Being wise with our money

I owe a shout-out to @aviatorsoverland. Fellow Canadians who have spent their fair share of time in Mexico, they steered us to Wise, a virtual financial institution that they testified works well for travellers. It’s cheaper, they said. It’s easier, they said. Their logo is cool, they said. Well okay, they didn’t say that…

Anyhow, I was a little skeptical because Wise’s fee structure is a (just a little) more complicated than RBC’s. However, after figuring out the app and getting the card, today I did two identical withdrawals from the same ATM – one from Wise and one from RBC. Then I went back to the Airbnb to look at all the fees, charges and exchange rates to see whether there was an actual difference.

Believe it or not, there was! On a CDN$600ish transaction, I saved $18! That’s almost 3%. Like I said, Wise’s fee structure is more complicated, but I can maintain at least a 2% savings by regularly using Wise over RBC. And I can maintain multiple accounts in multiple currencies with Wise.

I won’t post the referral link here because I’m not shilling for Wise, but if you want to try them out let me know and I’ll send it to you – you get a small benefit if you use the link (as would I).

(See our Facebook and Instagram for pics.)