Stop Getting Ripped Off when You Travel! Wise Card Review

The Wise Card is a revolutionary feature that I think all travellers & Digital Nomads need so you can spend money like a local, wherever you go!

• Stop getting ripped off by your bank every time you swipe your card abroad.
• Know exactly how much you’re paying each time you swipe your Wise card to buy something abroad.
• Know exactly how much you’re paying for currency exchanges without sneaky charges or fees.
• Withdraw foreign currency at the local ATM with minimal fees.

If you travel a lot or are a Digital Nomad, getting a Wise Card is a no-brainer.

If you want to save money with international money transfers with transparent & fair pricing, check out how to transfer money abroad using Wise.

What is Wise?

Let’s start with the Wise multicurrency account.

Once you register a Wise account, you can send & receive money in different currencies with transparent & competitive pricing.

You can think of it as an online money exchanger.

Here’s an example of a money transfer that I did where I sent MYR from SGD:

I particularly liked that:

1. The exchange rate was very close to what Google showed me.
2. Very transparent fees (SGD 21.72).
3. I know exactly how much I will receive in MYR.
4. I got the money within a few minutes.

Now let’s see how the Wise Card comes into the picture:

What is the Wise Card?

The Wise card is a cool-looking debit Visa card that is linked to your multicurrency Wise account.

It is an additional feature that you can request via the app (more on this later) & the card will be delivered to your home.

The Wise Card can help you save money every time you travel & spend abroad. Let’s see how:

How Does the Wise Card Work?

Here’s the breakdown:

1. Buy currency that you want to spend in your Wise multicurrency account.
2. Use the Wise Card to purchase items in the currency of your choice.
3. Money will automatically be deducted from the relevant multicurrency account.

In the example below, I want to pay a USD 9.20 online subscription.

Since the Wise Card is a debit card, I need to have some USD in my multicurrency account.

I bought USD 10 using Malaysian Ringgit (MYR) & below are the fees during that time:

I then proceed to pay for the subscription using my Wise Card.

The Wise card will automatically deduct USD from my USD account.

Other examples:

• If you travel to Indonesia & use your Wise card there, it will deduct money from your IDR account.
• If you travel to Singapore & use your Wise card there, it will deduct money from your SGD account.
• If you travel to Europe & use your Wise card there, it will deduct money from your EUR account.

The Wise Card Fees

How the Wise Card Saved me Money in Bali, Indonesia

As documented in my @millennialdadmy TikTok channel, I’ve recently gone on a family vacation in Bali, Indonesia where I get to use the Wise Card almost exclusively throughout our vacation.

@millennial_dadmy Saya pergi Bali, Indonesia & belanja semua benda pakai Wise Card. Dapat jimat banyak gila duit. Dari kluakan cash dekat ATM & juga tap kredit card dekat restaurant. Semua saya pakai Wise. Link utk apply ada di bio. #wisecard #wise #travelwithbaby #balibaby ♬ Paper Birds – Jordan Halpern Schwartz

The first thing I did when I arrived at the Bali airport & cleared immigration & luggage collection was to withdraw some local IDR money to be kept for petty cash emergencies.

Then every time we spent money at restaurants or buying stuff from shops, I was charged exactly what is shown on the bill:

The statement is shown immediately on the app & the amount tallies with the receipt, so I know there are no weird, hidden fees:

The cool thing is that the Wise app can automatically categorize my spending.

This was helpful as I can keep track of our vacation spending.

Pros & Cons of Using the Wise Card

The pros outweigh the cons. However, I went to Bali with another couple & they also had a Wise card.

Somehow, they did not 100% get how the Wise Card works & which requires me to explain it to them to get them up & running with the card & app.

If I weren’t there to explain it to them, I’d reckon they’d stop using their Wise Card.

How to Get your Wise Card

I hope this article has convinced you how important it is to have a Wise multicurrency account together with the Wise Card.

So, if you wanted one too, here’s the step-by-step of what you need to do:

1. Register a Wise account here.
2. Log into your Wise account online or via the app & apply for your Wise Card.
3. Wait for the Wise card to be delivered.
4. Once you have your Wise Card, follow the instructions to activate the card.
5. You can start using your Wise card!