The Wise card lets you spend money around the world with low conversion fees and zero transaction fees. It’s currently available for Wise account-holder residents in Australia, Brazil, the EEA, Japan, New Zealand, Singapore, Malaysia, Switzerland, the UK, the US and Canada.
Here are some tips to help you get started.
1. Get your card details on the app or website
For cards issued for these countries, you can see your card number, expiry date, and CVV any time on the app or website:
the UK
the EEA
Switzerland
Australia
New Zealand
Singapore
Japan
Malaysia
Canada
Brazil
For cards issued in the US, you can set your own PIN when you activate your card. Cards issued in the US can only be activated in the US. Card details are available in the app after activation, so it's important to complete this before going abroad.
Once you got your card details, you can start using them online or add them to a mobile wallet like Apple Pay or Google Pay
2. Activate your card immediately
Non-US cardholders
You just need to pay using your PIN. If the Chip and PIN payment gets declined, please use the card at an ATM for either cash withdrawal or balance enquiry.
If you are trying to activate your card in Canada or Singapore, you won’t be able to make a cash withdrawal at local ATMs. Please choose Balance Inquiry in order to activate your card.
Balance enquiry is not supported for cards issued in Brazil. Please try a Chip and PIN payment or cash withdrawal at an ATM instead.
If you are trying to activate your card in Japan, remember you may only be able to use it at one of these ATM providers: AEON, E-net, Daily Yamazaki.
US cardholders
To activate your card: go to your Wise account in the app or website, and enter the 6-digit code that’s on the card.
Once activated, you can use your card any time, as long as you have money in your account.
Learn more about activating your card
3. Add money to your Wise account
To pay with your card, you’ll need money in your Wise account.
Add money by opening the Wise app, choosing the currency you’d like to add money to, and how much you’d like to add. Then, choose to pay using different payment methods like bank transfer or card.
4. Leave the conversion to us
If you spend money in a currency you already have in your balances, we’ll deduct the amount for free.
If you don’t have the currency in your account, we’ll automatically convert the amount for you. We’ll take it from whichever available balance has the cheapest conversion fee. So there’s no need to worry about converting money before travelling.
For Brazil cardholders
Keep in mind: the smart conversion will not work for Brazilian cards when the BRL account is involved.
If you want to use your card in Brazil, you need to have money on your Brazilian Real balance. If you want to use your card abroad, you need to have money on any other balance. If you try to spend in a currency that you don’t have and BRL is the only available currency, the transaction will be declined due to insufficient funds.
5. Always choose the local currency
Sometimes, ATMs, shops, and online stores are sneaky — they try to charge you more when you withdraw cash or buy something abroad. They do it by offering to charge you in your home currency, then marking up the exchange rate.
Avoid these hidden fees by always choosing to be charged in the local currency of where you are.
6. Get free ATM withdrawals
You have 2 free withdrawals every month up to the following amounts, depending on where your card is issued. You can track your limits in the app or website.
Cards issued in Europe or the UK — 200 GBP/EUR
Cards issued in Australia, New Zealand and Singapore — 350 AUD/NZD/SGD
Cards issued in Japan — 30,000 JPY
Cards issued in the US — 100 USD
Cards issued in Malaysia — 1,000 MYR
Cards issued in Canada — 350 CAD equivalent (note that due to local regulations, you won’t be able to withdraw money from ATMs within Canadian borders using a Canadian card.)
Cards issued in Brazil — 1,400 BRL
If the ATM asks you for a 6-digit PIN, always use your 4-digit PIN as you normally would.
You can now get a Wise Eco card, if you are in the UK or the EEA. Learn more about Wise Eco cards