Wise is a multi-currency account and debit card that converts at the mid-market exchange rate and charges a visible fee on top. As at November 2026 that fee starts from 0.19% and varies by currency, the card costs S$8.50 once, and there is no subscription. The weak spot in this Wise review for Singapore is cash: only $100 of ATM withdrawals a month is free.
It suits people who mostly tap a card or a phone overseas and who also send money abroad. It suits heavy cash users less well.
What Wise Is and Who Regulates It
Wise in Singapore is operated by Wise Asia-Pacific Pte. Ltd. The MAS Financial Institutions Directory lists it as a major payment institution, licensed for account issuance, domestic and cross-border money transfer, and e-money issuance.
That is a payments licence, not a bank licence. MAS states that e-money is not a bank deposit and is not protected by deposit insurance. Major payment institutions must instead safeguard customer money, for example in a trust account with a bank or through a bank guarantee, by the end of the next business day.
Wise says on its Singapore site that customer money is kept with separate financial institutions. Safeguarding and deposit insurance are different things, so a Wise balance is better treated as travel money than as savings.
Wise Review: Singapore Fees, As At November 2026
All figures below are from Wise’s Singapore pricing pages.
| Item | What Wise states |
|---|---|
| Opening and holding an account | Free |
| Physical card | $8.50, one time; no subscription |
| Replacement card | $4 (expired cards replaced free) |
| Digital card | Free |
| Express delivery | Optional, from $16 |
| Spending a currency you hold | Free |
| Converting currency | Fee varies by currency, from 0.19% |
| ATM withdrawals | Free up to $100 a month, then 1.75% of the amount above |
| ATMs in Singapore | Not supported |
| Topping up other e-wallets with the card | 2% |
| Receiving Singapore dollars locally | Free |
| Receiving US dollars by wire or SWIFT | US$6.11 per payment |
| Spend and send limit from balances | $100,000 a year, 1 April to 31 March |
Wise states that it uses the mid-market rate and does not inflate the exchange rate. The cost is the conversion fee, which you see before you confirm.
Two details are worth noting. The free ATM allowance is per account and per month, not per card. And a digital card can be added to Apple Pay or Google Pay straight away, before the physical card arrives.
A Worked Example: Ten Days in Japan
Illustration only, using our own figures. You spend $2,000 on the card in yen and withdraw $300 in cash.
We could not find the yen conversion fee on a public page, because Wise shows it in the app when you convert. So we show two cases: the 0.19% floor, and an assumed 0.5%.
| Cost | At the 0.19% floor | At an assumed 0.5% |
|---|---|---|
| Conversion fee on $2,000 | $3.80 | $10.00 |
| ATM fee on $300 (1.75% of the $200 above $100) | $3.50 | $3.50 |
| Card, first trip only | $8.50 | $8.50 |
| Total | $15.80 | $22.00 |
For comparison, DBS states a total foreign currency fee of 3.25% on its cards. On $2,000 that is $65, before any rewards earned.
The example leaves out the fee on converting the $300 of cash and any fee charged by the ATM operator. Check the live fee for your currency in the app before relying on either column.
The short version: Wise is cheap and predictable for card spending because the rate is the mid-market rate and the fee is shown up front. The catch is cash. Only the first $100 of ATM withdrawals a month is free.
The Drawbacks
The ATM allowance is small. At $100 a month, a traveller who needs cash in Japan or Thailand will pay 1.75% on most of it. YouTrip and Revolut state larger free amounts, as our Wise vs Revolut vs YouTrip comparison shows.
The fee is never zero. Some rivals advertise no conversion fee at all. Wise charges one on every conversion, though it starts low. What matters is the total of rate plus fee, which you can only compare on the day.
No rewards. A Wise card earns no miles or cashback. If you collect miles, weigh the fee you save against the miles you give up. Our guide to the best credit cards for overseas spending shows the cost per mile.
Not a deposit. The balance is not deposit-insured, and Wise’s separate interest feature is an investment fund with capital at risk, not a savings account.
Who Wise Does Not Suit
- Travellers who rely on cash and would withdraw several hundred dollars a trip.
- Miles collectors who are content to pay a card’s foreign currency fee for the rewards.
- Anyone who needs to send or spend more than $100,000 a year from the balance (Wise counts from 1 April to 31 March).
- People who want one balance covered by deposit insurance.
Alternatives To Compare
- YouTrip: states no conversion fee and $400 of free overseas ATM withdrawals a month, but holds fewer currencies. See our YouTrip review.
- Revolut: the free Standard plan states no exchange fee on weekdays up to $5,000 a month, with a 1% fee outside market hours. See our Revolut review.
- A bank multi-currency account with a debit card: DBS states no foreign exchange fee on its Visa Debit Card when a multi-currency account holds the currency.
- A miles credit card: a higher fee, but it earns rewards and offers the dispute rights of a credit card.
We set these side by side in our best multi-currency cards comparison. Promotions for new customers exist and change often, so check Wise’s own page for current offers.
What To Do Next
- Open Wise’s pricing page and look up the conversion fee for the currency you will use.
- Estimate how much cash you need. If it is well above $100, price the ATM fee or carry a second card with a larger free allowance.
- Keep the balance to what the trip needs, and move leftover money back to your bank account.
- Read how to pay less on overseas spending for the full picture, including the “pay in SGD?” question.
- Add the trip to your budget planner so the travel fund is set aside before you convert.
