Wise LON: WISE reported continued growth in customers, cross-border volumes and customer balances in the first quarter of fiscal 2027, while reiterating its full-year guidance and plans to keep reducing prices for customers.
Chief Financial Officer Emmanuel Thomassin said on the company’s results call that Wise began the year with “continued growth in customers and volumes,” supported by customers using the platform for both cross-border transactions and everyday financial needs.
Active customers increased 21% year over year to almost 12 million, while cross-border volume rose 26% to $69 billion. Wise Business was a particular driver, with cross-border volume up 39% year over year. Customer holdings increased 31% to $31 billion, including $10 billion held through Wise Assets.
Transaction Revenue Rises as Card and Other Revenue Growth Accelerates
Thomassin said Wise generated $350 million in cross-border revenue from customers sending or converting currency during the quarter, up 22% year over year. That growth was slightly below the 26% increase in volume, reflecting a decline in the average take rate to 50 basis points from 52 basis points a year earlier.
Card and other revenue reached $191 million, up 38% year over year. Thomassin said the increase was mainly due to card revenue, driven by higher business card spending in North America and growing personal card adoption in the U.S. and Asia-Pacific.
Together, transaction revenue totaled $541 million, representing 27% year-over-year growth. Wise also generated $225 million in interest income during the quarter, up 15%, as customers continued to hold balances on the platform. Thomassin said growth in balances did not fully translate into interest income because gross yield declined to 2.9% from 3.3% a year earlier, reflecting central bank decisions during 2026.
Net revenue totaled GBP 714 million, up 25% year over year. Thomassin highlighted the increasing diversification of Wise’s revenue base, saying 51% of net revenue in the quarter came from non-cross-border activities.
Wise Reiterates Guidance, Expects Pricing Investments to Weigh Later in Year
Wise maintained its expectation for full-year net revenue growth around the middle of a 15% to 20% range on a constant-currency basis. Thomassin said growth is expected to be more pronounced in the first half of the year because of the timing of planned pricing investments.
The company also expects full-year income before tax margins to be around the high end of the 20% to 25% range, with results front-half weighted and slightly above the target range in the first half.
Responding to a question from Goldman Sachs analyst Mohammed Moawalla, Thomassin said first-quarter growth was in line with Wise’s expectations. He added that the company continues to take a conservative view and remains comfortable with its guidance.
Wise plans to continue reducing its take rate as it reinvests efficiency gains into lower prices. Thomassin said the take rate fell by one basis point in April and that Wise expects a two-basis-point reduction in the second quarter, followed by likely one-basis-point reductions in each of the third and fourth quarters.
“Our investments into pricing are a core feature of our business model,” Thomassin said, adding that lower prices support Wise’s long-term goal of building a sustainable, profitable business while reducing costs for customers.
Business, Platform and Regional Growth Remain Key Drivers
During the question-and-answer portion of the call, Thomassin said Wise is “extremely bullish” on its Platform business, which allows partners to use Wise’s infrastructure. He said partners generated roughly 6% of total cross-border volume and that Wise has a “nice pipeline.”
Bank of America analyst Aditya Buddhavarapu asked about customer growth by region and the impact of marketing spending. Thomassin said Wise saw growth across regions, with Asia-Pacific and the Americas, especially the U.S., “overperforming.” He said those regions are benefiting from prior investments.
Thomassin also pointed to strong growth in business customers and volumes. In response to a question from Barclays analyst Sven Merkt, he said a dedicated servicing team for business customers has helped Wise be more proactive, contacting customers to explain services and functions they may not yet be using.
“More and more we see the benefits of being proactive,” Thomassin said, adding that the outcome is higher business customer satisfaction and growth in customer activity.
Direct Connections and Instant Payments Support Efficiency
William Blair analyst Cris Kennedy asked about the benefits Wise is seeing from direct connections in markets such as Japan and Brazil. Thomassin said direct integrations are central to Wise’s value proposition and help reduce costs by supporting faster liquidity, reducing reliance on partner banks in certain markets and lowering customer service contacts.
Thomassin said 77% of payments were instant in the first quarter, up from 75%, and that instant payments improve customer satisfaction while reducing servicing costs. He said it was too early to quantify the savings from Brazil and Japan specifically, but Wise expects to provide more detail with first-half results.
Asked by Citi analyst Pavan Daswani about the elasticity of volume following fee reductions, Thomassin said Wise views pricing as a long-term strategy rather than expecting immediate benefits from small take-rate reductions.
“This is a long-term game,” Thomassin said. “The combination of the infrastructure that we provide at the very low take rate will always be the reason why people at the end choose to work with us.”
Buyback Underway, Customer Balances Remain a Focus
BNP analyst Alex Faure asked about the company’s share buyback program. Thomassin said Wise is in “execution mode” and has regulatory approval for the full year. He said the company intends to buy shares on both the London and New York markets while avoiding any impact on trading liquidity or the share price.
Thomassin also said Wise does not place as much emphasis on volume per customer as a core metric because of customer mix and revenue diversification. Instead, he said customer deposits are a strong sign of trust in Wise across both retail and business customers.
Asked about potential benefits from the World Cup, Thomassin said any impact on first-quarter results was not significant relative to the size of the business.
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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