Wise (formerly TransferWise) API

Overview

The Wise API, branded as Wise Platform, offers a suite of functionalities designed for businesses requiring international payment and multi-currency account capabilities. It allows companies to integrate Wise's financial infrastructure directly into their own products and services, facilitating global money movement. The API supports a range of use cases, from enabling customers to send money internationally to managing multi-currency balances and automating cross-border payouts. It is particularly suited for platforms, banks, and enterprises looking to offer embedded finance solutions, enhancing their offerings with global payment rails and real-time exchange rates.

Developers can utilize the Wise Platform API to automate various financial operations. This includes initiating international transfers, managing recipient details, retrieving account statements, and converting currencies at the mid-market rate with transparent fees. The API provides endpoints for checking available balances, setting up recurring payments, and handling payment notifications. Its design emphasizes speed and cost-efficiency for international transactions, aiming to reduce the complexities and fees often associated with traditional cross-border banking. The API supports various payment methods, including local bank transfers, SWIFT, and card payments, depending on the corridor and currency involved.

Target users for the Wise API include fintech companies building new financial products, e-commerce platforms processing international sales, payroll providers managing global workforces, and financial institutions seeking to modernize their international payment offerings. The API adheres to compliance standards such as PCI DSS and GDPR, addressing data security and privacy requirements for financial operations. Its comprehensive documentation, sandbox environment, and support for OAuth 2.0 authentication aim to provide a streamlined developer experience for integrating its services.

Key features

• International Money Transfers: Programmatically initiate and manage cross-border payments to over 80 countries with access to real-time exchange rates and transparent fees.
• Multi-Currency Accounts: Allow users to hold and manage balances in multiple currencies, enabling local receiving details for several regions (e.g., USD, EUR, GBP) without needing local bank accounts in each country.
• Real-time Exchange Rates: Access up-to-the-minute mid-market exchange rates for currency conversions, ensuring transparency and predictability for international transactions.
• Embedded Finance Solutions: Integrate Wise's payment and account infrastructure directly into third-party applications, enabling new financial services within existing platforms.
• Mass Payouts: Automate sending payments to multiple recipients globally, suitable for payroll, vendor payments, or marketplace disbursements.
• Account Management: Retrieve account balances, transaction history, and manage recipient profiles programmatically.
• Webhooks for Notifications: Receive real-time updates on transaction status, transfer completion, and other critical events.
• OAuth 2.0 Authentication: Secure API access using the OAuth 2.0 protocol, allowing for delegated authorization.

Pricing

Wise's API pricing structure is primarily transaction-based, with fees applied for transfers and currency exchange. Volume-based discounts are available for Wise Platform clients, particularly those with higher transaction volumes. As of May 2026, the specific rates vary by currency corridor, transfer type, and volume. For detailed and up-to-date pricing information, refer to the Wise Business API pricing page.

Below is a generalized overview of the pricing model:

Common integrations

• Financial Platforms: Integrate with banking apps, ERP systems, and accounting software to automate international payments and reconciliation.
• E-commerce Marketplaces: Enable cross-border payments for sellers and buyers, facilitate payouts to international vendors, and manage multi-currency transactions.
• Payroll and HR Systems: Automate international payroll for remote employees and contractors, reducing fees and speeding up payment delivery.
• Travel and Hospitality: Process international bookings, manage supplier payments, and handle multi-currency refunds efficiently.
• Fintech Solutions: Build new challenger bank features, payment apps, or embedded finance products leveraging Wise's infrastructure.

Alternatives

• Stripe Connect: Offers a platform for marketplaces and businesses to manage payments, including international payouts and multi-currency support, focusing on online transactions.
• Payoneer: A financial services company providing online money transfer, digital payment services, and working capital for businesses, primarily serving freelancers and SMBs.
• Remitly for Business: Focuses on international money transfers, allowing businesses to send money to a wide range of countries, often with various delivery options.
• PayPal Payouts API: Enables businesses to send mass payments to multiple recipients globally using a single API call, supporting various currencies.
• Adyen API: A comprehensive payment platform that supports global payments, including multi-currency processing, local payment methods, and fraud prevention for large enterprises.

Getting started

To begin using the Wise API, developers typically start by creating a Wise Business account and then generating API credentials. The Wise documentation provides guides for setting up an application and authenticating requests using OAuth 2.0. The following Python example demonstrates how to initiate a simple balance inquiry using the Wise API.

This example assumes you have obtained an access token via the OAuth 2.0 flow. For a full implementation, secure storage of credentials and proper refresh token handling would be necessary. More detailed instructions, including sandbox environment setup and comprehensive API references, are available in the Wise API reference documentation.

import requests
import json

def get_wise_balances(access_token, profile_id):
    """Fetches the balances for a given Wise profile."""
    headers = {
        'Authorization': f'Bearer {access_token}',
        'Content-Type': 'application/json'
    }
    url = f'https://api.wise.com/v4/profiles/{profile_id}/balances'

    try:
        response = requests.get(url, headers=headers)
        response.raise_for_status() # Raises an HTTPError for bad responses (4xx or 5xx)
        balances = response.json()
        return balances
    except requests.exceptions.HTTPError as http_err:
        print(f"HTTP error occurred: {http_err} - {response.text}")
    except Exception as err:
        print(f"An error occurred: {err}")
    return None

# --- Example Usage ---
# Replace with your actual access token and profile ID
# The profile ID can be found via the /v1/profiles endpoint after authentication.
# For development, use the sandbox environment URL: 'https://api.sandbox.wise.com'

# DUMMY VALUES - DO NOT USE IN PRODUCTION
ACCESS_TOKEN = "YOUR_OAUTH_ACCESS_TOKEN"
PROFILE_ID = "YOUR_WISE_PROFILE_ID"

if __name__ == "__main__":
    print("Attempting to fetch Wise account balances...")
    account_balances = get_wise_balances(ACCESS_TOKEN, PROFILE_ID)

    if account_balances:
        print("Successfully fetched balances:")
        for balance in account_balances:
            print(f"  Currency: {balance['currency']}, Amount: {balance['amount']['value']}, Type: {balance['balanceType']}")
    else:
        print("Failed to retrieve account balances.")