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A UK business paying suppliers abroad, invoicing overseas clients, or holding revenue in more than one currency usually runs into the same problem with a standard business current account: international payments get routed through SWIFT, the exchange rate carries a margin well above the one you'd see on a currency converter, and there's often nowhere to actually hold the money once it's converted.
Wise is one of the best-known answers to that problem, and arguably the provider that made "the mid-market rate, shown upfront" the industry expectation rather than a selling point. In our experience testing and reviewing multi-currency accounts for UK businesses, Wise is less a bank alternative and more a purpose-built currency and payments layer: a multi-currency account, a debit card, invoicing tools and a free API, all priced per transaction rather than through a monthly subscription.
This guide looks at what Wise Business actually offers, how it works, what it costs, how safe your money is with it, and which UK businesses it suits best.
What is Wise?
Wise, known as TransferWise until February 2021, was founded in London in 2011 by Estonian entrepreneurs Kristo Käärmann and Taavet Hinrikus, who built the business after growing frustrated with the fees and poor exchange rates they were charged when sending money between the UK and Estonia. Wise Group plc listed on the London Stock Exchange via a direct listing in July 2021, which means its accounts, risk disclosures and financial results are all publicly available, a level of transparency few competitors in this space can match.
In the UK, the relevant entity is Wise Payments Limited, which is authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) as an Electronic Money Institution (EMI) under firm reference number 900507.
It isn't a licensed bank, and we'll come back to what that means for your money later in this guide.
At its core, Wise Business lets businesses:
Hold and convert balances across 40 or more currencies from a single login
Receive payments using local account details in 22 or more currencies
Send international payments using the mid-market exchange rate plus a disclosed fee from 0.33%
Issue physical and virtual debit cards to spend held currencies without a conversion fee
Send batch payments to up to 1,000 recipients in one go
Generate invoices, payment links and QR codes to get paid by card
Connect to Xero, QuickBooks and FreeAgent, or build custom integrations through a free API
Eligibility is broad. Sole traders and freelancers, partnerships, and limited and public companies can all apply, which puts Wise in a more accessible bracket than competitors such as Revolut Business, which doesn't accept sole traders in the same way.
How Does Wise Business Work?
Wise Business is built around a single multi-currency account, with card and invoicing features layered on top.
Getting Started
Registration itself is free, and in our experience it's one of the quicker onboarding processes in this category for a straightforward limited company or sole trader. Wise's pricing structure changed on 26 November 2025: you can now open a free Essentials account, but receiving money, direct debits and the "getting paid" tools only unlock once you pay a one-off £50 setup fee for the Advanced plan (source: Wise, checked August 2026). It's worth noting that this fee falls due after your application is approved rather than during it, so you can see whether you've been accepted before you commit to paying.
Multi-Currency Account
Once set up, Wise gives you local account details, not just a converted balance, in 22 or more currencies, including GBP, USD, EUR and AUD. That means an overseas client can pay you as though you held a domestic account in their country, which tends to matter more than it sounds: it avoids the client paying an international wire fee on their end, and it avoids your business looking foreign to a supplier or customer who's used to paying local invoices. Balances can be held and converted across 40 or more currencies in total, even where you don't have local receiving details for all of them.
Sending and Converting Money
Every conversion uses the mid-market rate, the same one you'd see on Google or XE, with Wise's fee shown before you confirm the transaction. That fee starts from 0.33% and varies by currency pair; when we checked pricing for GBP to EUR in 2026, the published fee sat at 0.37%. It's a model that's easy to underestimate the value of until you've compared it against a high street bank's FX margin, which is rarely disclosed as a percentage at all.
Cards and Everyday Spending
Wise issues physical and virtual debit cards for a one-off £3 fee. Spending in a currency you already hold in your account is free; spending in a currency you don't hold triggers an automatic conversion at the mid-market rate plus a small fee, from around 0.41% depending on the currency. Two ATM withdrawals up to £200 a month are fee-free, after which a £0.50 plus 1.75% charge applies. In practice, this makes the card a reasonable fit for a director who travels and spends across several currencies, though it isn't designed as a full employee expense card programme in the way a dedicated Cards & Expenses platform is, even though Wise does offer employee cards from £3 each with individual spending controls.
Getting Paid by Card
If your business needs to accept card payments from customers rather than just receiving bank transfers, Wise supports invoicing, payment links and QR codes, with card acceptance fees of 1% for UK cards and 2.9% for international cards. It's a workable option for a service business invoicing occasional card payments, though it isn't built to compete with a dedicated payment gateway for high-volume e-commerce.
Why Wise is Popular with UK Businesses Making International Payments
This is where Wise tends to earn its reputation against both traditional banks and newer fintech rivals.
Rate Transparency
When we speak to business owners who've switched to Wise, the most commonly cited reason is simply seeing the real exchange rate and the fee separately, rather than a rate that's already been marked up without explanation. It sounds like a small thing until you've compared a £10,000 supplier payment through a high street bank against the same payment through Wise and seen the gap in sterling terms.
Local Receiving Details Without Local Entities
Unlike Equals Money, which issues a single multi-currency IBAN, Wise gives you the option of local account details in more than 20 currencies. For a UK business invoicing US or EU clients regularly, that can be the difference between looking like a normal domestic supplier and looking like a foreign one the client's finance team has to process differently.
No Monthly Subscription
Wise Business runs on pay-as-you-go pricing rather than a monthly fee. For a lean operation or a business with irregular international payment volume, that structure tends to work out cheaper than a flat monthly platform fee, particularly compared with providers such as Equals Money's Cards & Expenses plan at £25 a month.
Free API
Wise offers a free API alongside its standard dashboard, which lets a business with development resource automate payment runs, reconciliation or payroll rather than relying on manual exports. This is a genuine point of difference against providers that reserve API access for enterprise-tier customers only.
Key Features of Wise Business
Multi-Currency Account
Hold and convert balances across 40 or more currencies, with local account details to receive payments in 22 or more.
International Payments
Send money using the mid-market exchange rate plus a disclosed fee from 0.33%, shown before you confirm.
Debit and Expense Cards
Physical and virtual Wise cards, free to spend in currencies you already hold, with employee cards available from £3 each and individual spending controls.
Batch Payments
Pay up to 1,000 recipients in a single upload, which suits a business running supplier payments or contractor payroll at volume.
Invoicing and Payment Acceptance
Generate invoices, payment links and QR codes, with card acceptance at 1% for UK cards and 2.9% for international cards.
Accounting Integrations and API
Direct sync with Xero, QuickBooks and FreeAgent, plus a free API for custom automation, which is broader than the single-integration approach some rivals take.
Wise Interest
An optional feature that lets eligible balances earn variable interest, linked to central bank rates, by moving funds into an underlying low-risk fund of government-backed assets. It's worth noting that this is an investment product, so your capital is at risk, and it sits outside the day-to-day account rather than being paid automatically on idle cash.
Wise Business Pricing Structure
Wise's pricing changed on 26 November 2025, splitting the account into a free Essentials tier and a paid Advanced tier.
Account Fees
Item | Cost |
|---|---|
Open an account (Essentials) | Free |
Unlock Advanced features | £50 one-off |
Monthly account fee | None |
Payments and Conversion
Service | Cost |
|---|---|
Send a payment overseas | From 0.33% |
Convert currencies | From 0.33% |
Receive payments with local details (22+ currencies) | Free to receive |
Some inbound SWIFT payments | May carry a fee |
Cards
Service | Cost |
|---|---|
Order a Wise debit or expense card | £3 one-off fee |
Employee expense cards | From £3 each |
Spend in a currency you hold | Free |
Spend in a currency you don't hold | Conversion at the mid-market rate plus a fee of around 0.41% |
ATM withdrawal | Two free withdrawals up to £200 a month, then £0.50 plus 1.75% |
Getting Paid by Card
Service | Cost |
|---|---|
UK card payments | 1% |
International card payments | 2.9% |
We checked these figures directly against Wise's published pricing pages in August 2026. Wise's model is genuinely pay-as-you-go rather than tiered by plan, so the total cost to your business will depend heavily on your payment volume, currency mix and whether you need the Advanced plan's receiving and invoicing tools at all. A business that only ever sends money, and never needs to give out receiving account details, may find the free Essentials tier does the job without triggering the £50 fee.
Is Wise Safe to Use?
For a business moving meaningful sums internationally, this question usually matters more than the headline pricing.
FCA Authorisation
Wise Payments Limited is authorised by the FCA as an Electronic Money Institution under firm reference number 900507, under the Electronic Money Regulations 2011 and the Payment Services Regulations 2017. Wise Assets Limited, which handles the Interest feature, holds a separate FCA authorisation for investment activities under reference number 839689.
Fund Protection
Wise isn't a bank, so customer funds aren't covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) in the way a bank deposit is. Instead, Wise is required to safeguard 100% of customer funds under FCA rules, holding them in accounts segregated from the company's own operating money, split between cash held with commercial banking partners and secure, liquid assets such as UK government bonds. It's worth being precise here: this protects your money from Wise's own insolvency, but it isn't the same statutory guarantee as FSCS deposit protection, and the practical route to getting your money back if Wise failed would look different to a bank collapse.
Feature | Traditional Bank | Wise Business |
|---|---|---|
FCA-regulated | Yes | Yes |
Segregated client funds | No | Yes |
FSCS protection | Yes | No |
Interest on balances | Sometimes | Only via separate Wise Interest feature |
If your business plans to hold a large working balance with Wise for any length of time, rather than using it mainly to move money between currencies, it's worth weighing that against keeping surplus reserves in an FSCS-protected business bank account alongside it.
The Wise Interest Feature
Wise Interest is a separate, opt-in product that lets eligible balances in GBP, USD and EUR earn variable returns, currently up to around 4% depending on the currency and central bank rates. Funds allocated to Interest sit in a different structure to your standard Wise balance and, unlike the core account, are eligible for FSCS protection because of how the underlying investment fund is held. That's a meaningful distinction worth understanding rather than assuming it applies to your whole balance by default.
Terms and Conditions Worth Reading
A few areas of Wise's terms are worth understanding before you apply, rather than after.
Safeguarding, not FSCS protection. As with any EMI, your funds are protected differently to a bank deposit. This is standard across the sector, not unique to Wise, but it's honest to flag plainly, particularly for a business holding large balances rather than moving money through quickly.
The £50 fee unlocks features, not the account itself. You can register and hold a Wise Business account for free, but you won't be able to receive payments using local account details, take card payments, or set up direct debits until you pay the one-off Advanced fee.
Some inbound SWIFT payments carry a fee. If your business regularly receives large international wire transfers rather than payments through Wise's local receiving details, it's worth checking the specific fee for your currency corridor before assuming every inbound payment is free.
High-risk sectors and complex ownership structures take longer to verify. Businesses in categories such as financial services or gambling, or those with multiple beneficial owners or a trust structure, may face a verification process of one to three business days, or may be declined at Wise's discretion.
Registered and trading address mismatches limit features. If your business's registered address and trading address are in different countries, Wise can only offer the features available in both locations, which can restrict which currencies and services you can access.
What is Wise Good At?
Rate transparency as standard. The mid-market rate with a disclosed fee shown before you confirm a payment is the clearest pricing model of any provider we've reviewed in this category.
Local receiving details in 22+ currencies. Genuinely useful for a business invoicing overseas clients who'd otherwise face their own international wire fee.
No monthly subscription. Pay-as-you-go pricing suits a lean or irregular international payment volume better than a flat platform fee.
A free API. Businesses with development resource can automate payment runs and reconciliation without paying for enterprise-tier access.
Batch payments at scale. Paying up to 1,000 recipients in one upload is a meaningful time saving for a business running supplier or contractor payments at volume.
Who is Wise Business Best Suited To?
Wise is particularly well-suited to:
Freelancers, Contractors and Sole Traders Billing Overseas Clients
Wise's willingness to accept sole traders, not just limited companies, makes it accessible to a freelancer who doesn't want to incorporate purely to get a multi-currency account.
Businesses That Send or Receive Money in Several Currencies Regularly
The combination of local receiving details, mid-market conversion and a debit card that spends held currencies for free suits a business with genuine ongoing multi-currency activity, rather than an occasional one-off transfer.
Businesses That Want to Automate Payments
The free API and batch payment tool, up to 1,000 recipients at once, suit a finance team that wants to build international payments into an existing workflow rather than processing each one manually.
Cost-Conscious Businesses Without Predictable Volume
Because there's no monthly fee, a business with unpredictable or seasonal international payment needs isn't paying for a subscription during quiet months.
Who Would Be Better Served by Alternatives?
Wise isn't the right fit for every business trading internationally.
You want dedicated FX advice or hedging tools. Wise is a self-serve platform without a dealer-led relationship, so a business with meaningful currency risk that wants forward contracts or a named FX contact may be better served by a provider such as Equals Money.
You need everyday UK banking, lending or overdrafts. As an EMI rather than a bank, Wise doesn't offer credit products, so a business wanting a lending relationship alongside its banking will need a traditional business bank account too.
You want FSCS protection on your full working balance. If holding significant reserves under the statutory deposit protection scheme matters more than currency tools, a bank account will suit better than an e-money account, whatever the FX savings look like.
You need high-volume, domestic banking. A business that transacts almost entirely in pounds is unlikely to see much benefit from Wise's core strength, and may be better served comparing straightforward UK business bank accounts instead.
Common Misconceptions About Wise
"Wise is a bank." It isn't. Wise Payments Limited is authorised by the FCA as an Electronic Money Institution, not a bank, which is why deposits aren't FSCS-protected in the way a bank account's are.
"Wise has a monthly fee." It doesn't. Wise runs on pay-as-you-go pricing: no ongoing monthly charge, though the Advanced plan's features require a one-off £50 fee to unlock.
"You need a limited company to use Wise Business." Not true. Sole traders, freelancers, partnerships, and limited and public companies can all apply.
"Wise only supports a handful of currencies." Wise holds and converts balances across 40 or more currencies, with local receiving account details available in 22 or more.
FAQs About Wise Business
Is Wise regulated in the UK?
Yes. Wise Payments Limited is authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority as an Electronic Money Institution, firm reference number 900507.
Can sole traders use Wise Business?
Yes. Wise accepts sole traders and freelancers alongside partnerships, and limited and public companies.
Is my money protected with Wise?
Funds are safeguarded under FCA rules, held separately from Wise's own operating money, but they aren't covered by the FSCS in the way a bank deposit would be. The separate Wise Interest feature is structured differently and does carry FSCS eligibility.
How much does Wise Business cost?
There's no monthly fee. Registration is free, and a one-off £50 charge unlocks receiving account details, invoicing and payment features on the Advanced plan. Conversion and international payment fees start from 0.33%.
Does Wise charge for receiving payments?
Receiving payments using local account details in 22 or more currencies is free once you've paid the Advanced setup fee. Some inbound SWIFT payments carry a separate charge.
How many currencies does Wise support?
Wise holds and converts balances across 40 or more currencies, with local receiving details available in 22 or more.
Does Wise offer lending or credit?
No. As an Electronic Money Institution rather than a bank, Wise doesn't offer loans, overdrafts or credit facilities.
Is Wise good for international payments compared with a high street bank?
In our experience, yes, for cost and transparency specifically. Wise shows the mid-market rate and its fee before you send, which is rarely disclosed as clearly by a high street bank, whose FX margin is usually built into the rate rather than itemised.
Alternatives to Wise
If dealer-led FX advice and rate-locking tools matter more to you than a self-serve app, our Wise vs Equals Money comparison looks at that trade-off directly.
If you're weighing Wise against another app-first multi-currency specialist, our Wise vs Airwallex comparison covers where the two overlap and differ.
If everyday UK banking matters as much as international payments, our Wise vs Revolut comparison weighs up the deposit protection question in full.
If you're comparing a specialist multi-currency account against an all-in-one digital business bank account, our business bank accounts comparison tool can help you find one with a broader everyday feature set.
Verdict: Is Wise a Good Option?
Wise isn't trying to be a full business bank. Where it earns its place is in doing one thing better than almost anyone else in this market: showing you the real exchange rate and its fee, clearly, before you commit to a payment. Combined with local receiving details in 22 or more currencies, a free API and no monthly subscription, it's a strong fit for a business whose international activity is regular enough to matter but not so complex that it needs a dedicated FX dealer managing risk on its behalf.
It isn't FSCS-protected, it doesn't offer lending, and businesses wanting hedging tools such as forward contracts will find Wise's self-serve model has less to offer than a provider like Equals Money. The £50 Advanced fee is also easy to miss if you only read the "no monthly fee" headline, and it's worth budgeting for from the outset if receiving payments matters to your business.
For a freelancer, contractor or SME that sends, receives or holds money in more than one currency and wants transparent, low pay-as-you-go pricing without a dealer relationship attached, Wise is one of the more capable and cost-effective options on the UK market. As always, it's worth confirming current fees and eligibility directly before applying, since pricing structures in this sector tend to shift more often than traditional banking terms do.
