Comparing Wise vs OrbitRemit for International Transfers in New Zealand

If you need to send a payment to a friend or family member overseas you may be considering using a specialist transfer service like Wise or OrbitRemit¹. Both offer secure and reliable transfers you can set up online or with your phone - OrbitRemit supports payments to 26 countries on key remittance routes, while Wise supports transfers to 160+ countries, and also offers account and card services.

But which is better between Wise and OrbitRemit NZ? Read our full Wise vs OrbitRemit review for all you need to know.

What is OrbitRemit Money Transfer?

OrbitRemit is a specialist in international transfers you can set up online or with just your smartphone². You can send money to 26 countries, and pay by bank transfer or select other methods depending on where you’re transferring to.

Once your money is on the move you can track your payment easily, and either arrange for the money to be deposited to your recipient’s bank or mobile money account, or collected in cash. Service availability depends on the destination country.

OrbitRemit benefits and features in NZ

OrbitRemit NZ offers the following features and services:

• Send money online or in the OrbitRemit app
• Pay by bank transfer or using select alternative payment methods
• Have funds deposited to bank accounts, some mobile money accounts, or collected in cash
• Transfer to 26 countries
• Track payments online or in app for convenience

What is Wise Money Transfer?

Wise operates in New Zealand and many other countries and regions globally, offering international transfers to 160+ countries which use the mid-market exchange rate and low, transparent fees. You can set up your Wise payment online or in the highly rated Wise app, and have your money delivered to your recipient’s bank account. In some countries, deposits to mobile money accounts are also supported.

On top of transfers, Wise has additional services including multi-currency accounts which support 40+ currencies, with linked debit cards for payments and withdrawals.

Wise Transfer benefits and features in NZ

Here’s a quick summary of some of the highlights of what you can do with Wise in New Zealand:

• Send money online or in the Wise app
• Pay by bank transfer, credit or debit card, POLi or with a Wise account balance
• Have funds deposited to your recipient’s bank account - mobile money accounts are supported in some destination countries
• Transfer to 160+ countries
• Track payments online or in app for convenience
• Open a Wise account to hold and exchange 40+ currencies
• Get a Wise international debit card to spend and withdraw in 150+ countries

OrbitRemit vs Wise: main comparison

Let’s get into the details of our Wise vs OrbitRemit review - a head to head comparison on features. We’ll look at some more details on costs and exchange rates in just a moment so you can see which might be best for your transfer.

OrbitRemit vs Wise: fees and charges

OrbitRemit and Wise work quite differently in terms of the costs for transferring money abroad.

With Wise you’ll enter the amount you want to send, or the amount you want the recipient to receive into the transfer calculator. Wise will then model your payment, deducting the transfer cost from the funds you want to send and then converting your funds using the mid-market rate. You’ll instantly see details of what you pay and what your recipient will get in the end, with all the costs of transfer and exchange split out for transparency.

OrbitRemit also offers a transfer calculator to enter the amount you want to send or have the recipient receive. However, there are a couple of key differences in how the transfer amount is calculated. Firstly, the exchange rate you’re offered will include a markup - a fee that’s rolled up into the rate used for conversion. We’ll look at that more closely next. And secondly, the transfer fee you pay is added to the amount you want to send. This means that if, for example, you want to send 1,000 NZD, and the cost of your transfer is 6 NZD, you’ll end up paying 1,006 NZD.

We’ll look at an example to show how this works in a moment - here’s a quick summary of OrbitRemit vs Wise fees:

OrbitRemit vs Wise: exchange rates

We’ve touched on the fact that OrbitRemit uses an exchange rate markup. That’s a fee which is added into the exchange rate used to convert your NZD to whichever currency you need for deposit.

To figure out the fees included in the exchange rate you’ll need to compare the rate you’re quoted by OrbitRemit against the mid-market rate which is available with a currency converter or a Google search. The mid-market rate is a useful benchmark as it’s the rate used by banks and currency exchange services when they trade on wholesale currency markets. Using an exchange rate markup is common, but it can make it much harder to see what you’re paying for your transfer in full.

Not all international money transfer services use an exchange rate markup. Wise uses the mid-market exchange rate to make it easier for you to view the costs of your transfer, and compare them against other providers. All the fees you pay are split out from the transfer exchange rate for transparency - this can also mean the overall cost is lower compared to using a provider which has an exchange rate markup.

Example Transfer Comparison

You’ll want to compare a few options before you decide which service to use to make your international transfer. To get you started. Let’s look at an example transfer from New Zealand to Australia, with both Wise and OrbitRemit.

In this example we’re imagining sending money from one bank account to another - we’ve included the OrbitRemit exchange rate vs the Wise exchange rate here so you can see the difference using an exchange rate markup makes:

*Fees and exchange rates correct at time of research - 23rd May 2024, 10:10 Singapore time

As you can see, in the end the recipient gets more with Wise, even though your transfer will actually cost you less. This is because Wise uses the mid-market rate with no markup for currency conversion. Even though the fees are slightly higher with Wise, the impact of using a better exchange rate means there’s more to deposit to your recipient’s account in AUD.

Exchange rates do change all the time, so comparing different providers for your payment is a smart move. There’s a handy tool on the Wise website which lets you compare the costs of using Wise against major banks and alternative providers to see which works out best in your specific situation.

Summary: which is better for international transfers from NZ?

OrbitRemit and Wise are both safe to use for digital transfers you can arrange with just your laptop or phone. Which is best for you may come down to the specific service you need. Wise supports more countries compared to OrbitRemit, and in our comparisons, worked out cheaper as well. However, OrbitRemit offers some transfers for cash collection - which is not a service offered by Wise. If you’re thinking of sending money to a bank or mobile money account, compare both providers side by side for your specific transfer to see which is faster, cheaper, and more convenient to use.

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