Wise
Cross-border payments and multi-currency account platform for consumers and businesses.
Available information varies by company and source.
Profile record updated:
Company facts
- Official name
- Wise plc
- Entity type
- COMPANY
- Founded
- 2011
- Headquarters
- 1st Floor, Worship Square, 65 Clifton Street, London EC2A 4JE
- Company size
- >5,000
- Market role
- B2C Consumer App / Platform
- Ticker
- WISE
- Official website
- wise.com
What Wise does
Wise operates a cross-border payments and multi-currency financial platform. It creates value by connecting users to local payment rails, enabling lower-cost international transfers, transparent FX conversion, account functionality, and embedded payment capabilities. The business model spans direct consumer usage, direct business account usage, and B2B infrastructure for financial institutions and enterprises integrating payments, accounts, and card functionality.
Category differentiation
This is the publicly listed cross-border payments company, not a general budgeting app, adtech firm, or bank-core software vendor. It is best understood as a fintech platform for international money movement, multi-currency accounts, and embedded payments infrastructure.
Strategic context
AI-supported assessment from the existing company research; distinguish interpretation from sourced facts.
Wise is a UK-headquartered public fintech company focused on cross-border money movement and multi-currency account services. It serves individual consumers through Wise Personal, businesses through Wise Business, and banks, financial institutions, marketplaces, and enterprises through Wise Platform. Its products are built around international transfers, currency conversion, local account details, cards, and API-based access to payment rails. The company generates revenue primarily from transaction fees on transfers and FX conversion, with additional income from business account set-up fees, partner usage fees on its platform, card-related fees such as interchange, and optional balance-related income. Its customer base spans consumers with international payment needs, SMEs and finance teams operating across borders, and institutions embedding cross-border payment capabilities into their own products.
Company news briefing
Briefing updated:
Wise faces ongoing competitive pressures as rival Revolut secures a conditional US bank charter following Wise's earlier application rejection and prepares for a dual IPO. Meanwhile, competitors like Airwallex target Wise's European market share, and Trustly continues to provide open-banking rails to merchants including Wise. To reinforce its core offering, Wise launched its Q2 2026 Mission Update reducing fees to save customers approximately £23 million annually, connected its global base to Brazil's Pix rail, and saw former CFO Matt Briers assume a new CFO role at UK chip startup Olix.
Business model & monetisation
Wise monetises primarily through usage-based transaction fees on international transfers and FX conversion. It also charges a one-time set-up fee for Wise Business accounts, earns partner and API-related usage fees through Wise Platform, and captures card-related revenues such as interchange and other service fees. The model is largely pay-as-you-go rather than flat-seat SaaS, with pricing varying by route, currency, and product usage.
- International transfer and FX fees
- Percentage Take-Rate
- Platform and API usage fees
- Pay-per-Use
- Business account set-up fees
- One-time Sale
- Card-related interchange and usage fees
- Percentage Take-Rate
- Interest or balance-related services
Products & capabilities
No products with linked sources are available in this view.
Products & market categories
Technology
Competitors & alternatives
- Banco BV
Brazilian bank serving consumers, corporates and embedded finance partners.
- Alior Bank
Polish bank offering digital retail, business and embedded finance services.
- Revolut
App-first fintech platform for banking, payments, trading and business finance.
Side-by-side comparisons
Recent recorded signals
Dates refer to the source publication. Older entries are historical context, not evidence of a new event.
Revolut plans dual US and UK listing, targeting $200 billion valuation
Financials · Recorded impact score: 2/5
Revolut, the London-based neobank, is considering a dual stock market listing in New York and London, with co-founder and CEO Nik Storonsky revealing the plans in an interview with Les Echos. The company is targeting a valuation of up to $200 billion for its IPO, expected no earlier than 2028. Storonsky expressed a preference for the US market due to its larger investor pool, but aims to maintain a presence in London. This move follows similar actions by Wise, which moved its primary listing to New York. Revolut was last valued at $75 billion in a funding round, so the target valuation would require nearly tripling its value. The company's US expansion, including conditional approval for a US banking license, is seen as a key factor for the IPO's success. Revolut plans to invest around €2.3 billion annually in growth through 2030.
- Revolut is considering a dual listing in New York and London, targeting a valuation of up to $200 billion.
- The IPO is expected no earlier than 2028, with CEO Nik Storonsky preferring the US market.
Revolut Wins US Bank Charter, Wise Rejected
Financials · Recorded impact score: 4/5
The OCC granted Revolut a conditional US bank charter, while rejecting Wise's application earlier in July. This regulatory divergence signals a shift in how US authorities are assessing foreign fintechs. Revolut, with 80 million users, a proprietary AI model trained on 40 billion banking events, and $2.3 billion in pretax profit, gains a federal on-ramp into American banking. The approval is seen as a strategic advantage, particularly through its PRAGMA credit-risk model, which no US neobank can replicate or acquire. This event potentially marks the decline of the sponsor-bank model for major fintechs, as larger players may now pursue their own charters. The article also discusses Anthropic's move to build in-house payments infrastructure, citing its rapid revenue growth from $9B to $65B annualized in seven months, making off-the-shelf billing inadequate. This includes insights into AI-specific fraud challenges and Stripe's $7B+ counter-move with OpenRouter.
- The OCC approved Revolut's conditional US bank charter.
- The OCC rejected Wise's US bank charter application in July.
Wise launches 2026 Q2 Mission Update: Price
Recorded impact score: 3.5/5
Wise reduced fees saving customers ~£23m per year as part of its mission to build the best way to move and manage money.
Bringing the Power of Pix to the World: Send Money to Brazil Using Just a Pix Key
Recorded impact score: 4/5
Built with deep local expertise, the innovative technology connects Wise’s global customer base to Brazil’s Pix rail.
Explore company relationships
Questions about Wise
What is Wise?
Wise is a UK-based fintech company offering cross-border payments, multi-currency accounts, cards, and embedded payments infrastructure for consumers, businesses, and institutions.
Who uses Wise?
Individuals with international payment needs, SMEs and finance teams managing cross-border operations, and banks or enterprises integrating payment capabilities use Wise.
How does Wise make money?
Wise earns mainly from transfer and FX fees, plus business set-up fees, platform usage fees, card-related revenues, and some optional balance-related income.
Sources & coverage
This profile uses public, official and technically observable information. Missing information does not prove that a product or relationship does not exist. The list below does not imply that every profile statement has been verified.
19 publicly documented primary sources and citations linked across the market graph.
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