Please sign in to post.

Transferwise - fees going up

Just a heads up to anyone who needs to "wire" money to a foreign bank account: I've had great luck with TransferWise, have found them easy, quick and crazy cheap (compared to using a bank or credit union, which have all been a chore, slow, and stunningly expensive).

I just saw today that TransferWise has raised their fees. For example, the fee for using a Debit card to fund your transfer has gone up to 0.75% (up from 0.15%), and the fee for using a credit card has gone up to 3.4% (up from 1.75%). Both represent quite a jump. I'd still probably recommend them - it'll still certainly be easier than dealing with my credit union, which seemed clueless about the process, and maybe less expensive - but it's not quite the too-good-to-be-true bargain that it was previously. Oh well, I guess their previous low fees were unsustainable.

Anyway, since I've posted here before about how great my experience with TransferWise was, I thought I'd provide an update that dials back some of that enthusiasm. If you need this service, it's still worth a look, I think, but maybe not the no-brainer it was.

Posted by
28128 posts

Thanks for the update, David. To me, the 0.75% for debit cards still sounds really good, assuming one isn't for some reason worried about the security of the debit card. But if something goes wrong as a result of a transfer arranged while you're at home, it would be easier to address than card loss or a blocked card in the middle of a trip.

Posted by
6792 posts

Yeah, you're right. Using a debit card to fund it at 0.75% is still a bargain (my local credit union wanted some crazy high fee like $40). Since I have an account with them, they sent an email today announcing the fee increase. The tone of that was so apologetic, it was almost charming. But yes, I'd probably use them again (but via debit card).