How to receive money with Wise - 2025

If you have a Wise account in the Philippines you can use it to receive payments in PHP and a selection of other currencies like USD, GBP, EUR and AUD. This can be a flexible way to receive payments from friends and family overseas, or to be paid by overseas employers for example. There are several different ways to receive money from overseas with Wise - this guide looks at how. We’ll cover which currencies you can receive, the process, and the costs you need to know about.

How do I receive money from overseas with Wise?

There are 3 options to receive money in foreign currencies with Wise. Here’s a quick overview, and we’ll explore these options in more detail later.

1. Open a currency balance in 20+ major global currencies, to receive payments using local account details

The sender transfers from their bank, using your local account details allowing you to get your money in a foreign currency, with no Wise receiving fee. This avoids the currency conversion fee you would usually pay to receive your funds from abroad as PHP to your bank.

2. Ask the sender to transfer the funds with Wise, to receive 40+ currencies to your Wise account

Your sender sets up the payment through Wise, to transfer a very broad selection of currencies to your Wise account. You can hold your balance in the foreign currency or change to PHP or another currency if you would prefer, with the mid-market rate and low fees from  0.57%

3. Receive money to your Wise account with SWIFT

Your sender arranges a SWIFT transfer from their bank, to your Wise EUR or GBP details. Wise accounts support transfers via the SWIFT network in 20+ currencies. This allows you to receive a large selection of foreign currencies, with low Wise receive fees.

We’ll unpick how each method works throughout this guide. Here’s a summary of the currencies you can receive with Wise:

Receive funds using account details 

In the Philippines you can get local account information from Wise, to receive AUD, CAD, EUR, GBP, HUF, NZD, PHP, SGD, TRY, and USD. Here’s how to receive funds using local account details with Wise:

1. Download the Wise app, or open the Wise desktop site

2. Register with your email address, and follow the prompts to enter your personal details

3. Upload your ID documents and proof of address for verification

4. Select Currency Balance and tap the currency you want to receive - you’ll be shown your local account information in the required currency

5. Your account details can now be used to receive incoming payments

Receiving funds via SWIFT 

Wise accounts also offer ways to get paid through the SWIFT network, using either GBP or EUR account information. The broadest selection of currencies can be received using GBP account information, and your funds are settled in the currency that’s sent to you. Small receiving fees apply. Here’s how to receive funds via SWIFT with Wise:

1. Download the Wise app, or open the Wise desktop site

2. Register with your email address, and follow the prompts to enter your personal details

3. Upload your ID documents and proof of address for verification

4. Select Currency Balance and tap GBP to view your SWIFT account information

5. Your account details can now be used to receive incoming payments in a broad selection of currencies using SWIFT

Receiving money from Wise users 

You can also receive money to your Wise account in 40+ currencies, if the sender uses their own Wise account to arrange the payment.

And if you’re wondering how to receive money with Wise, it’s easy - the sender can simply log into Wise and use your name, email or phone number to transfer money to your Wise account conveniently. All you’ll need to do is wait for the payment to arrive - you’ll be notified by Wise when your money is ready to use.

Is Wise cheaper than Banks when receiving money from abroad? 

With Wise you can receive payments to your account in AUD, CAD, EUR, GBP, HUF, NZD, PHP, SGD, TRY, and USD using local account information, with no receiving fee. You can also choose to receive payments to Wise through SWIFT or a USD bank wire, but this service does come with a fee.

Many banks in the Philippines do allow you to receive USD payments if you open a USD account with them. However, in most cases you can then only receive payments via SWIFT, which means that you’ll pay a receiving fee and intermediary fees may apply. Wise offers the option to receive USD payments via ACH, which has no receiving fee. Here’s a summary for a couple of major banks and Wise, when it comes to receiving USD payments:

As you can see, you may find you pay a receiving fee if you get an inward payment to your bank. Wise allows you to receive payments in several major currencies, including USD, EUR, GBP and AUD with local account information which means no fee to receive and no intermediary fee.

If you’re being sent a foreign currency to your PHP bank account in the Philippines, either the sender’s bank, an intermediary, or your own bank will convert the incoming payment to PHP for deposit. This may mean paying a fee for currency conversion, as well as any intermediary fee or receiving fee that applies. Unfortunately, intermediary fees often aren’t clear until after the payment has been processed, which might mean you get less than you expected in the end.

Using your Wise account to receive foreign currency payments without conversion cuts out many of these costs and puts you in control of your money.

How to set up Wise account to receive money

You can set up your Wise account to receive money, by taking the following steps:

1. Download the Wise app, or open the Wise desktop site

2. Register with your email address, or an Apple, Google or FaceBook account

3. Follow the prompts to enter your personal details

4. Upload your ID documents and proof of address for verification

How do I get verified?

To keep customers and their money safe, Wise has to complete a verification step when you open an account or set up an international payment. This is to comply with legislation around the world and prevent fraudulent or illegal account use – banks need to do this when customers set up accounts too.

However, while you might have to visit a branch to verify your bank account, the good news is that you’ll be able to complete the Wise account verification process entirely online or in the Wise app. When you set up your Wise account for the first time, you’ll be asked to take the following steps for verification:

• Upload a photo of your ID document, following the Wise prompts

• Upload a photo of yourself, following the Wise prompts

If you’re a foreigner residing in the Philippines you must upload an image of your passport for identity checking. If your nationality is Filipino, you can use the following identity documents:

• Philippines National ID (PhilID)

• Passport

• Driving licence

• UMID

What details does the sender need?

To receive a payment on a Wise account, you’ll need to give the sender your Wise account details for the currency that the sender is using. Here’s how to find your currency account information to receive money to Wise:

1. Log into Wise in the app and select the currency you want to receive

2. Tap the account details button just under the currency

3. You can view and copy your account details to share with others

How do I deposit money into my Wise account?

You can add money to your Wise account using your local account information, or you can top up in PHP or another supported currency, in the Wise app.

To use your local account information, simply get your account details following the steps above, and use these to make a bank transfer to Wise from your bank. If you’d prefer to top up in the app, just log in and tap the Add money option. You’ll be guided through the process to add money in your preferred way, such as from your bank or with a card.

What is Wise?

Wise is a specialist provider of currency conversion, account and card services, operating in many countries around the world. Wise customers in the Philippines can open multi-currency accounts and get international payment services to manage their money across different currencies conveniently and with low fees.

You can use Wise to hold 40+ currencies, and to send payments to 40+ countries with the mid-market exchange rate and low fees from 0.57%.

How much does Wise cost when transferring money abroad?

Wise fees when transferring money abroad depend on two things:

• The amount the sender is transferring — the Wise fee is worked out as a percentage of the amount they are sending which varies from currency to currency

• Payment method — some payment methods, like debit and credit cards, come with an extra fee that’s set by the card provider or bank, not by Wise

Unlike many other providers and banks, Wise does not add any fees to the exchange rate they provide. They offer the mid-market rate with no markup on the exchange rates. This typically means the overall cost of a transfer is low, and you may receive more money compared to alternative methods.

Will you have to pay any fees as the receiver?

You can receive money for free in 10 currencies with the local account details that come with your account.

You can also choose to receive a broader range of currencies via SWIFT. In this case a small fee applies. For example, the cost of receiving USD and CAD with SWIFT are as follows:

• Receiving USD with SWIFT - 6.11 USD

• Receiving CAD with SWIFT - 6.16 CAD

What currencies can you receive to Wise?

As we’ve discussed, there are 2 different ways to receive foreign currency payments using account information with Wise. Here’s a reminder:

With local account details, you can receive payments for free, just as if you’re in the country - and without any currency conversion fees. Hold your balance in the currency you receive, and then you can choose to withdraw, send, spend or exchange it when you’re ready, subject to Wise’s low transaction fees.

For the currencies you can receive with SWIFT, you can share the GBP account details to the sender and you will be able to receive payments in the currency the sender transfers. This type of payment is processed via the SWIFT network, and as well as the small Wise receiving fee, there might be intermediary bank fees applied by other banks involved in the payment.

Advantages and disadvantages of receiving money with Wise 

Wise local account details available in the Philippines

Additional information for receiving money on Wise

There are a lot of numbers and information you hear about when it comes to international money transfers. That’s because there are several different ways to receive payments, and different currencies may use different account information to securely process payments. Here’s some of the important information to know about:

Wise IBAN number

An IBAN (international bank account number) is an account format used by European banks. If you're receiving money from Europe using Wise, you may need an IBAN. Wise will provide this for you.

Wise routing number

Depending on the currency you’re receiving to your Wise account, the sender may request a National Clearing Code, Routing Number, BSB Number or Sort Code. In this case you can simply get the Wise account details for the currency you’re receiving from the app – following the steps set out above – and you’ll find all you need.

How to send money from Wise to your bank account in Philippines

If you have a balance in your Wise account you may decide to send it to your PHP bank account. You can do this easily in the Wise app. All you’ll need to do is log in and tap Send money, to be guided through the process. You’ll need to select the amount and currency to withdraw, and enter your bank information if you’re never made a withdrawal from Wise to that account before.

How much does it cost to receive money into my bank account?

The costs of withdrawing your balance from Wise to send to your bank account depend on the currency you hold, and the value of the amount you need to withdraw. To give an example - at the time of writing, 4th April 2025, withdrawing 30,000 PHP has a fee of 39.2 PHP in total. This is made up of a 35 PHP fee from Wise, and 4.2 PHP in VAT.

Limitations 

If you have a Wise Philippines account there’s no limit to the amount you can hold in your account, but there is a monthly limit on how much you can top up or receive. This means you can only add or receive 10 million PHP per calendar month.

Summary

There are several great ways to receive money with Wise, including options to have others send you payments with local account details, with SWIFT transfers, and from their own Wise accounts. This gives you plenty of choice to select the best way to receive your payments - and offers the opportunity to receive and hold many different currencies conveniently and with low fees.