Wise Vs Up Travel Cards: How Do They Compare?

Before we explore the relationship between Wise and Up, let’s look at what exactly a travel card is and how it differs from a standard transaction card, such as a debit card.

A travel card allows you to spend money in different currencies around the world. This saves you from high foreign transaction fees that most credit or debit cards charge, whether that’s for purchases or ATM withdrawals.

Commonly these are known as “prepaid travel cards” as you load money onto them before your trip and convert them into the desired currency, locking in a conversion rate. This way you are not subject to major movements in the Australian dollar.

You can read more about prepaid travel cards in our guide.

What Is Wise?

Wise, formerly Transferwise, is a global financial institution that was founded in 2011 with the aim of making global money transfers more seamless. It is headquartered in London.

When speaking to Forbes Advisor Australia recently, Tristan Dakin, who is the country manager at Wise for Australia and New Zealand, explained the personal Wise account and its attached debit card is designed to allow customers to “spend like a local wherever they are, in the local currency”.

What Is Up Bank?

Launched in 2018, Up Bank is a neo-bank owned by Bendigo and Adelaide Bank Limited. It is targeted towards young Australians with a stylish app, hip patois and quirky design, but is available to all Australians regardless of age.

As it is a neo-bank, there is no physical branch  (even though there are Bendigo Bank branches). Up Bank refers to its customers as “Upsiders”, and aims to “reinvent banking” to help those Upsiders manage their finances and reach their saving goals more easily.

Less than two years after launching, Up powered with Wise to allow its customers to send money overseas to international bank accounts. The partnership began in August 2020, back when Wise was still known as TransferWise.

Upsiders can send money internationally via their Up Bank account in the same way that Wise cardholders do, by using the Wise platform. However, Up Bank customers can’t use any other Wise features, such as open local bank accounts or hold numerous currencies. The partnership is confined to transferring money.

This means when sending money abroad, Wise and Up work the exact same way as they are both using Wise’s back-end. When it comes to spending money abroad, they have different offerings.

Upsiders can access the same transfer capabilities as Wise customers—without leaving the Up app. This means Upsiders can transfer Australian dollars into more than 40 currencies.

Murali Akella, who was the head of banking and global partnerships for Wise at the time, said that “by plugging into our API, Up just became the fastest and cheapest to use in Australia for international payments” when the partnership was made public.

“In fact, Australians staying with traditional providers could end up paying between 5-8 times more than Up customers, who will have a seamless, low-cost [Wise] experience without leaving the Up app,” he said.

Wise charges its customers using a mid-market exchange rate, which is the midpoint of what banks are willing to buy and sell for a currency. Ultimately, it’s the rate the market normally sets, rather than it being an exchange rate determined independently by Wise (which other travel card companies do).

However, when spending in an international currency on your Up bank card, you will be subject to the Mastercard rate and will face currency conversion charges. This is because with Up, you can only hold money in Australian dollars, rather than multiple currencies as you can with Wise (and other travel cards).

Technically, therefore, an Up Travel Card isn’t actually a travel card. It is a debit card you can use overseas, subject to the Mastercard rates and conversion fees. However there is no charge for international ATM withdrawals, which is a great perk.

Wise is transparent about charges on its website and app, allowing customers to view the current conversion rate on offer in real time as well as fees, and Up is similarly straight-forward.

On the Up website (and via its app) you can enter the amount of money you wish to transfer internationally and view the rate. For example, Forbes Advisor Australia said we wished to send $250 AUD, and for it to be converted to GBP.

We received the below response, including an outline of how the rate and fees compared to other market offers, and how much we could be saving against competitors—which was nearly $20 AUD.

The below figures were recorded and accurate on July 9, 2024. Due to the constant changing nature of currencies, these figures may vary. 

As you can see, the international transaction from AUD to GBP at the time of writing is the best when using Up and Wise. However, this is not always the case.

When Forbes Advisor enterd a conversion of $250 AUD into USD, there was a saving of $15.52 AUD.

This time, however, there were better performers on the market, which the bank is transparent about. It listed itself as fifth most competitive on the market behind another popular travel card and money transfer option for Aussies, Xe:

Related: How To Send Money Overseas From Australia

So which card is better for travel: Wise or Up?  When it comes to international transfers, they are identical.

When it comes to spending with Up, you can’t use your debit card to pay for purchases in a different currency, as Up only allows you to hold Australian dollars on your account (unlike Wise)

Ultimately, Forbes Advisor Australia doesn’t consider Up a travel card in the true sense of the word. It’s a debit card that can be used overseas, which is standard nowadays, albeit without the charge for international ATM withdrawals.