Wise debit card is the best travel money card you can use while traveling around Spain. Whenever you need to get money in Spain, pay for something, use it and stop worrying about crazy fees and abusive currency exchange rates.
When traveling internationally, currency conversion fees (if you live outside the Eurozone), ATM withdrawal fees, and other fees can be annoying. With the Wise card, you can travel anywhere in the world without having to worry about those crazy fees. This debit card allows you to send and receive funds in multiple currencies and nations.
The biggest reason, therefore, to use a Wise card during your trip to Spain is to save money on international money transfers and currency conversions. And if you have never heard about Wise and the reasons why you should get a Wise card as soon as possible, this complete tutorial will help you answer any question.
I’ll review the features, ease of use, pros and cons, pricing, and everything you need to know about the Wise debit card, the perfect money card for traveling abroad.
Table of Contents
What is Wise?
Wise (formerly TransferWise) is a digital bank established in 2011. The founders of Wise hail from Estonia, but it’s a UK-based company.
It started by providing cheap international bank transfers at great exchange rates.
The premise behind Wise’s vision was that international money transfers should be low-cost and fair. They believed that the real exchange rate is the only fair rate and that all exchange/transfer fees should be visible upfront.
Nowadays, thanks to its multi-currency account, it offers a modern banking alternative.
Why is the Wise debit card the best travel money card?
The goal of Wise is to offer you the chance to spend anywhere with low international money conversion fees.
So they have created an international, prepaid card available to users with a Wise account. So when traveling internationally, you can use your Wise card to pay for products and services in any currency.
That’s the beauty of using a Wise debit card. There are no card transaction fees, and you won’t have to deal with high conversion fees.
The Wise debit card also works with Apple Pay, Google Pay, and Samsung Pay.
Advantages of the Wise travel money card
- Wise doesn’t charge any hidden transaction fees or annual fees.
- There is no account minimum for a Wise multi-currency account.
- You don’t have to worry about any exchange rate markups.
- Wise is cheaper than most banks because they use a mid-market exchange rate.
- Wise is the best option for international traveling, since you can withdraw and pay in 50+ currencies around the world.
- Wise has a seamless user experience as you can do everything on the website or with the Wise app. For example, you can get notified on your phone when you make a transaction. And you can instantly block and unblock your card in case you misplace or lose it.
Drawbacks of the Wise travel money card
- There is a certain withdrawal limit (per month) with a Wise debit card.
- The Wise debit card is not available in every country around the world.
- A Wise card is not a credit card. This means you will have to have sufficient funds in your Wise account to pay for products and services.
- It takes up to 3 weeks to replace a stolen or misplaced Wise card.
Wise debit card vs traditional bank debit card
These are the reasons why I strongly recommend you to use a Wise debit card instead of your regular bank debit card.
- With a Wise debit card, you can use multiple currencies at the same time. On the contrary, most traditional banks support currency cards in their local currency. For example, if you get a currency card in the US (from a US bank), you’ll get a USD currency card in 99% of the cases.
- A traditional bank debit card has high fees for online transactions and for transactions in foreign countries. That’s in addition to the exchange rates, of course… However, you won’t pay any fee to Wise every time you spend money using the currency available in your multi-currency account. And if you have to pay in a different currency, Wise will use the lowest conversion rate available at that time.
- Wise offers you zero ATM withdrawal fees. Nevertheless, there’s a monthly cap on how much you can withdraw each month without any fee.
How to get a Wise debit card?
All you have to do is open a multi-currency account at Wise. Opening the account, maintaining it, and holding money in it is free, with no monthly cost.
Once you have your account, order a Wise debit card. It will only cost you an one-off fee of €7/$9/£5.
From there, you can start using it (physically or with your smartphone) and save money!
How does the Wise debit card work?
How can you pay using a Wise debit card?
The Wise debit card work in similar fashion as a regular bank debit card. You can use a Wise debit card for buying products and services, and for withdrawing money from an ATM. Obviously, since this is not a credit card, how much money you have in your Wise multi-currency account.
In case you don’t have enough money in your account, Wise will convert the other available currency from your multi-currency account. And if you hold more than one currency in your account, Wise will convert to the currency that has a better exchange rate at that time.
So you’ll benefit from a debit card with
- No fees for online transactions.
- No fees for transactions in foreign countries.
- Low international money conversion fees.
What are the Wise card withdrawal limits?
Wise allows you to withdraw money for free up to a certain number of times per month and up to a certain amount of money. However, this depends on the place of issue for your debit card.
To monitor withdrawal limits, you can
- Have a look on the Wise website (change your country if necessary).
- Check the Wise app (iOS or Android).
