Sending Money & Multi-Currency Accounts in Belgium (Wise vs Revolut)

Once you have landed in Brussels, one of the first money problems is usually the same: you are still being paid or supported from abroad, your rent is due in euros, and your old bank charges a small fortune every time money crosses a border. This guide explains how to move money in and out of Belgium cheaply and legally — comparing Wise, Revolut and a plain bank SEPA transfer — and clears up the two things new arrivals most often get wrong: when you genuinely need a Belgian IBAN, and when you must declare a foreign account.

The core problem: the exchange-rate markup

When you send money internationally, there are two costs, and only one is obvious. The first is the transfer fee you can see. The second is the exchange-rate markup — the gap between the real "mid-market" rate (the one on Google or Reuters) and the worse rate your bank quietly gives you. Traditional banks often bake a 2–4% margin into the rate itself while advertising a low or zero fee. On a €2,000 transfer, a 3% hidden markup is €60 gone before you notice.

The whole point of tools like Wise and Revolut is to strip out that hidden margin and charge you a clear, upfront fee instead.

Wise vs Revolut vs a bank SEPA transfer

A SEPA transfer between two euro accounts inside the Single Euro Payments Area is a different, cheaper animal than a cross-currency transfer. Since the EU's Instant Payments Regulation, euro banks in the eurozone must be able to receive instant credit transfers (from 9 January 2025) and send them (from 9 October 2025), moving up to €15,000 in under ten seconds, with instant transfers priced no higher than standard ones. So a euro-to-euro payment within Belgium or to another eurozone country is fast and usually free or near-free from any provider. The savings appear when you convert currencies — sending euros home as pounds, dollars, rupees, or Nordic kroner.

Wise uses the mid-market rate with no markup and makes its money purely on a transparent percentage fee shown on screen before you confirm — so a large transfer often costs well under 1%. Revolut is excellent for small, frequent conversions: on the Standard plan you get a monthly fair-usage allowance of currency exchange at the interbank rate, after which a small percentage (around 0.5%) applies, plus a 1% surcharge on conversions made over the weekend when the FX market is closed. Note these figures are the published rules at the time of writing — always check the current in-app pricing, as allowances and percentages change.

Holding multiple currencies

Both Wise and Revolut let you hold a multi-currency balance: you can keep money in euros, pounds, dollars and dozens of others in the same account, and convert only when the rate suits you. This is genuinely useful if you are paid in one currency and spend in another, or if you want to avoid converting a lump sum on a bad day. Wise advertises holding 40+ currencies and gives you local account details in several of them; Revolut offers a similar in-app pocket system. A traditional Belgian bank account, by contrast, is essentially euro-only.

IBAN basics and when you actually need a Belgian one

An IBAN is just your account number in international format. A Belgian one starts with BE; a Wise euro account historically carried a Belgian or other EU country code, and Revolut has been migrating Belgian customers to BE IBANs. Here is the rule that matters:

Under EU law on IBAN discrimination (Regulation 260/2012, enforced across the EU), a company or public body must accept any valid euro IBAN from the SEPA zone for both incoming transfers (like salary) and direct debits. They are not allowed to demand a specifically Belgian IBAN. So legally, your employer can pay you into a French, Irish or German euro IBAN.

In practice, though, some Belgian payroll systems, landlords, insurers and utility companies still stumble over a non-BE IBAN — either their software rejects it or a clerk insists. That friction is exactly why getting a Belgian BE IBAN (from a normal bank, or now from Wise or Revolut) is worth it for your salary and recurring direct debits (rent, energy, your mutuelle). Use your cheap multi-currency account for transfers home, and a BE IBAN for local recurring money.

Declaring a foreign account — do not skip this

Belgian tax residents must report accounts held abroad. Two steps apply:

1. A one-time declaration to the National Bank of Belgium's Central Point of Contact (CPC / Point de Contact / Centraal Aanspreekpunt), giving the account details.
2. Ticking the foreign-account box on your annual tax return (Tax-on-web).

The nuance: if your Wise or Revolut account carries a Belgian BE IBAN and is used purely for payments, this foreign-account obligation generally does not apply. If it holds a non-Belgian IBAN, or if you use an investment/securities feature, you must declare it. Getting this wrong can mean a fine or a tax adjustment, so confirm your specific case against the official NBB CPC guidance and the Tax-on-web instructions.

A word on safety

Neither Wise nor Revolut's Belgian service protects your money the way the Belgian deposit guarantee scheme protects a normal current account (up to €100,000 per person per bank, overseen by the FSMA and the Guarantee Fund). Wise is a payment institution supervised by the National Bank of Belgium and safeguards funds separately rather than lending them out; Revolut holds an EU banking licence in Lithuania. The sensible approach: use these tools to move and hold money short-term, and keep large long-term balances in a licensed Belgian bank account.

Common problems and fixes

• "My employer won't accept my foreign IBAN." They must, under EU rules — but arguing is slow. The quickest fix is to give them a Belgian BE IBAN, whether from a bank, Wise or Revolut.
• "My transfer arrived smaller than expected." You were probably hit by an exchange-rate markup, not just the fee. Compare the amount received, not the advertised fee, and prefer providers quoting the mid-market rate.
• "A weekend conversion cost more on Revolut." That is the ~1% weekend surcharge on the Standard plan. Convert on a weekday, or hold the balance until Monday.
• "I forgot to declare my account." File the CPC declaration now and correct it on your next return; late is far better than never.

Your next step

Decide the split before you move any money: open (or activate) a Belgian BE IBAN for your salary and direct debits, and use Wise or Revolut for sending money home and holding other currencies. Then, once opened, complete the NBB Central Point of Contact declaration if your account holds a non-Belgian IBAN — a five-minute job that avoids a fine at tax time.