Local bank account payouts (powered by Wise)

Local Bank Account is a payout method that sends an affiliate’s commission straight into their own bank account, using your connected Wise account to move the money. Your affiliate doesn’t need a Wise account, doesn’t get a claim link, and doesn’t have to do anything when the payout goes out — the money simply arrives. It runs on the same Wise connection as the Wise payout method, but it takes a different route to the affiliate. This guide covers what it does, what it can’t do, exactly what your affiliates have to fill in, and what happens when you pay a batch.

​

How this differs from the plain Wise method

Both methods pay out of your Wise balance. The difference is where the money lands and how much work the affiliate has to do. If an affiliate keeps missing Wise’s claim emails and payouts keep bouncing back, moving them to Local Bank Account is the fix.

​

What this method can and can’t do

What it does:

• Sends commissions directly into an affiliate’s bank account in their local currency.
• Asks each affiliate for exactly the details their own bank needs — nothing more, nothing less — because Referly pulls the field list from Wise live for the country and currency they choose.
• Removes the claim step entirely, so nothing expires and nothing gets refunded for being ignored.
• Keeps payout statuses in your dashboard in step with Wise, so payouts flip to Paid or Failed without you checking.

What it can’t do:

• It can’t work without Wise connected. This method is powered by your Wise account. If Wise isn’t connected on the program, affiliates can’t select it and payouts can’t be created. Set up Wise first.
• It can’t fund itself. The money still comes out of your Wise balance, and you still top that balance up in advance.
• It can’t skip your approval. Referly creates the transfers; you sign in to Wise to approve and fund them, the same as any other Wise payout.
• It can’t fix bad bank details. If an affiliate mistypes an account number, Wise sends the money and the receiving bank rejects it. That comes back as a failed payout days later.
• It can’t reach every currency. Wise supports a long list of destinations, but not all of them, and some currencies can be sent but not received.

​

Before you start

​

Step 1: Enable Wise on your program

There’s no separate switch for Local Bank Account. Turning Wise on makes both options available to affiliates.

​

Step 2: Point your affiliates at their payout settings

Nobody gets paid this way until they’ve entered their bank details themselves — you can’t do it for them. Ask your affiliates to go to Settings → Payouts → Cash payouts in the affiliate portal, and walk them through the steps below.

​

How an affiliate adds their bank account

This all happens in the affiliate portal. It’s worth understanding, because most support questions land here.

​

Choose Local Bank Account

Under Payout Method, they pick the card labelled Local Bank Account, described as “Receive money directly in your bank account via Wise”. It sits next to the Wise option (“Receive payouts directly in your Wise account”). Choosing this hides the payout email field — it isn’t needed, because nothing is sent by email.

​

Pick the payout currency

Next comes Payout Currency, with the hint “Select the currency for your bank transfer”. The list is searchable and shows a flag and the full currency name next to each code. This choice matters more than it looks: it decides which bank fields appear next, and whether the payout is possible at all. Affiliates should pick the currency their bank account is actually held in. Someone with a Euro account should choose EUR, not their program’s currency.

​

Choose the account type

Once a currency is selected, Referly asks Wise what it needs and shows an Account type selector with the options Wise supports for that destination. While that’s happening you’ll see Loading account requirements…. Most currencies offer a local option (the fast, cheap domestic route) and sometimes an international one. Where there’s only one, it’s selected for you. If you see No account requirements available for this currency., Wise can’t receive money into a bank account in that currency. Pick a different currency, or use a different payout method.

​

Fill in the bank fields Wise asks for

Now the actual form appears. Every field on it comes from Wise, for that exact currency and account type, so it matches what the affiliate’s bank really uses. Required fields are marked with a red asterisk, and each one shows an example of the expected format as placeholder text. Some fields reload the rest of the form when changed — picking a country or a bank, for instance, can change which fields come next. That’s expected; give it a second to settle.

​

Fill in the recipient address

Wise requires a full address for the account holder on every route, so Referly always asks for it. At minimum you need:

• Country
• City
• Street address
• Post code or ZIP code

This is the address of the person receiving the money, not their bank’s address. Wise needs it for the checks it’s legally required to run on cross-border payments.

​

Save

The save action stays disabled until the currency is chosen, every required bank field is filled in, and all four address parts are complete. If nothing happens when an affiliate tries to save, one of those is missing — the empty required fields are the place to look.

​

What the fields look like by destination

Here’s what Wise typically asks for, so you know what to expect when an affiliate asks. The live form is always the authority — Wise changes these, and some countries have extra rules. Every one of these also asks for the account holder’s name and full address.

​

What happens after an affiliate saves

Referly hands the details to Wise, which sets the affiliate up as a payee on your Wise account. From then on, they’re paid straight from your balance whenever you run a batch. Wise checks the format at this point, so obviously wrong details — an IBAN with the wrong number of characters, a sort code that’s too short — are caught right away and shown as an error on the field. What Wise can’t check is whether the account actually belongs to that person or is even open. Those problems only surface after you’ve sent the money, when the receiving bank rejects it and the payout comes back as failed.

​

Pay a batch to local bank accounts

​

Check who’s missing details

Open the batch. Referly flags affiliates who chose Local Bank Account but haven’t finished setting it up — no currency chosen, or bank details left blank. They’ll be skipped when you pay, so chase them first or pay them another way this cycle. See Payout batches. The batch itself is labelled Wise to local bank, so you can tell at a glance which route it’s taking.

​

Review the fee preview

Select the pay action and Referly asks Wise to quote every transfer, then shows you the breakdown before anything happens: Anything Wise can’t quote is listed here with the affiliate’s name and the reason, rather than failing silently later.

​

Create the transfers

Select Create Wise Transfers. Referly builds them on Wise as one batch. The confirmation reads Transfers Created on Wise, status Awaiting approval. No money has moved yet.

​

Approve and fund them in Wise

Select Open on Wise (or View on Wise from the batch later), sign in, check the recipients and amounts, and confirm the payment from your balance. Wise may ask for 2-step verification. Skip this and nothing happens, however finished the batch looks in Referly.

​

Watch the statuses settle

After you approve, you’re done. Wise reports back and Referly updates on its own: When every payout reaches Paid, the batch is marked paid and you get a confirmation email. If any fail, Referly emails you with the reason Wise gave and records it on the payout. See Batch statuses and Failed payouts.

​

Fees, rates, and delivery

• Fees. Wise charges per transfer, and local bank routes are usually cheaper than international ones. Referly shows Wise’s real quote before you pay. Wise’s pricing page is the source of truth.
• Exchange rate. If you pay in one currency and the affiliate receives another, Wise converts at its own rate, shown in the breakdown. The rate locks when the transfer is created, not when you approve it.
• Delivery. After you approve and fund, expect 1 to 3 business days depending on the route. Some local routes land the same day; some countries are slower. Referly shows Wise’s estimate for your batch.
• Receiving currencies. Wise can send some currencies that it can’t receive into a bank account. If a currency turns out to be send-only, the affiliate will see no account requirements when they pick it.

​

Troubleshooting

​

Related