Those who grow quickly and diversify constantly not only break boundaries, in the case of Transferwise also the name – therefore: Wise.
The technology company Transferwise set out ten years ago to revolutionize the international money transfer market.
Today FinTech is on the road with a much broader range of products, services and benefits – that’s why the company has dropped out of the narrow framework of its original name.
Transferwise becomes Wise
Within ten years, Wise has developed into a global payment network that today offers international banking for ten million private and business customers.
Every month, Wise processes cross-border payments worth € 5.1 billion. According to the company, customers should save a full 1.1 billion euros in costs and fees every year.
With the name change, Wise is positioning itself with three products – the multi-currency functions and international transfers are integrated into the Wise account.
The products for private individuals, companies and banks
The technology company has been on the B2C and B2B rails for some time. Wise has now structured and renamed its range and products more clearly:
Wise
The international account for private customers. Users can manage, exchange and send their money in 55 currencies and receive individual bank details in ten currencies. Customers currently manage funds totaling more than 3.1 billion euros in Wise accounts. To date, 1.4 million debit cards have been issued, and Wise is also offering new and now virtual cards.
Wise Business
The international business account for companies. The business account includes additional functions such as international collective transfers and simultaneous access for several employees. According to Wise, more than 150,000 companies have started using the business account in the past twelve months.
Wise platform
This is the platform that banks like N26, Monzo and Bunq use. Companies can use this platform to offer their end customers international banking functions and faster and cheaper payments, each integrated into their own products. Banks and financial institutions in ten countries currently use these services on four continents.
Kristo Käärmann, CEO and co-founder of Wise, comments on the name change and the realigned product line with the following statement:
“From now on, our name will match what we are building – a community of people and companies that lives across borders. That community now even includes the banks themselves. We have evolved and are now making more than just money transfers easier and cheaper. Our primary goal remains to enable unlimited payment transactions – as quickly, conveniently and transparently as possible and at some point free of charge. “
The new environment of Wise is already online, the final change will take place on March 3, 2021.
What has Wise achieved in ten years?
The chronology of the most important events at a glance. The milestone in 2017 is one of the extraordinary. Despite strong expansion and rapid growth, Wise managed to work profitably from the 6th year. It has remained that way to this day. Wise is thus also setting a remarkable milestone for other FinTechs and challenger banks.
- January 2011: The official launch of Wise under the name Transferwise.
- February 2011: The first employee is hired: Eva. She stays with Wise for eight years.
- January 2012: Founder Kristo’s kitchen moves into the first London office. It’s in Clerkenwell and has no windows.
- 2014: Sir Richard Branson invests in the vision of Wise and 100 people protest in underwear outside the Bank of England. Their message: In contrast to the banks, Wise has nothing to hide.
- December 2015: The first bank goes live with a Wise collaboration: LHV in Estonia introduces the first Wise API integration. N26 follows shortly afterwards. Today banks in ten countries and on four continents use the Wise platform
- 2016: A million people use Wise.
- May 2017: Wise makes a profit for the first time and shows that it has a sustainable business model.
- January 2018: The 1000th employee starts at Wise.
- March 2018: Wise launches its debit card. This creates the possibility of spending money with Wise – not just sending or receiving.
- April 2018: Wise is the first non-bank to have direct access to the Bank of England’s national payments infrastructure and the “Faster Payments” system.
- September 2018: Doubling the number of customers in just one year: Wise has four million customers.
- 2019: Wise receives a license from the National Bank of Belgium and opens its office in Brussels.
- December 2019: 2000 employees now work for Wise.
- July 2020: More than ten million people and companies use Wise, which is currently valued at $ 5 billion.
Wise has been growing rapidly for ten years and is constantly expanding its products, services and services – the company will almost certainly keep the financial industry moving again in the next ten years.
The clear focus on private and business accounts lays a visible trace in the direction of banking and banking services. More should come in the near future. These services do not have to be unconditionally different from what customers are used to from their banks. The differences should be noticeable in Wise’s previous focus: comfort, speed and fees.
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