I’ve written numerous times about using TransferWise for transferring between Mexican pesos and US dollars.
Check out our previous post on Maximizing currency conversions (Buy your pesos at the right time) for details on our experiences using TransferWise (Hint: it’s been fantastic!)
TransferWise has recently changed their name to Wise.
What is Wise?
Wise, formerly TransferWise, is an international account for over 50 currencies, with instant, super-cheap money transfer, a card to spend in any currency, bank details to get paid in 30 different countries, multi-currency direct debits, and other revolutionary stuff. Wise is on average 7x cheaper than old-school banks when you send, spend, or withdraw money around the world.
What’s changing with the new Wise name?
Really, not much.
For customers, not too much will change right away. You can access your exact same account via wise.com, using your current email and password. You won’t need a new account. In a few weeks transferwise.com will start to redirect to wise.com. The logo has changed, and the mobile apps will be renamed. Beyond that, there’s some new colors, words, and designs.
New casa means lots of payments!
We’re in the process of building our house in Mexico, and we use Wise every week to pay our builder, contractors, and the materials supply houses. At this point, we’re spending a lot of money on cinder blocks and concrete!
I also pay attention to the USD-MXN rate. I watch it on a daily basis. At the moment, it’s 21.30 – the highest point in 2021 so far. So this week I transferred more dollars into pesos by buying them at Wise, and leaving them in my MX Pesos account at Wise.
For example, if I tried to send 200,000 pesos today, transferring from US dollars, Wise is definitely the cheapest:
| Wise | Wire Transfer | Xoom | |
| Pesos | $200,000 MXN | $200,000 MXN | $200,000 MXN |
| Rate | 21.317 | 20.7015 | 20.9134 |
| Fees | $72.89 USD | $0 | $0 (when using a bank account) |
| Total Cost | $9,455.07 USD | $9,661.14 USD | $9,563.24 USD |
| Cost compared to Wise | + $206.07 USD | + $108.17 USD |
By using Wise, I save more than $100 than using Xoom, and more than $200 if using a wire transfer (even though the wire transfer and Xoom transfers are “free”).
Summary
Certainly, paying attention to currency conversion rates, and converting money at the right time can make a bigdifference.
If you’re just coming down to Mexico for a week of vacation – I wouldn’t worry about this. Just get your pesos from a trustworthy ATM (hopefully using a debit card that is free to use and reimburses ATM fees), and you’ll be fine.
But, if you live in Mexico for any period of time (either full-time, or as a part-time snowbird), all of this can make a big difference.
And do take a look into Wise – I think it’s great service, and can really help you maximize money in a multi-currency world.
Affiliate Link Disclosure
Note: the Wise links in this post are my affiliate link, so should you sign up using my link, I do get a small kickback. I think it’s enough to buy a beer. Or maybe two beers down here in Mexico! So if you do sign up, please use my link, which will help keep me well inebriated!