Wise launches family travel cards, group spending tools for Australian users

Wise has launched travel money tools for Australian customers that include cards for children, shared group balances, and PayID. The company says the features target the financial stress most travellers experience on trips abroad.

The Young Explorers product lets parents order physical cards for children aged six to 17, and digital cards from age 13. Parents set spending limits and two adults can monitor the same card through the Wise app. It replaces the old approach of loading up a separate prepaid card or handing kids cash in a foreign currency.

Group Spending allows up to nine people to share a single balance, each with their own virtual card. A companion Bill Split feature divides a card transaction across the group and sends repayment requests even to people who don’t have a Wise account. The idea is to fix the group-trip headache of one person covering dinner and chasing everyone else later.

Customers can also link a mobile number or email through PayID, enabling instant transfers from Australian bank accounts without BSB and account numbers. PayID is already common across Australian banking, so tying it into a travel money account means less setup friction before a trip.

Tristan Dakin, Wise Australia and New Zealand country manager, said the goal was to reduce friction in travel spending. “Aussies love travel, but we’ve all experienced the stress of navigating different currencies, being overcharged by hidden fees,” Dakin said. “We’re taking convenience to the next level, helping travellers spend less time worrying about money and more time enjoying their trip.”

A Wise-commissioned survey of 1,500 Australians who travelled in the past two years found 67 per cent reported financial anxiety on their most recent trip. Forty-six per cent said they had argued about travel money. Thirty per cent said someone failed to pay their share. Among parents with children under 18, 75 per cent reported spending anxiety.

The company also partnered with DragonPass for in-app purchases of airport lounge passes at more than 1,400 lounges worldwide.

The launch extends Wise’s push into everyday Australian spending. The London-listed company, best known for multi-currency accounts and international transfers, now competes with banks and fintechs for early customer relationships. Wise built its name on low-cost international transfers, but the product lineup has expanded steadily into banking-adjacent territory. The new features put it in more direct competition with Australian banks offering travel cards and with fintechs like Revolut that target the same multi-currency travel market.