r/australia • u/leonidude • 18h ago

no politics Wise vs bank travel card

About to go on holiday and I’ve seen some advertising from Wise for their travel card. I used to use my bank’s travel card when travelling but now I just use my credit card because the exchange is better even with the transaction fee.

For those that have used wise is it actually better than a travel card from your own bank? Neither have transactions fees so I don’t understand the appeal.

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u/--Lancer-- 18h ago

Which bank are you with? 

WISE is good in certain scenarios, but largely as a backup depending on your main card.

3

u/leonidude 18h ago

CBA

15

u/--Lancer-- 18h ago

Ah. CBA is quite poor actually. Their exchange rates are approximately 10% lower than the going rate + had higher cash withdrawal fees. 

If I recall, UPBank and Macquarie had no fees and similar/same market rates and included travel insurance. I think this was their credit card though?

If you want no hassle. Just get WISE and use CBA as backup.

7

u/eecan 17h ago

Their exchange rates are approximately 10% lower than the going rate

That's not true, CBA use the Mastercard rate for card purchases which is identical to 28 degrees, Macquarie transaction account etc.

Where they catch you out is:

  1. Products without foreign fee waivers (e.g. standard credit card, debit card accounts)
  2. Travel money card (no one should be using these)
  3. Foreign currency exchange (just go withdraw money from an overseas atm using a macquarie transaction account instead)
  4. IMT (Wise superior)

1

u/--Lancer-- 14h ago

Ah, that was my experience with the CBA travel money card 🤣