Is Wise a Payment Gateway? Features, Benefits, and How It Works

Online sales in the US are growing more than four times faster than in-store sales. US ecommerce sales are expected to grow by 8.6% in 2025 to $1.3 trillion and climb to $1.7 trillion by 2028, reaching a 20% share of total retail sales.¹

If you want to sell online, it’s important to have the right system in place to accept payments. The easier it is to pay, the more likely customers are to complete a purchase and not abandon their cart.

For this, you’ll need a payment gateway to collect customer’s payment details. A common question is whether there is a Wise payment gateway to do this.

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Is Wise a Payment Gateway?

First off, it’s important to know that Wise is not a payment gateway. Wise Business is a smart alternative to traditional banks. It offers an online multi-currency account, to help you send, manage and receive international payments.

A payment gateway is an intermediary between a customer, their bank, and the merchant. It facilitates the secure transfer of debit and credit card information.

There are different types of payment gateways, such as a hosted payment processing page. Another option is an application programming interface (API) for embedding payment collection into a website. Businesses can also use a point-of-sale (POS) terminal in a store.

The payment gateway collects the customer’s card details for the payment processor. The processor then transfers them to the card network and issuing bank for approval. Once the payment is authorized, the processor transfers the funds to the merchant account. In order to withdraw the funds, the business needs to connect a business account to the merchant account.

With Wise, you can receive domestic and international payments from customers to your account. You can also connect your account details to providers such as Stripe to receive payments. However, Wise is not a payment gateway. It is not involved in payment processing between an online shopping cart or a POS terminal and a customer's bank.

You still need to use a payment gateway and payment processor to facilitate sales and transfer funds to your merchant account. From there, you can receive the money into your Wise Business account.²

Some of the top payment gateway providers include:

• Adyen
• Payoneer
• PayPal
• Square
• Stripe

Payment service providers like PayPal, Stripe, and Square offer full services for businesses. They provide bundled solutions to accept online card payments. This can be more convenient than using a separate payment gateway and merchant account, and can save you money on fees.

How Wise Business Works for Receiving Payments

If Wise is not a payment gateway, how can you use it to receive payments?

You can use Wise Business if you collect payments from customers directly, rather than through a payment gateway. When you open an account, you’ll receive local bank details for major currencies. You do not need a local address or separate bank account in countries using those currencies. Customers can pay you in their own currency using these account details, and you can receive the funds with zero or low fees.

You can use your account’s request payment feature to send customers a Wise payment link so they can pay you easily. Wise Business also provides an invoicing tool to create professional invoices. These contain your Wise payment details, making it easy for customers to pay you.

If you sell through an online or physical store, you can transfer funds from your payment gateway provider, such as Stripe or PayPal. Then, you can move the funds to your Wise Business account to convert payments into your local currency if needed. In this way you’ll receive payments at the mid-market exchange rate, saving you money on the mark-ups charged by PayPal and other services.³

Your Wise account details also work with Amazon globally. If you sell on multiple Amazon marketplaces, you can withdraw your earnings in different currencies directly into your Wise account. This way, you can avoid high currency conversion fees.

You can hold multiple currencies at once in your Wise Business account and convert funds when exchange rates are more favorable. Alternatively, you can use the funds to pay business expenses or transfer them to your bank account.

Advantages of Using Wise for Business Payments

Wise is not a bank, but a Money Services Business (MSB) provider and a smart alternative to banks. The Wise Business account offers small businesses an alternative way to get paid easily. It can help businesses avoid hefty fees for cross-border transactions. You can use local account details to receive payments and convert currencies in your Wise Business account at the mid-market exchange rate.

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You can hold multiple currencies in one place, making it easy to manage payments from customers around the world. There are no monthly account fees or hidden charges—any conversion fees are stated clearly in your Wise account.

Sources:

¹ US Ecommerce Forecast 2024
² Merchant Account vs. Payment Gateway: Do You Need Both? - Wise
³ Fees | Merchant and Business | PayPal US

All sources checked February 2025.

	Author:
	Nicole is a professional journalist with two decades of experience in writing and editing, she has also run her own freelance business for the past five years. Her expertise spans the financial and technology industries, including payment processing and small business banking.

	Editor & Business Expert:
	Panna is an expert in US business finance, covering topics from invoicing to international expansion. She creates guides and reviews to help businesses save time and make informed decisions. You can read more useful business articles on her author profile.