UK Price Comparison Research 2024
An independent research team compared Wise to six UK bank accounts, as well as Monzo, Starling, Revolut, PayPal, Xoom, Western Union and Post Office. They...
Banks make money with your money. Wise is different.
Wise isn’t a bank.
High street banks make their profits by lending money. As interest rates rise around the world, borrowing from a bank is getting ever more expensive for people. Whether you want to buy a house, a car or use a credit card - you’ll be paying a bank anything from 5% to 25% APR.
But at the same time most of us still keep our money in these banks, and are often getting a 0% return. Nothing. In the UK alone, households hold over £1tn in deposits. That’s a lot of money that banks look after, and this difference between what banks charge on loans and what they return to you, is why banks will make record profits this year.
This isn’t fair.
Lending out money like this can also make you ask the question about how safe your money is, as governments often have to provide some kind of limited insurance for you in the case something goes wrong.
Banks use nearly 50% of your money to facilitate high-interest loans. Whatever money they don’t lend out, they invest in things like bonds, money-market funds, and keep some in cash with central banks. In other words, they don’t have all your money in their ‘vault’ ready for you to use.
Because so much of this money will have ‘left the vault’ in the form of loans, banks have to try and estimate how much cash, or other easy-access assets they need to cover what you will use over the next 30 days.
Banks keep this amount above 100%, and typically closer to 140%. This means if you are going to withdraw £100 in the next month from your account, the bank will probably make sure it has £140 to hand.
But this still means that if everyone wants all their money, then it’s not all available.
Wise is different. We don’t lend it out.
Not one penny. We keep all cash safe and invested in easy-access assets and accounts.
And we aren’t trying to profit from your money by lending to others and giving you nothing back.
Instead we want you to get a return on your money that’s close to the central bank rate, rather than 0% like with your high-street current account. That’s why we have launched Wise Interest in the UK and EU. With one tap you get access to a low-risk fund which offers you rates close to the central-bank, while still using your Wise Account to spend and send this money like normal. Remember though, investments, even in a low-risk fund, are never guaranteed.
It’s your money. You should be able to use it how you want.
Wise Interest is offered by Wise Assets
*Please see terms of use and product availability for your region or visit Wise fees and pricing for the most up to date pricing and fee information.
This publication is provided for general information purposes and does not constitute legal, tax or other professional advice from Wise Payments Limited or its subsidiaries and its affiliates, and it is not intended as a substitute for obtaining advice from a financial advisor or any other professional.
We make no representations, warranties or guarantees, whether expressed or implied, that the content in the publication is accurate, complete or up to date.
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