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Email this2:52 am
March 18, 2020
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I’ve been using OFX for years for large wire transfers but recently I discovered that Wise is offering unbeatable exchange rates and OFX in unable to honor the same rates.
Being a non-resident, I’ve been using Bill Payments from RBC to send money to OFX. It seems that Wise only works with a few banks in Canada and I am unable to do a wire transfer from my RBC account to their local account in Canada.
Wise is listed as a bill payee with these banks and credit unions in Canada:
* Bank of Montreal
* National Bank of Canada
* Central 1 Credit Unions*
* EQ Bank
* CS Alterna Bank
* Manulife Bank of Canada
* First Calgary Financial
But is seems impossible to open an account remotely in any of these banks.
Any feedback would be very much appreciated.
Thanks
5:28 am
April 27, 2017
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EQ Bank is particularly well integrated with Wise, making international transfers very easy.
“ But is seems impossible to open an account remotely in any of these banks.”. You can certainly open an account remotely. Do you mean that you don’t have a Canadian address and SIN? Some banks don’t require SIN, but (I think) if you don’t have an address then you need immigration papers to get an account from abroad.
6:35 am
December 23, 2018
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What name is Wise under Bill Payee? I couldn't add it under EQ.
12:47 pm
April 27, 2017
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JPenterprise said
What name is Wise under Bill Payee? I couldn't add it under EQ.
Go to “send money internationally” and follow the prompts. The transfer will be managed by Wise. You can transfer to any foreign account, including a Wise account.
7:20 pm
October 7, 2018
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On the Wise app in Canada, you can obtain an institution, transit and account number for your Wise account. Wise has an arrangement with Peoples. Then if your bank has the ability to add a link to an external account, you can link Wise as an external account. In my case I connected from Tangerine with 2 micro deposits and have since funded my Wise account from my Tangerine account. No fees from Tangerine or Wise to do this. So far I really like Wise. I will be using it later this year for the first time for travel overseas.
5:08 am
June 3, 2019
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maGIC said
On the Wise app in Canada, you can obtain an institution, transit and account number for your Wise account. Wise has an arrangement with Peoples. Then if your bank has the ability to add a link to an external account, you can link Wise as an external account. In my case I connected from Tangerine with 2 micro deposits and have since funded my Wise account from my Tangerine account. No fees from Tangerine or Wise to do this. So far I really like Wise. I will be using it later this year for the first time for travel overseas.
Once linked, can you withdraw out of Wise through Tangerine with no fees? Or any other way to send CAD from your Wise without the $0.60 fee?
8:33 am
October 7, 2018
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wiseman335 said
Once linked, can you withdraw out of Wise through Tangerine with no fees? Or any other way to send CAD from your Wise without the $0.60 fee?
I have not withdrawn any money from Wise yet. I have just deposited from Tangerine. I have used it twice in Canada to pay at a grocery store with chip and pin and at a gas station with tap. No fees associated to those transactions.
It appears I can exchange 2,000.00 CAD to Euro at mid market rate basically the price half way between bid and ask for Euro plus a fee of about $10.60 CAD. Then use the card to pay in Europe with I believe no fees. The only fee is a percentage of the amount initially exchanged.
After my trip I can either transfer remaining funds to my account, exchange back to CAD or to any other currency for my next trip.
Or just exchange back to CAD and use the Wise card as a Visa card until Funds run out.
So far I like Wise.
7:30 pm
January 10, 2017
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maGIC said
It appears I can exchange 2,000.00 CAD to Euro at mid market rate basically the price half way between bid and ask for Euro plus a fee of about $10.60 CAD. T
So far I like Wise.
What is the exact Wise fee structure - is $10.60 for any amount exchanged or is it percentage of the amount exchanged? Also, is the mid market rate charged a 'real-time' rate or is it delayed by a day or averaged over a past period or ??
8:21 pm
October 7, 2018
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Lodown said
What is the exact Wise fee structure - is $10.60 for any amount exchanged or is it percentage of the amount exchanged? Also, is the mid market rate charged a 'real-time' rate or is it delayed by a day or averaged over a past period or ??
I logged into my Wise account and checked cost for exchanging CAD to Euro and to USD. The following Fees were quoted.
$0.12 for 10 Euro
$1.13 cad for $100 Euro
$9.36 for 1000 Euro
$80.43 for 10000 Euro
Wise showed exchange rate that I double checked with Live mid market rate on OANDA. Wise was between bid and ask live for Euro and USD
77.99 Cad for $10,000 USD
9.08 for 1000
1.09 for 100
.11 for 10
So depending on the amount you are exchanging depends on the fee.
OANDA is where I check live exchange rates, here is the link
https://www.oanda.com/currency-converter/live-exchange-rates/
9:04 pm
January 10, 2017
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Thanks, so about 1% to .8% for larger amounts or 2% to 1.6% for a round trip back and forth exchange. For travel, I think a credit card like Home Trust Visa, that does not charge a 2.5% currency exchange fee, is a better way to go. If one needs cash, then Wise may be ok for smaller amounts.
6:38 am
January 12, 2018
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I have used Wise for some time now to move money from either my EQ US account or my Wise US account in Canada to my Mexican Peso account in the Cabo area. It allows me to monitor the Forex rates and move money when the exchange appears favourable. I believe, you do not have that ability with a credit card transaction and are subject to whatever the rate is at the transaction time.
Fees range from 1.05% for $100USD to .578% for $4000 USD ($23.15)
The exchange rates quoted are roughly mid trading spread.
The money arrives in my Mexican account usually within the hour and takes as little as one minute of my time on my computer.
7:44 am
October 7, 2018
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Lodown said
Thanks, so about 1% to .8% for larger amounts or 2% to 1.6% for a round trip back and forth exchange. For travel, I think a credit card like Home Trust Visa, that does not charge a 2.5% currency exchange fee, is a better way to go. If one needs cash, then Wise may be ok for smaller amounts.
Keep in mind that the percentage that you use above is a percentage of the foreign currency and not of the Canadian currency.
For instance 77.99 to exchange to 10000 USD to compare as a percentage, you need to take the Canadian amount roughly 13,526 to buy 10000 USD, so the percentage cost is about .59%
Using any VISA or Mastercard in comparison would charge at least 1% conversion charge plus a foreign exchange fee.
So, 10000 USD with Wise cost is 77.99 (about .59%)
10000 USD on Home Trust would be 1% of 13,526 = $135.26
No foreign exchange fee but still a conversion rate causing the 1%.
Other credit cards that do charge a exchange fee would be 1% plus around 2.5% putting the cost of 10000 USD $338.15 plus $135.26
Wise $77.99
Home Trust $135.26
Any card with a foreign exchange fee about $473.41
There is no round trip charge on the funds you spend while away.
This is my understanding of how foreign exchange/conversion works.
Please correct me if I am wrong
maGIC
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