Wise vs Revolut - This is what I've found out

[Delta Shift]

1 hour ago, oliverphoenix2 said:

  That's interesting. My UK Wise/Revolut accounts are in GBP. I get better rate with Wise than Revolut converting GBP to THB.

 

 Right now 12.28am KL...

 

 Wise           42.2864

 Revolut      42.037

 

     Wise exchange rate over .5% better than Revolut which more than offsets Wises' .5% conversion fee!!! 

 

    Also I do not have extra fees using Wise at weekends!!! I use my virtual card linked to google wallet every day and always get spot exchange rate plus around .5% conversion fee on every day, in KL and Thailand and everywhere else I've used it.  What extra fees do you believe Wise has at the weekends?

 

 

 

You get these results because you're using the online converters.
 

The Wise converter* doesn't take into account the conversion fee.
It just shows you what you'd get at the current rate before the 0.5% fee is applied.

You can't use it to compare Wise to Revolut.

 

To do this properly you gotta initiate a real conversion via both apps.

Before final validation, each app will run you through the total cost of the transaction.

 

Online Wise converter: 100 EUR = 3550.62 THB

Wise app real conversion rate (incl. fee): 100 EUR = 3526.21 THB

That's a roughly 24 THB difference.

 

* https://wise.com/gb/currency-converter/eur-to-thb-rate?amount=1000

 

-----------------------

 

You can't get spot exchange rate plus 0.5% on weekends as there are no rates on weekends.

Markets are closed.

 

Last time I used Wise on a weekend I paid a fee of 0,69%.

That's roughly 0.2% more than the usual 0.5%.

 

 

 

 

 

[SiSePuede419]

13 hours ago, RSD1 said:

I then convert it to Thai Baht when the exchange rate is most favorable.

What's the closing price of the DJIA tomorrow?  Apparently you can predict the future. 😆

[Ctkong]

17 hours ago, Millian said:

When using a Revolut card to mark card payments, either using physical card or online, is there a surcharge levied by the merchant for using a foreign card?  (not talking about atm fees, or currency exchange fees, just a fee for using a foreign card)

I've seen some people say yes, others say no, other say sometimes, so wonder if any one with actual experience?

I have been using wise card for overseas spendings as well as credit cards. The surcharge fees in various countries and merchants are the same regardless what cards you use. 

[Zack61]

13 hours ago, Surasak said:

If the merchant imposes a 3 - 5% on the use of a card, that is the merchant, not the card issuer.

I undertand this. I wasn't placing any blame on Wise. This was simply a money grab from the merchant.

[RSD1]

11 hours ago, Delta Shift said:

 

We might not be the main target but we are a target nonetheless and we will be more and more as more old westerners retire to Thailand (which is absolutely gonna happen). Otherwise they would have left foreign residents out of their new taxation scheme altogether. I think you're being too nice. They are being greedy and dumb, and it might very well backfire. The money will indeed end up in the Thai economy eventually but Thai banks won't benefit as much as they could have. Essentially the Thai gov is playing against its own banks in favor of foreign institutions.

 

I wouldn't be too surprised if this is rolled back at some point in the future....

We'll see I guess.

You are quite possibly right. It could just be greed without having really thought it through first and/or what the potential downsides might be. But that's a typical aspect of greed. People usually only think about how much they are going to financially benefit from something and ignore contemplating the harm they might be doing to themselves at the same time. Anyway, let's hope they roll it back at some point as you said. Perhaps the chance of that is about 50-50.

[RSD1]

11 hours ago, Delta Shift said:

It's possible but unlikely.

True Money is part of the Ascend Corporation.

These large companies have usually solid partnerships with a whole bunch of top players in cybersecurity and cloud services.

I wouldn't hold my breath on the safety side of personal data security in Thailand. Some of the biggest companies in the world get hacked and suffer huge data breaches. To think that True Money can't get hacked is not something I can get on board with. I also refuse to hold up my passport and send a photo of that to LINE Pay either. Same reason.

 

I actually don't need to use the services of any of these Thai Fintech providers anyway. I can pay for 90% of everything I need using my Wise debit card. It also works on Lazada and at 7-Eleven so definitely no need at all for True Money either. 

[RSD1]

3 hours ago, SiSePuede419 said:

What's the closing price of the DJIA tomorrow?  Apparently you can predict the future. 😆

You can't be serious. I didn't insinuate that I can predict anything. I merely said that I convert to Thai Baht at times when the exchange rate is most favorable. That's not predicting. That's just waiting. 

[Delta Shift]

5 hours ago, RSD1 said:

To think that True Money can't get hacked is not something I can get on board with.

 

Me neither. That's why I said unlikely.

Imo there's no valid reason to have more trust in Wise or Revolut security.

I'd be much more worried about having my connected wearables hacked or my card skimmed at a terminal.

Far more likely.

 

You can't pay with a card at 7/11unless you spend at least 200THB.

At least that has been my experience so far.

No minimum with True Wallet. Plus you get discounts and cashbacks.

 

6 hours ago, RSD1 said:

I merely said that I convert to Thai Baht at times when the exchange rate is most favorable.

 

That's essentially predicting the future.

There is no way for you to know when the exchange rate will be most favorable.

[Andycoops]

On 1/13/2025 at 1:01 AM, RSD1 said:

In my opinion, neither Wise or Revolut is ideal for exchanging money between dollars, pounds, euros, or for holding cash in multiple currencies.

 

A better alternative is an Interactive Brokers account, which can be set up online quickly. Once your funds are in the account, you can exchange between these three currencies as well as Australian dollars, New Zealand dollars, Canadian dollars, Japanese yen, Hong Kong dollars, and Singapore dollars. In total, Interactive Brokers supports 26 currencies, and all exchanges are done at the mid-market rate with no fees. By comparison, while Wise also provides the mid-market rate for most of these currencies, it charges an average fee of about 0.3% of the amount being exchanged.

 

Additionally, if you hold U.S. dollars in your Interactive Brokers account, they are FDIC-protected, unlike with Wise. For spending purposes, you can transfer funds from your Interactive Brokers account to your Wise account. Interactive Brokers allows one free transfer to Wise per month, with subsequent transfers costing just $1 each. It’s also very easy to link an Interactive Brokers account directly to a Wise account, and transfers typically arrive within 24 hours.

Your forgetting to mention the minimum requirement for opening a IB account.

[RSD1]

1 hour ago, Andycoops said:

You're forgetting to mention the minimum requirement for opening a IB account.

You can open an IB account without putting any money into it. So there are no minimums. But detailed info is on the link below:

 

https://www.interactivebrokers.com/en/accounts/required-minimums.php

[RSD1]

3 hours ago, Delta Shift said:

You can't pay with a card at 7/11unless you spend at least 200THB.

Yes, that's correct. It used to be a 100THB minimum, then they made it no minimum. And now it's back to 200THB, but never an issue for me. 

 

3 hours ago, Delta Shift said:

No minimum with True Wallet. Plus you get discounts and cashbacks.

Same if you apply for a free 7-11 AllMember card. You are given points that can be used as cash and discounts on certain items by providing your card number, which is your telephone number, at checkout. All of these are such small amounts of money though, it isn't worth worrying about. 
 

At the end of the day, I rather just use my Wise card to pay for as many things, as much as I can and as often as I can. It keeps life much simpler. One account to pay for all of my daily expenses. I just tap my watch nearly everywhere I go to make payment from my Wise digital card and done. Another reason why I don't bother with any of the local Fintech service providers. 
 

3 hours ago, Delta Shift said:

That's essentially predicting the future.

There is no way for you to know when the exchange rate will be most favorable.

Again, I'm not predicting anything. And I don't need to know when the exchange rate will be most favorable. I now have enough Baht to last me a good amount of time because I exchanged a lot towards the end of 2023 when exchange rates were already really good. But then I still exchanged a bit more in 2024 from time to time when I also felt the exchange rate was favorable, merely in order to replenish some of my Baht reserves. So I don't need to know when it's going to be most favorable, nor am I forced to exchange when it's not. I just wait and act when I want to. It's called long term cost averaging. I also have more Baht than I need right now, so I may not exchange any more into Baht for at least another year from now or longer.  

[Delta Shift]

23 minutes ago, RSD1 said:

Same if you apply for a free 7-11 AllMember card.

 

Absolutely not.

7/11 doesn't offer 50% off certain Grab orders for example.

 

26 minutes ago, RSD1 said:

All of these are such small amounts of money though, it isn't worth worrying about. 

 

I think this sums up your logic pretty well.

Some people don't mind losing a little bit of money here and there, others don't mind saving a little bit of money here and there.

At the end of the day, whatever floats your boat is ok.

[MeHere]

On 1/13/2025 at 5:03 PM, bradiston said:

Not sure you can hold THB in Wise. They might show the equivalent of your various accounts in THB but they don't have a THB account per se. I have a PHP Wise account as I live in Philippines.

I've been holding THB for years in Wise (initially set up in Oz) ... I think I've still got a couple thousand in there now

[RSD1]

7 minutes ago, Delta Shift said:

At the end of the day, whatever floats your boat is ok.

Exactly. Everybody has a system that works for them. And to each his own. Nobody needs to try and make someone else fit in their own box. I was just providing information about what and how I do in case it's useful for others. It works for me, but it may not work for everyone, and vice versa. 👍🏼

[RSD1]

10 minutes ago, Delta Shift said:

7/11 doesn't offer 50% off certain Grab orders for example.

Grab orders? Food delivery? Never used it, not even once. I get meals delivered once a week by a proper meal prep service company. I never order food delivery from restaurants. Again, everyone is different. 

[RSD1]

18 minutes ago, Delta Shift said:

Some people don't mind losing a little bit of money here and there, others don't mind saving a little bit of money here and there.

Just to clarify on this point, it's not about minding whether I lose a bit of money or not. I don't look at it that way. After a certain point life comes down to convenience and simplification. To me, those two things are more important than worrying about trying to save a few Baht here and there. To me it's more about quality of life rather than making sure I don't overpay a bit at times on small items. If one is really that worried about cost of living to begin with though then they should probably be shopping at Makro for everything and buying in bulk and never even be shopping in 7-Eleven at all.

[KannikaP]

22 hours ago, Dan O said:

quite a few hotels and other business's have in fact started to charge a fee to use a foreign credit card. usually, 3 to 4 %

But of course WISE and Revolut ARE NOT Credit Cards, they are DEBIT CARDS.

[Delta Shift]

39 minutes ago, RSD1 said:

Just to clarify on this point, it's not about minding whether I lose a bit of money or not. I don't look at it that way.

 

Let me kindly remind you that it really doesn't matter how you or anyone else look at it.

The topic is about the cheapest way to use neobanks. Not about what you value in life as an individual :D :D

[RSD1]

47 minutes ago, Delta Shift said:

The topic is about the cheapest way to use neobanks. Not about what you value in life as an individual 😄 😄

Correct. And specifically about Wise and Revolut. Not about how to use True Money Wallet to collect a few points and earn extra discounts at 7-Eleven, which nobody else here seems concerned with :D 😄

[RSD1]

On 1/13/2025 at 5:27 PM, Dan O said:

quite a few hotels and other business's have in fact started to charge a fee to use a foreign credit card. usually, 3 to 4 %

 

Every time a business has informed me about a surcharge for using a credit or debit card, they’ve explained that the fee is the same regardless of whether the card is foreign, domestic, credit, or debit, because they will ultimately be charged the same percentage fee from MasterCard and Visa, no matter which card you use. However, they’ve never specifically asked me whether the card I want to use is foreign or domestic. In your case, I assume they may not want to accept an overseas card due to greater concerns about fraud or potential chargebacks. By stating there would be a surcharge for using a "foreign credit card" specifically, they were likely trying to discourage you from using it altogether.

[Delta Shift]

23 minutes ago, RSD1 said:

Correct. And specifically about Wise and Revolut. Not about how to use True Money Wallet to collect a few points and earn extra discounts at 7-Eleven, which nobody else here seems concerned with :D 😄

 

And also not about interactive brokers. Absolutely

That said IBKR and True Money were brought up in an attempt to optimize cost.

Which is kinda weird because I thought you didn't care and were more on the practical side of things :D

[oldcpu]

Just now, RSD1 said:

 

Every time a business has informed me about a surcharge for using a credit or debit card, they’ve explained that the fee is the same regardless of whether the card is foreign, domestic, credit, or debit, because they will ultimately be charged the same percentage fee from MasterCard and Visa, no matter which card you use.

 

That has been my experience when I used my Wise card in Australia and in New Zealand