DE Wise BusinessAd

For associations

Association account: when bank fees eat up membership fees

A small association we know paid over €2,000 per quarter in bank costs – over €8,000 a year. Money the association is missing.

  • Real figures from our companies
  • Wise is licensed and supervised in the EU
  • Clearly labelled as advertising
See Wise Business

Ad / referral link

Your association's bank costs per quarter

You will find this on your bank statement or quarterly account summary.

Your current bank costs per year–
Your current bank costs over 5 years–

Wise Business has its own fees (e.g. one-time setup, currency conversion, certain transfers). Check Wise's current pricing and compare it with your bank statement.

This is not a guaranteed saving – the calculator only shows what your current account costs you over time.

See Wise Business

Ad / referral link

Why associations often pay a lot

Associations have lots of small transactions: membership fees, course fees, donations, invoices for hall rental or materials. If the bank charges per transaction, it adds up quickly – even when the individual amounts are small.

What to clarify in your association before switching

  • Board decision: who decides on a new account? Check your statutes.
  • Access and approvals: who gets access (e.g. chair, treasurer), who may approve payments?
  • Audit: the auditors need the account statements – agree in advance how you will export them.
  • Membership fees: all members need the new IBAN. Existing direct debits must be switched deliberately.
  • Cash: takings from the summer fête or the canteen? We deposit cash via our bank.

Whether your association can open a Wise Business account is checked by Wise during sign-up (e.g. based on the register extract with ZVR number and the people authorised to represent it).

Our suggestion for associations

Ongoing online payments via Wise Business, the existing association account only for cash. That leaves few transactions on the bank account – and therefore few per-transaction costs.

Our model

Our model: Wise for everything online – bank only for cash

Ideal if you need (almost) no cash and do everything online.

  1. Everything online via Wise

    We pay wages, ÖGK, the tax office, suppliers and other companies online from Wise – including larger amounts of several thousand euros. In our experience the money often arrives within seconds (no guarantee).

  2. Keep your bank account

    We keep our regular bank account – only for cash. As hardly anything is booked there any more, we essentially only pay the standard quarterly account fee, without the many per-transaction costs.

  3. Cash via your bank

    When we need cash, we transfer from Wise to our bank and withdraw it there at the ATM or counter. This cuts our costs considerably.

Cash – an honest note

Honest note: withdrawing cash directly with the Wise card costs extra – for us it was up to €10.79 for a €400 withdrawal. Check the fees in Wise's current pricing.

Frequently asked questions

Can an association use Wise Business?

Wise decides during sign-up based on the legal form and documents. Start the sign-up and check whether your association is supported before you switch anything.

Do we have to close the old association account?

No. We recommend keeping it for cash. Whether to close it is up to the association.

More guides

← Back to home

More money for the association, less for the bank

See Wise Business
AdSee Wise Business