What the Wise integration can and can’t do
It helps to be clear about this up front, because Wise splits the work between Referly and your Wise account. What Referly does for you:- Builds the payout batch from approved commissions, so you never assemble a list of who gets what.
- Creates one Wise transfer per affiliate, in the currency each affiliate asked to be paid in.
- Shows you the Wise fee and the exchange rate for every transfer before you commit to anything.
- Keeps the payout statuses in your dashboard in step with Wise, so a payout flips to Paid or Failed on its own once Wise processes it.
- Emails you when a payout fails, and records the reason Wise gave.
- It can’t put money into your Wise balance. You top up Wise yourself, in advance. If the balance is short when you go to pay, the transfers won’t go through.
- It can’t approve the payment for you. Referly creates the transfers; you sign in to Wise to approve and fund them. This is a Wise security rule, not a Referly limitation — Wise only supports funding transfers over an integration for accounts based in the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, and Malaysia. Everywhere else, approving in Wise is the only way.
- It can’t pay an affiliate who hasn’t given you their details. An affiliate with no payout email (or no bank details, if they chose the local bank option) is skipped.
- It can’t run alongside manual bank transfer. Turning Wise on switches the Manual Bank Account method off, because Wise already sends money to bank accounts for you.
Wise is one of several ways to pay. If you’d rather not handle transfers at all, Referly Payouts pays your affiliates on your behalf. See Manage payouts yourself or let Referly handle them to compare the two.
Before you start
You’ll need all of these before the connection will work:1
A Wise Business account
Wise only issues the kind of key Referly needs on business accounts. A personal Wise account won’t get you there.
2
A verified account
Wise has to have finished checking your business. Until verification is done, you can’t create a key and you can’t send money.
3
2-step verification turned on
Wise blocks key creation until your account is protected with 2-step verification.
4
Money in your Wise balance
Enough, in the currency your program pays in, to cover the batch plus Wise’s fees.
5
Admin access to your Referly program
You need to be able to open Program Settings.
Step 1: Open or upgrade to a Wise Business account
Do this on Wise’s site, not in Referly.1
Go to Wise and choose the business option
Head to wise.com and sign up. When Wise asks what kind of account you want, choose the business account. If you already have a personal Wise account, sign in and add a business profile to it — you don’t need a second login.
2
Enter your business details
Wise asks for your registered business name, address, company registration number, and what your business does. Use the details exactly as they appear on your registration documents, or verification will stall later.
3
Pay the one-off setup fee if Wise asks for one
Wise charges a small one-time fee to open a business account in some countries. The amount depends on where your business is registered — Wise shows it during signup.
Step 2: Finish business verification
Wise won’t let you send money or create a key until it has verified you.1
Upload the documents Wise asks for
This usually means proof of business registration, proof of business address, and ID for the people who own or control the company. The exact list depends on your country and company type — Wise tells you which ones apply to you.
2
Wait for the review
Verification commonly takes a couple of business days, but can take longer if Wise comes back with questions. Watch your email.
3
Confirm your account is active
When you can see balances and the option to send money in your Wise account, you’re verified.
Step 3: Turn on 2-step verification in Wise
Wise will not let you create an API key without this.1
Open your Wise account settings
Sign in to Wise on a desktop browser and open Your account.
2
Find the security section
Look for the security or login settings, and turn on 2-step verification.
3
Choose your second step
Wise supports a code by SMS or an authenticator app. Pick one and follow the prompts to confirm it works.
Step 4: Create the API key in Wise
This is the one piece of information Referly needs from Wise. It’s a long string of letters and numbers that lets Referly act on your Wise account.1
Open the API tokens page
Sign in to Wise on a desktop browser — this page isn’t in the mobile app. Go to Your account, then Connect and manage apps, then API tokens. On some accounts this section is still labelled Integrations and tools, and the page is called API keys. Both lead to the same place.
2
Add a new token
Select Add new token.
3
Name it and set the access level to full
Give it a name you’ll recognise later, like
Referly payouts. Then set the access level to Full access. This part matters: a read-only key lets Referly see your account but not create transfers, so payouts will fail.4
Complete 2-step verification
Wise asks you to confirm it’s really you before it creates the key.
5
Copy the key
Copy it somewhere safe straight away and treat it like a password — anyone with it can move money out of your Wise account. Don’t paste it into a shared document or a chat.
Step 5: Top up your Wise balance
Referly pays affiliates out of your Wise balance. Wise won’t pull money from your bank on demand for these transfers, so the money has to already be sitting there.1
Work out how much you need
Add up the batch total, then leave headroom for Wise’s fees and exchange-rate movement. Referly shows you the exact figure before you pay, but you’ll want the money in place first.
2
Add money in the right currency
In Wise, open the balance for the currency your program pays in and select Add money. Bank transfer is usually cheapest; card top-ups are faster but cost more.
3
Wait for it to land
A bank top-up can take a day or two depending on the currency and method. Don’t leave this until the day the batch is due.
Step 6: Connect Wise to Referly
Now you’re back in Referly.1
Open your payout settings
Go to Program Settings → Program details → Payout settings. This page is covered in more detail in Payout settings.
2
Find the Wise Payouts card
It sits in the Cash Payout Methods section, described as “Send cash commissions directly via Wise”. Select Connect account on that card.
3
Paste your API key
In the panel that opens, paste the key you copied from Wise into the API key field. Use the eye icon to check you pasted it correctly — a stray space at either end is the most common reason this fails.
4
Select Connect
Referly checks the key against Wise and pulls back the profiles it can see.
5
Choose which Wise profile to pay from
You’ll get a list under Select an account to connect, each one labelled Business Account or Personal Account. Choose your business profile — that’s the one holding the balance you topped up.
Step 7: Turn Wise on as a payout method
Connecting the account and offering it to affiliates are two different things.1
Toggle the Wise Payouts card on
Back on the Payout settings page, switch the Wise card on so affiliates can pick it.
2
Check what happened to manual bank transfer
If Manual Bank Account was on, it’s now switched off and greyed out, with a note explaining that it isn’t available while Wise is enabled. That’s expected. If you specifically need affiliates to hand you bank details for transfers you make yourself, turn Wise off instead — see Payout methods.
3
Save
Your affiliates will see Wise as an option the next time they open their payout settings.
How your affiliates set up their side
You can’t pay an affiliate until they’ve told Referly where the money should go. Here’s what they do, so you know what to tell them.1
They open their payout settings
In the affiliate portal, under Settings → Payouts → Cash payouts.
2
They pick a method
They’ll see Wise (“Receive payouts directly in your Wise account”) and, if you’ve enabled it, Local Bank Account (“Receive money directly in your bank account via Wise”). Both run through your Wise account; they differ in where the money ends up.
3
They enter a payout email address
For the Wise method, this is the only detail required. It’s the email Wise will send the money to.
4
They choose a payout currency
Affiliates can pick the currency they want to receive. If they don’t choose one, Referly uses your program’s currency.
Affiliates who choose Wise do not need an existing Wise account to get paid. When the transfer goes out, Wise emails them a link where they enter their bank details to claim the money. Per Wise’s own rules, they have 7 calendar days to claim it — after that Wise cancels the transfer and refunds you. Tell your affiliates to watch for that email so a payout doesn’t bounce back.
Pay a batch through Wise
Once a batch is ready, this is the full sequence.Review the fees before you create anything
Open the batch and select the pay action. Referly asks Wise to quote every transfer in the batch and shows you a breakdown in the Pay with Wise dialog:The fee is taken out of the amount, not added on top. Total from Wise balance (You pay) is the real number to check against your balance — it already includes the fee.
Create the transfers
Select Create Wise Transfers. Referly groups them into a single batch on Wise and hands them over. Nothing has moved yet. The confirmation says Transfers Created on Wise, with the status Awaiting approval.Approve and fund them in Wise
This step happens in Wise, and it’s the one people forget.1
Open the batch in Wise
Select Open on Wise from the confirmation, or View on Wise from the batch page later. Both take you straight to the transfers.
2
Sign in and review
Check the recipients and amounts against what Referly showed you.
3
Approve and fund from your balance
Confirm the payment. Wise may ask for 2-step verification. If your balance is short, Wise will tell you here — top up and come back.
Watch the statuses settle
Once you’ve approved in Wise, you don’t have to do anything else. Wise tells Referly what’s happening and the statuses move on their own:
When every payout in the batch reaches Paid, the batch itself is marked paid and you get a confirmation email. If any of them fail, the batch is flagged and Referly emails you the reason Wise gave. See Batch statuses and Failed payouts.
Fees, currencies, and delivery times
- Fees. Wise charges per transfer, and the amount depends on the route, the currencies, and the size of the payment. Referly shows you Wise’s own quote before you pay rather than estimating. For the underlying pricing, Wise’s pricing page is the source of truth.
- Exchange rates. When you pay in one currency and an affiliate receives another, Wise converts at its own rate and shows it in the breakdown. The rate is locked when the transfer is created, not when you approve it.
- Delivery time. After you approve and fund, money typically reaches affiliates within 1 to 3 business days, depending on the currency route. Referly shows Wise’s estimate for your specific batch.
- Where you can send. Wise sends to a large and changing list of countries and currencies. Rather than repeat a list that goes stale, check Wise’s send-money coverage for your destination. If a route isn’t supported, Referly surfaces it as an unquotable payout during the fee review.
If you’d rather pay in Wise directly
You don’t have to use the connected flow. From a batch, open the actions menu and choose Export Wise CSV. You get a file formatted for Wise’s own bulk upload, with each affiliate’s name, payout email, the source and target currency, the amount, and a reference. Upload that file in Wise and pay the batch there. Bear in mind that when you pay this way, Referly can’t track it — you’ll need to mark the batch as paid yourself. See Export payouts.Disconnect Wise
Go back to Payout settings, open the Wise card, and select Disconnect. This removes your API key from Referly and shuts down the status feed, so payouts will no longer update themselves. Transfers already approved in Wise still complete — Wise doesn’t care that Referly disconnected — but you’ll have to check on them in Wise and update Referly by hand. If you’re disconnecting because the key was compromised, also delete the key in Wise. Removing it from Referly doesn’t invalidate it on Wise’s side.Troubleshooting
Related
Payout methods
Compare every way you can pay affiliates in Referly.
Payout settings
Where you enable methods, set a schedule, and pick a minimum.
PayPal
Pay affiliates through PayPal instead of, or alongside, Wise.
Referly Payouts
Let Referly pay your affiliates and handle the paperwork.
Payout batches
How batches are built, reviewed, and paid.
Failed payouts
What to do when a payout doesn’t reach an affiliate.