Wise Personal vs Wise Business: Understand the Difference

Wise is a financial technology company focused on global money transfers that offers two different types of accounts: a personal account and a business account.

While they share some features, there are key differences between the Wise Personal and Wise Business accounts, especially if you have a business you’re trying to scale and grow internationally.

Let’s start with the accounts’ similarities. With both Wise Business and Personal accounts, you can send fast, transparent, and low-fee international payments in over 40 currencies at the mid-market rate. Both accounts also offer debit cards, either physical or digital, which can be used to spend in different currencies worldwide.

The personal Wise account is for individuals living, working, and travelling abroad. Whether you're planning a trip to Australia or paying a mortgage in Spain, a Wise personal account is the ideal choice for anyone who needs to send, spend, or receive money internationally.

Wise Business account - key features

The Wise Business account offers additional features that are useful for freelancers, small businesses, and established companies with teams. With accounting integration, a free invoicing tool, local account details, multi-user team access, and batch payments, the Wise Business account makes it easier for you to manage your business, scale up, and save time. See the full list of features here.

What are the differences between a Wise Personal and Wise Business account

Let’s break down the key features only available with the Wise Business account. For a one-time fee of £45, you get access to each of these capabilities for you and your team. We don't charge any monthly subscription fees or put any of the features behind a paywall. You and your team will have access to all features, and you can tailor them with personalised permission settings and limits.

Create free invoices in your Wise Business account

One of the differences between the Wise Personal and Wise Business accounts is the ability to create invoices for free. In your business account, you can send invoices directly to the recipient or download them as a PDF. That way, you can simplify and speed up the process of getting paid in the currency you need, while maintaining control of how your client or customer pays you. Track all your invoices in your Wise Business account, view past and upcoming invoices, and stay on top of your payments, 24/7.

Get paid with Invoices

Get Paid with Quick Pay

Quick Pay is only available in your Wise Business account and allows you to create a unique Quick Pay link or QR code to receive payments in multiple currencies repeatedly. This eliminates the need to constantly share your account details — streamlining your cash flow and reducing administrative burdens. We've explained more about this feature here.

Receive Multi-Currency Payments to 23 Account Details

With a Wise Personal account, you can receive payments to your local account details in 9+ currencies, including GBP, EUR, and CAD, for free. The difference with the Wise Business account is that it offers both local and global account details.

Global account details allow businesses to receive international payments through the SWIFT network in 19 currencies, making international business even more streamlined. These account details include the following currencies: AUD, NZD, SGD, SEK, NOK, DKK, PLN, HKD, CHF, CZK, JPY, HUF, BGN, AED, RON, UGX, ZAR, CNY and ILS.

Understanding global account details

Receive with Payment Links

To streamline your cash flow when you're requesting one-time payments, payment links in your Wise Business account may be the perfect solution. Simply fill out the information and track your payment link in the account.

Withdraw from Platforms

You can withdraw from platforms such as Stripe, Amazon, Fiverr, Etsy, UpWork or GOAT to any of your local account details for free with your Wise Business account. You can choose to keep the money in the currency withdrawn or exchange it at the mid-market rate with low fees in your Wise Business account.

Get paid by Amazon

Send International Payments with Fast, Transparent, and Batch payments

With both Wise Personal and Wise Business accounts, you can send fast, transparent, and low-fee international payments in over 40 currencies to 160 countries.

To make business payments quicker, Wise offers batch payments for its business customers. The batch payments tool enables up to 1,000 invoices to be processed in a range of currencies from a single spreadsheet or .CSV, simplifying payroll and invoice payments. Never used a batch payments tool? The Wise Business account offers easy-to-use spreadsheet templates to get you started.

Accounting Integrations

To gain a comprehensive overview of your business finances, you can sync your Wise Business account with accounting software like QuickBooks, Xero, Sage, and Wave. This helps you keep track of payments, manage your spending, and keep your accountant happy. You can reconcile these transactions easily and conveniently – something that isn’t possible with a Wise personal account. Choose which balance you sync up and keep track of all your international payments in one place.

Team Access

If you have several team members managing your expenses, the Wise Business account offers multi-user access. You can assign any of the five roles available and further customise permissions by individual. This access also extends to the Wise Business card, where you can set spending limits in line with your budget.

Manage Expenses with Groups

With business expense cards, you can manage your business spending transparently and according to your needs. Create separate Groups for marketing, administrative expenses, or ad hoc business trips, ensuring you stay in control of who is involved in every aspect of your business. You can send and spend from Groups and assign different team members to different Groups.

5 steps to sign up for a Wise Business account if you already have a Wise Personal account:

1. Sign in to your personal account.
2. Go to settings and click on 'Open a business account'
3. Share details such as your business location, industry, business registration, name, and other supporting documents. The verification process may differ depending on your role in the company as well as company's size.
4. Pay the one-time fee of 45 GBP
5. You’re verified! You’ll receive a confirmation email once verification has been processed.