Challenges

Modern banks and other payment providers are local, which means they use a patchwork of systems to move money internationally. That makes managing money slow and expensive for businesses whenever they need to complete an international transaction. These inefficiencies hit home hardest for small businesses, for whom moving at internet speed and scale is no longer optional but business critical.

Since first launching money transfers for business in 2016, Wise has been working to make cross-border transactions for businesses just as fast, easy, transparent and cheap as individuals. We’ve also been investing in building the tools businesses operating internationally need to start and run quickly.

Primary target

Which group does your product/service primarily target?

Description of Innovation

Wise offers account details and balances to pay and get paid like a local, and a business debit card to spend like a local. Wise also provides the ability to schedule, batch and automate payments to speed up processes, role-based multi-user access to make it easier for teams to work together, linking with SME accounting software like Xero or Quickbooks, and an API that allows larger payments and software providers the ability to use the Wise infrastructure to offer their customers our fast, transparent, low cost services.

We’re able to offer innovative products because of our world class infrastructure. Wise has built a local banking network across the world, where we hold bank accounts in the countries we operate in. If you’re sending pounds to euros, you pay pounds into our UK bank account, and we pay out to your recipient from our euro account. As much as possible, money does not cross borders, making transfers much faster and cheaper than most traditional providers. Wise is always transparent - there’s a single upfront fee and the exchange rate is the one you see on Google, with no hidden charges. Wise, a global payments company building the best way to move money around the world, offers SMEs a business account with everything they need to grow and operate internationally without high fees.

Results

16 million people and businesses use Wise, which processes over $10 billion in cross-border transactions every month, saving customers over $1.5 billion a year. Wise Business is used by hundreds of thousands of businesses each quarter.

Wise Business is particularly impactful for small businesses. Our primary business customers are sole proprietors and small businesses relying on our services to pay and get paid internationally. For these businesses, the speed and accuracy of a payment is crucial. Over half of Wise’s payments are instant and we have no hidden fees, ensuring smoother and more trustworthy payments for businesses. This is particularly important for women and minority-owned small businesses, who are underrepresented in the exporting space.