WISE

Opening an Account with the WISE Payment System (United Kingdom)

Cost for the private persons from 400€

Cost for the legal entities from 600€

Opening Term: 3 business days

Remotely: yes

The Wise company was founded in 2011 in the United Kingdom. The payment system's operations and security are regulated by a government body, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). Today, the Wise payment system successfully sends money transfers to 59 countries around the world.

Wise uses peer-to-peer (p2p) technology, meaning it connects the sender of a payment with the recipient directly or through an intermediary server.

Opening a Wise Business Account

In practice, a money transfer with Wise works as follows:

  1. You have EUR in your account.

  2. You need to send a payment in UAH.

  3. You send the funds in EUR to your Wise account.

  4. The technology developed by Wise finds another client who wants to make a transfer in the opposite direction (UAH to EUR).

  5. The Wise system automatically balances the currency flows in real time.

  6. The recipient receives your transfer in UAH.

  7. The transfer is paid out in UAH at a local bank.

Unlike other payment systems, Wise applies the mid-market exchange rate and locks in the rate from the moment the payment is created. This guarantees that the recipient will receive the full amount of your transfer. In addition, the sender's fee is always visible at the very start of creating a transfer, and there are no fees for the recipient. As an online service, the Wise payment system does not accept or send cash. A Wise account can be opened entirely remotely in 3 to 4 business days.

Opening a Wise account for international business:

  • Opening a multi-currency account with no fee

  • No monthly account maintenance fee

  • Incoming payments are free of charge

  • Withdrawal to a bank account: from 0% to 0.2%

  • Ability to hold and convert 44 currencies in the account at the same time

  • Mid-market currency exchange rate

  • Convenient mobile app for Android and iOS 

Currently, the Wise payment system has restrictions on USD payments via SWIFT to certain countries. You can always use your Wise card to pay on marketplaces such as Amazon, eBay, and others. Given Wise's rates, such a transfer is the simplest and cheapest way to receive an international transfer in Ukraine. The funds can be received through almost any Ukrainian bank, including Oschadbank, PrivatBank, Monobank, Raiffeisen Bank, and so on. The transfer can be received in EUR and UAH.

The Wise payment system follows the "know your customer" principle and reserves the right, in each individual case, to request additional documents, which may extend the account opening time or result in a refusal to open an account without explanation.

WISE advantages

1

Account opening with no fee

2

Individual IBAN for 10 currencies

3

Fast, remote account opening

4

E-commerce services for eBay and Amazon

5

Low fees on international transfers

General Information

Types of accounts

Multi-currency accounts.

Business accounts.

Accounts for individuals.

Personal visit

To open a Wise business account, the director does not need to visit in person.

Service rates

Account opening:

for legal entities: 50 GBP or 60 EUR (depending on the country of registration); for individuals: no fee.

Account maintenance for individuals and legal entities: no fee.

Useful information

Wise payment system website: www.wise.com

Stages of account opening

01

Preparation of documents

To open an account with Wise, you need to provide information about your business activities, counterparties, and planned turnover, and to complete a questionnaire. Together with the questionnaire, you submit the company's corporate documents and personal identification documents of the director and the beneficiary, or of the individual (for a personal account).

02

Analysis of documents

First, Maira Consult lawyers analyze the information and documents provided in order to register the client's profile with Wise.

03

Submission of documents

We send the ready package of documents for opening a corporate account to Wise for review. Opening the director's personal account beforehand is not mandatory. The payment system allows you to register Wise Business directly, and the director's existing personal profile can be linked to the business profile for a shared login.

04

Passing verification

The company's director and beneficiary, or the individual (for a personal account), complete online verification through Wise's electronic verification system.

05

Compliance Check

At this stage, Wise carries out a compliance check on the client and may request additional information about the business activities, main counterparties, and the source of the beneficiary's funds.

06

Account opening

The Wise account is activated with the first incoming transfer. After receiving the first transfer, the payment system performs an additional check, activates the Wise account, and provides the client with the account details.

Answers to the Most Common Questions:

Wise does not accept a virtual office, a PO box, or a registered agent's address as the actual business address. If a company uses only its registered address to open an account, you must separately specify the real place where the business operates and, at Wise's request, confirm it with documents.
A trading address (the actual place of business) is the physical location from which a company carries out its day-to-day activities: an office, a shop, a coworking space, or the home address of the owner or director. It may differ from the registered address. Wise requires the actual address to be in a country where Wise Business is supported. Wise may accept a valid lease agreement, a utility bill, a bank statement, or another document that contains the owner's name or the company name and the full address.
There are no restrictions on Ukrainian citizens opening a Wise account, but citizenship alone does not guarantee that an account will be opened. During the compliance check, the country of residence and the client's documents that explain the source of funds are also important. Ukraine is currently not on the list of countries of residence where holding funds in a new Wise account is available. Ukrainians who live in a supported country can apply and go through the check under local terms.
Wise Business is available to companies registered in the United Kingdom, Lithuania, Poland, Estonia, Germany, and other supported jurisdictions. Whether a corporate account can be opened depends not only on the country of registration but also on the actual place of business, the legal form, and the structure and activities of the company. If the registered and actual addresses are in different countries, Wise provides only the services available in both countries.
A personal profile is intended for private financial transactions. Wise Business is opened for the commercial activities of a company or entrepreneur: receiving payments from customers, settling with suppliers, and other business payments. For a corporate profile, Wise checks additional information about registration, the company's structure, its activities, its counterparties, and the source of the business owners' funds.
No, Wise allows you to register a business profile without first opening a personal account. If the company director's personal profile has already been opened, you can add Wise Business to it and use both profiles through a single login. Personal and corporate transactions are still kept separate.

Other payment systems in this region

TitleCost from (EUR)
MULTIPASS500
OMEGA600
3S MONEY500
PAYALLY600
TRANSFERRA500
REVOLUT500
MONEVIUM600
PAYSET500
BILDER600
SENDS500
Amaiz500
EMERALD24500
WEAVEPAY500
CONNECTUM500

Our Contacts

Phone

+380 97 527-66-30

Client Relations Department

+380 73 427-66-30

Email

[email protected]

Address

Kyiv, 01054, Ukraine,

40B Ivan Franko St., office 207

Legal information

MAIRA LLC

EDRPOU code: 38202700

Jurisdiction: Ukraine

Working hours

Monday to Friday: 09:00 to 18:00

Saturday and Sunday: closed

We respond to inquiries within 15 to 30 minutes during working hours

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International Law Company Maira Consult