A Wise charge on your bank statement comes from Wise, the international money transfer company formerly known as TransferWise. In most cases it’s a transfer you sent, a purchase or ATM withdrawal made with a Wise debit card, or a fee tied to a Wise account. If none of that fits, treat it as a possible unauthorized transaction, because how quickly you report it decides how much of the money you can get back under federal law.
How the Charge Appears on Your Statement
The merchant line won’t always read “Wise” in plain text. Common variations include WISE.COM, TFRWISE, and TRANSFERWISE, usually followed by numbers or a reference code. Some banks truncate or reformat merchant names, so the entry can look unfamiliar even when you set up the transaction yourself.
One detail is worth pulling off the statement before you do anything else: the 14-digit reference number that’s often attached to the transaction. That number is what matches the line on your bank statement to a specific transfer or payment inside Wise.
If you funded a Wise transfer from your bank’s debit card rather than from a Wise balance, the charge posts to the bank account, not just inside the Wise app. That accounts for a lot of the “I thought I already paid this” confusion.
What the Charge Is Usually For
Most Wise charges fall into a few categories.
The most common is an international money transfer. Wise converts at the mid-market exchange rate and adds a transparent fee starting at 0.57%, with the exact percentage depending on the currency pair.1Wise. Wise Fees and Pricing: Only Pay for What You Use Sending USD to a major currency like euros or pounds generally costs less than sending to a less commonly traded one.
Wise debit card activity is the other big source. Each purchase or ATM withdrawal shows up individually. ATM withdrawals are free up to $100 per month across a maximum of two withdrawals; after that, Wise charges $1.50 per withdrawal plus 2% of the amount.1Wise. Wise Fees and Pricing: Only Pay for What You Use A replacement card costs $5, though replacing an expired card is free.2Wise. Pricing for the Wise Multi-Currency Card
Business account holders see a few extras. Unlocking account details to receive international payments in major currencies is a one-time $31 fee.3Wise. Wise Business Fees and Pricing After that, there are no monthly account fees or minimum balance requirements.4Wise. Is Wise Business Account Free in the US? Incoming wire transfers carry a flat $6.11 fee per wire; ACH deposits are free.5Wise. What Are Wise’s Wire Transfer Fees?
How to Confirm the Charge Inside Wise
If you have a Wise account, log in and open the Activity tab. Every completed and pending transaction is listed there with a digital receipt showing the amount sent, the fees charged, and where the money went. Receipts download as PDFs, which is worth doing before you contact anyone, because having the receipt next to your statement usually clears things up fast.
Match the date, amount, and reference number on your bank statement to the entries in Wise. Small differences in the posted amount can show up because of currency conversion timing, but the reference number should line up exactly. If nothing in your Wise account corresponds to the charge, treat that as a signal to escalate.
If You Didn’t Authorize the Charge
If you have a Wise account and see a transaction you didn’t make, report it through the Wise app or website by opening the transaction and choosing the option to report a problem. If you don’t have a Wise account at all and this charge appeared, skip Wise and call your bank or card issuer’s fraud line directly. Either way, speed is the single most important factor.
If the Charge Hit a Debit Card or Bank Account
Electronic transfers and debit card transactions are governed by Regulation E, which uses a sliding scale tied to how quickly you report:6eCFR. 12 CFR 1005.6 – Liability of Consumer for Unauthorized Transfers
- Within 2 business days of learning about the loss or theft: your maximum liability is $50, or the amount of unauthorized transfers before notice, whichever is less.
- After 2 business days but within 60 days of the statement that showed the problem: liability can rise to as much as $500.
- After 60 days from that statement: you can be on the hook for the entire amount of unauthorized transfers that occurred after the 60-day window, with no cap.
That third tier is where people lose real money. Someone who sets statements aside for a few months and later finds a pattern of fraud may have no legal right to recover anything beyond the first 60 days. Checking statements each month is the protection.
Once you report, the bank is required to investigate. Federal rules give it 10 business days to resolve the error or up to 45 days if it provisionally credits your account in the meantime, with a 90-day window for transfers initiated outside the United States, new accounts, or point-of-sale debit card transactions.7eCFR. 12 CFR Part 1005 – Electronic Fund Transfers (Regulation E) – Section 1005.11
If the Charge Hit a Credit Card
Credit card protection is stronger. Federal law caps your liability for unauthorized credit card use at $50, and once you notify the issuer, you owe nothing for charges after that notification.8Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1643 – Liability of Holder of Credit Card Most major issuers waive even the $50 in practice. The Fair Credit Billing Act also requires creditors to investigate billing errors and bars them from damaging your credit standing while the investigation is open.9Federal Trade Commission. Fair Credit Billing Act Send your dispute in writing within 60 days of the statement date that first showed the error.
A Note on How Wise Holds Your Money
Wise is not a bank. Funds sitting in a standard Wise account are not covered by FDIC insurance. Wise safeguards customer money by holding it separately from its own operating funds, in cash at commercial banks and in secure liquid assets like government bonds. If you opt in to earn interest on a USD balance, those funds are swept into FDIC-insured accounts at partner banks with coverage up to $250,000.10Wise. How Our US Entity, Wise US Inc. Protects Customer Funds This matters mainly if you carry large balances; for someone looking at a single line item on a statement, the protection questions sit with the bank or card issuer that the charge posted to.