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Wise (Transferwise) Borderless Debit Card - Experiences?

I have a borderless account with Wise and it has an amount in euros and an amount in GBP.  I'm about to go on holiday to Greece and wondered if anyone has experience of using these cards.  My understanding is that if I want to pay by card (in euros, obviously) it'll just take the amount off the euro balance.

It's the first time abroad for me with this card so was wondering if there's anything I should be aware of and/or any gotchas.
Give a man a fish, and he will eat for a day. Teach him how to fish, and you’ll get rid of him every weekend.
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Comments

  • jbrassy
    jbrassy Posts: 933 Forumite
    Seventh Anniversary 500 Posts Name Dropper
    I have no experience with these cards, but I know there are better options out there. Wise charge (albeit small) conversion fees when you spend abroad and only allow £200 of ATM withdrawals free per month. 

    I would consider getting a Barclaycard Rewards credit card for spending (no fees on foreign spending and gives 0.25% cashback) alongside a Chase Bank debit card (no fees on foreign spending or ATM withdrawals with 1% cashback) for ATM withdrawals and for a back up card.

  • eDicky
    eDicky Posts: 6,835 Forumite
    Ninth Anniversary 1,000 Posts Name Dropper
    Yes, the Wise card debits your account when used, like any debit card, from the same currency when available. There's a modest fee for currency conversion but not for card use (within ATM limits).
    Evolution, not revolution
  • drlabman
    drlabman Posts: 326 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 100 Posts Name Dropper
    jbrassy said:
    I have no experience with these cards, but I know there are better options out there. Wise charge (albeit small) conversion fees when you spend abroad and only allow £200 of ATM withdrawals free per month. 

    I would consider getting a Barclaycard Rewards credit card for spending (no fees on foreign spending and gives 0.25% cashback) alongside a Chase Bank debit card (no fees on foreign spending or ATM withdrawals with 1% cashback) for ATM withdrawals and for a back up card.
    Too late for that, I'm afraid.  I do have a Clarity card which I've always used when travelling - and I'll be taking that.  There's something comforting about paying in euros though.
    Give a man a fish, and he will eat for a day. Teach him how to fish, and you’ll get rid of him every weekend.
  • drlabman
    drlabman Posts: 326 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 100 Posts Name Dropper
    eDicky said:
    Yes, the Wise card debits your account when used, like any debit card, from the same currency when available. There's a modest fee for currency conversion but not for card use (within ATM limits).
    Excellent.  I'm hoping not to have to withdraw cash at an ATM because those Greek ATMs seem to always add a charge - even if the source of funds is euros.
    Give a man a fish, and he will eat for a day. Teach him how to fish, and you’ll get rid of him every weekend.
  • If you use the card in Greece then any transactions will be applied to your Euro account, so there will be no foreign exchange fees involved. You Euro account will be debited with exactly the same amount as you spent.

    If there is insufficient balance in your Euro account to cover the amount then Wise will taket the remaining money from your GBP account. That will incur a small fee, which I believe is 0.43%.

  • The local ATMs and card machines in retailers/restaurants will recognise the Wise debit as a UK issued card so watch out for Dynamic Currency Conversion (DCC) preselecting GBP as the transaction currency.
  • jbrassy
    jbrassy Posts: 933 Forumite
    Seventh Anniversary 500 Posts Name Dropper
    drlabman said:
    jbrassy said:
    I have no experience with these cards, but I know there are better options out there. Wise charge (albeit small) conversion fees when you spend abroad and only allow £200 of ATM withdrawals free per month. 

    I would consider getting a Barclaycard Rewards credit card for spending (no fees on foreign spending and gives 0.25% cashback) alongside a Chase Bank debit card (no fees on foreign spending or ATM withdrawals with 1% cashback) for ATM withdrawals and for a back up card.
    Too late for that, I'm afraid.  I do have a Clarity card which I've always used when travelling - and I'll be taking that.  There's something comforting about paying in euros though.
    You'd be better off using the Clarity card. There's no benefit to using the Wise card over Clarity. As long as you select to pay with euros instead of pounds, Clarity will be better than Wise as it does t charge fees. 
  • drlabman
    drlabman Posts: 326 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 100 Posts Name Dropper
    jbrassy said:
    drlabman said:
    jbrassy said:
    I have no experience with these cards, but I know there are better options out there. Wise charge (albeit small) conversion fees when you spend abroad and only allow £200 of ATM withdrawals free per month. 

    I would consider getting a Barclaycard Rewards credit card for spending (no fees on foreign spending and gives 0.25% cashback) alongside a Chase Bank debit card (no fees on foreign spending or ATM withdrawals with 1% cashback) for ATM withdrawals and for a back up card.
    Too late for that, I'm afraid.  I do have a Clarity card which I've always used when travelling - and I'll be taking that.  There's something comforting about paying in euros though.
    You'd be better off using the Clarity card. There's no benefit to using the Wise card over Clarity. As long as you select to pay with euros instead of pounds, Clarity will be better than Wise as it does t charge fees. 
    Except for cash withdrawal at ATMs perhaps?  My understanding is that Clarity charges interest on cash withdrawals from the moment you withdraw.  Wise wouldn't.
    Give a man a fish, and he will eat for a day. Teach him how to fish, and you’ll get rid of him every weekend.
  • silvercar
    silvercar Posts: 48,639 Ambassador
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Academoney Grad Name Dropper
    I use my Wise card abroad. I've learnt that I may as well keep all my money in GBP, spend in any currency and the card just takes off the GBP balance and converts to the local currency. Far easier than transferring amounts to the foreign currency and the exchange rate is the same.

    Looking at my last transaction of around £100, I was charged 50p in transfer fees, but the exchange rate was slightly better than I got on my normal credit card.
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  • jbrassy
    jbrassy Posts: 933 Forumite
    Seventh Anniversary 500 Posts Name Dropper
    drlabman said:
    jbrassy said:
    drlabman said:
    jbrassy said:
    I have no experience with these cards, but I know there are better options out there. Wise charge (albeit small) conversion fees when you spend abroad and only allow £200 of ATM withdrawals free per month. 

    I would consider getting a Barclaycard Rewards credit card for spending (no fees on foreign spending and gives 0.25% cashback) alongside a Chase Bank debit card (no fees on foreign spending or ATM withdrawals with 1% cashback) for ATM withdrawals and for a back up card.
    Too late for that, I'm afraid.  I do have a Clarity card which I've always used when travelling - and I'll be taking that.  There's something comforting about paying in euros though.
    You'd be better off using the Clarity card. There's no benefit to using the Wise card over Clarity. As long as you select to pay with euros instead of pounds, Clarity will be better than Wise as it does t charge fees. 
    Except for cash withdrawal at ATMs perhaps?  My understanding is that Clarity charges interest on cash withdrawals from the moment you withdraw.  Wise wouldn't.
    True, although I use Starling when making ATM withdrawals. You can only make £200 of free withdrawals a month with Wise, but Starling is unlimited.
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