Is Wise good for investing?

What can you invest in with Wise?

While Wise is predominantly known as an international payments platform, it also offers access to interest and stocks today. You can access these services through its regular app.

Interest is offered in partnership with financial services firm BlackRock. Here, the offering is an interest-earning fund that holds secure government-guaranteed assets.

The stocks offering is a global index fund. This is also managed by BlackRock.

In terms of the minimum amount of money that’s needed to earn interest or invest in stocks, it’s just £1. So, you don’t need a lot of money to get started.

Wise interest review

When you choose to earn interest on Wise, your money is put into the BlackRock ICS Sterling Government Liquidity fund. This is a stable, low-risk fund that aims to maximise income through a portfolio of high-quality short-term money market instruments, and tracks the interest rate offered by the Bank of England.

This fund pays out interest on a daily basis. So, you’ll see the value of your money updated every working day.

When you’re using the interest feature, you can send and spend your money whenever you want. However, you’ll need to move it to your main account if you want to spend it.

You can transfer up to GBP £100,000 (or equivalent) each day from interest currencies. Any amount over £100,000 (or equivalent) adds a processing time of up to two working days.

What is the Wise interest rate?

As of August 2026, Wise interest was paying 3.32%. This is subject to change though.

If the Bank of England raises or lowers its key interest rate, the rate of interest Wise is paying is likely to rise or fall too. Unlike traditional bank accounts, your return will change soon after the central bank rate changes.

How do you turn on Wise interest?

To turn on Wise interest, you need to go into the app and select ‘earn a return.’ You then choose ‘interest.’

After this, you will need to answer a few simple questions. You will then need to deposit some money to get the service fully activated.

Is Wise interest safe?

Wise interest should be considered safe. With this offering, you are investing in a low-risk fund that holds government-guaranteed short-term securities.

Meanwhile, money put into Wise interest is covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS). So, if Wise was to run into financial difficulties, you would have protection up to £85,000.

Having said all that, it’s important to understand that Wise interest is not a bank account. And there are some risks associated with low-risk money market funds like the BlackRock ICS Sterling Government Liquidity fund.

For example, if the UK government defaulted on its debt, returns may not be as high as expected. This scenario is unlikely but can’t be ruled out completely.

What stocks does Wise offer?

When you choose to hold your money as stocks on Wise, your money is invested in the iShares World Equity Index Fund. This is a global index fund that tracks the MSCI World Index.

With this fund, you get access to around 1,300 different stocks from across the world. Top holdings include the likes of Apple, Amazon, Nvidia, and Alphabet.

How has this fund performed?

As of 31 July 2026, the iShares World Equity Index Fund had returned 19% over one year, 64% over three years, 68% over five years, and 227% over 10 years. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future returns though.

If global equity markets were to fall, it’s highly likely that the iShares World Equity Index Fund would fall too. This could result in negative returns for those invested in stocks via Wise.

What are the fees for interest and stocks on Wise?

For interest, the annual fee is 0.55% – you pay Wise 0.45% and the fund manager 0.1%. This means that if you were to have £1,000 in interest, you’d pay an annual fee of £5.50.

Both fees are based on the daily amount you hold in interest. The Wise fee is charged monthly and will be taken out of your account on the 1st of every month. The fund manager includes their fee in the value of your investment, so you won’t see it charged as a separate fee.

For stocks, you pay a 0.44% fee to Wise and a 0.15% fee to BlackRock (there is a 0.07% fund manager rebate). Both fees are taken automatically.

Platforms and app

The Wise app is generally well designed and easy to use, as is its website. When we tried to turn on interest and stocks, it was an easy process that only took a couple of minutes.

One handy feature on the app is that you can open ‘jars’ for your money. Jars is a feature to set aside money, and keep it separate from your main account.

Customer Service

With Wise, you can get help via its chat function. You can also get help by phone.

Its phone line is open from Sunday to Saturday, from 00:00 to 23.59 (BST). If you call the company, a support agent may ask you for your membership number so it’s a good idea to have this on hand.

Research and added value

Wise doesn’t offer a lot of research. However, there are some educational articles on its website.