A closer look at Wise and Revolut's key features, and where they excel

[NanLaew]

6 hours ago, Andrew Dwyer said:

I think one of the major benefits of Revolut is for British citizens who live constantly under the threat of having their bank account closed at short notice if the bank suspects they are not U.K. resident.

 

I have opened a Revolut account, very simple process, and would be interested to hear any reviews of Revolut, both good and bad.

 

That's the reason I opened a Revolut account as a UK banking backup.

 

I have only used it to test the £ and $ account functionality for when it may be needed in a hurry. Test it every 3 months. I went with the metal account option, although I haven't availed myself of using the card or any of the other freebies. The app is slick but was a bit of a problem when logging in from offshore via slower satellite connections.

 

3 hours ago, george said:

 

Thanks for highlighting that Wise strength (will add it in the OP). Does anyone know if Revolut is that fast as well.

 

Yes, did it all online and through their app while in Thailand. Can't have taken much more than 20 minutes to set up a £ and $ account.

[TroubleandGrumpy]

9 minutes ago, BenStark said:

Which part of, the time it takes to transfer your money from your bank to your Wise account depends on your local bank, is it that you don't understand?

Do you ever answer questions - or do you only ever see the opportunity to attack and criticise. Your posts on this thread and your ranting about people who (illegally) use agents on another, clearly show me you are not into talking about things, but are into just criticising and arguing.  Have a great life - without me in it ever again - blocked. 

[ukrules]

4 hours ago, george said:

They only snail mail the physical card to Thailand at your request, but require an address in your home country, on file (TIN tax reasons). 

 

But my 'home country' is merely the country that prints my passport every 9 years. I don't even go there any more.

 

Does this mean I'm excluded or need to be scrutinised by the UK tax man?

 

I guess what I'm asking is do they open 'offshore' accounts for people living in Thailand?

[BenStark]

3 minutes ago, TroubleandGrumpy said:

Have a great life - without me in it ever again - blocked. 

 

I hope you live up to that promise

[Greenwich Boy]

3 hours ago, george said:

 

Thanks for highlighting that Wise strength (will add it in the OP). Does anyone know if Revolut is that fast as well.

Most of my Revolut transfers are very quick. As others have pointed out delays do happen for a number of reasons. Confirmation of fees recently attached

[Chivas]

Have gone back and looked at my last 20 transfers using Royal Bank of Scotland to Wise to SCB here in Thailand

 

19 landed within 10 seconds and just one took 3 hours

 

There are Saturday and Sundays where monies were dispatched included in the 19

 

Edited in.....all were for £1000 or less

[bunnydrops]

1 hour ago, BenStark said:

 

As well as the method you use to transfer the money to Wise.

 

If you use the cheapest option, which is transfer from your bank account. it depends on your local bank.

 

I know my local bank takes up to 48 hours, and longer during weekends, to execute a money transfer

Maybe because I have money on the Wise card, but Wise has transferred money in seconds and my bank didn't show the transfer to Wise happening to Wise until the next day.

[Jack Hammer]

I have done numerous transfers with Wise from Australia to Thailand. All been perfect, some transfers arriving in my Thai bank account within seconds.   I have a Thai bank ATM card so I don’t bother with all the other features Wise have.   The only problem I have experienced was when I was seeking some information I could not communicate with a person only their artificial intelligence system, which drove me crazy.  

[BenStark]

20 minutes ago, bunnydrops said:

Maybe because I have money on the Wise card, but Wise has transferred money in seconds and my bank didn't show the transfer to Wise happening to Wise until the next day.

 

 

When you have money on your Wise card already, they obviously don't need to wait for the money to arrive from your local bank.

 

 

[NanLaew]

1 hour ago, ukrules said:

But my 'home country' is merely the country that prints my passport every 9 years. I don't even go there any more.

 

You may have disowned your homeland but it hasn't disowned you. And it sounds like you may need to bank there?

 

1 hour ago, ukrules said:

Does this mean I'm excluded or need to be scrutinised by the UK tax man?

 

Do you still retain an address and bank accounts in the UK? If you do, the bank will make sure the HMRC knows about it.

 

1 hour ago, ukrules said:

I guess what I'm asking is do they open 'offshore' accounts for people living in Thailand?

 

Off topic, but it's not very easy to open a UK offshore account remotely, especially if one has 'burned one's bridges' there. Most are only interested in high net worth individuals where they can assign 'relationship managers' to sell additional services. On a recent thread on the matter, Lloyds was mentioned as having the lowest opening/retaining deposit. All of them are enrolled in KYC (know your customer) so there's no hiding anything anymore.

[NanLaew]

For those considering Revolut, there were quite a few online horror stories about locked accounts last year when Revolut decided there was something about the activity they didn't like.

 

FWIW, it's essentially for personal transactions and if one wants to process business transactions, you either open a Pro Account (from within your existing Personal Account) or you can open a completely separate Business Account with them. This seems to have solved a lot of the issues where customers had funds frozen when they tried to have salaries or commercial transactions processed through their Personal accounts.

[BenStark]

Looks like a lot of brain-dead people in this thread.

 

The only thing I have posted so far in this thread is that the time to get your money from your local bank account to Wise, depends on your local bank, and every post get a confused emoji. What is so difficult to understand about that?

 

 

[dayo202]

I did a small transfer using Rebolut

Into my Bangkok bank account.

When the money reached my account here in Thailand, Bangkok Bank charged me 200฿ fees.

When using Wise no fee's.

[george]

24 minutes ago, dayo202 said:

I did a small transfer using Rebolut

Into my Bangkok bank account.

When the money reached my account here in Thailand, Bangkok Bank charged me 200฿ fees.

When using Wise no fee's.

That depends on your banks policy.  Tip: Try Kbank next time…

[Chivas]

1 hour ago, BenStark said:

Looks like a lot of brain-dead people in this thread.

 

The only thing I have posted so far in this thread is that the time to get your money from your local bank account to Wise, depends on your local bank, and every post get a confused emoji. What is so difficult to understand about that?

 

 

 

I havent added any emoji but if you send money to Wise its simply instant. If I sent £10 as I type this by now its already there

[scottiejohn]

35 minutes ago, lavender19 said:

I used to use both. But stopped using Revolut when they starting asking me to support Ukraine 

What an attitude! 

You have just given myself, and possibly others, a very strong reason to use Revolut in future!

[Digitalbanana]

8 hours ago, george said:

but require an address in your home country, on file (TIN tax reasons). 

If your only home address is in Thailand the only option appears to be Wise rather than Revolut?

[dayo202]

28 minutes ago, george said:

That depends on your banks policy.  Tip: Try Kbank next time…

Great, I will give KBank a go

[Surasak]

10 hours ago, Fat is a type of crazy said:

So if I spend say 3 months in Thailand from Australia how I can I use and benefit from Revolut. Can I put money in it and then use it to pay for things in Thailand in thai baht I assume. Is the advantage that the transfer rate is better - I have an Australian card with no fees for foreign transactions and the Mastercard transfer rate which is good so not sure why I would use this. Can I access cash at ATM's. Don't need help with savings plans or travel insurance etc. Free credit card travel insurance for three month trips. Not sure how I would use it. 

Here is a way to benefit using Revolut in Thailand. I have just been to tops Supermarket 1 hour ago. The till read THB1309. I hand over my Revolut card and ask the till girl to take in Thai Baht. The Price I paid was THB1309. Also in Uniqlo, The cost of the items was THB950. Swipe the card on the reader and pay THB950. I also use the ATM of Kasikorn Bank and pay the THB220, which is standard with all banks. Transferring GBP to Kasikorn from the APP cost me THB 22.50 last time which was December 23. A transfer from my UK bank to Revolut is free, but there is a small charge for transferring GBP to Bath on the card via the APP.    

Hope this helps.

[Surasak]

9 hours ago, anchadian said:

It's taking a considerable amount of time for Thailand to be on the list of available countries in which to receive the WISE debit card.  I wish there was a workaround.

Do you have a relative in your home country?

[Surasak]

8 hours ago, WorriedNoodle said:

This thread doesn't seem to mention anywhere that opening a Revolut account needs an address outside Thailand as Thailand is not listed under the eligible countries during sign up process as it does for Wise?  I am not sure how important the overseas address is - do they mail stuff there? Is it needed to get a Revolut card or do they mail to Thailand?

You do need an address in your home country AND a telephone number. I use a relatives address and my own UK Skype number.

[Surasak]

6 hours ago, george said:

 

Thanks for highlighting that Wise strength (will add it in the OP). Does anyone know if Revolut is that fast as well.

Depends on the time of day both in Thailand and home country. I have received cash within minutes and over a couple of days. Friday is a no, no unless done before 08:30 am Thai time.

[Surasak]

1 hour ago, dayo202 said:

I did a small transfer using Rebolut

Into my Bangkok bank account.

When the money reached my account here in Thailand, Bangkok Bank charged me 200฿ fees.

When using Wise no fee's.

I believe you should look closer at who charged the Bht200 fee. My understanding is, Thai banks do not charge for receiving money. Latter part of last year I had a dispute with my UK bank who claimed it was BKB who made the extra charge, until I proved them wrong with a written statement from BKB that they do not make a charge when receiving cask from abroad.

[scottiejohn]

1 hour ago, Surasak said:

Here is a way to benefit using Revolut in Thailand. I have just been to tops Supermarket 1 hour ago. The till read THB1309. I hand over my Revolut card and ask the till girl to take in Thai Baht. The Price I paid was THB1309. Also in Uniqlo, The cost of the items was THB950. Swipe the card on the reader and pay THB950. I also use the ATM of Kasikorn Bank and pay the THB220, which is standard with all banks. Transferring GBP to Kasikorn from the APP cost me THB 22.50 last time which was December 23. A transfer from my UK bank to Revolut is free, but there is a small charge for transferring GBP to Bath on the card via the APP.    

Hope this helps.

Very similar to the Wise multi currency debit card.

[dayo202]

34 minutes ago, Surasak said:

I believe you should look closer at who charged the Bht200 fee. My understanding is, Thai banks do not charge for receiving money. Latter part of last year I had a dispute with my UK bank who claimed it was BKB who made the extra charge, until I proved them wrong with a written statement from BKB that they do not make a charge when receiving cask from abroad

I didn't use a UK bank for the transfer I use revolut.

BBL changed me 200฿ because the transfer came up as a swift transfer from revolut

[BenStark]

2 hours ago, Chivas said:

 

I havent added any emoji but if you send money to Wise its simply instant. If I sent £10 as I type this by now its already there

 

Depends on the method you choose to transfer the money.

 

As I explained already, if I select credit or debit card, it is with Wise instantly.

 

If I select bank transfer, it isn't instant, and my bank also doesn't make a secret of that. All transfers done by my bank take up to 48 hours to be executed and there are no transfers during the weekends.

 

I have no problem with that, since my bank informed me, and in return for that I get a higher interest as other banks and no monthly maintenance fee on my accounts. In other banks it would cost me 50 euros per year just to maintain a basic account, which I rarely use since I live in Thailand

 

I'm sure there are other banks, but not all,  that work with the same principle.

 

 

[bradiston]

14 hours ago, george said:

 

Much discussions is going on on the forum regarding regular bank alternatives. Let's take a closer look at Wise and Revolut's key features, and where they excel for ASEAN NOW members:

 

Wise (formerly TransferWise)

• Core Strength: International Transfers
  • Uses the mid-market exchange rate, the fairest rate available, resulting in lower fees compared to most banks.
  • Transparent fee structure, you see upfront what you'll pay.
  • Supports a massive range of currencies.
  • Fast transfer speeds, often within a few seconds, up to a few days.
• Multi-Currency Account
  • Hold balances in over 50 currencies.
  • Get local bank details in 10 countries (US, UK, Eurozone, Australia, etc.) to receive money like a local, minimizing conversion fees.
• Debit Card
  • Linked to your multi-currency account for spending abroad with low fees.
• Business Account
  • Tailored features for businesses making international transactions.

 

Revolut

• Financial Super App
  • Traditional banking features: Accounts, debit cards, spending abroad
  • Hold balances in over 50 currencies
  • Budgeting and analytics tools to track your finances.
  • "Vaults" for automated saving towards goals.
  • Cryptocurrency trading (limited selection).
  • Travel insurance, lounge access (premium plans).
  • Junior accounts for kids (premium plans).
• Tiered Plans
  • Free plan with basic features and limits.
  • Premium and Metal plans increase limits, unlock perks like cashback, insurance, and more.
• Exchange Rates
  • Uses a live exchange rate, but can add markups, especially on weekends or for less common currencies.

 

When to Choose Wise:

• Prioritize low fees and transparent pricing for international transfers.
• You frequently work with multiple currencies.
• Need local bank details in various countries.

 

When to Choose Revolut:

• You want a wide array of financial tools in one app.
• Budgeting features and saving tools are important.
• You might be interested in cryptocurrency (though do your research!)
• Premium features like travel insurance and lounge access appeal to you.

 

Additional Considerations:

• User Interface: Both have user-friendly platforms, but the design may come down to personal preference.
• Customer Support: Both have support channels, but response times and quality can vary. It's worth checking online reviews.

 

Ultimately, the best choice depends on your individual financial needs and priorities. It's always smart to compare their current features and fees on their websites before deciding.

 

Websites:

Wise

Revolut

I tried to sign up for revolut in Thailand. They said I couldn't. End of.

[KhaoNiaw]

3 hours ago, Surasak said:

You do need an address in your home country AND a telephone number. I use a relatives address and my own UK Skype number.

It worked fine for me with a UK address and my Thai mobile number. Confirmation through the Thai number during the signing-up process and subsequent transaction notifications have all gone through very smoothly. 

[Surasak]

2 hours ago, scottiejohn said:

Very similar to the Wise multi currency debit card.

Never having seen a Wise Debit card I can't say.

[Andrew Dwyer]

5 minutes ago, KhaoNiaw said:

It worked fine for me with a UK address and my Thai mobile number. Confirmation through the Thai number during the signing-up process and subsequent transaction notifications have all gone through very smoothly. 

My experience also.