How Wise card fees compare to fees for using high street bank cards abroad

In the UK, our research found that it’s up to 88% cheaper to spend with a Wise card abroad, compared to high street banks, if you’re spending £1000.

High street bank fees vs. Wise

Pay in EUR by card from a GBP account

Withdraw cash

Withdraw cash up to 200 GBP two or less times per month

Withdraw cash over 200 GBP three or more times per month

How we calculated the savings:

The transaction fee for spending with Barclays and Lloyds debit cards abroad is 2.99%, and 2.75% for HSBC and NatWest, not taking into account additional purchase fees that some banks charge on top of that.

The Wise card fee depends on the currency you spend in, and varies between 0.35% for popular currencies like EUR, USD, AUD, CHF; 0.38% for currencies like HUF; 0.39% for currencies like RON, PLN; and 1.18% for a currency such as BRL.

Check Wise card pricing for any currency.

Let's say you want to spend 1000 GBP with your debit card while you’re travelling in Europe. With HSBC, you’d pay 28 GBP in transaction fees. With Wise, you’d pay 4 GBP in fees. That’s 87% cheaper than what you would've spent on fees with an HSBC debit card.

With a Lloyds debit card, you’d pay 30 GBP in transaction fees, and spending with Wise would be 88% cheaper.

This means that when you spend with a Wise card in EUR, you could save up to 88% on fees compared to the above-mentioned banks.

Order your Wise card today

This data was last updated on 22.03.2022. All fees are provided for standard accounts and debit cards.