A “Wise Inc” line on your bank statement is a charge from Wise, the international money transfer and multi-currency account company formerly known as TransferWise. In almost every case, seeing Wise Inc on a bank statement traces back to something moving through a Wise account connected to your bank: a transfer you sent, a currency conversion, a purchase on a Wise debit card, a top-up into your Wise balance, or a fee deducted from money someone sent you.
The descriptor is vague because “Wise Inc” is the corporate name your bank sees from the payment processor. It won’t tell you which transaction it refers to. You have to match it against your Wise activity to know for sure.
What Wise Is
Wise is a UK-based financial technology company that rebranded from TransferWise in March 2021.1TechCrunch. TransferWise Rebrands as Wise Ahead of an Expected IPO It handles international transfers and offers accounts that hold and spend money in dozens of currencies.
In the United States, Wise is registered as a Money Services Business with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network and holds state-level money transmitter licenses.2Financial Crimes Enforcement Network. Money Services Business (MSB) Registration It’s a regulated financial service, not a scam operation. That doesn’t mean every charge is one you meant to make, but it does mean the entity behind the descriptor is legitimate.
Common Reasons the Charge Appears
Five things typically produce a Wise Inc entry on the funding bank account:
- International transfer. You sent money abroad, or someone sent money to you and a small fee was deducted from the incoming amount.
- Currency conversion. You exchanged currencies inside your Wise account. Conversion fees vary by currency pair, starting around 0.33% for common routes.3Wise. Wise Fees and Pricing
- Debit card purchase. If you have a Wise multi-currency card, any store or online purchase on that card shows up as a Wise transaction on the bank account funding it.
- Account top-up. You moved money from your regular bank account into your Wise balance. This is the one that catches people off guard, because the top-up may have happened days before you actually spent the money.
- ATM withdrawal. Wise allows up to $250 in free ATM withdrawals per calendar month. After that, each withdrawal costs $1.95 plus 1.95% of the amount, and the ATM operator may add its own fee.4Wise. Pricing for the Wise Multi-Currency Card
One scenario worth calling out: someone else sent you money through Wise and a processing fee was pulled from the incoming amount. You didn’t initiate anything, but the fee still generates a line item on the bank side.
How to Verify the Charge
Open the Wise app or log in at wise.com and pull up your transaction history. Match three things against your bank statement: the dollar amount, the date, and the reference number if your bank includes one in the descriptor.
Time zone differences can shift the date by a day, so a charge dated the 15th on your bank statement might appear as the 14th or 16th inside Wise. Each Wise transaction has a receipt breaking down the amount sent, the exchange rate used, and the fee charged. If the numbers line up, the charge is yours.
If you share an account with a family member or business partner, check with them before assuming something is wrong. A shared card or joint access is the most common source of “I don’t recognize this” that turns out to be recognized after all.
What to Do If You Don’t Recognize It
If nothing in your Wise history matches, treat the charge as unauthorized and move quickly. How fast you report it determines how much you can recover.
Report to Wise and Your Bank in Parallel
Contact Wise support through the app so they can freeze suspicious activity on the account side. At the same time, file a dispute with your bank. These are two separate processes and you need both.
If the charge hit a debit card or came out of your checking account as an ACH transfer, the dispute falls under Regulation E. If it hit a credit card, it falls under Regulation Z, which has different rules and generally stronger consumer protections.
Regulation E Liability Tiers
For unauthorized electronic fund transfers, federal law caps your liability based on how quickly you report:5eCFR. 12 CFR Part 1005.6 – Liability of Consumer for Unauthorized Transfers
- Report within 2 business days of learning about the unauthorized access, and your liability maxes out at $50.
- Report between 2 and 60 days after your bank sends the statement, and your liability can reach $500.
- Wait longer than 60 days, and you could be on the hook for the full amount of any transfers that happen after that window.
The gap between noticing on day one and ignoring your statement for two months is the gap between losing $50 and losing everything.
Investigation Timelines
Once you report the error, your bank generally has 10 business days to investigate. It can extend to 45 days, but must provisionally credit your account within the first 10 business days so you have access to the disputed funds during the investigation.6Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. 12 CFR Part 1005.11 – Procedures for Resolving Errors
Wise transactions often trigger a longer clock. The 45-day investigation window extends to 90 days for transfers not initiated within a state, point-of-sale debit card transactions, and transactions on accounts less than 30 days old.6Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. 12 CFR Part 1005.11 – Procedures for Resolving Errors International Wise transfers will often qualify, so be prepared for the longer wait even after you’ve filed the dispute.