How to Send Money with Wise, Step by Step

Before your first transfer

1. An account in your name: create a Wise account.
2. Verification: Wise checks your identity before or during the first transfer: Wise verification.
3. Your family's bank details: which ones depends on the country, see the recipient forms below.

Step by step

1. Tap Send. A bar at the top shows the four stages: Recipient · Amount · Review · Pay. The first screen asks "WHO ARE YOU SENDING TO?", with a search box and your recent recipients.
2. For a new recipient, tap + Add. Don't start from an existing contact: Wise then only shows the currencies you've already used with that contact.
3. Under "Select their currency", type the currency your family should receive, for example EGP, MAD, AED or SAR.
4. On "Add a recipient", choose Bank details ("You'll need their account information"). Upload screenshot or invoice lets Wise fill in the details from a screenshot, photo or PDF; check every field afterwards. Search on Wise is for people who already have Wise, and isn't offered for every currency (for SAR it shows "You can't currently send SAR to a Wise account").
5. Fill in the recipient form (next section) with the details exactly as the bank has them.
6. Amount: type what you send (From) or what your family should get (To). Wise shows the rate, the fee and the expected arrival.
7. Review: check the name, the IBAN or account number and, for Swift, the SWIFT code, character by character.
8. Pay: choose how to pay. By bank transfer, send the exact amount to the details Wise shows, from your own account: Wise can't accept money from someone else's account, even with a power of attorney.
9. Follow the status in the app or on the website.

The recipient form: what Wise asks for

Local transfers (Egypt, Morocco, UAE):

Swift transfers (Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, Oman, Tunisia, Algeria, Lebanon, Mauritania, and USD or EUR outside their home regions): Wise says all these fields are required:

Wise's advice for Swift: "always use an IBAN when possible", no spaces or separators in the number, and only the account number in the account-number field. Each country page has the IBAN format and the SWIFT codes of the main banks: Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, Oman, Tunisia, Algeria, Lebanon, Mauritania

For the Swift currencies, Wise doesn't publish a per-transfer limit or the receiving bank's fees, and intermediary banks on the route may take a fee (for EUR sent outside Europe, Wise says these are "usually between 10-25 EUR").

How you pay, by the country you live in

You pay in the currency of the country you live in. What Wise accepts, from its own help pages:

From the UK: Wise says a GBP bank transfer usually reaches it in seconds, and rarely takes up to 1 working day.

From Germany: pay by SEPA from your German bank; Wise doesn't support SOFORT. A card issued in the EEA paying in EUR has no international card fee.

From France: pay by SEPA, or by Apple Pay (up to 10,000 EUR) or Google Pay (up to 2,000 EUR per payment). A card issued in the EEA paying in EUR has no international card fee.

From Switzerland: CHF must come from a bank in Switzerland or Liechtenstein, and Wise doesn't accept CHF by Swift. An instant bank transfer reaches Wise in 15 to 30 minutes.

From the US: if your address is in the US you can't pay by Swift. Wise says most banks charge 15-30 USD for a domestic wire, so ACH is the usual choice when you aren't in a hurry.

From Canada: CAD must come from a Canadian bank, and Wise asks Canadian residents to choose their occupation from a list.

Card fees: Wise says cards cost more than a bank transfer, and a card issued in a different country from the currency you pay in costs more again. A card issued in the EEA paying in EUR has no international card fee. Apple Pay and Google Pay need a card from the same region as the currency.

If your passport is from another country: Wise may ask for a document issued by the country you live in (a residence permit, or a visa valid for more than 90 days). For an address in a Gulf country, a residence document from any GCC country is accepted.

How long it takes

1. Your money reaches Wise: from seconds (UK bank transfer) to 4 working days (US ACH), see the table.
2. Conversion: up to 2 working days.
3. Payout: usually the same working day to Egypt, 1-3 working days to Morocco, 0-2 to the UAE, and 1-6 working days by Swift, according to Wise.

The app shows the expected arrival for your transfer before you pay. On the first transfer, verification can add time.

If you live in the Gulf

You can sign up, but Wise doesn't accept SAR, AED, KWD, QAR, BHD or OMR as a currency to pay with (AED payments are currently suspended). Wise allows USD by card or Swift for people outside the US; a Gulf card paying USD counts as an international card, which costs more, and the card limit is 2,000 USD per 24 hours and 8,000 USD per 7 days. More: Wise in the Arab world.

Two rules that protect your account

• Pay only from your own account. Wise returns money from someone else's account.
• No crypto. Wise doesn't allow sending money to crypto exchanges or to people selling crypto, and may close the account: Wise and Binance.

FAQ

Does my family need a Wise account to receive the money?

No. The money goes to their bank account; they only give you their bank details.

Can I send to Vodafone Cash or InstaPay?

No. Wise pays out to bank accounts only.

Why don't I see the currency I want?

Start from + Add, not from an existing contact: a saved contact only shows the currencies you used with them before.

Which way of paying is the cheapest?

Wise says a bank transfer is usually the cheapest. The calculator shows the fee for each way of paying before you choose: Wise fees.

Get started

Open your Wise account →

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Last updated: 23 October 2026 · All facts from the official Wise pages listed above.