Should I transfer money via WISE to Spain in Euros or Pounds to pay a bill charged in Euros

Leodogger

I have to pay a Spanish Bill which is charged to me in Euros and I have opened a WISE account but wondered whether I should pay the bill in £ Sterling calculating what I need to cover the amount of Euros, or would it cost the same or more to pay in Euros from my UK bank account via WISE?

Frequentlyhere

How can we say without the figures?  Get a quote from wise and compare it to the sterling amount it will cost you, and there's your answer.

Though, if it's a Spanish bill, I'm surprised they accept sterling (?)

In any case, unless your bill is 5 figures or more, the difference here is probably going to be negligible. 

Exodi

I'm confused what your suggestion of the two options are?

Pay via Wise or ???

If it's just to pay using your normal bank account, it depends what type of account you have. Many accounts charge foreign transaction fees of a few percent and potentially a fixed fee. Some other accounts allow fee-free transfers at the card-providers FX rate.

E.g. VISA
https://www.visa.co.uk/support/consumer/travel-support/exchange-rate-calculator.html

This can be as good, if not better than Wise in a lot of situations, it's easy to compare in real time. But it's usually only bank accounts with a fee that provide fee-free foreign payments.

Exodi

Frequentlyhere said:

How can we say without the figures?  Get a quote from wise and compare it to the sterling amount it will cost you, and there's your answer.

Though, if it's a Spanish bill, I'm surprised they accept sterling (?)

In any case, unless your bill is 5 figures or more, the difference here is probably going to be negligible. 

I think (not certain) that he's saying paying the Euro bill in Euros using his sterling account (having his bank do the conversion?) If my assumption is right, to do a true comparison, we'd need the amount and the OP's bank account type (e.g. Nationwide FlexDirect or whatever).

(My first impression was as you said, but I'm guessing what the OP really means... it's not very clear and I may be wrong).

Agree with the bottom bit - if the bill is less than a couple of hundred quid, we're likely talking about a couple of pound difference in fees.

Frequentlyhere

If that is the case @exodi , and you're right it's definitely not clear, then Wise will almost certainly be better than any mainstream bank I'd imagine.

But whatever OP exactly means, I'm not quite clear why they don't just obtain the costs themselves from each method and there's their answer.

Rheumatoid

Wise. Use it for all my Spanish bills and DD's. It may cost about the same if you can pay by debit card or CC on a GBP account if they offer the spot rate (Chase, Clarity, etc), but be sure to pay of any credit card balance immediately.

JohnWinder

If you pay in euros you'll keep the exchange costs low-ish. If you pay in pounds you could not choose the exchange costs could you unless you decided how many pounds to send which might not be acceptable to the recipient. What am I missing?

Leodogger

Exodi said:

Frequentlyhere said:

How can we say without the figures?  Get a quote from wise and compare it to the sterling amount it will cost you, and there's your answer.

Though, if it's a Spanish bill, I'm surprised they accept sterling (?)

In any case, unless your bill is 5 figures or more, the difference here is probably going to be negligible. 

I think (not certain) that he's saying paying the Euro bill in Euros using his sterling account (having his bank do the conversion?) If my assumption is right, to do a true comparison, we'd need the amount and the OP's bank account type (e.g. Nationwide FlexDirect or whatever).

(My first impression was as you said, but I'm guessing what the OP really means... it's not very clear and I may be wrong).

Agree with the bottom bit - if the bill is less than a couple of hundred quid, we're likely talking about a couple of pound difference in fees.

I have to pay 1900 euros for the Spanish service I am using but they gave me an equivalent £1660 in sterling if I wanted to transfer from my Santander UK Bank Account.  I have now set up an account with WISE and just wondered if it was cheaper to send the 1900 euros with a 9 euro fee or send the £1660 in sterling from the WISE account or is it always cheaper to send the Euros instead of Sterling.   My UK Santander bank would charge me £25 telegraphic transfer, so I am presuming it will be cheaper to transfer the money in euros through WISE?

Leodogger

Frequentlyhere said:

How can we say without the figures?  Get a quote from wise and compare it to the sterling amount it will cost you, and there's your answer.

Though, if it's a Spanish bill, I'm surprised they accept sterling (?)

In any case, unless your bill is 5 figures or more, the difference here is probably going to be negligible. 

See my reply above. 

Exodi

Leodogger said:

Exodi said:

Frequentlyhere said:

How can we say without the figures?  Get a quote from wise and compare it to the sterling amount it will cost you, and there's your answer.

Though, if it's a Spanish bill, I'm surprised they accept sterling (?)

In any case, unless your bill is 5 figures or more, the difference here is probably going to be negligible. 

I think (not certain) that he's saying paying the Euro bill in Euros using his sterling account (having his bank do the conversion?) If my assumption is right, to do a true comparison, we'd need the amount and the OP's bank account type (e.g. Nationwide FlexDirect or whatever).

(My first impression was as you said, but I'm guessing what the OP really means... it's not very clear and I may be wrong).

Agree with the bottom bit - if the bill is less than a couple of hundred quid, we're likely talking about a couple of pound difference in fees.

I have to pay 1900 euros for the Spanish service I am using but they gave me an equivalent £1660 in sterling if I wanted to transfer from my Santander UK Bank Account.  I have now set up an account with WISE and just wondered if it was cheaper to send the 1900 euros with a 9 euro fee or send the £1660 in sterling from the WISE account or is it always cheaper to send the Euros instead of Sterling.   My UK Santander bank would charge me £25 telegraphic transfer, so I am presuming it will be cheaper to transfer the money in euros through WISE?

You can check this yourself:

https://wise.com/gb/send-money/?sourceCurrency=GBP&targetCurrency=EUR&targetAmount=1900

£1,635 (when I check but will always be changing) vs £1,660+£25=£1,685.

I still don't really understand your situation but I hope that helps.

Leodogger

JohnWinder said:

If you pay in euros you'll keep the exchange costs low-ish. If you pay in pounds you could not choose the exchange costs could you unless you decided how many pounds to send which might not be acceptable to the recipient. What am I missing?

That's why I was considering sending it in euros, otherwise I am guessing the exchange rate if I try to send the amount in sterling.  I get a bit confused when they are asking if you want to send in a specific currency because obviously I am buying euros.