Wise borderless accounts

I'm not sure if this is the right place to post this, but wondering what sorts of experiences others have of Wise borderless accounts for receiving US dollars and then transferring money to UK accounts. Are there better ways to do this?

Any feedback would be most appreciated.

I set up a Wise account once HSBC US started closing the accounts of non-Premier customers. So far it works great. I have a US routing number and account number and I have added my Wise account to my US brokerage account which distributes quarterly dividends. I send the dividends to my Wise account and then move the money to my UK HSBC account and that transfer literally takes seconds

Thanks so much, that is very reassuring. It seems a good option – and easy to set up.

Just like @durhamlad I have a Wise account and it works great - although they did send me an email tonight to say their fees are going up in October!

I originally set it up so I could receive a direct deposit of any tax refund or any stimulus payments without having to wait weeks (or longer) for the paper check to arrive and then wander off to HSBC where they charged me £28 for each deposit and gave me a crap exchange rate as part of the deal.

I now receive my monthly Social Security Retirement payment directly into my Wise account - arrives without fail on the 3rd of every month. I can then either convert it to sterling (which I haven't actually done yet) when I choose and when I am happy with the exchange rate or just allow it to accumulate. What I like is that for a one-off $5 fee I got a Wise Debit card and now I can spend on-line in US$ - useful also if you're planning on travelling to the US or anywhere else that takes US$ as a method of payment.

Great experience to date - especially using the app on my phone where I am advised immediately of any deposits.

Just like @durhamlad I have a Wise account and it works great - although they did send me an email tonight to say their fees are going up in October!

When I clicked through the email and changed the sample transfer from $ to £, the new price is cheaper in October, not sure if that's just an anomaly between that pair or not because it did say their fees were increasing.

.just allow it to accumulate.

I'd be careful about allowing too much to accumulate, just because the account doesn't have the protection that bank accounts do.

Another vote in favor of Wise - very easy to use, competitive rates. A lifesaver when first moving to the UK, before you can get a "real" bank account.

Only two drawbacks, depending on how you're using it:

1. Not the place to accumulate large amounts of cash: the insurance is a little funky (you'd almost certainly get your money back if Wise went bust, but it'd take longer). No interest. And don't even think about using their investment feature, PFIC nightmare.

2. Not the cheapest way of transferring money, particularly for larger amounts. That's Interactive Brokers, as far as I've been able to find. For a few hundred or even thousand dollars/pounds, the difference is negligible; Wise can even be cheaper for very small amounts. But when you get to tens or hundreds of thousands (like buying a house, for example), then IBKR becomes significantly cheaper, even if it is a bit more of a hassle. Good step-by-step instructions here (not my blog): https://www.expatfinance.us/general/ibkr-money-transfers

I'd be careful about allowing too much to accumulate, just because the account doesn't have the protection that bank accounts do.

Thanks for the advice! - I had looked at it previously and I know that customer funds are not protected in the same way as FSCS (which in itself is only to £85k per account per bank or £170k for a joint account) - Wise uses the term safeguarded - which is more fully explained here:

https://wise.com/help/articles/2949821/is-it-safe-to-keep-money-in-my-wise-account?origin=search-safeguarded

I know it's not 100% guaranteed but then what is these days? - during the initial days of the Covid outbreak in 2020 when global panic set in, I liquidated most of my SIPP into cash which was then held in a UK bank account (Halifax) - several hundred £k over the £85k limit  - not covered at all if Armageddon hit - a risk in itself.

According to their last filing Wise had over £3Bn in customer accounts - safeguarded with multiple global banks including JPM, RBS, Barclays, Citibank etc.

Again, thanks for the advice - all I'm planning on holding in Wise is enough for a good old USA road trip when the time is right. 

Another vote in favor of Wise - very easy to use, competitive rates. A lifesaver when first moving to the UK, before you can get a "real" bank account.

Only two drawbacks, depending on how you're using it:

1. Not the place to accumulate large amounts of cash: the insurance is a little funky (you'd almost certainly get your money back if Wise went bust, but it'd take longer). No interest. And don't even think about using their investment feature, PFIC nightmare.

2. Not the cheapest way of transferring money, particularly for larger amounts. That's Interactive Brokers, as far as I've been able to find. For a few hundred or even thousand dollars/pounds, the difference is negligible; Wise can even be cheaper for very small amounts. But when you get to tens or hundreds of thousands (like buying a house, for example), then IBKR becomes significantly cheaper, even if it is a bit more of a hassle. Good step-by-step instructions here (not my blog): https://www.expatfinance.us/general/ibkr-money-transfers [nofollow]

This is super helpful. For now it is for smaller amounts, but I am also trying to figure out best ways forward for when/if I receive any inheritance from my mother. It all feels like such a minefield!

2. Not the cheapest way of transferring money, particularly for larger amounts. That's Interactive Brokers, as far as I've been able to find. For a few hundred or even thousand dollars/pounds, the difference is negligible; Wise can even be cheaper for very small amounts. But when you get to tens or hundreds of thousands (like buying a house, for example), then IBKR becomes significantly cheaper, even if it is a bit more of a hassle. Good step-by-step instructions here (not my blog): https://www.expatfinance.us/general/ibkr-money-transfers

Thanks for this.  Our daughter is going to be selling her house and moving to England later this year so I will pass this onto her.

Thanks for this.  Our daughter is going to be selling her house and moving to England later this year so I will pass this onto her.

Sure thing. Interactive Brokers is handy for other stuff too - IRA, ISA, taxable brokerage, etc. They seem to want to offer all the services they possibly can, within the relevant laws. Their interface is not the most intuitive, but for the simple stuff that most people need to do, it's quick enough to learn. They'll also happily let you do much more adventurous stuff, like margin loans (at very cheap rates), options, forex trading, almost anything, but I steer clear of that