Bottom line: Wise wins on long trips, Revolut wins on short trips. Full breakdown of fees, allowances, and real-world tourist scenarios (May 2026).
Wise if you'll spend over $1,000/month, Revolut if you'll stay under the free allowance.
Wise charges a flat ~0.4% on every conversion — predictable, scales linearly. Revolut is 0% inside the monthly free allowance (~$1,000 USD on Standard) and 1% above. Short-trip tourists stay inside the allowance and pay nothing; long-stay residents pile up volume and Wise's flat fee comes out ahead. Holding both is the optimum.
Hotel desks and conbini DCC sit at mid-market +3-7%, so both win by a wide margin
Revolut's free allowance is ~$1,000/month on Standard. Half of your spend will cross into 1% territory. Wise's flat 0.4% comes out ahead.
Comfortably inside the free allowance, so your effective FX fee is 0% — cheaper than Wise's 0.4%. Revolut Standard is free.
Need to receive JPY salaries, send money home, exchange ad-hoc. Wise covers all three on one account. Volume kills Revolut's free-allowance advantage.
Get both. Use Wise as your daily driver, Revolut for the Premium-tier perks (airport lounges, travel insurance) when those plan features matter.
Both ship to a Japan address within 1-2 weeks after KYC. Apply before you fly — there's no advantage to waiting until you arrive.
Enter your trip budget — see the gap vs. a bank card.
Bank card / airport counter path
¥76,700
Wise / Revolut path
¥79,000
Savings
¥2,300
* Estimated at mid-market ¥158/USD, airport ~¥152, bank card ~¥154. Real rates vary slightly day to day.
Wise and Revolut both require a Japanese residential address, so you can't apply from a hotel-only stay. Easiest path: use your home-country Wise/Revolut account in Japan — both work seamlessly with foreign-issued cards.
On Standard, ~$1,000 USD-equivalent per month in non-local-currency spend. Above that, 1% on the excess. Premium and Metal raise the ceiling but the monthly fee only pays for itself once you spend ~¥300,000/mo.
No — Wise uses real-time mid-market rates 24/7. Revolut adds a 1% weekend markup, so heavy Saturday/Sunday usage favours Wise.
Generally yes. Wise as the daily driver, Revolut for Premium-tier perks like lounges and travel insurance. Both Standard tiers are free so the two-card cost is just delivery.
Japanese debit cards typically charge 1.5-4% FX, well above Wise/Revolut. They're convenient for residents who already bank there, but rarely competitive for tourists.
Data verified against official Wise and Revolut pricing pages, May 2026. Fees and allowances change with plan updates — confirm current terms on each partner's site before applying.
Last verified: 2026-05-19
Wise and Revolut give you mid-market rates with transparent ~0.5% fees. Roughly ¥6,000 saved on a $1,500 trip. Order before you fly and you'll skip the counter queues entirely.
Also: get online the moment you land
Japan eSIMs from ~$10/week. Install before departure, connect 1 minute after landing.
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