two cash transactions which carried Y220 & Y110 of fees. Now that I'm home I've deleted the special virtual card I had for Japan transactions.

 

[Pushka]

@Pushka speaking of Japan when purchasing Shinkansen tickets online the card needs to be a physical card because when you go to collect the ticket the machine wants a physical card to be inserted for linking to the booking. Most of the time we used the Shinkansen app and the tickets were linked to our IC card anyway. I had one instance on the JRWest Kanawaza service where we could not get digital tickets and the station's booking machinery was asking for the physical Wise card.

The 'holding' jars are not accessible to card transactions. The card will only access the 'balances.' Jars and currency balances are different.

As it turned out we had quite the Japan holiday complete with smug 'international currency trader' smirk as we spent my holiday money which was in JPY transferred at 1.1 while we watched the exchange rate drop as low as .94. Towards the end my JPY was exhausted and I was buying at .95-.97

In Japan had zero issues with the Wise card. Only made two cash transactions which carried Y220 & Y110 of fees. Now that I'm home I've deleted the special virtual card I had for Japan transactions.

I transferred as high as 1.4. And then it fell, badly. So will enjoy the trader smirk as well. But still some months to go. Must put that Shinkansen app on the phone. I've sneakily loaded the suica travel card on husbands wallet on the phone, he doesn't need to know all the details, just that it will work.

So, if I have yen and aud stored, and go to a different country like Indonesia, which pool of money does it tap into? Or should I load up with Rupiah?

 

[CMA222]

Separate jars won’t prevent fraud. If your preferred jar doesn't have enough funds, it will take it out of the next currency, that has the most money in it. The best way to stop fraud is to go into settings and restrict the amount of money you can spend per day either tap and go or from an ATM.

The conversion that occurs if you have insufficient of a required currency is calculated by Wise by converting from whatever currency you have available on your card that converts at the best available cross rate - between currencies. I had a heap of A$'s loaded, as well as several other currencies, and I expected they would use my default currency because it is an Australian issued card (which is how the QF Money card works). The best cross rate at the time of my conversion was from PHP to US$ but then I had to repurchase PHP to top up the balance. So I ended up actually paying more with the fees from A$'s to PHP - live and learn.

 

[mel-world]

Just made my first overseas trip using a WISE card and found it particularly useful in every country. I had both the physical card and a digital card on the phone (that worked except when the NFC was turned off for some unknown reason). Only a small fee charged for conversions and the rate generally matched what I found on Oanda.

You can have a digital card for on-line purchases and a seperate one for 'tap-and go' so, if one is compromised, you immediately know which card was affected, can cancel it and generate a new digital card immediately. No waiting for a physical card to arrive. I've even set-up to get a notification of every transaction.

I did get caught out once when a couple of extra drinks in Hong Kong exceeded the balance I had available in HKD (although I had extra in a 'Jar' in that currency). WISE immediately 'raided' HKD, AUD and USD balances to pay for the amount due before I realised my rookie mistake. I now navigate the App to ensure I have enough of the right currency available, even a few seconds before paying the bill.

The ATM fees were only what the ATM operator charged, 220 yen (A$2.20) at the 7-11 ATM in Japan for example. Cost of doing business, although there is a limit on the amount you can withdraw per day, per month and a fee if you use an ATM too often but did not affect me.

I also had an old Citi, now NAB, card and a Latitude credit card but found I did not really need them, except for a pre-authorisation at some hotels.

Recommended - but only convert what you will need in a currency, otherwise you lose converting back to AUD as you leave a country. The card will always take the funds from your AUD balance if you run out of local funds, although I do note the last post that indicated that WISE may take funds from any available balance with the best rate at the time. I now only keep AUD and the currency of the country I am in available - the rest is in Jars so not instantly available.

 

[yojohnny]

Just made my first overseas trip using a WISE card and found it particularly useful in every country. I had both the physical card and a digital card on the phone (that worked except when the NFC was turned off for some unknown reason). Only a small fee charged for conversions and the rate generally matched what I found on Oanda.

You can have a digital card for on-line purchases and a seperate one for 'tap-and go' so, if one is compromised, you immediately know which card was affected, can cancel it and generate a new digital card immediately. No waiting for a physical card to arrive. I've even set-up to get a notification of every transaction.

I did get caught out once when a couple of extra drinks in Hong Kong exceeded the balance I had available in HKD (although I had extra in a 'Jar' in that currency). WISE immediately 'raided' HKD, AUD and USD balances to pay for the amount due before I realised my rookie mistake. I now navigate the App to ensure I have enough of the right currency available, even a few seconds before paying the bill.

The ATM fees were only what the ATM operator charged, 220 yen (A$2.20) at the 7-11 ATM in Japan for example. Cost of doing business, although there is a limit on the amount you can withdraw per day, per month and a fee if you use an ATM too often but did not affect me.

I also had an old Citi, now NAB, card and a Latitude credit card but found I did not really need them, except for a pre-authorisation at some hotels.

Recommended - but only convert what you will need in a currency, otherwise you lose converting back to AUD as you leave a country. The card will always take the funds from your AUD balance if you run out of local funds, although I do note the last post that indicated that WISE may take funds from any available balance with the best rate at the time. I now only keep AUD and the currency of the country I am in available - the rest is in Jars so not instantly available.

Why not just leave your currency in AUD? Aren't you then playing the foxex morakets which would work out in your favour but it could go the other way?

 

[RooFlyer]

Why not just leave your currency in AUD? Aren't you then playing the foxex morakets which would work out in your favour but it could go the other way?

I tend to agree with you, however sometimes when there is a spike in favourable FX rates between A$ and the destination currency, its fun to load up with that currency ahead of time. If the favourable rate keeps progressing, you won't be much worse off.

 

[DejaBrew]

I tend to agree with you, however sometimes when there is a spike in favourable FX rates between A$ and the destination currency, its fun to load up with that currency ahead of time. If the favourable rate keeps progressing, you won't be much worse off.

Agreed. I stocked up on JPY when the rates were far more favourable given I'm going in Nov/Dec. Useful if you know you're going to be using it on an upcoming trip and you aren't confident the rates will work in your favour when you're going to be travelling.

 

[asterix]

Agreed. I stocked up on JPY when the rates were far more favourable given I'm going in Nov/Dec. Useful if you know you're going to be using it on an upcoming trip and you aren't confident the rates will work in your favour when you're going to be travelling.

I'd contemplated converting to JPY in the lead up to our trip but was glad I didn't as the AUD was at a 17 year high when we were there in June/July so I was glad I hadn't locked in an inferior rate in the months leading up to our trip.

Obviously it could have gone the other way. The dollar went down within a day or two of us returning to home. We used our CBA Smart Awards Mastercard for purchases and Up debit card to withdraw from 7/11 with no fees including no ATM provider fees since it is a Mastercard. I had my Wise and Revolut cards but didn't use them.

 

[DejaBrew]

I'd contemplated converting to JPY in the lead up to our trip but was glad I didn't as the AUD was at a 17 year high when we were there in June/July so I was glad I hadn't locked in an inferior rate in the months leading up to our trip.

Yeah, that's around the time when I was locking in JPY

I was pleased with myself when I saw the dollar dropping back into the JPY90s range in recent times, but do note that it's slowly gaining momentum once more. I suspect I'll be ahead come my trip, but even if it breaks relatively even, I'll have been happy for the peace of mind securing those highs when I had the chance (just in case).