In summary, when comparing Wise and Xe for international money transfers, Wise tends to be cheaper.
Both Wise and Xe offer transfers by mobile app, though the Wise app is a little easier to use. Xe has better reviews on TrustPilot, but both brands have their fair share of complaints about speed & cancelled transfers.
Has Xe made the most of its advantage, or has Wise, the modern fintech, eaten its lunch?
Wise vs Xe in 7 key aspects
Pricing
Pricing for international money transfers is the total of transfer fees plus exchange rate margin.
Some providers apply no exchange rate margin and charge fees; others charge no fees but charge margins. Some mix both methods. Learn more about how FX companies apply markup to mid-market exchange rates.
Wise pricing is 100% fee driven. That means you can rely on the exchange rate being mid-market. Any cost you pay will be clearly marked as a fee.
Xe pricing is a hybrid, with some transfers incurring transfer fees, and most coming with exchange rate markup.
Customer service
Currency brokers tend to be the gold standard for customer service in the money transfer game.
Digital services like Xe and Wise are not quite so customer facing in that way. Instead, they prefer to use tech to solve problems, minimising support costs and, in theory, making your transfers cheaper.
This can mean that problems might not be communicated in the ideal way.
Both Wise and Xe have contact centre teams that support high value transactions, so they're starting to bridge the gap.
However, if exemplery customer service is crucial to you, and you don't mind a more old-school approach to things, try an FX broker instead.
Reviews
At the time of writing, Xe and Wise both scored 4.3 out of 5 on TrustPilot.
5% of Xe's reviews were 1/5, but 8% of Wise's were at that level. This suggests that while the average experience is similar, Wise is more likely to trigger a strong negative review.
Both of these are in the minority, but let's be honest. A big factor in these decisions is avoiding bad outcomes. Review data, despite its flaws, suggests Wise could be a bit riskier here.
Scale
Both Wise and Xe are absolute monsters in terms of scale, regulation and establishment.
You can rest assured that neither of these brands are fly-by-night operations, and both offer the size and scale ro handle the largest, more complex of needs.
Size isn't everything, though, and there are startups in the space like Regency FX that operate out of a single UK-based. Some customers might prefer dealing with a small independent firm rather than an industry behemoth.
Coverage
Xe has a larger footprint across currencies and countries than Wise.
Both services support the transfer routes that will be needed by the majority of customers. So this is really more of a factor if you want to send a less popular currency (Albanian LEK, for example).
If that's the case, Xe is more likely to tick your boxes.
Other services
Both companies do more than just send money from A to B.
Wise is probably a bit more interesting in that regard, with debit cards, cash withdrawals, interest-style returns on cash, and more of a feeling of a digital money service.
For businesses, both firms have strong services. I'll be producing business-centric reviews of both companies soon.
Company backgrounds
Wise
Wise is a fintech company initially launched by two Estonian entrepreneurs in 2011. The idea was to create a peer-to-peer money transfer system, dodging the traditionally high costs of converting currencies.
The company is known for using mid-market rates and clearly quoting for fees separately. Formerly known as TransferWise, the company has launched additional features that make it a more rounded finance app.
It still has a large focus on its roots in international transfers. The firm has millions of customers worldwide, including businesses and even serves as a platform for other fintechs and banks.
Xe
Xe has been around since the early days of the internet. Initially providing online tools for quickly converting currencies in 1993, it's evolved into a much larger service.
Since the early 2000s, Xe has been offering currency conversion services for sending money internationaly. It's also built a substantial profile in the business world, supporting companies with B2B currency conversion challenges.
Xe now sits alongside its sister brand Ria Money Transfer as part of holding company Euronet Worldwide.
In-depth reviews of each
Reasons to choose Wise
Simple cost structure
Wise consistently quotes mid-market rates, with any other costs being clearly quoted separately. This means you can easily understand the cost of your transfers, without having to analyse exchange rate competitiveness.
Multi-currency account access
Wise is fully geared up for supporting personal customers with multi-currency wallets. This lets you easily hold, convert and spend across currencies, more like a local. Xe's strengths in this area lie more on the B2B side for companies.
Reasons to choose Xe
If you get quoted a better price
For price-sensitive senders - which to be honest, is almost everyone - you should check which company is cheaper for your needs. Wise may have simpler pricing, but if Xe is cheaper overall, they should be strongly considered. Use our price comparison engine to get real answers, as it varies by send amount, currency, country and more.
You've had issues with Wise
Some customers do complain about Wise locking or freezing their accounts. This is rare in the grand scheme of things, but with their large customer base, you do hear quite a few such complaints. While this can happen with any company, it's a clear signal to consider an alternative like Xe.
Altogether different alternatives
There's more to the world of money transfers than Wise and Xe.
If you're open to considering alternatives beyond these two, I've got three extra picks worth a look.
TorFX
TorFX is a large-scale foreign exchange broker.
The company is very popular in the UK for large transfers, thanks to their competitive rates and personal phone service.
TorFX also offers online and mobile apps to make 24/7 transfers, and has specific expertise in areas such as overseas property sales, business and international payroll, plus all manner of other use cases.
The firm boasts no transfer limits, and are used to handling the largest, most critical currency transfers.
Regency FX
Regency FX is a smaller independent currency broker.
While they don't have the scale and history of TorFX, they do have an experienced team. Their smaller scale sees them striving to impress, offering no fees and relatively low FX margins.
Their UK-based call centre receives plenty of accolades on TrustPilot for their guidance and service quality.
| Name | Score | Visit | Disclaimer | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
.svg) | 8.6 | Visitregencyfx.com |
Zing
Zing is a fintech app that more closely resembles Wise.
Created by HSBC in early 2024, Zing is a no-frills mobile platform and currency card for spending and transferring currency.
Zing fees are generally on par with Wise, if not better. They make a brilliant travel money card, but for larger transfers, Zing's £40k limit is a blocker.
