Wise vs Revolut in Finland: Which Should Expats Use?

Both Wise and Revolut are popular among expats arriving in Finland. Both let you hold euros, make card payments, and move money internationally without the fees of a traditional bank. But in the Finnish context, there are meaningful differences — and a critical limitation they share. This guide covers what each service can and cannot do in Finland, so you can set up the right combination from the start.

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Quick Verdict

Feature	Wise	Revolut
IBAN type	Belgian (BE prefix)	Lithuanian (LT prefix)
Pankkitunnukset	No	No
Siirto compatibility	Yes (via SEPA Instant)	No
Salary deposit	Generally accepted	May be rejected
Vero.fi tax refund	Generally accepted	May not work
Multi-currency	~40 currencies	25–30 currencies (plan-dependent)
International transfers	Mid-market rate, transparent fee	Competitive up to monthly limit, markup above
ATM withdrawals	Free allowance then fee	Free allowance then fee (varies by plan)
Monthly fee	None	None (Standard); paid plans for higher limits
Pankkitunnukset	No	No

Recommended setup: Wise as your primary financial tool in Finland (salary, tax refunds, Siirto). Revolut for travel. A traditional Finnish bank (OP, Nordea, Danske) for Pankkitunnukset.

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Pankkitunnukset — The Limitation Both Services Share

Before comparing Wise and Revolut, understand what neither can give you.

Pankkitunnukset are Finnish online banking credentials — the username and password (or app-based authentication) issued by a Finnish deposit bank when you open an account with them. In Finland, these credentials do double duty: they function as your national strong electronic identification. You use them to log into:

• OmaVero (vero.fi) — file tax returns, check income data, request a tax card
• Kela — apply for social benefits, healthcare reimbursements, unemployment support
• Suomi.fi — the central gateway to all Finnish public digital services
• Your local healthcare portal and other government systems

Wise does not provide Pankkitunnukset. Revolut does not provide Pankkitunnukset. Both are EU-licensed payment institutions, not Finnish deposit banks, and only Finnish deposit banks issue these credentials.

This means that no matter how useful either app is for your day-to-day money, you will need a traditional Finnish bank account at some point — if only to get access to the country's digital public services. Plan for that from the start rather than realising it six months in when you need to file your tax return.

For a full guide to obtaining Pankkitunnukset, see Finnish Online Banking ID (Pankkitunnukset).

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Siirto Compatibility

Siirto is Finland's peer-to-peer instant payment system, used by Finnish banks to let customers send money to each other by phone number rather than IBAN. It is the Finnish equivalent of services like Swish in Sweden or MobilePay in Denmark.

Siirto is tied to Finnish IBANs at participating banks. That is where the two services diverge:

• Wise: Your Wise EUR account uses a Belgian IBAN. SEPA Instant transfers — the underlying rail Siirto routes through — can in principle reach Belgian IBANs. Whether your specific Wise account is enrolled in SEPA Instant is worth confirming directly with Wise, but the architecture supports it.
• Revolut: Your Revolut EUR IBAN is Lithuanian (LT prefix). Siirto's participating bank network does not include Revolut, and Lithuanian IBANs are outside the Siirto ecosystem. You cannot receive Siirto payments to a Revolut account.

In practice: if a Finnish friend or employer wants to pay you via Siirto and you have only Revolut, they will need to use a regular SEPA transfer to your IBAN instead. With Wise, there is a better chance of Siirto payments reaching you, though the smoothest Siirto experience still comes from a Finnish bank account.

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Salary and Vero.fi Compatibility

Salary deposits

Finnish employers pay salaries by SEPA credit transfer. Under EU law (SEPA Regulation EU 260/2012), an employer cannot refuse a valid eurozone IBAN — refusing a non-Finnish IBAN is called IBAN discrimination and is prohibited by the European Commission. In principle, both a Belgian Wise IBAN and a Lithuanian Revolut IBAN should be accepted.

In practice:

• Wise (Belgian IBAN): Generally accepted by Finnish payroll systems. The BE prefix is recognised and common enough in Finland that most HR departments process it without issue. If a system rejects it, you can cite IBAN discrimination rules.
• Revolut (Lithuanian IBAN): More frequently rejected. Older Finnish payroll software often flags LT-prefix IBANs as unexpected. You may need to escalate to an HR manager or finance team, and the outcome varies by employer.

For your first Finnish salary, Wise is the lower-friction option if you do not yet have a Finnish bank account.

Tax refunds from Vero.fi

The Finnish Tax Administration (Vero) pays tax refunds to your registered bank account. The same IBAN discrimination rules apply here:

• Wise Finnish IBAN: Generally works. Vero.fi processes SEPA transfers and a Belgian IBAN is a valid eurozone account.
• Revolut LT IBAN: May not work. Some users report that Vero's systems do not process LT-prefix IBANs cleanly. The safer approach is to register a Finnish bank IBAN or your Wise IBAN with Vero rather than a Revolut IBAN.

You can update your bank account details for tax refunds at vero.fi.

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International Transfers

This is where both services earn their place alongside a Finnish bank.

Wise:

• Uses the mid-market exchange rate (the rate you see on Google or Reuters) with no markup built into the rate itself
• Charges a transparent percentage fee shown before you confirm the transfer
• Covers a wide range of currencies and corridor destinations
• Generally the benchmark for fair international transfer pricing

Revolut:

• On the free Standard plan: competitive rates during market hours, with a markup applied on weekends and for some currency pairs
• On paid plans (Plus, Premium, Metal): higher monthly limits at competitive rates before the markup kicks in
• Good for occasional transfers; can become expensive if you exceed the plan's fee-free limit or transfer on a weekend

For regular transfers home — monthly remittances, paying rent abroad, repaying a loan — run the fee calculator on both apps for your specific corridor and amount before committing to either. For large amounts, Wise's transparent mid-market pricing is usually more predictable.

For a deeper guide to the transfer options available from Finland, see Sending Money Home from Finland.

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The Recommended Setup for Finland

Neither Wise nor Revolut replaces a Finnish bank account. The practical three-account setup for expats:

1. Traditional Finnish bank (OP, Nordea, or Danske Bank) For: Pankkitunnukset (Kela, OmaVero, Suomi.fi access), local direct debits, Siirto as the primary registered account, deposit insurance. Open this as soon as you have your henkilötunnus.

2. Wise For: Receiving salary during the pre-henkilötunnus gap, holding and converting multiple currencies, international transfers at mid-market rates, tax refunds if needed before your Finnish account is open. Use as your primary supplementary financial tool in Finland.

3. Revolut For: Travel spending — multi-currency card, ATM withdrawals abroad, weekend spending in non-euro countries. Less suited to Finnish-specific financial tasks. Keep it as a travel card, not a Finland banking solution.

This setup covers every realistic financial need: Finnish identity authentication, local peer-to-peer payments, cheap international transfers, and travel spending — without paying unnecessary fees on any of them.

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What to Do Right Now

If you have just arrived in Finland:

1. Open Wise with your passport and get your EUR account details — no henkilötunnus required
2. Use Wise EUR IBAN for any incoming salary or transfers until your Finnish account is open
3. Start the bureaucracy: register with DVV for your henkilötunnus
4. Open a Finnish bank account once you have your henkilötunnus, and request Pankkitunnukset
5. Register your bank IBAN with Vero at vero.fi once you have a Finnish account, to ensure tax refunds route cleanly
6. Keep Revolut if you travel frequently; ignore it for Finnish-specific financial tasks

For choosing a Finnish bank, see Best Bank Account in Finland for Expats. For a full guide to Wise in Finland, see Using Wise in Finland as an Expat.