Wise vs TorFX

Wise provides a simple easy to use international money transfer service with digital wallet capabilities. Their digital wallet, or Borderless account also gives the individual local banking details in 6+ currencies including, EUR, SGD, NZD, USD, GBP and AUD. Their Wise Borderless debit card backs on to their Borderless digital wallet allowing you to spend directly out of your multi-currency account balances.

What Wise offers individuals

• International money transfers
• Borderless multi-currency receiving accounts
• Borderless Debit Card - FX optimised debit card
• Android and Apple apps
• Send money to email address
• Scheduled and recurring transfers - sufficiently funded Borderless account required for this to work.

What Wise does not offer individuals

• Personal account management
• Full support for regular transfers. Currently regular transfers or ‘scheduled transfers’ need to have a Borderless multi-currency account balance. Find out which countries support TransferWise Borderless account.
• Cash pick up or international bill payments

TorFX money transfer services are available for personal customers from different countries.

What TorFX does

• International money transfers.
• Forward contracts, limit orders and stop loss orders.
• Regular transfers.
• Dedicated currency specialists.

What TorFX doesn’t do

• Digital wallet.
• Travel card.
• Bill payments.
• Cash pick-up.

In addition to the services Wise offers the individual, there are some features only available for a business. Unfortunately, as Wise is online only, a business customer does not have support with currency fluctuations and trends. Wise does however offer easy to use transactional foreign currency receipts and payments.

Scheduled transfers is a recently added feature. This can reduce admin for those standard monthly, weekly payments to suppliers and staff. A sufficient balance in the Business Borderless account is required. Wise will remind the account owner to make sure there is sufficient funds in the multi-current account. What is not supported is standing orders from a business bank account through Wise. This may mean that businesses need to alter their business structure to ensure continuous sufficent Borderless account funding.

What Wise offers businesses

• Batch payments
• Xero and Quickbook integration
• FX optimised business debit card
• Multi-user account access
• Regular and scheduled transfers

What Wise for business doesn’t offer

• Business account management
• Risk management tools

Global business clients can reduce their currency costs by using TorFX's services. TorFX specializes in fostering business relationships and partnerships.

What TorFX business account offers

• Spot contracts, forward contracts, limit orders and stop loss orders.
• Multi-currency wallets.
• Dedicated account managers.

What TorFX business account doesn’t offer

• Unique multi-currency receiving accounts.
• FX-optimised travel cards.
• Accounting integration.
• Online seller solutions.

Wise offers the real time exchange rate at the time of your transfer. Therefore fees are visible in addition to the transfer amount. The fee structure is complex as it differs depending on the currencies you are sending from and to. Fees also apply to the type of Borderless account transaction. Fees can also apply on the use of the Wise Borderless debit card. Fees are briefly summarised below. Read the detailed TransferWise review for more details on Wise fees.

TorFX fees

Irrespective of whether you use the TorFX UK or TorFX Australia website, you benefit by carrying out fee-free transfers.
 

TorFX exchange rates

TorFX applies a nominal markup on existing mid-market/interbank exchange rates. It informs you of the exchange rate that will apply on your transfer in advance. The exchange rate margin applied is usually less than 1%. This can be negotiated. 

The Wise app design and user experience of their technology is great with simple, intuitive processes.

Registration - Fast and easy account creation

ID verification - Instant in some countries

Transfer speed - It can be instantaneous in some countries. Fast payments to Wise comes at an additional cost.

Minimum transfer amount - $1

Mobile app - Simple and easy to use. Probably the best designed app of the international money transfer companies.

Payment options - Wise has the broadest range of payment options. Local bank transfer, debit / credit card and country specific solutions such as POLi.

What TorFX does well

Signing up - Create a new account by using the TorFX app or website. You can also sign up over the phone.

Payment options

• Bank account transfers
• Debit card payments (only in GBP and EUR)
• Payments via CHAPS (only from the UK)
• Payments via BACS (only from the UK)
• Payments via cheques (only from the UK)

Transfer speed - Most transfers process in 1 - 2 working days. Transfers in exotic currencies might take longer.

Phone transfers - You can speak with your account manager over the phone to initiate transfers.

Mobile app - Available for iOS and Android - only personal customers who register through the TorFX UK website.
 

Where TorFX could improve

Transfer limits - You need to transfer a minimum of £100 or its equivalent in another currency. Maximum limits apply for online transfers.

Wise’s supported countries vary with different services having different supported customer countries and destination countries. These are detailed in the TransferWise Countries and Currencies article and is summarized below.

Send from - 23 countries plus the Europe SEPA countries

Send to - Over 60 currencies

Borderless account and debit card - Over 6 countries can sign up to their Borderless services.

What TorFX does well

Supported destination countries and currencies - TorFX carries out transfers in over 60 currencies, to more than 120 countries.

Supported registration countries - Sign up as a new customer from Australia, Botswana, Canada, China, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, countries in the European Union, Hong Kong, Hungary, Israel, Japan, Mauritius, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Romania, Russia, Singapore, South Africa, Sweden, Switzerland, United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom or the United States.
 

Where TorFX could improve

Multilingual support - As of now, customers can use both TorFX money transfer websites and get customer support only in English.

More local settlement accounts - TorFX currently has local settlement accounts only in the UK and Australia. Customers from outside these countries might incur additional costs when making payments.

Wise is fully regulated by the FCA and their customer funds are segregated from their business banking activities.

Wise is rated on TrustPilot as Excellent. Unfortunately there have been some poor reviews on TrustPilot indicating sudden account closures with funds being returned with no explanation.

Wise continues to raise capital through private funding. This could be a concern for the future when the shareholders are looking for aggressive growth and / or a return on their investment.

TorFX is an established and trusted money transfer company. 

What TorFX does well

Regulated - TorFX is regulated by relevant government bodies in the UK and Australia.

Safety of funds - Uses segregated bank accounts to hold its clients' funds.

Trustpilot - Both, TorFX UK and TorFX Australia, rate as Excellent.
 

Where TorFX could improve

Transparency in rates - While TorFX exchange rates come with nominal markups, there is no clear indication of the margin it applies. Customers need to do their own research to get this information.