9 Key Things to Know Before Opening a Wise Business Account [2025]

Thinking of opening a Wise Business Account in 2025?
You’re not alone. Wise is one of the most popular options for international money transfers and multi-currency accounts — especially for startups, ecommerce sellers, and remote teams.

But before you hit “sign up,” there are key details worth understanding.

While Wise is fast, affordable, and well-designed, it’s not a traditional bank — and that comes with trade-offs. Some features depend on where your business is registered. Some accounts can’t issue cards. And support? It’s mostly self-serve unless you’re logged in.

In this guide, we break down the 9 most important things to know before opening a Wise Business Account — from fees and supported countries to account limitations and alternatives worth considering.

Wise, formerly called TransferWise, is a financial technology launched in 2011. They offer payment solutions to individuals and small businesses across the globe. Their main services include a multi-currency account, international money transfers, and payment cards.

Wise was founded by Estonian friends Taavet Hinrikus and Kristo Käärmann. Hinrikus was formerly Skype’s Director of Strategy, and Kristo was previously a management consultant with Deloitte Consulting and PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Wise has headquarters in London and has been listed on the London Stock Exchange since July 2021. Over the company’s lifetime, Wise has raised USD 1.7B in funding from 39 investors in over 13 funding rounds, with Silicon Valley Bank UK being a recent investor.

No, Wise is not a bank. It is a Money Services Business (MSB) provider that is regulated by the appropriate authorities in the countries where it operates, such as the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in the United Kingdom and the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) in the United States.

To protect your funds and account, Wise keeps your money with reputable financial institutions. It also uses security features like two-step authentication, which means you need both your password and a code sent to your phone or email to log in. This helps protect your account even if someone else knows your password.

A Wise Business account is a virtual (online) multi-currency account designed for businesses and freelancers to send, receive, hold, and convert money internationally. Here are some highlighted features of the Wise Business account:

Limitation

• USD accounts are currently not available outside the US; you can join a waitlist.
• Wise Business cards are available only in Canada, Singapore, Japan, Philippines, Australia, New Zealand and most countries in Europe.
• The number of currencies you can hold may differ from those you can send, receive, or convert. This depends on the region where you register.

The main difference is that the personal account is for personal use only and has fewer features.

A personal account does not include accounting software integration, batch payments, multiple cards for team members, access for multiple users, Stripe and Amazon payouts, open API access, invoice creation, or quick pay links.

Wise offers business accounts in many countries, but available features vary by location. Below is an overview of the three main service tiers, based on where your business is registered.

Limitation:

• France: The Wise card for businesses in France is only available for use within Metropolitan France.
• Brazil: A BRL balance is exclusively available to Brazilian residents.
• United States: Wise cards are currently unavailable for US businesses, and some services aren't offered in Nevada. Join the waitlist for card updates.
• Japan, Malaysia, or Singapore: If your address is in Japan, Malaysia, or Singapore, there’s a limit on how much money you can keep in your account.

Countries not listed are either because Wise does not yet offer services there or only provide personal accounts, not business accounts.

In this section, we'll be covering the eligibility to open a business account with Wise 

Wise offers business accounts to various types of businesses, such as:

• Sole traders and freelancers
• Limited and public companies
• Partnerships
• Charities and trusts in the European Economic Area (EEA), Canada, the US, the UK, Switzerland, Australia, and New Zealand.
• If your business is registered in Brazil, Wise only supports the following types: 
• Empresário Individual (including MEI – Microempresa Individual)
• Sociedade Limitada Unipessoal
• Sociedade Unipessoal de Advocacia.

Wise does not support these businesses: unregistered charities, charities and trusts outside the listed countries, Brazilian businesses sending BRL transfers, businesses linked to Cuba in connection with US relations, and businesses with bearer shares.

Additionally, your business must not operate in restricted sectors such as adult content, alcohol, tobacco, pharmaceuticals, chemicals, gambling, military goods, or crypto.

Although Wise mentions that their services are available in most countries, we cannot find a comprehensive list of eligible countries on their website.

However, there are certain places where you cannot open or log in to a Wise account. Below is the list.

Countries not supported by Wise

To open a Wise Business account, you’ll need to provide documents to verify your identity and your business. Requirements vary by business type and country, but commonly requested documents include:

Personal and Business Details

• A color scan of your ID (such as a passport or driver’s license)
• Full legal name of your business (including trading name, if any)
• Business registration number
• Business legal type (e.g., limited company, public company, partnership)
• Business category and activities (e.g., ecommerce, consulting).
• Business registration address, which is the address used for legal registration. You may need to provide proof, such as an electricity bill.
• Business trading address, where daily operations occur or where customers can reach you. This can be the same as or different from the registration address. PO boxes are not accepted.

People and Ownership Details

• List of ultimate beneficial owners. 
• List of shareholders owning 25% or more 
• List of directors or individuals managing the business 

This should include their full names, dates of birth, countries of residence, and ownership percentage.

Financial Information

• Proof of source of business funds or income, such as bank statements, invoices, service agreements, audited statements, or loan agreements, typically needs to be dated within the last 6 to 12 months.
• Purpose of the Wise account and how you plan to use it

Other Requirements

If you're not the director or a shareholder of the company, you need an authorisation letter or a board resolution from the company confirming that you’re authorised to use and communicate with Wise on behalf of the business.

If your business is registered in the UK, EEA, US, Singapore, Japan, Hong Kong, or New Zealand, you may need to provide additional documents to complete the account opening process. 

For instance, Singapore businesses must provide Singapore proof of address to complete the verification process, Hong Kong businesses need to provide their Hong Kong business registration number, and US-based businesses need to provide their social security details.

The cost of opening a Wise Business Account depends on your business's registration location. Below are the primary fees in a specific country for reference.

To check the exact fees for your country, visit the Wise Business pricing page. Select your country by clicking the flag icon in the top-right corner to view location-specific costs. Other applicable transaction fees should be shown on the app when you initiate the transfer. 

The one-off fee is charged for verifying your business during the registration process. In the event of unsuccessful verification, Wise may refund the fee. The fee may increase if the verification process for your business is complex.

For general support, Wise suggests you refer to the Wise Help Centre. 

You need to log in to contact Wise by phone, email, or chat.

Alternatively, customers in the US can call the toll-free number: +1 888 501 4041 (You will be charged if you call from outside the US)

For Singapore: +65 3135 1147

We cannot find other contact information on the website.

Wise is a good option for many businesses—but it does have key limitations.

Support options are limited to help articles unless you're logged in. There's also little visibility into how Wise manages currency risk or supports FX planning. Features vary by country, for example, if your company is registered in Hong Kong, you won’t be able to get a Wise Business payment card.

If Wise doesn’t meet all your business needs, consider Statrys.

Statrys is a licensed payment service provider headquartered in Hong Kong, offering fully digital multi-currency business accounts tailored to companies registered in Hong Kong, Singapore and the British Virgin Islands (BVI). With a Statrys business account, you can:

• Hold 11 major currencies in one account: HKD, CNY, USD, EUR, GBP, SGD, AUD, CAD, NZD, JPY, and CHF
• Send and receive payments in 140+ countries, including local payouts (pay like a local) in 12 currencies
• Apply for Mastercard® cards—virtual and physical—for your team global spending and ATM withdrawals
• Access FX risk management tools at competitive, real-time mid-market rates. 
• Get hands-on support, including a dedicated account manager available by email, phone, live chat, WhatsApp, and WeChat