Comparison: Wise vs Revolut Account
An additional account abroad grows in popularity – especially if it has no monthly account management fee and offers a German user interface, as well as a German customer service.
In the European area, the two providers Wise and Revolut have reavealed to be the leaders. Many people of our community have accounts and cards already at one or both providers.
We comply with the request of a comparison through this article, knowing that changes (often improvements or service expansions) are implemented as described in past articles.
Feel invited to supplement the comparison with us together using the comments feature below the article and to enrich it with personal experiences. A hearty thanks!
 Wise |
 Revolut |
|
|---|---|---|
| Account management fee per month | free of charge | free of charge |
| Application | ► online | ► online |
| Multi Currency Account | ||
| Bank account to receive payments | 10 local bank accounts (British Pound, Euro, US-Dollar, Australian Dollar, New Zealand Dollar, Singapur Dollar, Romanian Lei, Canadian Dollar, Hungarian Forint and Turkish Lira) |
only one IBAN-account |
| Hold, exchange and transfer currencies | 56 currencies: AED, ARS, AUD, BDT, BRL, BWP, CAD, CHF, CLP, CNY, COP, CRC, CZK, DKK, EGP, EUR, GBP, GEL, GHC, HDK, HRK, HUF, IDR, ILS, INR, JPY, KES, KRW, LKR, LEW, MAD, MXN, MYR, NGN, NOK, NPR, NZD, PEN, PHP, PKR, PLN, RON, RUB, SEK, SGD, THB, TRY, TZS, UAH, UGX, USD, UYU, VND, XOF, ZAR, ZMK |
31 currencies: AED, AUD, BGN, CAD, CHF, CZK, DKK, EUR, GBP, HKD, HRK, HUF, ILS, ISK, JPY, MAD, MXN, NOK, NZD, PLN, QAR, RON, RSD, RUB, SAR, SEK, SGD, THB, TRY, USD, ZAR |
| Cards | ||
| Physical card | Mastercard debit card, shipping fee € 8 | Visa debit card, shipping fee depends on the chosen type of shipping |
| Virtual card | Yes, several virtual Visa Cards | Yes, one virtual card that keeps the number after its use, as well as disposable cards for online purchases |
| Cash supply | ||
| With the debit card at ATMs around the globe | free of charge at all ATMs with the Mastercard-sign | free of charge at all ATMs with the Visa-sign |
| Limits? | per month an equivalent of up to GBP 200 | per month an equivalent of up to € 200 or a total of 5 withdrawals (depending on what limit is reached first). |
| Costs after reaching the limit | fee of 2 % | |
| Fees (exemplary) |
||
| Recharging | bank transfer is free of charge, deposits through Visa or Mastercard are subject to a fee of 0.41 % | bank transfer, as well as deposits through Visa or Mastercard are free of charge |
| EUR transfer | € 0.28 | free of charge |
| USD transfer | USD 1.05 | € 0.50 |
| Exchange of EUR into USD | € 0.88 + 0.41 % | up to zu € 1000 per month free of charge (Monday-Friday) afterwards 0.5 % |
| Exchange of EUR into GBP | € 0.37 + 0.41 % | up to € 1000 per month free of charge (Monday-Friday) afterwards 0.5 % |
| Exchange of EUR into CHF | € 0.46 + 0.41 % | up to € 1000 per month free of charge (Monday-Friday) afterwards 0.5 % |
| Account management and communication | ||
| App | yes | |
| Web-Interface | yes | yes, with limited possibilities |
| Availability of the customer service | Chat Mon–Sun 24 hours |
In-App-Chat Mon–Sun 24 hours |
| Supplementing services | ||
| Contact-free payments | yes | |
| Apple Pay | yes | |
| Google Pay | yes | |
| Trading with shares, commodities and crypto currencies | no | yes |
| Account opening | ||
| Schufa | No query and no entry into the Schufa | |
| Place of residence | around the globe with few exceptions | European Economic Area, Australia, Canada, Singapur, Switzerland or USA |
| Legitimating | Online with an ID-card, proof of address, and/or a selfie | |
| Start account opening |  (Read more information) |
(Read more information) |
Supplementing article that present Wise or Revolut in their practical use:
How does Richard use these accounts?
Revolut
He opened the account in 2015 as a test for our community and made several test payments, currency exchanges, withdrawals and card payments abroad. The product works, everything is well. Of course, you expect that from a bank.
However: It did not thrill him enough to choose Revolut for regular payments. I know, some have a different opinion and I look forward to your comments and experiences about it using the comments feature.
For this article, Richard wanted to log into his account after more than a year. It did not work through the app due to a change of cellphone, however, he sent me two screenshots of the “Online-Banking”:
He wrote, “When I logged into the online banking, I was forced to take a selfie – otherways I would not have been able to proceed. Not something I liked early in the morning shortly after 7am. I didn’t like that the provider forces you to take a photo also due to data protection or personal protection reasons. It was not explained how the picture is saved, what they do with it and possibly who has access to it.”
Revolut only claimed:
However, there is no possibility to cancel. The alternative is not using the account.
As you can see, Richard took the photo anyways. This is how he got access to the account through online banking. However, only limited, as shown by the second screenshot:
On the photo it says, “At the moment, you can only access some emergency features, such as seeing your transactions or blocking your card. Use our mobile app for the unlimited Revolut experience.”
Surely, Revolut has a great app. However, people who want to use the classic online banking additionally or mainly on the computer or notebook will have a hard time with Revolut.
You have both with Wise: all features available in the app and browser.
Wise
Richard is customer of Wise (formerly TransferWise) since 2013: first due to the cheap international transfers (example: Transfer to Poland) and later with the Multi Currency Account.
Wise: several current accounts in different currencies. A Mastercard for the wallet (Multi Currency Card) as well as virtual Visa Cards for payments on the Internet.
Independently from your preference of app banking or browser banking, Wise makes both variants equally available to us customers.
3 screenshots from the app. You can make the same card settings or card order (on the right) just as easily and comfortably using the online banking.
How do you use Wise or Revolut?
Please write about how you use Wise or Revolut to me and the community. I am looking forward to read your experiences, tips or possibly also challenges. Of course, you can also ask questions about the account opening, account use and card use through the comments feature.
I dearly thank you for your commitment – especially the aswers to questions and the exchange of experiences among our readers.
Many thanks!
Do you already know …?
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- Loan possible at short-time work (partial unemployment)?
- N26 in comparison with the ING
PS: Did I omit important points for you in the comparison? Please also write me using the comments feature. A hearty thanks.
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