Paid in Euros - Business Account + Wise?

[Andy Hallett]

I've just set up GBP,USD,EUR and AUD accounts in Wise. Very simple and will save me a decent wedge in FX compared to getting it paid direct to my UK business account. Integrates into FreeAgent nicely.

[jamesbrown]

Yes, precisely. Wise do the conversion as part of the transfer. The destination bank receives GBP.

Good to know, thanks, I've only ever performed the two separately

[SuperLooper]

You mean the Wise UI provides some shortcut that aggregates the two transactions into one (conversion and sending)?

Yes, precisely. Wise do the conversion as part of the transfer. The destination bank receives GBP.

[jamesbrown]

I think this is the same end result, isn't it? I've never converted within Wise. But the conversation still happens on the Wise end as part of the transfer back to a GBP account

I.e., on the website you Transfer from your foreign account to your native GBP account, it tells you the conversion rate/cost and then you end up with whatever in your GBP account?

You mean the Wise UI provides some shortcut that aggregates the two transactions into one (conversion and sending)? Perhaps, but I haven't noticed it. However, my point here is that you definitely should not send the foreign currency to another bank, since that obviously means their fx rates, not those advertised by Wise. If you're sending GBP from Wise, no problem.

[Fred Bloggs]

Wow, that sounds like a bad idea. Have you looked at the fx rate you're getting from your bank vs. from Wise? I mean, that is pretty much the whole point of Wise, you get spot rate plus a comparatively small fee, which amounts to about 0.5% on spot overall vs. 2-3% above spot for most highstreet banks.

Exactly. In fact I am gobsmacked at this because the very premise of (Transfer)Wise coming into the market was about minimising FX overheads.

[vwdan]

Wow, that sounds like a bad idea. Have you looked at the fx rate you're getting from your bank vs. from Wise? I mean, that is pretty much the whole point of Wise, you get spot rate plus a comparatively small fee, which amounts to about 0.5% on spot overall vs. 2-3% above spot for most highstreet banks.

I think this is the same end result, isn't it? I've never converted within Wise. But the conversation still happens on the Wise end as part of the transfer back to a GBP account

I.e., on the website you Transfer from your foreign account to your native GBP account, it tells you the conversion rate/cost and then you end up with whatever in your GBP account?

[eek]

Wow, that sounds like a bad idea. Have you looked at the fx rate you're getting from your bank vs. from Wise? I mean, that is pretty much the whole point of Wise, you get spot rate plus a comparatively small fee, which amounts to about 0.5% on spot overall vs. 2-3% above spot for most highstreet banks.

+1

Use Wise to do the conversion and then transfer it from your GBP based Wise account.

[jamesbrown]

I generally do a transfer direct from Wise (foreign currency) to my GBP business account. It's quicker and simpler than converting to GBP first in Wise, and then doing a transfer.

Wow, that sounds like a bad idea. Have you looked at the fx rate you're getting from your bank vs. from Wise? I mean, that is pretty much the whole point of Wise, you get spot rate plus a comparatively small fee, which amounts to about 0.5% on spot overall vs. 2-3% above spot for most highstreet banks.

[SuperLooper]

I assume with a business account as well, the process would look like this:

Give Client my wise account details. Get paid in Euros

Convert to GBP within Wise.

Transfer GBP to UK Business Account.

I generally do a transfer direct from Wise (foreign currency) to my GBP business account. It's quicker and simpler than converting to GBP first in Wise, and then doing a transfer.

[jamesbrown]

Thank you, I had thought about the FSCS protection, so would probably go the business account route.

I'll be using FreeAgent, and I see that Wise can connect via API's. Any idea if it will account for the fees / exchange rate accordingly? Anything else I'll need to do?

Yup, with FreeAgent, it's very easy. Currency losses/gains are computed for you based on (currency and) invoice and payment dates - it's no harder than accounting in GBP.

[Fred Bloggs]

I just used my Wise business account for foreign and UK banking.

Though you may wish to consider a bank account that bundles FreeAgent with it if that idea floats your boat. Those accounts are only for GBP though unless things have changed in the last year.

I felt no reason to have any account other than Wise. Obviously, others mileage varies.

[Bodger]

Yeah, I would also get a bank account that is FSCS protected. If you leave your money around in a Wise account, it isn't protected by FSCS, so best not to do that. However, Wise is great otherwise, would highly recommend. (And, yes, the process would look as you describe.)

Thank you, I had thought about the FSCS protection, so would probably go the business account route.

I'll be using FreeAgent, and I see that Wise can connect via API's. Any idea if it will account for the fees / exchange rate accordingly? Anything else I'll need to do?

[jamesbrown]

Yeah, I would also get a bank account that is FSCS protected. If you leave your money around in a Wise account, it isn't protected by FSCS, so best not to do that. However, Wise is great otherwise, would highly recommend. (And, yes, the process would look as you describe.)

[Bodger]

I am currently in the process of setting up Ltd Account and related bits and bobs.

Contract is paid in Euros. Looking at exchage costs and reading through posts on similar questions, it seems Wise is the way to go.

Do I need to create a Wise account and a UK Business Bank Account? Or would using Wise alone suffice?

I assume with a business account as well, the process would look like this:

Give Client my wise account details. Get paid in Euros

Convert to GBP within Wise.

Transfer GBP to UK Business Account.

Any thoughts, concerns or advice?