I had never heard of Wise as a money-transfer application until I started frequenting Mexico and needed to send money to landlords, pay for goods by transfer, etc.
I once attempted to pay for rent with Paypal and literally – F that – Paypal’s fees are astronomical! So I asked around and was told Wise is a great option as an American in Mexico (Wise is a British company and only permits transactions in certain countries and currencies). I used my friend’s referral code to sign up (which I’ll give you mine at the end if you need to download Wise after hearing my story) and that means for you as a new customer, Wise will waive the fee on up to 500 GBP (or equivalent) of your first transfer! Score!
Wise gives a really fair exchange rate comparable with the true market price and guarantees the rate locked in for 8 hours when you start the transfer. The fees are pretty low, in my opinion and I love their due diligence of giving you comparable options of ways you may save more money with other companies. Who does that? Good companies who want you to trust them.
So what excited me today? The exchange rate of the dollar to peso has dropped substantially in the past year. After the Mexican presidential election, the exchange rate became more favorable towards the USD. For expats, amazing news especially for bigger spendings like rent.
I found that Wise offers a currency exchange tracker! You can tell the system where you’d like to be notified when the exchange rate hits a certain point. For instance, I have two trackers set for 18.50 pesos per dollar and 19.00 pesos per dollar (wishful thinking).
This morning I had an email from Wise that the exchange rate hit 18.50! For me, that means it’s ATM run time! I literally threw on clothes are rushed to the ATM to get cash from my USA account. I love using Charles Schwab checking because they do not charge any fees world-wide with ATM withdrawals. And get this… they REFUND your ATM fees from the other banks every month! WIN WIN!
What a sexy email to receive! Want to get started with the best banking methods as a digital nomad or expat? Here’s my resources:
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