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Wise and Trust
‘Wise’ is a global online financial service for sending and receiving money and buying things. With debit card optional. Available in all countries. It offers mid-market rates (no margin) for foreign exchange – unheard of in the consumer market! And the lowest rates and fees, really very minimal. It can also be used as a Trust account, for Non Registered Trust owners. It is free to use for personal use but an upgrade for full business features is a one-off AUD$22. I have put together the specifics on how to benefit from it and how to have Wise accept your Trust account, in the attached document. Whether or not you have a Trust its a useful facility. I have studied the T & C and found nothing onerous or unusual, in fact it was streamlined compared to other financial services providers. I can see use for it acting as a firewall to the Public.
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5 Replies
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Wow that sounds great! We’re applying for an account at the moment so if it doesn’t work out we’ll definitely look at this option. Thanks!!
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I just read your attachment, if you declare you have ‘income’ doesn’t that give the tax department jurisdiction?
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Thanks Morag. Firstly, I recommend it as an option alongside the bank account used for a Trust. Not ‘instead of’. It’s not a true firewall like a foundation because it is obviously in the Public. But in my own observation it could be a useful 2nd tier, or alternative tier, compared to just relying on the bank account alone. Payments received could be spread across Wise and the bank account for example. And banks usually penalise foreign transactions quite severely so Wise means the Trust bank account doesn’t need to deal with them at all. The sheer fact of being able to open another buisness account in the trust name is a useful resource.
To your second question. They do have Public words on the application questions, words like Income. But so does the bank in their forms and terms and etc, we already have to deal with the same stuff with the bank. It’s a case of jumping through the hoops without concern. For example, the other day Mark told me, concerning the Trust account. If the bank insists on a tax file number then just give it to them so they can tick that box. Meaning, these things don’t matter so much because of the fact of the Trust and our ability to hold position regardless. Of course its better to avoid it. My bank didn’t ask me for any numbers.
But yes Wise does have ‘know your customer’ obligations no different to a bank. Because they have a license to operate as a financial services provider. Actually their obligations are a bit less than a bank, they don’t have quite as much expected of them per the regulator because they don’t have the same responsibilities of a bank. Would be why I found the T & C to be so streamlined and straightforward.
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for clarity, I provided no tax file number, no business number, no company number to Wise and had a business account verified. Despite Wise normally expecting all of those things for a buisness customer. They have two accounts, a personal account for everyone and a buisness account if its relevant for someone. The latter account is how you implement the Trust. So, some may wish to simply use the personal version for simplicity + benefits.
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Another couple of insights about Wise. When used as an acccount for a Non Registered Trust, it simply uses the Trust name. As opposed to banks which, since 2019, use ‘TRUSTEE NAME ATF TRUST NAME’. ATF stands for ‘As Trustee For’. So, with Banks the Trustee name is blatantly exposed. Wise does not have anywhere near the responsibilities of banks so while is still licensed to provide a financial product, the expectations from the regulators are lower. Also. Some have missed, that it can be used to buy and sell online. Particularly useful if foreign exchange is involved considering the exceptional mid-market rates as mentioned previously.