Cross-border Remittance｜What is Wise? Is Using Wise Safe?

Wise (formerly TransferWise) was founded with the mission of making international remittances cheaper and more convenient. Wise is a service provider that supports the exchange of over 40 currencies and transfers to more than 80 countries. Compared to traditional banks, Wise is more cost-effective and easier to use. Additionally, through the Wise international debit card, you can link to the BiyaPay global multi-asset trading wallet, enabling global asset allocation anytime, anywhere.

So, is it really safe to remit money using Wise? Is it safe to hold a balance in a Wise account?

How Safe is Wise?

Is Wise (formerly TransferWise) Legal?

Before using Wise for payments or holding an account, you certainly want to know if it is a legitimate service. Wise is safe!

Whether you want to send or receive payments, make international purchases, exchange currencies, or hold a balance.

As a financial service provider, Wise is protected by regulations worldwide designed to ensure the safety of customers and their funds. In the United States, Wise is registered with FinCEN and authorized to operate as a money transmitter in most states.

In states where Wise does not have its own license, it partners with Community Federal Savings Bank to safely provide services.

Global regulations cover extensive processes to ensure the security of customer accounts. For example, licensed providers are required to hold significant amounts of money, protect customer funds, and undergo regular external process audits. They also need to thoroughly verify all customers to ensure accounts cannot be used for any illegal activities.

Most importantly, as a service built for online and in-app use, Wise also invests in digital security, including both manual and automatic fraud prevention processes.

Website Security

Wise is built with security in mind, incorporating many safety features into its desktop site and app.

To open an account, you need to complete verification steps and set a secure password.

Once up and running, your account will authenticate you and perform some simple actions to get a handle on your transactions.

In the background, Wise conducts continuous vulnerability scans and internal and external audits aimed at detecting, preventing, and staying ahead of any potential fraudulent or criminal activity.

Wise App Security

Transacting on the Wise app is easy and ensures your account is secure.

In addition to all the backend security measures, you can conveniently get instant transaction notifications using the Wise app, view your balance with just a few taps, and freeze and unfreeze your card.

Is Wise Remittance Safe?

Remitting money with Wise is undoubtedly safe.

Wise transfers can be sent to over 170 countries in more than 40 currencies. To set up a Wise payment, you need to first register an account and complete security verification.

Once your Wise account is up and running, you can securely perform a range of operations online or through the Wise app.

All transfers undergo identity verification, ensuring you can track payments during processing and avoid potential fraud.

Most Wise payments are instant or take only a few seconds to complete—90% of payments are received within 24 hours. If you need assistance, the Wise team is always on standby—just log into your account and use the chat function, or if you prefer, you can call or email.

Before setting up a Wise payment, you can also check reviews from previous customers about the service. For example, Wise has an excellent review score of 4.4 out of 5 from over 187,000 reviews.

Most reviews give Wise a 5-star rating (out of 5), with customers particularly praising the speed and ease of use of the service.

Can You Trust Wise’s Security?

Wise is a safe and reliable provider, serving millions of individual and business customers worldwide.

In addition to being regulated and licensed in the U.S., Wise is also supervised by a range of other global institutions, making it a safe place to store funds.

Whenever you deposit funds into your Wise account, your money is protected by top-tier banks and assets, separate from Wise’s own operational funds.

This ensures the security of customer funds and means you can spend or withdraw your Wise balance anytime and anywhere when needed.

Protecting Your Funds

Wise ensures the safety of your funds through safeguarding. This means whenever you hold funds, Wise deposits the money in leading commercial banks or holds it in safe, liquid assets like government bonds.

In the U.S., your funds will be stored in trusted banks like Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan Chase, and Wells Fargo.

Is the Wise Account Insured?

Wise is not a bank. Because the services Wise offers are different from those provided by banks, Wise protects customer funds differently. Wise accounts do not have FDIC insurance, but the funds are safeguarded.

While banks provide loans to customers, Wise does not. Banks typically have FDIC insurance to protect customers and ensure the safety of their funds. Wise accounts do not have FDIC insurance but can ensure they are always available when needed.

Does Wise Have Buyer Protection?

Wise cards are debit cards, not credit cards. If someone steals your card and uses it for purchases, credit cards usually have a maximum liability cap, but debit card protections are somewhat different.

When using a debit card, it is crucial to report the loss or theft of the card as soon as possible and to freeze, block, or cancel the card.

You can manage your Wise card on the Wise app on your phone, blocking or canceling it immediately if necessary. You can also set up instant spending notifications to alert you to unfamiliar transactions. If you unfortunately become a victim of fraud—for example, if your Wise card is stolen—you need to freeze the card as soon as possible and report the issue to Wise.

Then, the Wise support team can investigate based on the details of your issue and advise you on what to do next.

It is necessary to worry about the safety of financial service providers. It is good practice to conduct some checks before opening an account or making a payment.

In Summary。If you need to send, receive, hold, or exchange international payments, using a Wise account might be your best option.

Wise allows you to safely hold over 40 currencies and switch between them. You can also obtain local account details in up to 10 currencies to receive local payments from over 30 countries.

This is convenient for family travel expenses, children’s education abroad, real estate investments, fund trading, insurance, and more. Additionally, if you want to exchange mainstream fiat currencies through digital currencies (such as USDT, BTC, etc.) and remit to Wise, you can use the BiyaPay global multi-asset wallet tool, which offers low fees, fast speeds, and zero thresholds to help you remit safely and quickly to your Wise account.

A Safer and More Convenient Cross-border Remittance Method - BiyaPay

BiyaPay is an international wallet that provides multi-asset trading for users worldwide, including global payments and international remittances, as well as major investment services such as U.S. and Hong Kong stocks, options, and digital currencies.

The most notable feature of BiyaPay is its support for real-time exchange rate inquiries and exchanges for over 20 fiat currencies and over 200 digital currencies. The borderless, global, decentralized, and real-time transfer nature of digital currency to fiat exchange allows unlimited global remittances, enabling users to make large transfers in most countries or regions around the world at any time, with fast arrival times and low fees.

BiyaPay’s global remittance fee is 1%, which is advantageous compared to traditional remittance methods (e.g., TransferWise fee 1.5% and Xoom fee 1.8%).

Additionally, BiyaPay is completely secure. All global remittances on the platform are completed online, supporting full-process on-chain tracking and possessing multiple compliance qualifications; it has obtained financial licenses in the U.S., Canada, the U.S. SEC, and New Zealand, making your digital currency to fiat exchange safer and legal, avoiding the risk of freezing in over-the-counter transactions. With comprehensive KYC certification and professional, legal offshore accounts, each remittance is treated with care, ensuring users can remit every penny with peace of mind.

Furthermore, if you frequently travel abroad, invest overseas, and exchange and transfer between different currencies, you may encounter various funding issues such as foreign exchange limits, wire transfer limits, lack of offshore accounts, difficulties in cross-border transfers, difficulties in repatriation, slow broker fund transfers leading to missed market opportunities, or even liquidation due to delays. In these cases, you can also use BiyaPay as a professional funding tool.

How to Use BiyaPay to Remit to Wise?

Let me explain with an example of recharging digital currency U and exchanging it for U.S. dollars:

1. First, you need to register a BiyaPay account.
2. Next, link your U.S. dollar bank account and recharge digital currency U in the wallet.
3. Then, find the exchange interface to exchange mainstream fiat currencies.
4. Finally, transfer the exchanged U.S. dollars to your linked Wise account.

In Summary

Overall, you can rest assured when using Wise. Due to its extensive experience and stringent security measures, you can trust that your fund transfers are safe and reliable. However, it is crucial to stay vigilant and follow our tips to avoid fraud. With such awareness, you can confidently use Wise or a more secure and convenient cross-border remittance method like BiyaPay.