Wise - Is There a Calculator (on the Wise Site) to Show The Expected Forex Cost of a Purchase in NZD?

Alan6984 on 19/07/2026 - 10:55
Last edited 19/07/2026 - 11:15

Hi All,

Maybe I missed something obvious on their site, but I am wondering if there is a calculator on the Wise site that will show the expected cost, in NZD, of a forex purchase using one of our virtual Visa cards?

There is definitely a 'transfer' convertor, which I can use to go the other way (better than nothing), but (at least right now, for an Amazon UK GBP purchase) it actually works out a cost (via making a transfer) which is slightly worse that what came through (so, conservative, which is better than the other way around).

Actual Example:

I'm buying something that costs GBP 30.00 on Amazon UK.

I can pay, on Amazon UK, in either GBP or NZD and those options are:

GBP 30.00 / NZD 70.87 (as at the time of writing of course)

In Wise, I can see that, if I want to transfer GBP 30.00 from my NZD wallet to my GBP wallet, I would need to send NZD 70.29.

So, better to spend NZ$70.29 than $70.87.

However, I didn't actually click to move any NZD over to my Wise GBP wallet - I forgot to do that step. Oops.

I make the purchase on Amazon UK (in GBP), and it comes through Wise, and hits my NZD wallet (since there are no GBP in that wallet) and shows up as a charge of NZD 69.28.

This is due to the 'purchase conversation' rate (and / or fees) being better than the 'transfer' rate (rather than a movement in the forex cross-rates).

Hurrah! Better than I was expecting, so I'm happy I forgot to transfer the NZD over.

However, I am now wondering, was there a way that I could have known in advance that the NZD amount of the GBP 30.00 purchase would come through as NZD 69.28 (accepting that forex rates can move anytime of course)?

Now, perhaps we can, somehow, know that the cost of a purchase will ALWAYS work out better than the cost of transferring the funds into the forex wallet? However, I'm not sure whether that is certain or not?

Obviously I could also use an online calculator elsewhere on the web, but I was hoping / expecting there to be one there on the Wise site?

General Discussion

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  • tangobravo on 20/07/2026 - 08:49

    This link? Just googled it.
    Currency Converter | Foreign Exchange Rates | Wise https://share.google/hWHz7eZQwJlVUVP4w

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    • Alan6984 on 20/07/2026 - 12:00

      That could be it - I was looking after logging in. Didn't occur to me to look on the outer website.

      That converted cost, using the page you linked DOES come out less than when you check the cost to convert NZD into GBP once logged in, so this could well be what I am after. I'll have to try and remember to use it next time and see :-)

      Thanks!

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  • Naimady on 20/07/2026 - 08:50

    An interesting discovery, thanks for that. Really good to know

    This is chatgpts response

    Yes. What you observed is expected behavior, and it's one of the advantages of using the Wise card.
    When you pay with your Wise Visa card in a currency you don't hold (e.g. GBP), Wise doesn't treat it as a bank transfer. Instead, it performs an automatic conversion at the time of the card purchase using its card conversion pricing. This often works out slightly cheaper than manually converting money beforehand, because:
    card conversions don't incur the same fees as a standalone transfer;
    the conversion is done only for the amount you actually spend; and
    Wise uses the mid-market exchange rate plus a small conversion fee.
    So in your example:
    Amazon's offer: NZ$70.87 (poor dynamic currency conversion – best avoided)
    Wise transfer estimate: NZ$70.29
    Actual Wise card charge: NZ$69.28 (best outcome)
    Unfortunately, Wise doesn't currently provide a dedicated "card purchase calculator" that tells you exactly what a foreign card purchase will cost before you make it. The calculator on their website is for transfers, and while it's often a reasonable estimate, it isn't designed for card spending.
    A practical rule of thumb is:
    Always pay in the merchant's local currency (GBP in your example), never NZD.
    If you don't already hold that currency, Wise will automatically convert from your NZD balance, and it's often as good as or slightly better than converting manually first.
    The main reason to convert in advance is if you want to lock in an exchange rate because you expect it to worsen before you spend.
    So, in most day-to-day purchases, there's little benefit in pre-converting unless you're trying to hedge against exchange rate movements. Your experience of paying NZ$69.28 instead of the NZ$70.29 transfer estimate is consistent with how Wise prices card transactions.

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    • Alan6984 on 20/07/2026 - 12:02

      Interesting that it states that:

      Wise doesn't currently provide a dedicated "card purchase calculator"

      If so, what is the calculator that @tangobravo found and posted above?

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      • Naimady on 20/07/2026 - 14:39

        AI probs just took the exact name card purchase calculator and tried to find one. Full discloser I just copied your post and pasted it I to chatgpts, no other context..
        But if the above meets your requirements, then excellent.

        I would love to know for the next person that reads this thread to conclude On their next purchase if they use the online currency converter to estimate the spend on their next purchase and then use their card to pay and have wise convert it automatically, are they getting the same conversion rate that is displayed online at the time it a better/worse rate

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        • Alan6984 on 20/07/2026 - 22:18

          AI probs just took the exact name card purchase calculator and tried to find one. Full discloser I just copied your post and pasted it I to chatgpts, no other context..
          But if the above meets your requirements, then excellent.

          I think you're right - it just regurgitated the original information, and then managed to draw completely the wrong conclusion. Tits on a bull.

          As I had already said above, there is no way to be sure without testing it.

          I guess we should not be surprised at the repetition.

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