How to grow your business with Wise

This article was last updated on 14 November 2023.

By now you're likely familiar with Wise’s fast, low cost and transparent money transfer services — and you’re not the only one. We now have 16 million customers signed up to send and spend in 40+ currencies to 170 countries around the world, including 300,000 business customers.

But Wise Business, the international business account from Wise, offers much more than being the best way for your company to pay suppliers, contractors and employees overseas at the real exchange rate. In fact, we’re adding new tools and features all the time to help you take your business to the next level.

This guide explains the top 10 ways businesses of all sizes —from freelancers and sole traders to SMBs and large employers — can use Wise Business to manage their finances, streamline operations and grow their business without borders.

Do more with Wise Business

1.Get paid like a local business

Setting up a bank account in another country often involves in-person meetings, reams of paperwork and language barriers before a customer is able to pay you directly into your account.

With Wise Business you can set up account details in 9 currencies including GBP, USD, EUR, AUD and more, with no local address needed, for a hassle-free way to get paid.

Simply set up a balance from within your app to share with your customers in minutes. Start receiving payments or setting up direct debits like you would with a UK account number and sort code, US routing number, Euro IBAN and several other major currencies.

For the full list of account details available and more information on how Wise Business can take the pain out of setting up operations overseas see here.

2. Make multiple payments in one go

Whether you call it batch payments, bulk payments, or a mass payout, we understand how much time and effort it takes to line up multiple payments to recipients such as international suppliers, freelancers and investors or to overseas employees as payroll.

So we’ve rolled out our batch payments tool, which enables you to pay up to 1,000 people in one click in 40+ currencies, always at the real exchange rate and with no hidden fees.

Create and send multiple transfers and set up recurring payments by uploading a single CSV file or automate them by integrating with our API. Additional features include our delivery estimator, pay-to-email and real time payments tracking, as well as reports, funding from balances and more.

For more information about payouts and to learn how to set up batch payments from your Wise Business account see here.

3. Earn a return while you grow your business

As inflation and interest rates rise, businesses and consumers are battling ever greater costs and volatility. Wise Business customers can now switch on Interest to earn a variable rate on GBP, USD and EUR balances.

With Interest your money is invested in a low-risk fund that holds government-guaranteed assets.

You and your employees can continue to send, spend and manage your money while it’s put to work with Interest and when central bank rates change, ours change automatically. So you can get the power of an international business account with returns and easy access to your money — all in one simple switch.

Learn about Wise Interest

Capital at risk. Current rates do not guarantee future growth.

4. Pay like a local with the Wise Business debit card

International business debit cards can come with hefty foreign transaction fees and sky-high exchange rates.

With Wise’s international business debit card, you and your employees can spend online and in-store in 40+ currencies and 160+ countries, all without subscriptions or monthly fees and with no transaction fees on foreign currencies.

And, if you’re a business account holder registered in the UK, we’re currently offering 0.5% cashback on eligible business card transactions, so you can take some of the cost out of business expenses.

Cards can be ordered for a one time fee. For more information about the Wise Business debit card see here.

Learn more about our cashback offer in the UK and see here for terms and conditions.

5. Control expenses with spend limits

As your business grows, so does the need for oversight of how and where employees are using expense cards.

Our multi-currency debit card makes it easy for you to manage business expenses with pre-set spend limits. You can give individual team members expense cards connected to your Wise Business account and monitor their spending in real-time in the account.

In addition, you can access your card details within the app and upload a virtual card to a digital wallet as soon as you order the physical card, so you and your employees can start using it straight away.

If your card is lost or missing you can stop anyone using it in a single tap and unfreeze it easily if it turns up.

Learn more about managing expenses with the Wise Business debit card here.

6. Set bespoke access for your team with approvals

We’ve heard about expense cards, but equally as important for security is knowing who is able to make and approve transactions from within your business account.

With Multi-user Access (MUA), you can grant your team different levels of access, with a wide selection of custom roles. You could add your accountant as a viewer, your finance team as payers, or your co-founder as an admin, giving you control over who is doing what in your Wise Business account.

You can review all payments being made within the account and for added peace of mind, you can also set up instant notifications for approvals to help you manage the account on the go. With our approvals feature, you can set it up so one or two people (dual approvals) sign off the payment before it completes.

Plus, with Wise Business you can see all transactions and expenses together in one place and filter them by payment method, team members and more to help keep your accounts manageable.

See here for more information about payments approvals, and here for assigning roles to your team.

7. Integrate with leading accounting softwares

Bookkeeping can become a drain on time and resources for any business, especially when tracking transactions and paying taxes as you expand internationally.

With Wise Business, we wanted to make it easier for you to sync your accounts and see them all in one place by connecting to leading accounting software, including Xero, QuickBooks, FreeAgent and more.

Integrating via our open API also enables you to automate payments and workflows in any of the currencies you hold money in for smoother reconciliation.

For more information on accounting integrations with Wise Business see here.

8. Manage cash across international offices

Setting up new entities or offices internationally can be an administrative headache, especially when it comes to moving funds from one currency to another.

With Wise Business, there’s no need to open a bank account for each of your offices or subsidiaries in another country, as you can manage treasury in 40+ currencies directly from your account and move money between business accounts in seconds, with the real exchange rate and low-fees.

You can also handle intercompany payments or international payouts to accounts inside and outside Wise Business quickly and easily with, more than 55% of payments to accounts outside Wise arriving within an hour.

Learn more about managing cash across international offices here.

Transactions speeds may vary depending on individual circumstances.

9. Withdraw from platforms including Amazon, Stripe and more

If you sell on marketplaces such as Amazon and Upwork, use e-commerce tools such as Shopify or payment platforms or such as Stripe, you can withdraw earnings in different currencies directly into your Wise Business account.

By linking your account you can avoid paying high currency conversion fees which damage your bottom line.

We’re also proud to be participating in Amazon’s Payment Service Provider programme, so you can have peace of mind when receiving payments from Amazon Seller Central. The way you use Wise to receive payments from Amazon will not change and you can use your Wise account details to receive payments like a local.

Learn more about receiving money from Amazon here, and see our separate pages for how to receive local currency payments from Shopify, Stripe, Upwork, Etsy and GOAT.

10. Convert at the best exchange rate

Keeping an eye on exchange rates can be a constant challenge for businesses operating internationally.

Wise Business lets you hold money in 40+ currencies, meaning you can take advantage of exchange rates and convert your money in those currencies, ready for future payments.

You can also set limits and rules within your account to auto-convert on certain currencies, meaning that once the exchange rate reaches a desired level we’ll convert them automatically for you, saving you time and your business money.

Learn more about holding money in your Wise account. For more information on auto-conversion, see here.

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