Wise Lays Out Post-Nasdaq Growth Plan, Targets Banks With Payments Platform

Key Points

• Wise outlined its post-Nasdaq growth strategy, saying it still has a large opportunity in cross-border payments and currently serves only a small fraction of a roughly £43 trillion market. CEO Kristo Käärmann highlighted that customers saved an estimated £3.3 billion in hidden bank fees over the past year using Wise.
• The company is broadening beyond transfers into everyday banking and business tools, with new offerings such as multi-currency accounts, Wise Interest, cards, and a growing business product roadmap that includes invoicing, employee cards, accounting integrations and workflow tools.
• Wise Platform is becoming a key growth engine by selling its infrastructure to banks and fintechs, while management also laid out medium-term targets for 15% to 20% net revenue CAGR and a 15% to 20% EBIT margin, supported by its cost-plus pricing model and expanding global network.

Wise LON: WISE executives used an investor presentation in New York to outline the company’s growth strategy following its Nasdaq listing, emphasizing its cross-border payments infrastructure, expanding product suite and medium-term financial targets.

Founder and CEO Kristo Käärmann said Wise was built to address what he described as the high cost, slow speed and lack of transparency in international money movement through traditional banks. He said customers saved an estimated £3.3 billion in hidden fees over the past year by using Wise instead of banks for cross-border transactions.

Käärmann said 75% of Wise’s international transactions arrive in less than 20 seconds, compared with the “3-5 business days” customers are often quoted by banks. He also said 70% of new customers come to Wise through recommendations from family, coworkers or friends.

Wise had 19 million active customers at the end of the last quarter, Käärmann said. In the last financial year, customers moved £243 billion in cross-currency transactions, held £39 billion in Wise Accounts at the end of March and spent £44 billion using Wise cards. Käärmann said the company still represents less than 1% of a £43 trillion cross-currency transaction market.

Product Roadmap Focuses on Accounts, Business Tools and Platform

Chief Product Officer Nilan Peiris said Wise’s products have evolved from international transfers into a broader account for people and businesses. The Wise Account now allows customers to hold more than 40 currencies, use a multi-currency debit card and access Wise Assets, including Interest and Stocks products in certain markets.

Peiris highlighted a recently launched U.K. current account product, which he said offers customers a 3.26% return through Wise Interest while retaining Wise’s international card and payments features. He said the company plans to develop its everyday account offering globally.

For Wise Business, Peiris said the company primarily serves small and micro-businesses today, but expects to support larger businesses over time as it adds features such as employee cards, approval flows, invoicing, accounting integrations, batch payments and expense management workflows.

In a question-and-answer session, Peiris said larger businesses need deeper accounting integrations, permissions and workflow tools before they can move more of their financial operations to Wise.

Infrastructure Cited as Core Competitive Advantage

Chief Technology Officer Harsh Sinha and Diana Avila, who leads international expansion, described Wise’s infrastructure as a combination of technology, operations, regulatory licenses and payment connections.

Sinha said Wise has more than 80 licenses globally, more than 90 local bank and payment partners, eight direct connections to domestic payment systems and more than 1,000 engineers focused on cross-border payments. He said Wise’s single global technology stack allows the company to provide a consistent experience across countries while adapting to local payment systems.

Avila said Wise’s approach differs from traditional correspondent banking, where payments can pass through multiple banks, each adding fees, foreign exchange spreads and delays. She said Wise connects domestic payment systems into its own network, allowing it to control transactions more directly.

Avila highlighted Japan’s Zengin payment system as a recent example, saying Wise completed a direct connection there in November after a multi-year licensing and approval process. She said Wise also completed direct participation in Brazil last year.

Sinha said Wise is monitoring stablecoins and other emerging technologies, but said the company’s current infrastructure provides better price and speed than existing stablecoin-based cross-border payment solutions in many cases. He said Wise could add stablecoins as an asset type if customers need them and if the technology improves outcomes.

Wise Platform Targets Banks and Financial Institutions

Peiris described Wise Platform as the company’s fastest-growing product. The platform allows banks, neobanks and technology companies to use Wise’s infrastructure to offer international payments to their own customers.

He said partners include neobanks such as Monzo and Nubank, technology companies such as Ramp and Brex, and large banks including Standard Chartered, UniCredit, Itaú and Morgan Stanley. Peiris said relationships with large banks are typically multi-year journeys that begin with a subset of customers and currencies before expanding.

During the Q&A, executives said Wise Platform transactions are designed to be economically equivalent to direct consumer transactions for Wise. Käärmann said that approach avoids internal conflict over whether customers come directly to Wise or through a partner.

CFO Outlines Revenue Mix and Targets

CFO Emmanuel Thomassin said Wise has been profitable every year for the past decade and has grown cross-border volume more than 30-fold over that period. He said the company’s 2026 total revenue was $2.5 billion, including $1.9 billion from customer transactions and roughly £600 million of net interest income.

Thomassin said Wise charged an average 52 basis points on cross-border transactions in 2026, generating £1.3 billion of cross-border revenue. He said the take rate finished the year at 51 basis points, down about 20% from the first quarter of 2025, reflecting the company’s cost-plus pricing approach.

Thomassin said customers spent more than £40 billion with Wise cards in 2026, up 37% from the prior year, while transaction-related revenue rose 22% year over year. He also said Wise generated $800 million of interest income and paid around $200 million back to customers, below its target because of geographic restrictions including the U.K.

Wise’s medium-term targets call for 15% to 20% net revenue compound annual growth and a 15% to 20% EBIT margin, assuming the company can pay back 80% of interest above the first 1% yield to customers, Thomassin said. He added that Wise expects to provide an update on capital returns with full-year results in June.

Closing the presentation, Käärmann said Wise remains in the early stages of its market opportunity and will continue investing in products, infrastructure and sustainable financial growth.

About Wise LON: WISE

Wise plc provides cross-border and domestic financial services for personal and business customers in the United Kingdom, rest of Europe, the Asia-Pacific, North America, and internationally. Its product portfolio includes international money transfer, wise account, international debit card, amount transfer, receive money, wise platform, business debit card, and mass payment services. The company was formerly known as 456 Newco plc and changed its name to Wise plc in June 2021. Wise plc was founded in 2010 and is based in London, the United Kingdom.

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