Transferring funds across borders is never easy as you need to deal with different currencies, exchange rates, transfer fees, etc.
And if you are considering using your local banks, then you need to be prepared to wait for weeks as the number of paperworks and regulations are involved.
The best option to transfer money across borders is using an online money transfer platform like PayPal, Western Union, Wise, Payoneer.
In this article, we’ll compare the two leading digital payment services – Payoneer vs Wise:
- We’ll be looking at how both these money transfer platforms work,
- Check their transfer limits,
- Transfer fees,
- International transfers,
- Transfer duration,
- How they facilitate money transfers
- & a lot more.
What is Wise?
Started in 2011, Wise is a peer-to-peer currency transfer service. During that time, it was considered as an exciting startup providing international money transfer services.
The major goal of Wise is to enable individuals to cut down on the huge commission rates offered on conversion while sending money across borders.
It was when the Estonian founders were shelling out huge sums of money in the names of the commision that they started taking the matter into their own hands and started Wise.
Since their launch, the concept of cutting down on the bank commission allowed them to move over £3bn. And their business model came in from some huge appreciation from individuals and businesses across the world.
Features of Wise
- Peer-to-Peer Money Transfer Service
- A nominal fee charged for money transfers
- Withdrawing money is free of charge twice a month as long as the total amount is under 100USD
- Money transfers are completed within 1-4 days (takes 1 working day to receive an incoming wire transfer)
- Same currency transfers are free of charge
- Borderless account
- Provides support for 4 currencies including USD, EUR, GBP and AUD
- Single or Repetitive payment options
- Receive international transactions from over 30 countries
- The online calculator allows users to calculate the total amount including fees
- Supports payments through debit cards, bank transfers, SWIFT payment and Apple Pay etc.
- Over 40000 reviews in Trustpilot
- 5-star rating on Trustpilot
- Exchange rate are fetched from Reuters mid-market rates
What We Like About Wise
- On the spot transfers made easy using their bot available through Facebook Messenger
- Incoming payments usually takes only 1-3 working days
- Easy to order debit card via the app or online
- Provides an option to carry bulk payments for up to a maximum of 1000 recipients at a time so as example you can pay employees and you can use repeat payment options as well
- Easy and straightforward to create local bank accounts’ transfers
- Multilingual website provided in various languages including English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Hungarian, Polish, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish
What We Don’t Like About Wise
- Tough to compare readily to other suppliers due to the charges
- Payments from Hong Kong not accepted
- Identity verification is done many times
What is Payoneer?
Launched in 2005 way before Wise, Payoneer was a popular money transfer service based in New York. The mission of the company is to make global money transfers simple for individuals and businesses while offering trusted support for people around the globe.
Most of the blue-chip companies and huge corporates still use Payoneer as one of their payment options, including Amazon and Airbnb. Additionally, a lot of other companies prefer Payoneer over different alternatives of PayPal.
Features of Payoneer
- Allows transfer only to another Payoneer account
- Borderless account option
- Payoneer account can be used as a bank account
- Transfers allowed only for private accounts
- Provides cards like debit/credit cards to purchase things online
- No fee charged for making payments
- Supports 150 currencies
- Only spot transfers supported
What We Like about Payoneer
- Business clients provided with Mastercard and enabled easy business payments
- Ideal payment solution for freelancing website that makes payments globally for freelancers (Alternative for PayPal)
- Payoneer billing service offers business to pay and get paid quickly and easily
- Easy to set up recurring, regular payments
- Debit cards payments possible
- Own bank account provided
What We Don’t Like about Payoneer
- Not ideal for enterprises and large corporates
- There is a fee when withdrawing money of at least 3USD
- Account opening takes a long time
- Annual fee for Payoneer debit card is 29,95USD
- Only private accounts can send and receive money, personal accounts are not allowed to transfer money, but only receive payments
Exchange Rates: Payoneer vs Wise
Both Transferwise vs Payoneer provides customers with bank-beating rates. Hence, one could not conclude about who provides the best exchange rates. The rates are also decided based on the fluctuations in the market deals, and hence it is tough to predict. If you are sending money abroad, better check the exchange rates on both before making a payment.
Payoneer Exchange Rate
- Exchange rates are determined based on the average market rates
- In some countries, Payoneer charges around 2-2.75% as foreign exchange fees
- Get to know the exact exchange rates before making the transfer
- Using Payoneer Mastercard at non-listed companies may attract exchange rates
Wise Exchange Rate
- Get to know the current exchange rates from the currency calculator on the official Wise website
- The rates are always close to the mid-market rates
- Get exchange alerts for free
- Users also stand to view the fluctuations in the exchange rates and decide accordingly
Wise vs Payoneer: Fees
There’s not any front runner in this section as both businesses use different fee calculations.
Payoneer
- You can make payments for free with Payoneer
- But withdrawing funds from a Payoneer account or transfer to other local bank accounts can attract charges based on the currency involved
- Up to 2.5% of currency conversion charges applied when Payoneer Mastercard for a non-listed currency
- Funds received from other Payoneer accounts don’t attract any charges
- A 1% payoneer fee is charged for receiving payments through Global Payments Service
- A 1% payoneer fee is charged on receiving USD e-checks
- Payoneer fees can be found on the official Payoneer website.
Wise
- A percentage of the amount transferred is charged as fees
- The percentage of fees is determined based on the currency involved and the destination country
- A borderless account doesn’t charge its customers, making deposits, receiving money or checking Wise balance.
- But withdrawing funds will attract fees as well as conversion from one currency to another
- Like Payoneer, Wise also provides complete details about the fee structure on its website
Security
In terms of security, both these online money transfer systems employ high encryption levels along with advanced protection systems. Hence, customers don’t need to worry about the safety of their funds while using these money transfer services.
Is Payoneer Secure?
- Payoneer is approved by Gibraltar Financial Services Commission (GFSC)
- It is also regulated by a member of FDIC, Initial Covenant Bank
- The Payoneer Master Card (Prepaid) is offered by Choice Bank Limited and Wirecard Card Solutions
Is Wise Secure?
- UK-based Wise is approved and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).
- From the U.S., the Wise application is governed by Town Federal Savings Bank. In some nations, the business functions as a licensed money transmitter.
Wise vs Payoneer: Multi-currency Bank Account Differences and Benefits
Both Wise and Payoneer allow multi-currency bank accounts.
Payoneer
- Provides support for receiving accounts in various currencies including SD, CAD, GBP, EUR, MXN, AUD, JPY, and CNY with the helps of its Global Payment Service
- Allows users to receive funds from various partners including Amazon, Airbnb, Fiverr, Upwork etc.
- Customers can use the service to pay others
- A 1% fee is charged for every payment received in USD
- No fees charged for receiving payments in EUR, GBY and JPY
- Monthly maintenance fee required to keep account active
Wise
- Customers are allowed with free receiving accounts in various currencies including USD, GBR, AUD, NZD and EUR.
- While making wire or SWIFT online money transfers to USD bank accounts, Transfer FBO’s need to be included
- Doesn’t support borderless accounts for the residents of two US States, Hawaii and Nevada
- The borderless account is not supported for residents for various accounts. You can check all countries supported on the official website of Wise here.
- You can use it like a bank account to hold funds and to transact with as many as 40 currencies worldwide
- No charges levied on payments from Amazon and Stripe
- No charges levied for opening new Wise accounts, receiving international payments and for account maintenance.
Wise vs Payoneer: Debit Card Comparison
Both Payoneer and Wise offer you access money using a prepaid card.
Payoneer Debit Card Features
- Payoneer offers its customers with a prepaid Mastercard
- The card comes with several restrictions on cash withdrawal and spending limit
- An Annual card maintenance fee is charged
- ATM charges and currency conversion charges apply
Wise Debit Card Features
- Wise offers a prepaid Mastercard to residents of UK and also for residents of other countries who hold a Wise Borderless account
- Free ATM withdrawals allowed up to £200 every month
- Charges levied during currency conversions
Referral/Affiliate Program: Payoneer vs Wise
Both Payoneer and Wise provide promotional offers for customers signing up for new accounts. You can check the current promotions and offers on their official websites.
Price Comparison
Payoneer promises low fees with no hidden costs and they are true to their word. There are no fees at all for receiving from other Payoneer customers and just a 2% charge when receiving money into account in a different currency. There is a set charge if the currencies are the same.
With Wise, the charges are made on a case-by-case basis and customers can use the online calculator to know the exact charges before making the transaction. With Wise, people sending money across borders can avoid the hefty charges involved levied if they use the local banks for transfer.
Global Presence
The fact that Payoneer can count Google, Upwork, Airbnb, Amazon and Getty Images as either partners or clients shows the kind of global reach – and trust – that they wield. With 14 offices across the world, including in China, the US, Spain and Hong Kong, they are able to handle 150 currencies in over 200 countries. Their global reach has expanded in the last few years with offices opening in the Philippines and Japan.
Looking at the clientele of Payoneer itself shows its credibility and international reach. When you have clients like Amazon, Airbnb, Upwork and Google, you don’t need to advertise your reputation. Payoneer has around 14 offices across the globe including US, UK, Spain, Israel, Hong Kong, the Philippines, and Japan etc. Payoneer supports more than 150 currencies.
Wise has offices in the US, UK, Spain, Hungary, Belgium, UAE, Malaysia, Singapore, Australia, Japan, Hungary etc. It supports more than 40 different currencies.
Payoneer vs Wise: Usability
When it comes to using their online services to transfer money, both Payoneer and Wise allow customers to register new accounts and transfer money easily without any hassles.
Payoneer allows people to make money transfers on the go as they have dedicated apps available for both iOS and Android.
Payoneer is popular among freelance developers in India, Pakistan etc. Even though their global reach can play a major advantage and can be amazing alternatives for PayPal, the main hassle that makes people think twice is the hefty annual fee charged.
It will perhaps be expected out of a tech startup, nevertheless the fully automatic process in Wise is really a special attraction for a lot of customers.
The lower prices are still evident and nevertheless the friendliness the customer care team has shown and helped them become one among those market leaders to get the money transfers — that is notable given the foundation of some of these well-established competitions.
Transfer Speed: Transferwise vs Payoneer
While the cost involved is a major factor, the speed with which the money transfer takes place is also a vital factor. The speed of the transfer is determined based on the currency you choose to transfer.
Domestic wire transfers are usually taking less than 24 hours while international transfers can take up to 1-2 business days.
In Payoneer, the transfer takes place within 1-3 days.
How To Send Money From Payoneer to Wise?
To make money transactions from Payoneer to Wise or any other bank account takes only a couple of steps and most likely – you have already done them.
But if not, let’s take a look at how you can send money from Payoneer accounts.
1st Step: Go to Bank Accounts in Settings (top-right corner)
You will have to add additional information if it’s a business account and add your bank details.
It’s a crucial step, otherwise, you won’t be able to send money or make payments from your Payoneer account.
2nd Step: Navigate to Pay and then Make A Payment
3rd Step: Add Wise or any other recipient bank account
After you have added the recipient account – you will have to wait for the approval of the recipient, but it usually doesn’t take long and quickly enough you will be able to make payments.
4th Step: Choose recipient and make a payment
5th Step: Send money from Payoneer to Wise
In the last step you have to choose from which account you want to make a payment and add necessary information.
How To Send Money From Wise to Payoneer?
The process for money transactions from Wise to Payoneer or any other bank is even more simple. So if you want to send money from Wise to Payoneer you need to follow these easy steps.
Actually Wise itself guides you through the payment process so it’s easy to follow.
1st Step: Login into your account and click on Send Money
2nd Step: Finish the process
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Even before the payment you will be able to compare the prices for international payments and see the fees for money transfer services.
Paypal vs Payoneer vs Wise vs Western Union
It’s hard to compare Paypal vs Wise or Payoneer vs Western Union because of their high competitiveness. All companies have pros and cons, they all offer international money transfers and they most likely will depend on the country you live in and financial goals you have set. A lot of these payment solutions can be amazing alternatives to PayPal.
Keeping that in mind, let’s take a quick look at what we like the best and compare Paypal vs Payoneer vs Wise vs Western Union shoulder to shoulder.
Wise vs Western Union vs Paypal vs Payoneer – Transfer Speed, Fees & Benefits
Wise
- Wise compared to Western Union or any other company offers fixed fees, which can be useful for certain purposes
- Minimum transfer amount starts from only $1 and maximum transfer amount depends on which currencies money is being sent to and from
- Transfer fee structure can vary from 0% to 0.5%
- You can order Wise borderless debit cards (Mastercard)
Western Union
- Transaction fee starts at $5
- Transfer speed can be up to five days
- Exchange rates can be up to 6% above the mid-market rate
Paypal
- Paypal fees sometimes can be rude, depending on the country
- Fees can vary by a high percentage depending on the transfer conditions
- Exchange rates have mid-market rate plus 2.5% margin
- Paypal transfer speed highly excels compared to other competitors
Payoneer
- When receiving money, transfer fees can charge up to 1%
- As an individual, you won’t be able to make overseas payments to anyone, unlike what Wise offers
- Good for freelancers and business owners, good PayPal alternative
Wrapping Things Up
Whether you choose either Payoneer or Wise, it will considerably save you a lot of time to send money abroad as both provide a borderless account solution.
Sending money with both of these payment solutions is extremely simple, as all you need to do is specify the recipient details and the amount of money to be transferred.
Using either of the online money transfer platforms will save you so much money, especially in the long run. If you are wondering which one is better, then there is no one right answer because both of them come with different perks and benefits that highly depend on the user’s intent and needs.
FAQ Sections
For all the unanswered questions – visit this section 😉
Is Wise better than Payoneer?
You can’t say that Wise is better than Payoneer because there are different pros and cons for each system, depending on what your needs are.
Is Wise the same as Payoneer?
Wise is not the same as Payoneer but very similar in what it does. Wise is a peer-to-peer currency transfer service and so is Payoneer but they have differences in their usability, fees and global presence.
Can I use Payoneer with Wise?
Yes, you can use Payoneer with Wise. You can send money from both of these services to each other with ease.
Is Wise money transfer safe?
Wise money transfer is safe and is governed by federal institutions in many countries and functions as a licensed money transmitter in others.
Can I send money from Payoneer to Wise?
Yes, you can send money from Payoneer to Wise. Simply select Wise or any other account as the recipient.
How long does it take to transfer from Payoneer to Wise?
It does not take long to transfer money from Payoneer to Wise. Usual Payoneer transfer speed is 2-3 business days.
