Wise Referral Code UK: Free Wise Card or £500 Fee-free Transfer

Looking for a Wise referral code? There isn’t actually a code you need to enter.

Instead, new Wise customers can sign up through a Wise referral link and choose a welcome gift: either a free Wise debit card or fee-free international transfers of up to £500.

I’ve used Wise for years to receive payments in US dollars and convert them into pounds, so this is a service I actually use rather than something I’ve signed up to just for the referral offer.

You can choose the free card or fee-free transfer offer when you join. You don’t get both.

This page contains a referral link. If you sign up through it, I may receive a referral reward at no extra cost to you. Offers and terms can change, so check the current details shown by Wise before joining.

Wise referral offer at a glance

Is there a Wise referral code?

No. Although plenty of people search for a Wise referral code, there isn’t a traditional code to copy and paste when you register.

Wise uses referral links instead.

When you follow a referral link and create a new account, the referral is tracked automatically. So if you’ve been searching for a Wise promo code, invite code or referral code, it’s actually a referral link that you need.

You can use mine here:

Use my Wise referral link

There’s nothing else to enter manually.

What do you get with the Wise referral offer?

New Wise customers who join through my referral link can choose between two welcome gifts:

Option 1: A free Wise debit card

You can choose a physical Wise card without paying the normal one-off ordering fee.

Option 2: Fee-free international transfers up to £500

Alternatively, you can choose the transfer offer. This allows you to make international transfers of up to £500 without paying Wise’s usual transfer fee.

You have six months after signing up to use the fee-free transfer reward.

You can’t claim both offers, so choose whichever is more useful to you.

Personally, if you’re joining Wise specifically because you need to move money internationally, I’d look closely at the transfer offer. If you’re mainly interested in spending overseas, the free card may be more useful.

How to claim the Wise referral offer

It’s fairly straightforward.

1. Use a Wise referral link

Start by following my referral link:

Get the Wise welcome offer

This is important because Wise uses the link to track the referral. There’s no separate referral code to enter later.

2. Create a new Wise account

Enter your details and create your account.

The welcome offer is intended for new Wise customers, so don’t expect to qualify by creating another account if you’ve previously used Wise or TransferWise.

3. Verify your identity

Wise may ask you to verify your identity before you can fully use your account.

This is standard for regulated financial services and can involve providing identification such as a passport or driving licence.

4. Choose your welcome gift

You’ll have the choice between:

A free Wise card

or

Fee-free transfers up to £500

Choose the one that makes the most sense for how you intend to use Wise.

5. Use your reward

If you select the fee-free transfer offer, you’ll need to use it within six months of joining.

Always check the offer displayed in your Wise account, as referral promotions and their terms can change.

I’ve used Wise for years

One of the reasons I’m comfortable recommending Wise is that I’ve actually used it for years.

A lot of my income comes from companies outside the UK, particularly payments in US dollars. I use Wise to receive those dollars and then convert them into pounds before transferring the money to my UK bank account.

And that’s where Wise has been particularly useful for me.

Rather than having a payment automatically converted at whatever exchange rate a payment provider or bank decides to give me, I can see the exchange rate and fee before making the conversion.

In my experience, payments into Wise often arrive the same day and moving converted pounds into my UK bank account can be very quick too.

I don’t use Wise as somewhere to keep large amounts of money indefinitely. I tend to use it as a transit account:

Money in → convert currency → money out

You can read much more about my experience, including the advantages and disadvantages I’ve found, in my full Wise review.

What is Wise?

Wise is an international money transfer and multi-currency account service.

You might recognise its old name, TransferWise. The company rebranded as Wise in 2021 as it expanded beyond simply transferring money internationally.

With a Wise account, you can hold and convert multiple currencies, receive payments using local account details, send money internationally and spend using a Wise debit card.

For example, I can receive US dollar payments using US account details rather than asking the sender to make a traditional international payment.

I can then hold the money in dollars or convert it into pounds.

Is TransferWise the same as Wise?

Yes. TransferWise and Wise are the same company.

TransferWise changed its name to Wise in 2021.

That means searches for:

TransferWise referral code
TransferWise referral link
TransferWise sign-up bonus
TransferWise invite code

are effectively referring to the current Wise referral scheme.

If you previously had a TransferWise account, you’re already an existing Wise customer rather than a new customer.

How does Wise work?

Wise is designed to make sending, receiving and converting currencies more transparent.

One of its main attractions is that it uses the mid-market exchange rate and then displays its fee separately.

That’s important.

Some providers can make a currency transfer appear cheap while making money through the exchange rate they give you. A small difference in the exchange rate can become significant when you’re converting thousands of pounds.

With Wise, you can see the rate you’re receiving and the fee you’re paying before you confirm the transaction.

If you don’t like the amount you’ll receive, you don’t have to proceed.

What currencies can you hold with Wise?

Wise supports dozens of currencies and allows customers to hold multiple currencies within the same account.

Depending on the currency, you can also receive local account details.

For example, you may have:

GBP – UK account details
USD – US account details
EUR – European account details

That’s one of the features I’ve found particularly useful.

A company in the US can pay my USD details rather than having to send an international payment directly to my UK bank account.

I can then decide when I want to convert the dollars into pounds.

Does Wise use the real exchange rate?

Wise uses the mid-market exchange rate, with its applicable fee shown separately.

The mid-market rate is essentially the rate sitting between the buy and sell prices for a currency.

That doesn’t mean using Wise is free. You’ll generally pay a conversion or transfer fee.

The difference is that the cost is shown separately rather than simply being hidden inside a worse exchange rate.

What are the Wise fees?

Wise doesn’t charge a monthly subscription for a standard personal account, but there are fees for some services.

Currency conversion and international transfer fees vary depending on the currencies, amount and payment method.

Rather than quoting a percentage that could quickly become outdated, I’d recommend checking the actual cost Wise gives you before completing a transaction.

That’s one of the things I like about Wise: you see the cost before committing.

The referral offer is particularly useful because choosing the transfer reward can remove the relevant transfer fee on transfers totalling up to £500.

Is Wise better than PayPal?

For my own international payments, I’ve generally found Wise more useful than PayPal for converting foreign currency.

The important thing isn’t simply the advertised transfer fee. It’s how many pounds you actually end up with after the currency has been converted.

That’s because exchange-rate margins can make a significant difference.

I’ve compared the two services in much more detail in my Wise vs PayPal comparison, including how their currency conversion costs work.

If you’re regularly being paid in dollars, euros or another foreign currency, it’s worth comparing the final GBP amount rather than looking at fees alone.

Is Wise safe?

Wise Payments Limited is authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) as an Electronic Money Institution.

However, there’s an important distinction:

Wise is not a bank.

Because of this, money held in a standard Wise account isn’t protected by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme in the same way as eligible deposits held with a UK bank.

Instead, Wise is required to safeguard customer funds, keeping them separate from its own money in accordance with the rules applying to electronic money institutions.

That’s why I personally use Wise primarily for moving and converting money rather than treating it as a savings account.

Is Wise FSCS protected?

No.

Wise is an electronic money institution rather than a bank, so eligible balances aren’t protected under the FSCS deposit protection scheme in the same way as money held with a participating UK bank.

Instead, Wise uses safeguarding arrangements.

It’s an important distinction, particularly if you’re thinking about leaving a large balance in your account for an extended period.

For me, it’s another reason I tend to transfer my money out once I’ve converted it into pounds.

Is the Wise card free?

Normally there can be a one-off charge for ordering a physical Wise card.

However, new customers using the referral offer can choose a free Wise debit card as their welcome gift.

The alternative is the fee-free transfer offer.

If you travel regularly or spend in different currencies, the card could be useful. If you’re joining primarily to transfer a larger amount of money, you may get more value from choosing the fee-free transfer instead.

Who is Wise good for?

From my experience, Wise makes the most sense for people who regularly deal with different currencies.

That includes freelancers and bloggers being paid by overseas companies, people working with international clients, expats, people sending money to family overseas and frequent travellers.

It’s also useful for businesses that regularly pay international suppliers.

As a blogger receiving income in US dollars, it’s been particularly useful for me.

Who probably doesn’t need Wise?

If all your income is in pounds, you only spend in pounds and you never send or receive money internationally, there’s probably not much reason to open a Wise account.

And I wouldn’t open one purely because there’s a free card available.

The referral offer is a nice extra if you have a reason to use Wise anyway.

Likewise, I wouldn’t personally use Wise as a replacement for a UK savings account. That’s not what I use it for.

Is the Wise referral offer worth using?

I’ve used Wise for years, so I’d continue using the service whether there was a referral offer or not.

For me, its biggest benefit is being able to receive US dollars and convert them into pounds while seeing the exchange rate and fee upfront.

If you’re planning to open a Wise account anyway, it makes sense to check the referral offer before signing up directly. You can currently choose between a free Wise card and fee-free international transfers up to £500.

But if you have no reason to send, receive or spend money in foreign currencies, I wouldn’t open an account simply because there’s a referral offer.

If Wise is useful for what you need, though, you may as well get the extra benefit when you join.

This page contains a referral link. If you sign up through it, I may receive a referral reward at no extra cost to you. Wise Payments Limited is an Electronic Money Institution rather than a bank. Offer terms and fees can change, so check the current information provided by Wise before signing up.

Take a look at my full Wise review if you need to find out more.

Wise referral code FAQs