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If you are living abroad and need to make money transfers abroad but you’re not going to open up an account in local banks, consider leveraging the Wise remittance service.
What is Wise when it comes to its core functionality and how is it different from similar apps? What is more, how not to compromise your real mobile number required for verification? Let’s discuss these and other topics in today’s reading, starting with the app’s key development points and main features.
What is Wise? Brief History of the App
The core idea of the app came to one of its co-founders’ mind,Taavet Hinrikus, when he moved to the UK from Estonia and began encountering a number of difficulties related to remitting money to his home country and other foreign locations. Together with his friend and co-founder Kristo Käärmann they discovered that London banks set unreasonably high commissions for foreign transfers. Moreover, the most disappointing fact was that banks secretly built those fees into the exchange rate. By that time, the two already had business experience and accepted the challenge with enthusiasm. Pretty soon they came up with the idea to develop a system that would let users sending and receiving international transfers as fast, comfortable, and cost-effective as possible.
What is more, they decided to make all the fees transparent so that clients can easily understand what they paid for. Here is how the international remittance service called TransferWise came to life. Later it rebranded into just ‘Wise’.
Well, what about its main functions and opportunities? Let’s explore how it is helpful for various kinds of users.
Key Features & Opportunities
Speaking of the core functionality of this remittance app, through Wise, you can do the following things:
- Send and receive money from abroad globally — what is more, you don’t need to have an account in a local bank. Moreover, the service utilizes the mid-market exchange rate to convert currencies, charging a low-cost fee. In contrast to conventional banks that have disadvantageous exchange rates and charge hidden fees, transfers through Wise are much cheaper.
- Hold money in different currencies with a multi-currency account. In the account, you can instantly convert any currency at the mid-market exchange rate. This is a game-changer for those who work or live abroad, freelancers who work with foreign clients, and travelers.
- More recently, leverage a debit card to spend money in any preferable currency available in your account — moreover, you don’t need to convert it and fees are minimal.
- Simply tool to manage your business expenses. This is especially helpful for companies that work with international partners and clients.
- Invest money. For the Wise Assets program participants, investing is also available. You can invest from your Wise account to the iShares World Equity Index fund that consists of shares from Apple, Microsoft, Tesla, and many more.
Users can open up both a personal or business account. What is more, Wise offers simple integration with various business platforms and accounting systems, simplifying money management. Wise’s commissions are much lower compared to similar services. Besides, the fees get lower if a person transfers a large sum of money. Opening up a business account is available for freelancers, entrepreneurs, funds, public companies, and other organizations.
Wise Account Registration and Setup Process: Step-by-Step
- In the app, choose to register for personal or business use. Enter your email and mobile number.
- After verifying your account, you can fill in your personal details. To open your balance, type ‘Open’ and press the ‘Plus’ button, then select the desired currency.
- To start using your account, make a deposit. Open ‘Get Account Details’, select a deposit method, and tap ‘Pursue’.
- For transaction confirmation, complete identity verification according to KYC regulations. Provide your national ID, driver’s license, or proof of address. If you are already verified, just tap ‘Finished Verifying’. Then, add recipients by selecting ‘Add Recipients’.
- Go to the ‘Myself’ section, choose your preferred currency, select the receiving bank, and enter account and payer bank details. Tap ‘Confirm’ to finalize the setup.
How to Create a Wise Account without a Phone Number?
Not to compromise your real-life phone number when signing up for Wise, consider obtaining a virtual phone number with limited duration.
These numbers, compared to cellular phones, enable you to receive an OTP without the need to:
- Buy and install a SIM card.
- Submit a proof of identity.
- Reveal your physical address, and link it to a certain device.
Moreover, thanks to their characteristics, this is a very helpful tool for:
- Gaining access to forbidden services and platforms that are shut down in your living area.
- Joining platforms that accept only a local phone number. It’s casual when registering Asian and South Asian apps due to their strict policy.
- Managing numerous accounts for promotion purposes and boosting sales.
- And this is not even all the opportunities.
Leveraging the SMS-Man platform, you are able to enhance your anonymity when joining any of 4000+ supported global and local services, including social media, messengers, delivery apps, marketplaces, and so on. To choose from, you are offered with 190+ country codes.
To buy a disposable phone number for Wise using SMS-Man, you need to:
- Set up an account on sms-man.com via email address or Gmail.
- Replenish the balance with a few dollars or cryptocurrency.
- On the Receive SMS tab, choose the needed service () and the country code. Then, purchase a phone number.
- At the bottom of the home page, find the number and submit it to Wise.
- In the SMS-man account, click the ‘Receive SMS’ button near the number and open up an OTP.
- Leverage the confirmation code to get verified on Wise.