Using ACH with Wise: everything you need to know

ACH (Automated Clearing House) payments are an extremely popular way to send and receive USD transfers, offering cheap and reliable ways to pay and get paid.

You can use ACH with Wise by making an ACH payment to someone else in the US, by choosing ACH as the way to fund your transfer to any of the 80+ countries supported by Wise, or by receiving an ACH payment in USD to your Wise Account.

This guide runs through all you need to know including how to fund a Wise payment by ACH, how to send a Wise USD payment by ACH, and how to receive a USD ACH to your Wise Account.

Learn more about Wise

Paying for a Wise transfer using ACH

You may have the option of paying for your Wise transfer by ACH, for payments of up to the Wise ACH limit of 15,000 USD within a 24 hour period. This is often the cheapest payment method³.

Here’s how you can pay for a Wise transfer using ACH¹:

• Open the Wise desktop site and select Send Money — or head to the Wise app

• Enter the currency and amount you want to send, or how much the recipient should get in the end

• Select Connected Bank Account (ACH) from the dropdown list as the payment method

• Check and confirm the payment, and follow the prompts to pay by ACH

The exact process you follow to pay by ACH may vary based on your own bank — but generally you’ll be able to follow the onscreen instructions to log into your own online banking, and arrange the payment there.

You may be asked to complete a Wise verification step — such as entering your SSN⁴ — or to complete verification required by your own bank. This is to keep you and your money safe.

Finally, it's helpful to know that the Wise ACH transfer time may be slower than some other payment methods. That’s because banks tend to take a little longer to process ACH payments, meaning it can take up to 4 days for your payment to be cleared and received by Wise.

Send international ACH
payments with Wise

What's the difference between paying via ACH debit and ACH electronic payment?

Depending on the payment details, you may also have the option of paying for your Wise transfer with an ACH electronic payment².

However, it’s useful to know that ACH debits are usually considered to be easier and safer — making them the preferred option if you’re able to access them.

One difference to note between ACH electronic payments and ACH debits is that the Wise Account details you’ll need to pay may vary based on whether you’re in a licensed state, or a state where Wise works with banking partners to provide services.

Where can you find the electronic payment routing number for Wise?

Find the Wise routing number you need for your payment here. You can also find the Wise routing numbers for ACH payments and wires by logging into your Wise Account, or checking a Wise issued statement.

Sending ACH payments with Wise

If you’re sending a USD payment to someone through Wise, you can select ACH as the payment type, which often offers the lowest fees available. Here’s what to do:

Step 1. Log into your Wise Account online or in the app

Step 2. Enter the amount and currency you want to send to generate a quote

Step 3. Follow the prompts to enter account details for the person you’re paying

Step 4. Select ACH payment from the dropdown list

Step 5. Add your recipient's ACH details

Step 6. Pay for your transfer

What information do you need from the recipient?

As you follow the prompts within your account, you’ll need to enter the recipient’s personal and banking information to make sure their payment can be processed quickly and securely. You’ll need to have the following information handy:

• Recipient name: up to 18 characters
• Account number: 4-17 numbers, digits only
• Routing number: ACH routing numbers are always 9 digits long
• Address: full address of the recipient is required

Don’t forget that banks may have different routing numbers for incoming wire and ACH payments. Make sure you get the ACH routing information from your recipient to avoid unnecessary delays in their payment.

Receiving ACH payments into your Wise Account

If you have a Wise Account you’ll be able to open a USD Balance to generate local bank details to receive payments in dollars easily and with no Wise fee for incoming ACH transfers. The easiest way to open a USD Balance is in the Wise app:

1. Log into the Wise app
2. Tap the + Open option in the main home page
3. Tap Balance and then select USD from the options you’re shown

If it’s your first Balance you may be asked to add a small deposit to get started — just follow the onscreen prompts to get set up

Receive ACH payments
from all over the world 🚀

Where can you find your ACH routing number in Wise?

Once you have a USD Balance you can access your Wise routing numbers easily. In the Wise app:

Depending on where you live, you may have different Wise routing numbers for incoming ACH and wire payments. If this is the case both sets of numbers will be shown when you generate your account details following the above process — just make sure you pass the ACH routing number to the person sending your ACH payment.