Wise Business vs Airwallex

An overview of Wise Business vs Airwallex

Wise Business wins in our comparison against Airwallex. Wise pricing is a little better. But overall, both are a great option for businesses.

The cost of using Wise Business for international transfers will be from 0.33%. This is the mid-market exchange rate, plus a fee. Card spending, where an exchange is needed, is the same.

For Airwallex the cost will be from 0.5%. This is an exchange rate, that starts at 0.5% and no fee. However, card transactions, which need an exchange, start from 1%.

Customer feedback

To give a clear view of how customers perceive each brand we have analysed reviews for each. This covers just over a year's worth of data and is specifically for online reviews.

Our scoring

For each of our comparisons we will look at some key measures of a business.

For Wise Business and Airwallex, this includes product offering, cost, speed and regulation.

This will give you the information needed to make an informed decision on the best provider for you.

Fees & Rates

9.4

Transfer Speed

9.0

Safety & Trust

9.5

Product Offering

8.8

Transfer Limits

9.5

Ease of Use

10.0

Customer Feedback

8.5

9.2

Overall

Fees & Rates

9.0

Transfer Speed

8.6

Safety & Trust

8.8

Product Offering

9.0

Transfer Limits

9.0

Ease of Use

8.8

Customer Feedback

8.6

8.8

Overall

Product offering

8.8

vs

9

Visit Airwallex

• Airwallex offers 12 local accounts and Wise Business offers 10

• Airwallex offers custom workflows for different teams or individuals

• Airwallex has a greater amount of additional currencies that businesses can access

Wise Business and Airwallex both provide multi-currency services. They offer similar products, but have a different history from each other.

Airwallex would is a ‘business first’ product. It is built for businesses exclusively. Wise Business started life as a money transfer company for personal use. They launched a business product alongside this.

The product offering from both, on the whole, is very good.

But they do both suffer from the same floor of trying to offer everything and, for the most part, being self managed.

Account management and phone support isn’t readily available for either.

When choosing between the two, be aware you will be using help portals as the first port of call for account issues.

Multi-currency accounts

Wise Business offers 10 accounts, although Romania and Turkey are restricted. Airwallex offers 12 local accounts.

Airwallex offers more access to local accounts than any other multi-currency business account.

Airwallex and Wise Business are both highly rated for multi-currency account offering.

Between the two, most of the bases needed to transact at an international level are covered.

Both offer further currency support for conversion at the point of receipt. This will go into one of the local accounts.

*Denmark also offers the same access (in Denmark) to the following currencies: CZK, CHF, GBP, HUF, MXN, NOK, PLN, RON, SEK, ZAR.

Supported currencies.

Airwallex supports payments in around 130 currencies. This is compared to 40 offered by Wise Business.

This scope gives Airwallex a much greater handle on global transactions.

Be aware though, for both, the exchange rates and fees are from 0.33% and 0.5%.

So when you transact in harder to reach currencies you are likely to pay a lot more than these.

As an example, some African countries can have total costs of over 5%.

This isn’t an exclusive cost to Wise Business or Airwallex. You will also see this with companies such as Xe and Payoneer as well.

Cards

Cards aren’t currently on offer to US businesses from Wise Business, however we expect this to change.

The big difference between the card access is in ATM access. Airwallex does not offer ATM access.

Also as of November 2023, card conversion with Airwallex is 1%, compared to the 0.33% you would pay with Wise Business.

There’s also a charge of $5 per active employee with a card with Airwallex. This is a cost that can start to stack up if the account is used by multiple teams.

Interest rates

Companies with a significant balance in EUR, USD or GBP can earn interest with Wise Business. This is not available with with Airwallex.

Other companies offering interest are Revolut Business and Sokin.

Batch payments

Most business transfer providers have a batch payment offering of up to 1,000 providers. Airwallex and Wise Business are no different.

If you need more than 1,000 recipients per batch, Sokin offers up to 5,000 recipients.

Integrations

APIs

Both providers offer access to API use. These work in slightly different ways.

As a product offering, the Airwallex API will allow companies to do more. This includes offering white labelled services.

For Wise Business, the API automates and integrates Wise Business into existing processes.

Recently Wise has launched a Wise Platform as well. This is the starting point for allowing businesses to use Wise technology. In fact, it is already in a number of places, such as Monzo and Go Cardless.

With the nature of an API, and what users what to do with it, we wouldn’t really say either Airwallex or Wise Business is ‘best’. They both offer quite substantial coverage within the international payments space.

Fees and rates

9.4

vs

9

Visit Wise

• Wise Business offers exchanges at the mid-market rate, with fees from 0.33%

• Airwallex has no fees and exchange rate that starts from 0.5%

• Conversions into multi-currency accounts start at the same rate

Send and Receiving payments

Sending money through each is similar. You can do this through using the multi-currency platform each offers.

Payments are simple to set up and the overall costs are competitive with each other. Airwallex is paid on the exchange rate and Wise Business is paid on the fee.

For receiving money, you can do so into local accounts. Just having more accounts available on Airwallex makes this a little easier.

For non-supported currencies you’ll pay extra on top, compared to Wise Business, to convert.

Be aware that if you receive money from unsupported currencies you could pay more than the 0.33% or 0.5% starting fees.

Wise Business does not offer a payment gateway, so is not the correct option for you if you need this functionality.

Using the Airwallex to receive card payments is expensive: 2.80% + $0.30

Guaranteed rates and forward contracts

If currency risk is the main reason for choosing a provider, Wise Business or Airwallex are not the right option.

Providers like Moneycorp or OFX Business are best for this.

This is because of the nature of both Wise Business and Airwallex being digital services. On the other side, currency brokers will offer currency risk management but you will not get multi-currency accounts. It’s possible that working with two providers for different aspects of your business is a logical solution.

Speeds

9

vs

8.6

Visit Wise

• Sending money through both Airwallex or Wise is relatively fast

• Wise Business also offers P2P payments which are instant

Ease of use

10

vs

8.8

Visit Wise

• The Wise Business offering is universal across different devices. Airwallex lacks some features in the app

• Wise Business user interface is a little easier to use from the off. Airwallex takes a little time get used to

• Airwallex users like the efficiency offered in making payments

• Customer service for both is in the form of help portals and email

App support

To get an idea of how users interact on different devices, we have compiled and analysed data from different app stores.

Apple App Store

Google Play Store

Customer service

Being digital first services, both account providers receive negative feedback for customer service.

The first port of call when solving a problem on each account is to go through the process of chats and help centers. You can contact both accounts for support. For the most part, when tested, we received responses within 24 hours from each.

Regulation

9.5

vs

8.8

Visit Wise

• Both companies hold regulation in key markets across the world

• Wise is regulated in Brazil. This can be difficult to find with other multi-currency providers

Airwallex and Wise Business are bother regulated in key markets like the USA, the UK and Europe.

There are differences in regulation, and Wise Business offers a little more scope.

Not keen on either?

If Wise Business or Airwallex are not the right fit for your business, then we recommend one of the alternative providers below.

Revolut Business

Like their personal offering, the Revolut Business offering is tiered - giving more access to features, the more you pay.

Sokin

Sokin offers a strong product in terms of core accounts and batch payments. However, the lack of forward contracts might put off companies looking for more access to currency risk tools.

Moneycorp Business

Historically, Moneycorp is considered one of the biggest money transfer providers in the world. The company has over 45 years of history and launch in the USA in 2018. The company is headquartered in the UK but with offices in USA, Ireland, France, Romania, UAE, Hong Kong, Australia and Brazil.

OFX Business

Our key measures when testing OFX Business for international business transfers were the strength of the product offering, cost of service and transfers, speed, safety and customer satisfaction.

Xe Business

Xe Business offers strong all-round support for international business transfers. As part of our scoring process we have looked at product offering, cost, speed of transfers, safety and customer satisfaction.

Multipass

Multipass offers a strong selection of multi-currency option. A setup fee and higher monthly fees than elsewhere are a little offputting when you consider exchange rates are higher than Airwallex, Wise Buiness and Revolut Business.

More comparisons

Wise Business vs Sokin

Wise Business wins in our comparison against Sokin because the product is a bit more rounded. Sokin is a relatively newer player to the business multi-currency account market, so is still developing its product.

Payoneer vs Airwallex

Airwallex is our winner when comparing it with Payoneer. The company offers a well rounded platform which includes 12 local currency accounts. You can also customise expense management workflow.

Wise vs Payoneer

Wise Business wins in our comparison against Payoneer. It is cheaper and simpler to use.