Revolut vs WISE: Who Has The Best Travel Card?

In this episode, Jonny and Jan put Revolut and Wise head-to-head to settle which is actually the better card for spending abroad this summer — then ask the bigger question: are either of them the best option out there? Using live data pulled from both providers on 9 June, they break down the real cost of spending £2,000 across six countries, the ATM fee traps nobody mentions, and the cheaper alternatives most travellers overlook.

• The two completely different ways Wise and Revolut charge you — and why one is far less transparent than the other
• Real fees for spending £2,000 abroad in the USA, Spain, Thailand, Morocco, Indonesia and Australia
• The £1,000 monthly threshold that quietly makes Revolut Standard more expensive
• ATM withdrawal fees compared, and why even Revolut Ultra (£55/month) still won't give you unlimited free cash
• Wise's Smart Conversion vs Revolut's "all-or-nothing" rule — and the decline trap that can leave you stuck at checkout
• Why holding 40+ currencies matters for freelancers and digital nomads
• The cheaper alternatives: First Direct, Chase, Monzo, Trade Republic and Trading 212
• The honest debate: if you only travel once a year, is switching even worth it?

Data spreadsheet linked here. Rates were accurate at the time of recording and may have changed.

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Jan: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jan-watermann/

Jonny: http://www.linkedin.com/in/jonny-pease

Got a question or topic you want us to cover? Drop us a message at jonny@technicallymoney.com

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Okay, welcome back to another episode of Banking Without Borders. So the travel season is now upon us, and a lot of people will be spending money in a foreign currency this summer, which can unfortunately lead to wasting money in fees. And a lot of people are going to look to Revolute and WISE in order to avoid this. So Jan and I want to ask the question: which of these two is the best choice? We've looked at their fees, studied their exchange rates, and compared the two, and I think you'll be pretty shocked by the results. We'll also compare them with the wider market, including both the UK and Europe, because I think it's important to not only ask which is the best of the two, but are they the best of the bunch? So Jan, should we just begin with what happens when you, you know, you're in a foreign country, you're spending in the foreign currency, and you transact with one of these cards? How much is it gonna cost you?

SPEAKER_00 0:45

Yeah, Johnny. Then a currency conversion takes place, and that's when both providers charge a fee. Although something to mention up front, they have two vastly different ways of charging these fees. Wise they guaranteed a true mid-market rate, no embedded exchange rate margin, but then they charge a variable fee that starts at typically 0.3%, depending on the currency pair you want to exchange. What I like about this is it's very transparent, this is highly visible. You see it within the app, you see it on the website, you always know how much fee, how much fees they charge. It's great. Revolute, on the other hand, they use their own exchange rate, they call it a revolute rate, which is you know somewhat a good rate, not the mid-market rate. There's an exchange rate margin embedded, um, but it's yeah, it's definitely a way of charging fees. Um, on top of that, they apply a 1% fee on weekends if you're using Revolute Standard, um, and there's a 1% fair usage fee if you cross uh a thousand pounds in monthly spending in a foreign currency with Revolute Standard, and that's when Revolute Standard can get really expensive. As an example, we've looked at how much it costs to spend £2,000 in a foreign currency. Let's start with the USA. If you use WISE, £6.98. Revolute Standard, on the other hand, £15.60. And if you're subscribed to one of Revolute's premium tiers, Revolute Premium and Above actually, then they do not have this thousand pound limit. You know, you can use the Revolute rate as much as you want, and the fee will be £5.60. Spain, wise charger £6.58, Revolute standard is £13.31. So that's uh yeah, significantly higher. Revolute premium and above on the other hand, £3.31. Significantly lower. Thailand, £12.52. Of Revolute Standard, £17.66, and Revolute Premium and Above £7.66. Now this gets really interesting. Look, Morocco. It's insanely expensive to uh to spend money in Morocco apparently with both of these providers. Weiss charges a 1.9% fee, and that leads to £38.6 pence in fees if you spend £2,000 in in Morocco. Uh Revolute Standard that would be £27.70, and with Revolute Premium and above, that's £17.70, which is still a lot, to be honest. That's that's quite a lot of money. Um and then we got Indonesia, Weiss charges £9.35, Revolute Standard £16.50. Um, and Revolute Premium and Above £6.50. And now this gets uh this gets really interesting because in Australia Revolute is um yeah, it almost uses the mid-market rate, quite it's uh quite close. Um definitely the closest in our test. Um wise charges £6.38 for spending £2,000 in Australia, Revolute standard £11.98, and Revolut premium and above £1.98. So it's literally just two pounds when spending £2,000 in Australia. And that and at that point it's almost a mid-market rate.

SPEAKER_01 3:53

Yeah, well, I was just gonna say I think it's important to know that the the mid-market rate and the data that we've collected for this table, and we'll put the data in a spreadsheet and we'll stick it in the YouTube description or it'll be in the episode notes if you're listening to this so you can access it. This was recorded as of the 9th of June. So, you know, these rates that Jan has just described to you, they might change, but that was the data that we collected at the time of recording from both Revolute and WISE's websites. Sorry, buddy, carry on conclusion.

SPEAKER_00 4:20

Johnny, I think it's fair to say that if you're spending less than a thousand pounds, Revolut Standard has a clear edge compared to WISE. It's just cheaper. And if you're spending more than a thousand pounds, it's probably more clever to look at wise because they don't have this one percent fee that applies after spending a thousand pounds in in a foreign currency. If you subscribe to Revolut Premium or above, just choose Revolute over WISE. It's it's typically cheaper. We've made them half. You can save a lot of money that way. But both of these providers, I think it's fascinating that they they still, you know, depending on obviously where you spend your money, but let's say in Morocco, they still charge quite a lot of money for spending your money abroad. I think it's fascinating considering the fact that they're marketed as travel cards, right, Johnny?

SPEAKER_01 5:03

Yeah, and I'm I'm kind of smiling here because uh is anybody else a little bit confused? Have we lost anybody that's listening to this or watching this? Which trying to make this relatively straightforward and I'm not, you know, uh accusing you of being stupid by no means, but it's somewhat confusing, right, when you're trying to work this out across multiple plans. And that's a shame, isn't it? Yeah and it's the fact that it has to be this complicated. You know, we'll talk about some alternatives shortly to these two providers that we would say are better. And one of the reasons we think there is because they make it more straightforward. It's just a matter of transacting. You're not having to think about whether it's the weekend, you're not having to think about, you know, whether you're gonna pay one percent because you've just gone across your £1,000 or Euro threshold. Wise are arguably pretty straightforward, although the variable fee that they charge will be different across various currencies. And of course, m the Moroccan Durham is more volatile, so it is more expensive, and you will have that same issue with MasterCard or Visa's exchange rates, of course. But you know, also in in Wise's further defense, they are a free card. Yeah, and you know, Revolut are a you know, to to get those better rates at least, are charging you for access. And at the same time, unlike WISE, they're not giving you the mid-market rate either. They're still making an exchange rate margin. I think that's a damn shame. I think it it Revolut should, if they should offer a favorable exchange rate as well, perhaps like the mid-market rate. You unlock the interbank rate if you have premium metal or ultra. I mean, personally, I think they should offer the interbank rate anyway and just have like a small variable fee like wise. I think that model is pretty solid. It's less confusing. But anyway, the same thing is happening with the ATM withdrawals. It is a bit convoluted and it isn't obviously free, you know, like a lot of the providers we'll talk about later in the episode. Wise come out as the better provider with ATM fees when you withdraw less than £250, because WISE are going to charge you 2.69% if you go across that figure. If you're using Revolute Standard, you have up to 200 pounds of fee-free ATM withdrawals. Beyond that, you pay 2% or a minimum of a pound or a euro, whichever comes first. So ultimately, WISE are the better provider for low-value monthly withdrawals. As you go up the Revolut tiers, that does change slightly because premium, metal, and ultra are offering you more. It goes all the way up from 400 to 800 to 2,000 pounds or 2,000 euros of fee free ATM withdrawals. But what's shocking here, Jan, is you're talking about Revolue Ultra, £55 a month, 55 euros a month. They're not offering you free free ATM withdrawals. You've still got a threshold. Wow. That is right, that is. I mean, only Revolu can get away with that sort of thing.

SPEAKER_00 7:45

Am I the only one? Are we the only ones that are stunned by this? I'd be curious. Please write it into the comments. How how can it be that a plan that literally costs a few hundred pounds every single year? Um what was it? 550 to be exact. Um, how come that still uh doesn't come with free ATM withdrawals? That's fascinating to me.

SPEAKER_01 8:06

And look, if you're gonna with if you're gonna withdraw small amounts of money, you're gonna be fine. £100, £200, you're not gonna pay a fee whatsoever. You know, of course, and we'll talk about this shortly, there might be a fee on in exchanging currencies. You know, that's gonna go on top of any ATM fees that you have to pay, potentially. But for now, low value, zero to two hundred, you're safe. If you withdraw £250 with the Revolute standard, you're gonna then pay a fee of one pound. £300, why is it gonna charge you £1.34? Revolute are gonna charge you two pounds. You know, if you go up to £500, why is it gonna charge you £6.72? Revolut then charge you just six pounds. So Revolut edge wise there. £1,000, Yan. Are you ready for this? Wise charge £20.18 to withdraw a thousand pounds. Wow. Revolut charge £16. Now, buddy, let's talk about what happens if you withdraw money with wise in Morocco. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 9:06

Ah, let me talk about it. Okay, sorry, I thought you were gonna do that. Um yeah, that's in Morocco. It's it's crazy, right? Because Morocco, we already know it's one of the countries where um exchanging money or spending with wise um and exchanging money in the process is most expensive. Uh you have a 1.9% variable fee, which is, you know, if you're if you're withdrawing a thousand pounds, it's 19 pounds. Um, and then on top of that, 20 pounds in ATM fees. Wow, you're almost looking at 40 pounds, or you're looking at 40 pounds essentially, of fees when withdrawing a thousand pounds in Morocco, which is, to be fair, maybe an edge case, but it's not unrealistic, right? It can happen. I think Johnny, you were on a on your honeymoon in Morocco, and you've you've withdrawn quite a lot of money uh to go on a boat tour with your wife, and that was paid in cash.

SPEAKER_01 9:51

Yes, yes, somewhat. It was mauriticious, but I get your point. Like you're talking about a potentially volatile, exotic currency, which is probably gonna be the same thing. You know, it's possible we could be wrong, but you know, you could see a similar fee percentage pattern across different currencies, like the Vietnamese dong, for example. You know, if you're holidaying in Ukraine, you can expect to be paying quite a large fee there for withdrawing money or for exchanging currency. Sorry. So yeah, Jan's right. Regardless of whether it's in Morocco or somewhere else, somewhere exotic, these fees will start to mount up. There are probably other ways to avoid it, Yan, possibly. You know, you talked previously about sending yourself money. Like if you're thinking, oh, I'm gonna need a large amount of cash in some of these more exotic countries which require more cash payments, maybe you could send yourself money internationally for a cash pickup. Then go to, you know, a vendor, a hub, and collect the money that might help, particularly if you're using like remitly for the first time because they're offering like preferential exchange rates on first uh money transfers. But at these fees, Yan, I just don't think it's wise to use them to withdraw money at a large scale. I uh you'd agree with that, right?

SPEAKER_00 11:02

Yeah, especially considering there's so much better alternatives out there that we'll just talk about shortly. To be fair, um, if you compare both providers to these alternatives, there's one clear advantage, and that's the fact that you can hold money in multiple different currencies. Um so you can, I mean, it might not save help you save money essentially, but you can convert, you know, let's say your your vacational budget beforehand, and then you know exactly how much you can spend in that specific currency, and you're not subject to you know exchange rate variations, you know, it's all all set in stone, you know exactly how much you'll be spending on your vacation, and that's great. Wise they offer 40 uh over 40 currencies that you can convert money. And I actually went into my app and I counted 43. Revolute, they claim over 30. I counted 31. Um, and what's really interesting is the fact that you can use um with wise at least local bank details that they provide to receive money in foreign currencies, so that could be useful for digital nomads, for example. Um, let's say freelancing and then living in in a country where the US dollar is the main currency and they're getting paid in US dollar, they don't have to convert the money at all, they just spend it, uh, spend exactly what they receive from that uh specific pocket, and that's pretty amazing. Um, and also like to touch on the fact um what happens if your balance is not high enough in order to uh to pay for whole whole purchase, um, because both providers have a different um different approach to that. Wise they do they they use something we call the the smart conversion technology. Um sounds pretty innovative, pretty fancy, and I think it is actually it's pretty useful. Um let's say it is you want to buy something, it's worth 100 euros in Spain, um, and you have 50 euros worth of British pounds and you have 50 euros worth of US dollars with Revolute. This would get rejected. They have an all-or-nothing policy. Um, if you can't, um they would convert one currency, but they would not um take money out of two different currencies and then just convert those. Wise, on the other hand, they would do that. So they would just go ahead and convert your 50 um euros worth of British pounds, 50 euros worth of US dollar. Um so you have a hundred pounds and you can purchase this this particular item that you're interested in purchasing, and that's uh a clear advantage here. Yeah, I could see that happening, you know. Maybe you're on a vacation, right? You you've almost depleted your budget, you know, but there's one last purchase you want to make at the airport, right? With Revolute, you would have to go in, convert the money from from maybe two different balances in order to make that happen. And with WISE, it would happen automatically. I think that's pretty nice.

SPEAKER_01 13:30

Let's just have a chat about the alternatives, and I think it provides important context to where Revolute and WISE honestly sit on a broader scale. And I appreciate people are probably listening from outside of the UK. I know I know people are. We speak to all the time in the comments. We'll we'll provide some options there, but also some of these providers may or may not be available in your area, your country. That might be why you choose Wise and Revolute. But if you look at what's available in the UK Yan and it's free, it's pretty shocking when you consider that Revolute, for example, are charging a fee on certain accounts and not offering or not allowing you to withdraw like an unlimited amount of uh money. And wise are obviously charging you a fee above £250. I mean, look at First Direct, for example, in the UK, you get MasterCards exchange rates, which are more or less on par with the mid-market rate. You get practically unlimited ATM withdrawals. I think it's daily capped to £500. You know, they've even got a switch offer. If you go to depositscout.com and check out our switch offers, you'll see first direct are offering up to 200 pounds, or sorry, are offering 200 pounds to switch to them right now. You know, and it's a great travel option, right? It's excellent. It's gonna be cheaper. It's gonna be cheaper to transact and withdraw in a foreign currency with first direct versus revolue and wise. There are some other options available. You know, the European Union does have some better options, Jan. You you always talk about Trade Republic, right?

SPEAKER_00 14:52

Trade Republic, yeah. Clear recommendation if that's available where you live. They're currently available in 18 different countries. That's the clear choice here. Um mid-market exchange rate. You get unlimited free ATM withdrawals, although important to keep in mind that withdrawals below 100 euros they trigger one euro fee. Um, and you get 1% of something they call save back, basically um a kind of cashback feature on up to 1,500 euros in monthly spending. And I think that's extraordinary considering this is a free account. And um, oh, I really like the way the card looks. We can show it on the screen really quick. It's uh for everyone's listening. That's it looks like a mirror almost. It's I think it's stainless steel. It's oh, it's fancy, it's shiny, beautiful. Um, really like that, and I love the fact that the the card is just free to use internationally, which is a yeah clear advantage over these these well-known travel cards.

SPEAKER_01 15:43

I I don't want to say that wise and revolue aren't the right option for you because it will heavily depend on what's available in your market. Feel free to get into the comment section. We we just launched a Discord community as well. I'll put a QR code on on the screen you can scan. And if you're listening to this, we'll put a link in the episode notes, it'll be in the description box on YouTube. What compels you to use wise and revolue? Because it might just be purely because you don't have better options, and that's fine. But Jan, I think for people that do, I have to ask the question like, why do you continue to use these providers? Because I I don't want people to fall for the marketing. I do want people to know that they are great providers for certain things. Like I have a WISE business account, I think Wise are a really good platform, but I personally wouldn't be withdrawing money internally with them or spending money internationally with them. I personally would use, I don't know, I've got a number of cards available to me, but you know, I might use First Direct, for example. Um, we haven't talked about Trading 212, by the way, which I'm sure some people will flag, but they aren't a licensed bank, um, although arguably neither are wise, right, Yan, so that could open up a whole can of worms for us. Um but uh okay, Lloyd's Trading 212 are a great option for spending money internationally. And also, Jan, probably worth mentioning, I know I've sidetracked a little bit, they are actually widely available in the European Union, right? So if you're listening to this, watching this, you're thinking, oh, I was gonna use Wise or Revolute this summer, but they make a good point. What alternatives do I have? Well, check out Trading 212's card as well, because that might be available to you, and that is what the interbank rate, mid-market rate, right? And no fixed fees, quite a nice little option for for spending internationally. But my point is I just like to hear from people, Yan, that are still compelled to use these cards, these providers, and don't um don't necessarily want to switch, even though they aren't that favorable.

SPEAKER_00 17:39

Yeah, what is it? Why w why is that, right? Um convenience, I guess. That's what it comes down to, convenience. And yeah, to be fair, both are okay products, right? Convenience. Why convenience?

SPEAKER_01 17:48

Yeah, convenience because you're it's an inconvenience to be charged all these fees.

SPEAKER_00 17:51

Exactly. But um, let's say the average or going abroad once a month. Uh sorry, once a month, once a year, right? They might have a budget of uh 2,000 pounds. How much in fees are they realistically gonna spend with either option? Um maybe 20 to 40 pounds um the high amount. So um and then if you if you yeah, if you look look at the hassle, you you might have to go through opening up one of these legacy bank accounts, you know, average show, maybe going uh abroad once a year with a budget of 2,000 pounds. How much are they realistically gonna be spending in fees? 20 pounds, 30 pounds, maybe 40 pounds? Is that really worth opening up a new account for? I would say yes, but some people might disagree with that. Um and that's the point, I think.

SPEAKER_01 18:38

Maybe that's the threshold. Yeah, maybe that's the threshold, yeah, and where you start to ask questions. You know, if you don't want to be too neurotic about the fees that you're paying, you're willing to just swallow a couple, like a small amount of fees, then I think if you're looking at beyond right £2,000 of international spending, spending in a foreign currency, is that the the the limit then you should probably start to ask yourself. I would do it way before. Obviously, if you've got revolue premium or above.

SPEAKER_00 19:00

Yeah, I would do it way before that. I know you would. Yeah, because I know you would have small amounts of money. Just just don't spend unnecessary fees. That's all I'm asking everyone. Um, be clever with your money, it really makes a difference in the long term, even if these are small amounts, just don't spend fees that you can avoid. Yeah, I hope you you had a good time listening, and I'd be curious what you think about that. Uh, please write it into the comments. And as Johnny said, uh join our Discord community if you have some time. Um, really looking forward to all these exciting conversations that are already happening in there. Um, really great to be honest. And uh yeah, we'll see you in the next episode. It's been a pleasure as always. And Johnny, do you have anything else to say?

SPEAKER_01 19:37

No, just come on over to the Discord, say hello, become a founding member, Jan and I there, and um we'll see you again soon.

SPEAKER_00 19:43

Goodbye.