The below research is outdated as of July 2019. Please see new research here

Note: the following research took place on October 11-16 2018 by an independent research agency. As of 8 March 2019, the cost of sending 2000 EUR to GBP with Wise has slightly gone up for all customers. Please always check your account for the latest pricing. Learn more

Are you using PayPal in your business to pay or get paid internationally for goods and services? If so, you could save on average 14x more by opening a Wise Business account.

Research Methodology

The research was carried out between 11-16th October by market research agency, Alderson Consulting (Bristol), in conjunction with Wise. The data was ascertained via a series of transfers carried out by Alderson Consulting (Bristol) and partners in various geographies.

There are three types of fees recorded for this price comparison:

• Fee 1: an upfront international money transfer fee
• Fee 2: the markup PayPal added to their exchange rate
• Fee 3: the recipient fee PayPal charged when business receive international payments

Date and timestamps are provided.

The Research

Sending 2000 EUR to GBP

As part of the research, Alderson Consulting made a EUR 2,000 payment from a Euro PayPal business account to a UK PayPal business account.

This business payment incurred sending fees of EUR 102.03 with PayPal, and only EUR 7.01 with Wise.

Wise Business saved the sender EUR 95.02

PayPal charged the UK business who received this payment a recipient fee of GBP 63.68. Wise Business charged no recipient fee.

Wise Business saved the recipient GBP 63.68

The total amount that arrived at the UK business via PayPal was GBP 1,606.74. Via Wise the amount was GBP 1,754.03.

Using Wise Business meant the UK business got an extra GBP 147.29

Here’s the raw data:

Sending USD 2000 to GBP: Wise Business vs PayPal business

Fees/cost	Wise Business	PayPal business
Amount sending (EUR)	€2000	€2000
Rate quoted by provider (Reuters’ exchange rate = 0.8801)	€ 1 = £0.8800	€ 1 = £0.8352
Provider exchange rate markup (%)	0.01%	5.10%
Provider exchange rate markup (EUR)	€0.23	€102.03
Upfront transfer fee (EUR)	€6.78	€0
Total sender fees (EUR)	€7.01	€102.03
Amount sent to recipient (GBP)	£1,754.03	£1,670.42
Recipient fees applied (GBP)	£0	£63.68
Recipient fees applied (%)	0%	3.81%
Total recipient fees (GBP)	£0	£63.68
Final funds available to recipient (GBP)	£1,754.03	£1,606.74
Total cost of transfer (EUR + GBP)	€7.01 + £0	€102.03 + £63.68

All data was obtained independently by market research company Alderson Consulting on October 15 2018, 13:22 UTC.