Wise currency accounts

[ladymuck]

I know it's been discussed but I CBA to wade through the forum looking.

Need to set up a USD account for a potential gig that will be invoicing in the world's best currency.

So, Wise is offering a Sterling account that can receive USD and/or an account nominated in USD. Which would the learned folks here recommend?

Part of me thinks: get the USD account and then convert when the rate is most favourable to minimise exchange rate losses.
The other part of me thinks: it's two days a week effort, the income won't be that high and just let Wise auto convert on receipt.

[eek]

I know it's been discussed but I CBA to wade through the forum looking.

Need to set up a USD account for a potential gig that will be invoicing in the world's best currency.

So, Wise is offering a Sterling account that can receive USD and/or an account nominated in USD. Which would the learned folks here recommend?

Part of me thinks: get the USD account and then convert when the rate is most favourable to minimise exchange rate losses.
The other part of me thinks: it's two days a week effort, the income won't be that high and just let Wise auto convert on receipt.

From memory the account nominated in USD's is a US bank account that makes receiving the money easier. That would be my preferred approach.

[jamesbrown]

Yeah, the USD account is a US-based account (routing number and account number), so clients will prefer this. Otherwise, it really makes little difference for two days a week - you will get the interbank rate minus their fees, around 0.4% last time I checked for Cable. There are other providers that come closer now, sometimes better, like MoneyCorp, but on the whole I would recommend Wise, even though they screw around with (read: generally increase) fees quite often. App is nice and simple, no hidden costs. Also, they have interest-bearing accounts (specifically, you can turn on/off "interest" on any of your accounts) that are held in gov't bonds, so you can earn ~4-4.5% in Sterling or USD.

[ladymuck]

Thanks both. Have gone with both GBP and USD for now as it doesn't cost anything to have them both sitting there.

[ensignia]

I get paid in USD from one of my clients, I use Wise and I have to say it's excellent. The fees are very reasonable and they only charge to convert money; receiving and withdrawing to your nominated account is free.

The USD has been quite strong over the past few months which has been a bonus, but has dropped slightly recently. Trying to time it is hassle, as I found out last week when I received January's invoice payment - I tried to hold out a bit and am currently £300 down lol.

[jamesbrown]

I get paid in USD from one of my clients, I use Wise and I have to say it's excellent. The fees are very reasonable and they only charge to convert money; receiving and withdrawing to your nominated account is free.

The USD has been quite strong over the past few months which has been a bonus, but has dropped slightly recently. Trying to time it is hassle, as I found out last week when I received January's invoice payment - I tried to hold out a bit and am currently £300 down lol.

Another advantage of MoneyCorp - credit and futures, i.e., you can purchase currency at the current interbank rate, minus a small fee, for some future date, settling on the future date. They have become very competitive with Wise now, but with more features (although, no nice app). I use them both, depending on where I see Cable heading - Wise is more convenient.

[Lumiere]

Do Wise still offer USD accounts for business, think they stopped new personal USD accounts applications some time ago?

[ladymuck]

Do Wise still offer USD accounts for business, think they stopped new personal USD accounts applications some time ago?

Yes. It costs £45 to set up a Wise bank account for a business, free for personal.

[Andy2022]

I've used Wise to receive USD, NZD, EUR from various clients for the best part of six years and it's worked reliably for me

Revolut on the other hand lost a large CAD payment for over a month and then it suddenly turned up with I queried it

[jamesbrown]

I've used Wise to receive USD, NZD, EUR from various clients for the best part of six years and it's worked reliably for me

Revolut on the other hand lost a large CAD payment for over a month and then it suddenly turned up with I queried it

Revolut should be avoided at all cost, useless outfit, very questionable practices (classic signs of a company that expanded too quickly).