Man, comparing Airwallex Borderless and Wise Card for traveling? I’ve been through the wringer with both of these, and trust me, it’s not just about a low fee on paper. It’s about how it actually works when you’re freezing your butt off trying to pay for ramen in Tokyo, or sweating through a market in Bangkok.
I started this journey because my old bank was eating my lunch with foreign transaction fees. Every time I’d swipe, I’d see that sneaky extra percent vanish. Enough was enough. I needed something that felt like I was spending local currency, without the headache.
Getting Started with Wise
Wise (formerly TransferWise) was the obvious first stop. Everyone talks about it. The signup process was a breeze, super straightforward. I got the physical card quickly—it felt like a regular debit card. Loading money was easy from my local bank account, and I loved that I could hold multiple currencies. I remember putting USD and EUR in there, ready for a trip to Europe.
- First Trip Test: I used it heavily across Spain and Portugal. Paying in restaurants, pulling cash from ATMs. The exchange rates were genuinely good, near the mid-market rate, which felt revolutionary compared to my old bank.
- The Drawback: The ATM fees started to creep up, though. Wise gives you a small free allowance for withdrawals, but if you’re pulling out decent amounts of cash on a long trip, those fees start adding up, even if they are small per transaction. It felt like I was constantly calculating to stay under the free limit.
The Airwallex Dive
Airwallex, though, I stumbled upon them because I was starting to run a small side hustle internationally and needed better multi-currency accounts, not just a travel card. Their focus is definitely more on businesses, but they offer the Borderless cards for individuals too, kind of a side benefit.
Getting the Airwallex card was a bit more involved than Wise. They asked for more documentation, likely because of the business focus, even though I was just setting up a personal card initially. It took a few extra days for full verification. But once I was in, the dashboard felt powerful.
- The Game Changer: Airwallex’s rates are often slightly better than Wise, especially for big conversions, though the difference is minimal for small transactions. But here’s the key difference for travel: fee structure. Airwallex offers a global Visa card that often has zero foreign transaction fees, and sometimes, zero or very low ATM fees globally—depending on which region the card is issued from and where you use it. I found I could withdraw cash much more freely without stressing over those limits Wise imposed.
- Real-World Use: I took the Airwallex card to Southeast Asia—Vietnam and Thailand. I was pulling cash constantly because so many small vendors only accepted cash. Airwallex was brilliant here. No fuss, just a decent rate and minimal or no withdrawal fees on their side.
My Conclusion After Using Both
Look, if you are just a casual traveler, doing one or two short trips a year, grabbing some cash here and there, the Wise Card is totally fine. It’s simple, easy to set up, and reliable. It’s the straightforward option.
But for me—someone who travels often, needs to hold multiple currencies for a side business, and pulls cash frequently (especially in cash-heavy countries)—Airwallex Borderless edges out Wise. That freedom from worrying about ATM withdrawal limits and slightly better conversion rates on bigger loads just makes the whole experience smoother.
I still keep both active, loaded with small amounts. If one network is down or an ATM rejects one card (which happens!), I always have the backup. But for the primary spending when I’m hopping continents, my Airwallex card is usually the one leading the charge in my wallet. It just handles the complexity of frequent, cash-heavy international travel better because of that fee structure when withdrawing money