Wise vs Revolut for UK to Argentina transfers

A UK Revolut card can pay for groceries in Argentina, but it cannot send rent to a landlord's Argentine bank account simply by being tapped at a terminal. Wise would seem the natural route for that bank payment. Yet its UK-to-Argentina page says ARS transfers from the UK have not launched, even as its global help page describes peso payouts. Until Wise offers a GBP-to-ARS quote for your account, there is no reliable Wise fee or peso payout to compare with a Revolut card transaction.

Revolut Standard's published exchange allowance is £1,000 a month, with a 1% fair-usage fee above that amount; a variable exchange fee can also apply. Its own ATM withdrawal fee starts after five withdrawals or £200 per rolling month, whichever comes first. The practical choice begins with where the money has to arrive, rather than a headline exchange rate.

A card purchase and a bank payout solve different payments

An Argentine landlord who gives you a CBU, the bank account identifier, is asking for a payment to that account under the terms of the lease. At a shop, a Visa or Mastercard transaction charges your UK card and pays the merchant. Both may start with pounds, but only a quoted bank-payout route will tell you how many pesos the named recipient receives.

Wise's global ARS help article describes payments into Argentine bank accounts. Its UK destination page says it is still working to enable sending ARS from Britain. If your UK account cannot set up a GBP-funded ARS transfer, the help article's payout terms cannot serve as a quote for that journey. Revolut Standard, meanwhile, displays the fee for an international account payment in the app before you make it; card-spending terms alone say nothing about the price of that payment.

What Revolut's published allowances actually cost

The UK Standard schedule updated in December 2025 lists no subscription fee and a £1,000 monthly exchange allowance. Once that allowance is used, another £200 of exchange incurs £2 in fair-usage fees at 1%. That example is arithmetic, not a live Argentine purchase quote: Revolut uses its own variable exchange rate and says a variable exchange fee may also apply. The final sterling debit appears when the card purchase settles.

Plus costs £3.99 monthly or £40 yearly, raises the monthly exchange allowance to £3,000 and charges 0.5% on additional exchange. For a short stay, the subscription cost may exceed the saving. Standard ATM withdrawals, meanwhile, are free of Revolut's own withdrawal fee up to five withdrawals or £200 per rolling month. After either threshold, the fee is 2% of the withdrawal with a £1 minimum; the Argentine ATM operator may add its own charge, making repeated small withdrawals expensive.

At a terminal or ATM offering ARS or GBP, selecting ARS leaves the currency conversion to your card provider. Selecting GBP accepts the machine's conversion instead. For a settled card purchase, the comparable cost is sterling debited divided by pesos charged; for a bank transfer, it is sterling paid against pesos credited to the named account, allowing for intermediary or receiving-bank charges. A GBP/USD or dollar/peso reference rate cannot tell you the payout on a particular funded route.

What Wise's ARS help page does tell you

For an ARS payout that Wise actually supports, its help page asks for the recipient's full name and address, 22-digit CBU and 11-digit CUIT or CUIL, an Argentine tax or employment identifier. It sets a ceiling equivalent to US$18,000 per transfer and calendar month. Once Wise receives and converts the funds, the usual payout is one working day; conversion may take up to two working days. Those timings begin with a transfer the service has accepted, so they cannot give a UK customer a delivery date for a route still on the waiting list.

The global help material also lists ARS as a send-to-only currency and says money cannot be sent from ARS. That describes the direction of supported transfers rather than confirming a UK GBP-to-ARS route. Seeing ARS in a converter or using a Wise card for a purchase likewise leaves the bank-payout question unanswered. This matters when a deposit needs to arrive in full on a set date.

How the first month of payments fits together

A physical Revolut card and a separately issued second card give you two ways to pay at merchants that accept international cards. Some local websites, tills or QR checkouts may expect a domestic payment method instead. Card authorisation can also differ from final settlement, so the posted transaction is the useful figure for comparing cost.

Rent depends on the currency and receiving account agreed in the lease. Where another transfer provider offers an actual ARS payout quote, its recipient name, account identifier and delivery estimate tell you more than a card-rate converter. An Argentine bank account or eligible local payment account eventually gives you a CBU or CVU for domestic payments. Opening an Argentine account explains that route; sending money from the UK covers alternatives to card spending. UK account authentication remains useful throughout the move.

A declined foreign card at a shop may call for the second card or some cash. For a bank payout, the decisive evidence is a quote that names ARS, the recipient bank and the amount to be received. Funding and payout receipts matter for a large transaction, while a property purchase calls for the receiving bank's and escribano's settlement instructions. The convenient card for everyday pesos need not be the way you pay the deposit or complete a purchase.