Wise BusinessC54
Bank & A2A Payments · US freelancers, agencies, exporters and online businesses that invoice clients abroad, want local bank deta…
Overview
Wise Business is a cheap, transparent way for a US business to get paid by overseas clients and to pay suppliers abroad. One $31 setup fee gets you local account details in 22 currencies, there is no monthly fee, and every fee is published, with conversion at the mid-market rate. It is not a merchant account, though. Card acceptance through payment links is closed to new customers, so a business that needs to take cards will need a processor alongside it. We grade it B- for three reasons: Wise can close an account at any time on notice and hold balances while it investigates, complaints about frozen transfers and closures are common, and its US anti-money-laundering record has drawn a multistate penalty and a refused bank charter.
Best for: US freelancers, agencies, exporters and online businesses that invoice clients abroad, want local bank details in currencies such as EUR, GBP, CAD and AUD, and pay overseas contractors or suppliers.
Strengths
- + No monthly fee: a one-time $31 setup fee opens local account details in 22 currencies
- + Domestic receipts, including USD ACH, are free in nine currencies, so overseas clients can pay you locally
- + Conversion at the mid-market rate, with fees from 0.23% depending on currency, shown before you pay
- + Payment links, invoices and QR codes are free to use when clients pay by Wise or bank transfer
- + Large scale and a long track record: 608,000 active business customers in the quarter to 30 June 2026
- + No fixed-term contract or early-termination fee
Trade-offs
- – Card acceptance is currently unavailable to new Wise Business customers, so it is not a substitute for a merchant account
- – Not a bank: US balances are not FDIC-insured unless you opt in to the interest sweep
- – Wise can close an account at any time on notice, or immediately for suspected breaches, and hold balances; frozen transfers and closures dominate BBB complaints
- – Incoming USD wires and Swift payments cost $6.11 each
- – A heavy US regulatory record: a 2025 CFPB consent order, a $4.2 million multistate AML penalty, and an OCC charter denial in July 2026
- – Card payouts can take up to 14 days, and card-acceptance collateral can be held for at least six months after the agreement ends
Fees in detail
- Online rate: 2.9% + $0.30; closed to new sign-ups
- International: For US-registered businesses that already have card acceptance: 4.2% + $0.30 on international consumer cards and on all business cards, as o
- Contract: No contract; close any time
Standard published rate for a domestic online card payment. Confirm current pricing on Wise Business's pricing page.
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