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Wise vs Airwallex (2026): Which Is Better for Receiving International Payments in India?

Author:: Editorial team, serviceexportguide.com
Verified by:: Editorial team
Published: 28 October 2026
Last modified: 28 October 2026
Fees checked on: 28 October 2026
Reading time: 14 min read

Short answer

Neither Wise nor Airwallex publishes enough pricing to estimate the cost of a USD 5,000 receipt, so there is no cost verdict. The better choice depends on how your client pays: Wise is best for bank transfers to local account details, and Airwallex is best for registered businesses paid by bank transfer.¹²³

Use case	Better option	Why
Bank transfer of USD 5,000	Cannot compare	Neither publishes full pricing for this case.
Bank transfer of USD 2,000	Cannot compare	Neither publishes full pricing for this case.
Client paying USD 2,000 by card or link	Cannot compare	Neither publishes full pricing for this case.
Wise is best for	Wise	Bank transfers to local account details.¹
Airwallex is best for	Airwallex	Registered businesses paid by bank transfer.²³

Invoice amountCurrencyHow the client pays

1,000 USD = ₹94,243 at the reference rate for 13 November 2026 (European Central Bank data).

Estimated rupees received, on published fees

Sorted by estimated rupees received, highest first. Only providers that publish both their fee and their conversion markup for this currency and method can be estimated.

#	Provider and route	Best for	Fee (+GST)	Markup	You receive	Cost
1	Karbon BusinessLowest estimated costBank transfer to a Karbon virtual USD account	US bank transfers and marketplace payouts	₹942plus GST, rate not stated	0%	₹93,131 to ₹93,301	1.00 to 1.18%
2	RazorpayMoneySaver Export Account: bank transfer to virtual account details (Standard plan)	Local transfers from the US, UK and eurozone	₹1,000plus GST, rate not stated	0%	₹93,063 to ₹93,243	1.06 to 1.25%
3	WinvestaGlobal Collections Account, standard plan (up to 2,000 a month per currency)	Local transfers with a published per-payment fee	₹1,435	0%	₹92,809	1.52%
4	SkydoPayment link (InstaLinks) paid by ACH debit	Local bank transfers from major markets	₹1,885plus GST, rate not stated	0%	₹92,019 to ₹92,358	2.00 to 2.36%
5	PayoneerLocal bank transfer to Payoneer receiving account details	Marketplace payouts such as Amazon or Upwork	₹0no GST stated	1 to 4%	₹90,473 to ₹93,301	1.00 to 4.00%
6	PayPalInternational commercial transaction received into a PayPal account (PayPal checkout or invoice)	Clients paying by card or PayPal balance	₹4,175no GST stated	3 to 4%	₹86,465 to ₹87,366	7.30 to 8.25%

Not estimated because pricing is not fully published: Cashfree Payments, Dodo Payments, PingPong, Stripe, Tazapay, TransFi, Wise.

Where a provider says GST applies to its fee but not at what rate, the range runs from no GST to 18%, the rate Skydo, Stripe and Winvesta state on their pages. Estimates use each provider's published fee, conversion markup, GST on fees and FIRA charge, checked 2026-10-28, against the reference rate. They exclude charges taken by intermediary banks and your own bank, and the rate a provider actually applies at the time of conversion. Check the provider's pricing page before you choose. The order is calculated only from these published numbers; no provider can pay to change its position, and there are no affiliate links.

How do Wise and Airwallex compare at a glance?

Wise and Airwallex compare on the twelve points below, using each provider's published information as checked on 28 October 2026. Where a provider does not publish something, the table says so.¹⁴⁵⁶

	Wise	Airwallex
Best for	Bank transfers to local account details¹	Registered businesses paid by bank transfer²³
Fees	Wise's India help article says it charges an equivalent of 2 USD in the received currency for the transfer to the INR bank account that issues the e-FIRC. Wise's India receive pricing page describes a free eFIRC for every transfer. The general Wise Business fee table on Wise's India site lists 6.11 USD per USD wire or Swift payment, 2.16 GBP per GBP Swift payment and 2.39 EUR per EUR Swift payment, with domestic (non-Swift, non-wire) payments free; Wise's India-specific receive pages do not repeat these Swift fees. 18% GST applies to Wise fees.¹⁴⁵	Singapore fee schedule: 0% for collections in most currencies; 0.60% for KRW, VND, BRL and MYR collections. A fee for incoming SWIFT payments is not listed.⁶
FX markup	Mid-market exchange rate plus a conversion fee that Wise says depends on the currency. No percentage is published for conversion to INR; the amount is shown in Wise's calculator.⁴⁷	Singapore fee schedule: 0.40% mark-up for major currencies (AUD, USD, HKD, CNY, JPY, EUR, GBP, CAD, CHF, NZD, SGD); 0.60% for a list that includes INR; a 1.00% Auto Conversion Fee is listed without a definition. How the margin applies to a USD to INR conversion is not published.⁶⁸
Settlement	Wise says the INR payment reaches the Indian bank account within 1 to 2 days and that more than 50% of transfers settle within 2 hours of pay-in. The client's payment takes 0 to 3 working days to reach Wise by local methods and 2 to 6 working days by SWIFT.¹	Airwallex's docs give 0 to 2 business days for local INR payouts to India and 0 to 3 business days for SWIFT payouts to India.⁹
FIRA	An e-FIRC for each transfer, emailed to the registered address within 3 working days and downloadable from the transfer page. The help article links it to the 2 USD equivalent fee; the pricing page calls it free.¹⁴	Airwallex says an FIRC is issued by an authorised bank in India; you request it from Airwallex support through the chatbot in the web app, and Airwallex coordinates with its banking partner. Airwallex says there may be a fee, set by the banking partner. The amount is not published.¹⁰
Currencies	24 currencies: local account details in 11 currencies and international account details in 13 more, from 140+ countries, according to Wise.¹	Airwallex says Global Accounts collect in 20+ currencies. The list available to an India-registered business is not published.⁸³
KYC: who can sign up	Wise Business only: sole traders or freelancers (personal PAN and an INR bank account in their own name), sole proprietorships, private limited companies, LLPs and general partnerships. Other business types are not currently onboarded. Wise personal accounts in India cannot receive money.¹¹¹²	India-registered companies and LLPs, proprietorships and partnerships, and MSMEs, per Airwallex's India document list. Proprietorships and partnerships need a GST Registration Certificate. No route for unregistered individual freelancers is listed.²
RBI PA-CB status	RBI's list of authorised payment aggregators dated 16 October 2026 includes Wise Payments India Private Limited as a Payment Aggregator, Cross Border, facilitating inward transactions (PA-CB-I), authorised on 12 March 2026. Wise's India receiving pages do not name the Wise entity that handles inward payments.¹³¹	Airwallex's help centre lists India as a supported registration location, with the business onboarded by the Airwallex Singapore entity. Airwallex (Singapore) Pte. Ltd. says it is licensed in Singapore as a Major Payment Institution. Airwallex does not appear under the name Airwallex in RBI's list of authorised payment system operators (including PA-CB) as on 16 October 2026, nor in RBI's status of PA applications as on the same date.¹⁴⁶¹⁵¹⁶
Support	Not published on the India receiving pages checked.	Help centre and support request form; for FIRC requests Airwallex directs users to the chatbot in the logged-in web app. India-specific support channels are not published.⁸¹⁰
Limits	Minimum 5 USD or equivalent and maximum 2.5 million INR (₹25 lakh) or equivalent per transaction; payments outside these limits are returned to the sender. RBI caps each PA-CB inward or outward transaction at ₹25 lakh.¹¹⁷	Airwallex's docs list no maximum transaction limit for local INR or SWIFT payouts to India. Limits for India-registered account holders are not published.⁹
How clients pay	The client pays to the business's Wise account details from their own bank (local transfer, wire or SWIFT) or from a Wise account.¹⁷	Local bank transfer or SWIFT to Global Account details (for example USD in the United States by ACH or Fedwire, GBP by Faster Payments, EUR by SEPA). Airwallex says restrictions apply by onboarding entity and does not publish which accounts an India-registered business receives. Card acceptance availability for India-registered businesses is not published.³¹⁸
Card payments	Not available for India-based businesses: Wise lists card acceptance only for Wise Business accounts in the EEA, UK, Australia, Hong Kong, New Zealand, Singapore, Canada and the US.¹⁹	Singapore pricing: 3.30% for domestic cards and 3.60% for international cards, plus a SG$0.50 gateway fee per transaction. Airwallex says the company must be registered in an eligible country for the payment method; whether India is eligible is not published on the pages checked.⁶¹⁸

How much INR do you receive on $2,000, $5,000 and $10,000 with Wise vs Airwallex?

The INR you receive with Wise and Airwallex is the invoice at the reference rate, less each provider's fee, conversion markup, GST on fees and FIRA charge. The table works this out from published pricing at today's rate.

None of these providers publishes both a fee and a conversion markup for USD.

Not estimated because pricing for USD is not fully published: Wise.

Ranked by INR received on USD 5,000. Reference rate: European Central Bank data for 13 November 2026. Fees, conversion markup, GST on fees and FIRA charges as published by each provider, checked 28 October 2026. Ranges appear where a provider publishes a range or does not state its GST rate. Intermediary bank charges are excluded. See the methodology.

What is Wise and who is it for?

Wise is a money transfer company whose Wise Business account gives Indian businesses and freelancers account details in other currencies, converts what they receive to INR and sends it to their Indian bank account.¹⁷

Regulated by: RBI's list of authorised payment aggregators dated 16 October 2026 includes Wise Payments India Private Limited as a Payment Aggregator, Cross Border, facilitating inward transactions (PA-CB-I), authorised on 12 March 2026. Wise's India receiving pages do not name the Wise entity that handles inward payments.¹³¹
Used by: Wise Business only: sole traders or freelancers (personal PAN and an INR bank account in their own name), sole proprietorships, private limited companies, LLPs and general partnerships. Other business types are not currently onboarded. Wise personal accounts in India cannot receive money.¹¹¹²
Best for: Bank transfers to local account details.¹

What is Airwallex and who is it for?

Airwallex is a global business account and payments company; its help centre lists India as a registration location onboarded by its Singapore entity, and it publishes no India-specific pricing page.¹⁴⁸

Regulated by: Airwallex's help centre lists India as a supported registration location, with the business onboarded by the Airwallex Singapore entity. Airwallex (Singapore) Pte. Ltd. says it is licensed in Singapore as a Major Payment Institution. Airwallex does not appear under the name Airwallex in RBI's list of authorised payment system operators (including PA-CB) as on 16 October 2026, nor in RBI's status of PA applications as on the same date.¹⁴⁶¹⁵¹⁶
Used by: India-registered companies and LLPs, proprietorships and partnerships, and MSMEs, per Airwallex's India document list. Proprietorships and partnerships need a GST Registration Certificate. No route for unregistered individual freelancers is listed.²
Best for: Registered businesses paid by bank transfer.²³

How do Wise and Airwallex fees and FX markup compare?

Wise and Airwallex charge in different ways, so compare the fee and the conversion markup together, not the headline fee alone.

What does Wise charge?

Transaction type	Fee	FX markup	GST on fees	Best for
Local (domestic, non-Swift, non-wire) transfer to Wise local account details	USD 2⁴¹⁵	Not published	18%	Clients paying by local bank transfer
Wire or Swift payment to Wise account details	USD 2 + plus a fixed fee by currency⁴¹⁵	Not published	18%	Clients paying by international wire

What does Airwallex charge?

Transaction type	Fee	FX markup	GST on fees	Best for
Local transfer to Global Account details (Singapore fee schedule)	0%⁶¹⁴¹⁰	0.6%	Not stated	Clients paying by local bank transfer
Card acceptance, international cards (Singapore fee schedule)	3.6% + SGD 0.5⁶¹⁰	0.6%	Not stated	Clients paying by card

How do Wise and Airwallex compare on settlement speed?

Wise and Airwallex publish these settlement times for money reaching an Indian bank account.

Platform	Settlement time	Payout to India	Best for
Wise	Wise says the INR payment reaches the Indian bank account within 1 to 2 days and that more than 50% of transfers settle within 2 hours of pay-in. The client's payment takes 0 to 3 working days to reach Wise by local methods and 2 to 6 working days by SWIFT.¹	Automatic: Wise converts each payment to INR and sends it to the verified Indian bank account given during verification. Indian users cannot hold the foreign currency, and the account details cannot be used to send money. No separate withdrawal fee is published beyond the e-FIRC transfer fee.¹	Bank transfers to local account details¹
Airwallex	Airwallex's docs give 0 to 2 business days for local INR payouts to India and 0 to 3 business days for SWIFT payouts to India.⁹	Airwallex pays out to Indian bank accounts in INR by NEFT, IMPS, RTGS or iACH, or by SWIFT in foreign currencies. The Singapore fee schedule lists local payouts at $0 and SWIFT payouts at $20 (SHA) or $35 (OUR). Whether payout to your own Indian account is automatic is not published.⁹⁶	Registered businesses paid by bank transfer²³

Do Wise and Airwallex provide FIRA and e-BRC, and are they RBI PA-CB authorised?

Wise and Airwallex publish the FIRA position and RBI status below, checked on 28 October 2026. An e-BRC is generated by the exporter on the DGFT portal from bank remittance data, so it does not depend on the provider issuing one.³⁹

Platform	FIRA	RBI PA-CB status	Best for
Wise	An e-FIRC for each transfer, emailed to the registered address within 3 working days and downloadable from the transfer page. The help article links it to the 2 USD equivalent fee; the pricing page calls it free.¹⁴	RBI's list of authorised payment aggregators dated 16 October 2026 includes Wise Payments India Private Limited as a Payment Aggregator, Cross Border, facilitating inward transactions (PA-CB-I), authorised on 12 March 2026. Wise's India receiving pages do not name the Wise entity that handles inward payments.¹³¹	Bank transfers to local account details¹
Airwallex	Airwallex says an FIRC is issued by an authorised bank in India; you request it from Airwallex support through the chatbot in the web app, and Airwallex coordinates with its banking partner. Airwallex says there may be a fee, set by the banking partner. The amount is not published.¹⁰	Airwallex's help centre lists India as a supported registration location, with the business onboarded by the Airwallex Singapore entity. Airwallex (Singapore) Pte. Ltd. says it is licensed in Singapore as a Major Payment Institution. Airwallex does not appear under the name Airwallex in RBI's list of authorised payment system operators (including PA-CB) as on 16 October 2026, nor in RBI's status of PA applications as on the same date.¹⁴⁶¹⁵¹⁶	Registered businesses paid by bank transfer²³

Which currencies, countries and payment methods do Wise and Airwallex support?

Wise and Airwallex accept the currencies and payment methods below, as each publishes them.

Platform	Currencies	How clients pay	Card payments	Best for
Wise	24 currencies: local account details in 11 currencies and international account details in 13 more, from 140+ countries, according to Wise.¹	The client pays to the business's Wise account details from their own bank (local transfer, wire or SWIFT) or from a Wise account.¹⁷	Not available for India-based businesses: Wise lists card acceptance only for Wise Business accounts in the EEA, UK, Australia, Hong Kong, New Zealand, Singapore, Canada and the US.¹⁹	Bank transfers to local account details¹
Airwallex	Airwallex says Global Accounts collect in 20+ currencies. The list available to an India-registered business is not published.⁸³	Local bank transfer or SWIFT to Global Account details (for example USD in the United States by ACH or Fedwire, GBP by Faster Payments, EUR by SEPA). Airwallex says restrictions apply by onboarding entity and does not publish which accounts an India-registered business receives. Card acceptance availability for India-registered businesses is not published.³¹⁸	Singapore pricing: 3.30% for domestic cards and 3.60% for international cards, plus a SG$0.50 gateway fee per transaction. Airwallex says the company must be registered in an eligible country for the payment method; whether India is eligible is not published on the pages checked.⁶¹⁸	Registered businesses paid by bank transfer²³

What are the strengths and limitations of Wise and Airwallex?

Wise and Airwallex each suit some exporters better than others. These points come from each provider's own pages.

What are the strengths and limitations of Wise?

Strengths:

Your clients are willing to pay by bank transfer to local account details in USD, GBP, EUR or another supported currency.¹
You want an e-FIRC issued for each payment received.¹
You are a freelancer without a registered business, since Wise Business accepts sole traders verified with a personal PAN.¹¹
Individual payments are between 5 USD and ₹25 lakh equivalent.¹

Limitations:

Indian businesses cannot accept card payments through Wise.¹⁹
Money cannot be held in foreign currency; every receipt is converted to INR.¹
No conversion fee percentage is published for INR, so the cost of a receipt can only be seen in Wise's calculator.⁴
Single payments above ₹25 lakh equivalent are returned to the sender.¹
Wise's own pages differ on whether the e-FIRC is free or covered by a 2 USD equivalent fee.¹⁴
Business types other than sole traders, sole proprietorships, private limited companies, LLPs and general partnerships are not currently onboarded.¹¹

What are the strengths and limitations of Airwallex?

Strengths:

Your business is a registered Indian company, LLP, partnership or GST-registered proprietorship that wants local account details abroad for clients paying by bank transfer.²³
You also pay overseas suppliers or contractors and want one account for collections and payouts in several currencies.⁸⁶
You are comfortable requesting an FIRC from support for each transaction rather than receiving one automatically.¹⁰

Limitations:

Airwallex does not appear under the name Airwallex in RBI's list of authorised payment aggregators, including PA-CB, as on 16 October 2026.¹⁵¹⁶
There is no India pricing page; India-registered businesses are onboarded by the Singapore entity, whose fee schedule does not mention India.¹⁴⁶
The India document list requires a GST Registration Certificate for proprietorships and partnerships, and lists no route for unregistered individual freelancers.²
The FIRC is issued on request through support, and its fee is set by a banking partner and not published.¹⁰
Purpose code handling for receipts into India is not published.⁴⁰
SWIFT payouts cost $20 (SHA) or $35 (OUR) under the Singapore fee schedule.⁶

Should you choose Wise or Airwallex?

Choose between Wise and Airwallex by how your clients pay and your usual invoice size.

Choose Wise if:

Your clients are willing to pay by bank transfer to local account details in USD, GBP, EUR or another supported currency.¹
You want an e-FIRC issued for each payment received.¹
You are a freelancer without a registered business, since Wise Business accepts sole traders verified with a personal PAN.¹¹
Individual payments are between 5 USD and ₹25 lakh equivalent.¹

Choose Airwallex if:

Your business is a registered Indian company, LLP, partnership or GST-registered proprietorship that wants local account details abroad for clients paying by bank transfer.²³
You also pay overseas suppliers or contractors and want one account for collections and payouts in several currencies.⁸⁶
You are comfortable requesting an FIRC from support for each transaction rather than receiving one automatically.¹⁰

For example, say a designer invoices a US client USD 2,000. Because neither provider does not publish full pricing for that case, ask for a quote in writing and compare it with the FIRA rate after the first payment.⁴⁷⁶⁸

Which other platforms should you consider besides Wise and Airwallex?

Other platforms to consider besides Wise and Airwallex are the ones with the lowest estimated cost on a USD 5,000 receipt, listed in that order.²¹²²²³²⁴²⁵²⁶²⁸²⁹³¹³²³⁴³⁶³⁷³⁸

Platform	Best for	Estimated cost on USD 5,000	FIRA	Review
Skydo	Local bank transfers from major markets²⁰	0.68%²¹²²²³²⁴²⁵²⁶	Skydo says it issues a free FIRA on every payment received, and that its FIRA and FIRC are accepted for GST filing and by banks.²⁵²⁷	Skydo review
Karbon Business	US bank transfers and marketplace payouts²⁸	1.00 to 1.18%²⁸²⁹	Karbon says it provides a FIRA for every transaction, issued by its licensed banking partner, which it does not name. Cost not published.²⁸	Karbon Business review
Razorpay	Local transfers from the US, UK and eurozone³⁰	1.00 to 1.18%³¹³²	Razorpay provides a Foreign Inward Remittance Statement (FIRS), sent to the contact email within 24 hours after settlement for bank transfers, and downloadable from the dashboard, which shows bank-provided certificates and Razorpay-generated statements. The pricing page lists FIRC or eFIRC as included and auto-generated for international cards. No separate charge is published.³⁰³³³²	Razorpay review
Winvesta	Local transfers with a published per-payment fee³⁴³⁵	1.24%³⁴³⁶³⁷³⁸	Free e-FIRA, emailed within 24 hours of funds reaching the Indian bank account and downloadable from the dashboard; it shows the purpose code and exchange rate.³⁷³⁶	Winvesta review

Compare every provider on your own invoice in the platform cost comparison.

How did we verify this?

We checked this page against the sources below on 28 October 2026. Provider fees, conversion markups and RBI payment aggregator (PA-CB) status were checked on 28 October 2026. Rupee amounts use European Central Bank reference rates for 13 November 2026. Read our methodology or report an error.

Frequently asked questions

Which is cheaper for Indian exporters, Wise or Airwallex?+

There is no cost verdict for a USD 5,000 bank transfer: neither publishes full pricing for this case.⁴⁷⁶⁸ The answer can change with the currency, payment method and invoice size, so check your own numbers in the platform cost comparison.

Do Wise and Airwallex give a FIRA to Indian exporters?+

Wise: An e-FIRC for each transfer, emailed to the registered address within 3 working days and downloadable from the transfer page. The help article links it to the 2 USD equivalent fee; the pricing page calls it free.¹⁴ Airwallex: Airwallex says an FIRC is issued by an authorised bank in India; you request it from Airwallex support through the chatbot in the web app, and Airwallex coordinates with its banking partner. Airwallex says there may be a fee, set by the banking partner. The amount is not published.¹⁰

Can individual freelancers use Wise and Airwallex?+

Wise: Wise Business only: sole traders or freelancers (personal PAN and an INR bank account in their own name), sole proprietorships, private limited companies, LLPs and general partnerships. Other business types are not currently onboarded. Wise personal accounts in India cannot receive money.¹¹¹² Airwallex: India-registered companies and LLPs, proprietorships and partnerships, and MSMEs, per Airwallex's India document list. Proprietorships and partnerships need a GST Registration Certificate. No route for unregistered individual freelancers is listed.²

Are Wise and Airwallex authorised by the RBI?+

Wise: RBI's list of authorised payment aggregators dated 16 October 2026 includes Wise Payments India Private Limited as a Payment Aggregator, Cross Border, facilitating inward transactions (PA-CB-I), authorised on 12 March 2026. Wise's India receiving pages do not name the Wise entity that handles inward payments.¹³¹ Airwallex: Airwallex's help centre lists India as a supported registration location, with the business onboarded by the Airwallex Singapore entity. Airwallex (Singapore) Pte. Ltd. says it is licensed in Singapore as a Major Payment Institution. Airwallex does not appear under the name Airwallex in RBI's list of authorised payment system operators (including PA-CB) as on 16 October 2026, nor in RBI's status of PA applications as on the same date.¹⁴⁶¹⁵¹⁶

How fast do Wise and Airwallex pay out to an Indian bank?+

Wise: Wise says the INR payment reaches the Indian bank account within 1 to 2 days and that more than 50% of transfers settle within 2 hours of pay-in. The client's payment takes 0 to 3 working days to reach Wise by local methods and 2 to 6 working days by SWIFT.¹ Airwallex: Airwallex's docs give 0 to 2 business days for local INR payouts to India and 0 to 3 business days for SWIFT payouts to India.⁹

Do I still need an LUT if I am paid through Wise or Airwallex?+

Yes, if you are registered under GST and want to invoice the export without IGST. The Letter of Undertaking is a GST filing for the financial year, and it does not depend on how the money reaches you, whether through Wise, Airwallex or a bank wire.⁴¹

This page is general information for Indian service exporters, not tax or legal advice. Rules change and outcomes depend on your facts, so confirm with a chartered accountant before acting.

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