In today’s day and age, there are plenty of different online financial institutions that provide similar services. Two of the largest services out there are Transferwise and Revolut and have been staples in the online financial market for years now.
The question is however, what service should you be looking towards? When looking at Transferwise vs Revolut, there isn’t a simple answer that is going to solve all your problems.
As I mentioned, both do nearly the same thing and therefore we have to get down to the nitty gritty and discuss things in depth.
Before we go into our review of Transferwise vs Revolut we do want to mention that both of these services provide a card which you can use for your transactions.
Both of these cards work great and no matter which service you decide to go with, you should definitely look into getting a card for your own usage.
The Main Goal Of Transferwise And Revolut
The main goal of these two financial services is to provide consumers with some of the cheapest conversion rates possible when exchanging foreign currencies.
The fees behind each service is slightly different and there definitely are advantages and disadvantages towards both of these services.
In this review of Transferwise vs Revolut we are going to dive into these advantages so you can be informed about both services. Before we jump right into that though, I want to talk about these services briefly and the origins of them. Let’s start by taking a look at transferwise.
Transferwise
Launched in 2011, Transferwise (now known as Wise) is a private company that is based within the United Kingdom.
It has long been known for being a money transfer service, allowing you to move currency from the website to your own personal bank account.
Why was Transferwise created? The main goal of Transferwise was to look out for employees who work abroad or who work for companies who pay them in a currency that is different to their own.
If you have ever been paid in a different currency, we are sure you’ve known the feeling of being slapped with some heavy fees at the bank when you look to convert.
As for the credit card that they offer, it carries small fees for currency exchange, allowing you to use it abroad as well to help keep overhead costs down. Overall, Transferwise has been a successful company for many years now and is greatly increasing their reach around the world.
Revolut
Launched in 2015, Revolut is another private company that is based in the United Kingdom.
Just like Transferwise, they built their business upon allowing customers to transfer their money to other users and to their bank accounts as well.
The credit card that they offer, the Revolut Mastercard, has no fees when exchanging currencies, making it the perfect card for shopping in another country.
What was the purpose of Revolut? While Transferwise was created for people who work abroad, Revolut was made mainly for people who are travelling abroad.
If you are someone who likes to travel and pick up items here and there, you can’t go wrong with the Revolut credit card.
Another interesting thing to note about Revolut is that it has started to provide access to cryptocurrencies on the website. With the recent boom to the cryptomarket, if you are looking to get involved, you might want to consider Revolut for that reason.
Where Are These Services Available
When looking at Transferwise vs Revolut we now have to see where these services are usable. While both companies have started in Europe, they are starting to branch out and extend their reach all around the world.
Revolut is available currently in 37 countries around the world. The majority of these countries are located in Europe, while the others are scattered across the world. If you are in North America you do not need to worry however, as this service is available to both Canadian and American residents.
Transferwise edges Revolut out here as they are currently available in 65 countries around the world. Just like Revolut they are mostly available in Europe but they have worked to extend their reach much further. Once again, North America can use this service without worry.
Currencies
A money transferring service has to be able to have access to a ton of different currencies if they are going to want to find some success.
In the case of Transferwise vs Revolut, Revolut actually edges our Transferwise by supporting 140 compared to the 96 Transferwise supports. While this might sound like a win for Revolut, it comes with a catch.
Revolut is only able to hold 30 different currencies at a time in your account while Transferwise lets you hold 50. For most people this is not a big deal however, as many people will generally only hold a few currencies at any given time.
That being said, if you are planning on going backpacking around the world, you might need to hold a ton of currencies to make things much cheaper for you. In terms of currencies, we have to give the edge to Revolut here.
Transferring Money
In the battle of Transferwise vs Revolut, one of the most important things to look at is how both companies handle money transfers.
When it comes to transferring money to your bank account, you should expect faster transfer times from Transferwise, but Revolut isn’t too far behind.
Transferwise promises the money in 1-3 business days and most of the time I noticed the money coming in within the first day.
Revolut on the other hand can take up to 5 business days for the money to appear.
When it comes to receiving money, there is a big difference when looking at Transferwise vs Revolut. Revolut currently only allows you to accept money in CHF, EUR, and GBP, while TransferWise also allows for these currencies and USD.
As USD is the most used currency around the world, having access to it right away without a need for conversion is definitely convenient.
For this reason, we do have to give Transferwise a slight edge here as the extra convenience goes a long way. Having the ability to receive USD and having faster transfer times is something that is appreciated by both employers and workers alike.
Website And Mobile Apps
We played around with both mobile apps when we looked at Transferwise vs Revolut and we have to say that we prefer the Revolut app.
There is something about it that makes it easier to use and just better in our opinion. That is not to say the Transferwise app is bad, as they are quite similar, but things just felt smoother on Revolut.
In terms of the websites, both felt very similar and we didn’t notice much of a difference when switching between the two. Overall, in regards to web design and more importantly mobile design, we have to give this one over to Revolut.
Extra Features And Other Services
We set out to find if Transferwise and Revolut offer any other services than the basic money transferring services they are known for.
After spending some time on the website, we found that Transferwise provided one service and one service alone.
Revolut on the other hand offered a variety of different things, most notable being the crypto exchange. An important note is that you cannot move your cryptocurrency out of Revolut and into a wallet. If you are trading elsewhere and have another wallet, it might be easier to stick with that platform.
An interesting thing to talk about is that Revolut is starting to work with Google and Apple Pay to allow you to use your smartphone to pay with your Revolut card. It shows that Revolut wants to expand and become more than just a money transfer service.
They also offer three different accounts that you can sign up for: standard, premium, and metal. From our personal experience, we didn’t see any reason to upgrade and feel like most people will be happy with the standard account. If you are a larger business however, this is something you might want to look into.
Looking at other services when comparing Transferwise vs Revolut, Revolut does come with a lot more features but we find that they are very niche and not particularly great. While they do offer a small bit of convenience, for the most part they are going to go unused.
Transfer Prices
Now we’re jumping into the meat and potatoes here and fees and transfer prices are probably why you came here to compare Transferwise vs Revolut.
In terms of Transferwise, you are going to be paying a fee for each transfer that you make. You can expect this to be in the range of 0.3%-0.7%. This isn’t bad when you consider some banks charge 1.5%-2.5%.
With Revolut, you are going to be getting transfers absolutely free for the first 1000 GBP that you move. After that you can expect to see a 0.5% fee on each transfer and an extra 1.0% if you are planning to transfer on the weekend.
It doesn’t stop there however, some currencies might hit you with a 1% fee during the week and a 2% fee during the weekend. If you upgrade your Revolut account you will gain access to a higher limit for free transfers each month.
Looking at these numbers, we have to give the advantage to Transferwise here. While the free transfers are nice with Revolut, if you plan on using the service during the weekend or transferring large amounts of money, you are going to be hit by larger fees. We say large in comparison to Transferwise, but they are still cheap compared to other financial institutions.
We will do a quick small breakdown regarding Transferwise vs Revolut fees to quickly sum up all of this information that we have given.
Use Revolut If:
Use Transferwise If:
The Final Verdict
It’s now time to declare the winner when looking at Transferwise vs Revolut and you might be upset to hear this, but we can’t declare a solid winner.
Both of these services are fantastic and offer great fees when compared to banks and other financial institutions.
Revolut might have Transferwise beat in more categories in this review, however Transferwise makes up a lot of points when it comes to actually transferring money.
That is not to say that Revolut is bad at transferring, and in fact, you should look to use both of these services.
If you are planning on moving large amounts of money each month, you should take advantage of the free transfers that are initially offered by Revolut, and once you have reached that limit, you should switch over to Transferwise.
If you only want to use one of these services, it all comes down to preference. From personal use, we prefer working with Transferwise as they have been around longer, but we still do some work with Revolut.
Take a look at both websites yourself and see what sounds better to you. You should also take a look at what you are planning to use the service for. This should help give you an idea of what is going to work best for you.
Now we turn the question to you, when it comes to Transferwise vs Revolut are you a Revolut user or a Transferwise user?
