TransferWise changes name to Wise after 10 years

Works towards meeting international banking needs of Aussie consumers, businesses and banks beyond money transfers

 

Melbourne, Australia, 23 February 2021 - TransferWise, the global technology company building the best way to move money around the world, has today announced it has changed its name to Wise.

 

Ten years after it first launched in the UK (2015 in Australia), the company has expanded beyond international money transfers to build a global cross-border payments network helping to make international banking cheaper, faster and more pleasant for 10 million personal and business customers, including banks and other technology companies.

 

The change follows last year’s announcement where the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA), issued the company a Purchased Payment Facility (PPF) licence - a special class of banking licence designed for e-money or stored-value providers without the more traditional activities associated with banking, such as lending or interest-bearing deposits.

 

Wise Australia will now be home to the following products:

 

1.Wise - building the world’s most international account.  

Wise combines the multi-currency account, international money transfers and debit card products into one. It is designed for all Aussies - locals, travellers, expats and digital nomads who need an everyday account that works within Australia and abroad in multiple currencies to receive their salary, pension, pay bills, shop online and more.

 

With more than A$5 billion held by customers in Wise and 1.4 million debit cards already issued (globally), Wise is loaded with innovative features used and trusted by millions at a price point that’s on average 7x cheaper than old-school banks:

• Account details - Get account details in 9 countries (Australia, New Zealand, UK, US, Eurozone, Canada, Singapore, Hungary, Poland and Turkey) in minutes so you can pay and get paid in those countries like a local.
• Direct Debits - share your AU, EU and UK account details with merchants to conveniently automate and pay bills and subscriptions.
• BPAY - Pay bills in Australia with BPAY from around the world.
• Balances - Hold and convert 55 currencies instantly at the real exchange rate.
• Debit card - Use the card in around 200 countries and anywhere online, spend with Apple and Google Pay, and withdraw anywhere with no foreign transaction fees or exchange rate markups.
• Virtual Visa Cards - add up to 10 virtual cards, each with a unique number to shop with and better manage expenses. 
• Savings Jars - Stash away money in any currency, for rainy day funds, long-term savings and more. Money in jars can’t be spent using the debit card or used to pay via direct debit until it’s moved back to balances.
• International money transfers - Send money to over 70 countries at the real exchange rate, up to 7x cheaper than the banks and instantly when sending money with PayID.
• Scheduled Transfers - Setup recurring transfers to automate the process of sending money abroad.

 

2.Wise Business - the business account for going global.

Historically, businesses with limited staff or resources, or those who can’t travel to open an overseas bank account, have shied away from going global. Wise Business changes that. This is the business account without the high fees, hefty admin, and headache of business banking.

 

Designed for all businesses with multi-currency needs, over 150,000 businesses joined Wise in the last twelve months. Used by Aussie businesses like LegalVision, Qwilr, Future Classic, it is up to 19x cheaper than PayPal and has all the features of the Wise personal account plus extras to meet the banking needs of businesses today:

• Bank Feeds - Businesses can integrate their account and all their activity directly into software like Xero, QuickBooks, and FreeAgent for auto reconciliation.
• Mass Payouts -  Pay recurring invoices or run payroll in multiple currencies, at the mid-market rate, with a click of a button.
• Multi-user Access - Ability to add other users, assign roles to manage the account, as if they were the owner.

 

3.Wise Platform - the magic behind Wise used by banks and companies like Up, Monzo, Sezzle, GoCardless, and Xero.

This lets businesses and banks integrate the magic of Wise right into their own platforms, giving their customers cheaper, faster payments and other international banking features.

• Banks: Today, 10 banks in 4 continents, including Up in Australia, offer their customers a faster, cheaper alternative to traditional bank transfers having integrated Wise right into their own apps or online banking. 
• Accounting software and payment companies: Like Xero and Emburse use Wise Platform to power payments for their customers and offer multi-currency expense reimbursement to their customers, respectively. Meanwhile, payment companies like GoCardless use Wise Platform to enable their customers to collect recurring international payments seamlessly.
• Ecommerce companies: buy now pay later companies (Sezzle) and music distribution platforms (Stem), use Wise Platform to power payouts to merchants and music distributors and musicians in multiple currencies.

 

Kristo Käärmann, CEO and co-founder, Wise said: “Today our name catches up with who we’re already building for - a community of people and businesses with multi-currency lives. That community now even includes the banks themselves. We’ve evolved to fix more than just money transfer, but the core experience of using Wise will remain faster, cheaper, and more convenient than anything else.

 

“Our mission remains the same. We’re still making — and always will be making — money work without borders.”

 

Wise has grown as a sustainable business, having achieved profitability in each of the last four years. In the financial year ended April 2020, Wise’s revenue grew by 70% from the prior year to £302.6 million.

 

The company processes A$8 billion in cross-border transactions every month, with customers saving themselves almost $A2 billion a year compared to making the same transaction with their bank.

 

From today, customers can opt into the website in its new home: Wise.com. The final switchover for all customers to the Wise brand will take place in March 2021.

 

Read more from Kristo in his blog to accompany the Wise rebrand, published today.

 

About Wise

Wise is a global technology company, building the best way to move money around the world. With the Wise account people and businesses can hold 55 currencies, move money between countries and spend money abroad. Huge companies and banks use Wise technology too; an entirely new cross-border payments network that will one day power money without borders for everyone, everywhere. However you use the platform, Wise is on a mission to make your life easier and save you money.

 

Co-founded by Taavet Hinrikus and Kristo Käärmann, Wise launched in 2011 under its original name TransferWise. It is one of the world’s fastest growing tech companies having raised over US$1 billion in primary and secondary transactions from world leading investors.

 

10 million people and businesses use Wise, which processes over A$8 billion in cross-border transactions every month, saving customers almost A$2 billion a year.

 

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