Wise vs Western Union (2024)

9.5

8.6

10

9.0

Trust & Credibility

When it comes to trust and reliability, it will be hard to go wrong with either Wise or Western Union. Founded in London, Wise is licensed by the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority. Western Union was founded in the United States and is regulated by the New York State Department of Financial Services in the US. In addition, both follow legal compliance in every region in which they operate globally.

We don’t see a fundamental difference between Wise or Western Union when it comes to security or trust. Wise is a large company that over 10 million customers trust with their money. Western Union is the oldest and largest money transfer company in the world, with an astounding 150 million customers entrusting the company with their remittances and transfers.

Is Wise Safe?

However, we did award Wise the highest possible score for transparency because they truly lead the international money transfer industry in this area. Wise’s costs are upfront and accessible on their home landing page, and they always use the real exchange rate. Western Union applies an exchange rate that is weaker than the real mid-market rate (which is a form of a hidden cost). We think this can be somewhat misleading to some users who might not know what an exchange rate margin is, which is why Western Union earned a low score.

8.7

8.5

Service & Quality

When it comes to the ease of sending money, Wise has a slight edge over Western Union thanks to its transparent and easy-to-use desktop and mobile interface.

Is Wise Better Than Western Union?

With Wise, transfers vary according to the combination of the sending country and the destination country. For example, if you are transferring money from the UK to India you can pay with your debit or credit card, or directly from your bank account, but if you are sending money from Germany to France, you can make a SOFORT transfer. The mid-market exchange rate and Wise’s fixed fees are displayed before you make the transfer. Wise also calculates fees for you and warns you about potential local bank fees (which they can't control).

Western Union is not solely an online money transfer service. Customers have the option to send and pick up money in cash, receive funds in a bank account, onto a mobile wallet, or on a prepaid card. You are always able to pay with your debit or credit card, and from some locations, you can send money from your bank account via a local bank transfer, by using an online payment system (such as SOFORT, Trustly or iDEAL). Western Union also has a mobile app available. They also offer bill payments as well as money orders.

Transparent Customer Interface

Western Union has a well-designed interface that allows customers to submit their bank details and their recipient’s bank details easily. However, we weren’t impressed with the fact that nearly all of Western Union’s fees were hidden in the exchange rate. Western Union’s weaker exchange rate was not communicated clearly on the sending page. The page seemed rather designed to let customers assume that a standard exchange rate was applied to the final sending amount.

10

7.9

Fees & Exchange Rates

Both Wise and Western Union are far cheaper and faster ways to transfer money abroad than traditional high-street banks. However, Wise is very often the cheaper option between the two, no matter what country you are sending to or from. Based on searches done on the Monito comparison engine, Western Union is seldom the cheapest money transfer service of all for bank transfers.

Wise Exchange Rate

Unlike Western Union, Wise charges no exchange rate margin (it does not exchange currency lower than the mid-market rate and does not keep the difference). Wise makes its money by adding a small percentage or fixed fee onto every transfer. These fees are transparent and can be seen on the sending page or Wise's dedicated fees calculator. Fees are always very clearly displayed, and if there is a local bank fee that may be added, they alert you to that.

Fees at Western Union vary — they depend on how much money you send, the countries you're sending money to and from, plus the pay-in and pay-out methods you choose. Paying for your transfer with a credit or debit card and receiving the money in cash is sometimes the most costly mix. Overall, picking up money at an agent location usually incurs higher costs than sending money online.

Exchange Rate Margins

Overall, during our tests, we found that Western Union makes up on average 20% of its profit via exchange rate margins. Note that Western Union’s exchange rates may become better the larger the amount you send.

Western Union vs. Wise Fees Comparison

Take a look at the table below to get a better picture of how this works:

9.4

8.9

Customer Satisfaction

Based on how customers review Wise and Western Union, it was clear that Wise customers seemed happier with their service.

Wise received a 4.5 out of 5 stars from Trustpilot with overwhelmingly positive reviews. Around 85% of 116 thousand customers rating the service five out of five stars. Western Union, on the other hand, received only 2.6 out of 5 stars from over 18 thousand reviews on Trustpilot.

While Western Union is trusted by a larger base of customers, Wise has a larger proportion of its customer base that is satisfied with their work.

Our recommendations are built on rock-solid experience.

• We've reviewed 50+ money transfer providers
• We've made 100+ test transfers
• Our writers have been testing providers since 2013