I have to confess I’m in the same boat. I’ve been abroad a lot this year since getting the card and still haven’t used it.
8 Likes
I’m attracted to it more for sending/receiving money than for spending - but I don’t have much use case for that at the moment.
1 Like
Same here.
I think it’d come in useful for an extended stay overseas. Or to lock in an exchange rate if you think it’s particularly good and are concerned that it might go down…
Other than that, I have it, I love the idea, but struggle to see the use case. The one time I did try to have USD transferred to my TransferWise USD details I was told the bank name was wrong and it didn’t receive incoming funds. 
1 Like
Ditto. Love WeTransfer for transfers but haven’t found a use for the debit card.
1 Like
I’ve used it in Europe as an experiment, in exactly the same way I usually use Monzo,
.
It has some of the same benefits as Monzo (instant notifications etc), but you lose the spending breakdown, if that’s important to you. The main disadvantage it has over Monzo for me, was that while the Monzo iOS widget gives you your balance, I had to log in to the TransferWise app to find it.
I’ll probably take it along on my next trip just for the extra £200 free foreign ATM withdrawals, although I don’t expect to need it.
You can obviously load it up with Euros (other currencies are available) some weeks before you travel, to help mitigate against currency fluctuations, if you think they might be a concern.
[Edit] It might be quite a good card to use if you habitually get paid in one currency, but spend in another.
4 Likes
Here’s where I’ve found it useful.
I spent a couple of months on a contract in the US, and they paid me in USD into my borderless account.
Now that I have the debit card linked to that account. I was able to spend from that account in the US- without having to transfer back to GBP and then spend from my monzo account. Hence saving some money in fees.
This also recently happened on a job in France. Paid in Euro… spent in Euro. Boom.
For this kind of scenario, I’ve not found anything equivalent.
11 Likes
I think that’s mostly what the card and account is for: not really holiday spending, but for receiving various currencies, and then having the ability to spend in those currencies without having to do any conversion.
Revolut does offer something similar, although for fewer currencies. But - depending in your precise circumstances - they may be cheaper.
3 Likes
Transferwise have ditched same currency transfers, yay!
2 Likes
Yes - the fees on them, that is (for most currencies), not the transfers themselves.
1 Like
That’s good because with fees I really can’t see the point of the account at the moment - if I just want multi currency then Revolut give me it at zero fees, if I want to keep my money in pounds and spend at zero fees then Monzo and tandem give me it.
1 Like
I hope you have not misunderstood what fees were removed by Transferwise.
As mentioned before, the fees that were dropped are withdrawal fees from TW Borderless Account to a local bank account in the same currency, i.e. EUR from TW to a local EUR account. Some exclusions still apply, e.g. you will not pay fees for withdrawing USD from TW to a USD account only if account in question is tied to US based bank/credit union. Business account holders are still being charged fees, though.
As for currency conversion fees and overeas card transactions requiring currency conversions, the fees remain. This in my opinion makes foreign purchases with TW debit card unattractive to price sensitive users, as in almost all instances they are more expensive than interbank or MC and Visa rates.
Mind you, despite having their own in-house processor they are not immune to outages, either. The last month’s outage took place on weekend and lasted around 12 hours. On a positive note, they are still great for foreign transfers, have great customer service and care about transparency.
2 Likes
Hi, my first post.
I’ve had a TrgansferWise account for a long time and recently accepted an offer to try their borderless account with debit card.
I had difficulty using it to fund a betting exchange account and they tell me I can’t return winnings to it.
Are there such restrictions on Monzo cards?
1 Like
I’ve had cash from Betfair paid into Monzo with no problems.
2 Likes
They’ve just announced additional fees 
We’re adding a small fixed fee of around 65p to send money.
From 1st December, there will be a small fixed fee to send money from your borderless account, to another bank account.
The total fee will depend on whether you’re sending from one currency to another, or transfering money in a single currency. Here’s how that works:
To send money from one currency to another, you’ll pay the usual conversion fee, plus the small, fixed fee.
For instance, if you’re sending money from your EUR balance to a bank account in GBP, you’ll pay the 0.30% conversion fee, plus 65p. The fixed fee varies by currency, you can find the full list here.To send money in one currency you’ll only pay the small, fixed fee.
For instance, if you’re sending money from your GBP balance to a bank account in GBP, you’ll only pay 65p.There’s no change to fees to convert money within your account.
When you convert currencies between balances in your account you’ll only pay the conversion fee.Why has this happened?
Every time you send money to another bank account, TransferWise pays fees to third-party providers, and covers other costs. A while ago, we made it free, believing we could cover these fees ourself. Unfortunately, despite our best efforts, it’s too expensive to maintain.We’re disappointed we’ve had to change this fee, and we’re working on a plan to reduce it in the future. As soon as we have an update, we’ll be back in touch.
2 Likes
Not much if transferring say £1000, but on a £100 xfer to a card that supports Google Pay it’s double the cost of € to £ exchange.
Where did you find this info? I couldn’t find it online 
When you use your card isn’t MasterCard responsible for doing the conversion at their own rates?
No, they’ll use their rates with their fees. They’ll only use MasterCard rates for currency pairs they don’t support, which will obviously end up being cheaper
Hi Guys
Sorry for my ignorance but can someone tell me the benefit (in laymans terms) of the transferwise account and card?
Here’s my personal situation:
- I live and work in Dubai (brit)
- I want to find the easiest and cheapest way to transfer my AED to GBP and bring into my UK account (Monzo).
- I travel a lot for work - Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia and other SEA territories.
How would transferwise benefit me at all? Coming from a non-financial terminology background person 
Many thanks in advance!