Behind the idea: Wise | Fintech Times

A global presence is the dream of many companies, but the journey to achieve this is often filled with various challenges – how can these be overcome? Wise (formerly known as TransferWise) explains how the company has been able to break into so many markets and find success.

From a range of different products for consumers and businesses, Wise has been able to enter various markets in Europe, MEA and Asia with varying degrees of success. We hear about the company’s ethics and the working environment it creates to find such growth, we hear from Roisin Levinehead of partnerships UK and Europe at Wise.

With various accolades to her name including: Rising Star in Women in Fintech Powerlist by Innovative finance (2018) (2019) and (2020), nominated for the Young Leader of the Year award for women in finance; and nominated for the Women in Credit Award’s Transformation of the Year award, Levine explains the secrets behind Wise’s success:

Tell us more about your company and its offer

Wise is a global technology company building the best way to move money around the world. Wise was launched in 2011 under the original name TransferWise on a mission to create a world of money without borders – where sending money internationally is instant, convenient, transparent and ultimately free.

13 million people and businesses use Wise, which processes over £8 billion in cross-border transactions every month, saving customers over £1 billion a year. We handle 3.5 billion percent of all personal cross-border transactions processed annually.

Wise is best known for its consumer offering, but we also have a B2B arm, Wise Platform, which is focused on working with banks and businesses to integrate Wise’s technology over API. This allows partners to offer their customers fast, cheap and convenient international transfers with no hidden fees right from their own app. In just five years, the Wise Platform has gone live with over 50 partners, including the likes of Monzo, N26, Bunq, Zero and Google Pay.

What problem was your company set up to solve?

Wise began life when our founders, Taavet Hinrikus and Kristo Käärmann, realized how much money it cost to transfer money between the UK and Estonia. Hinrikus was based in London, but paid in euros; Käärmann worked in London, but paid a mortgage in Estonia in euros. Each needed what the other had, so they figured out a fair way to exchange money between them, using the middle rate—without the markup and fees charged by the bank. They saved thousands of pounds and realized that there were millions of people around the world who could do the same.

They set up Wise with the goal of eliminating the hidden fees and markups associated with making international payments through traditional banks, making it cheaper and more convenient for people to send and spend money abroad.

How has your business evolved since launch?

Wise began as a way to send money abroad. While this is of course still at the core of what we do at Wise, our growth over the past five years in particular has been aided by the expansion of our B2B service, the Wise Platform.

We believe that the Wise Platform can bring us significantly closer to achieving our mission. By forming partnerships with other organizations in fintech and finance, we can take our product to customers via their existing suppliers, rather than hoping they come to us.

Partnerships are an important industry-wide trend, something I discovered more about when I interviewed leaders from across the fintech and finance space for our recently launched ‘How We’re Fixing’ podcast series. Guests range from the likes of TSB to Payhawkand each organization points to partnership as a key element in how they work to solve the range of problems facing their customers.

What has been the biggest challenge or the most “tough moment” to overcome?

When it comes to partnerships, it can be a challenge to change perspectives from competition to cooperation.

However, there is a growing awareness of how partnerships are a mutually beneficial solution to innovation and growth. For example, while our partnerships allow us to bring our product to more customers, our partners are able to deliver an enhanced FX payment product quickly and efficiently, which customers can access right from their own app. This improves customer satisfaction and thus drives growth and customer retention. Not to mention the wider sector benefits from the innovation driven by partnerships too.

The simple fact is that we can achieve more when we work together. Although no one pretends that the tension between competition and collaboration does not exist, partnerships are becoming a more familiar feature of the industry because they provide significant value to both partners, and most importantly, their customers.

What are your biggest achievements or “proudest moments” so far?

We’ve had a lot of great new partner wins over the past year globally, and I’m particularly proud of the partnerships we’ve delivered in the UK and Europe. For example, our launch with Turkish bank Fibabankamade possible through our collaboration with Birlesik Oedemalaunched us into a new market and has made the Wise Send product easily available to 3 million more customers.

One of the most important achievements of the last 12 months has also been an improved understanding of the needs of our potential partners. We’ve listened carefully to partners and considered some of the common challenges they face when integrating a new service. This has led us to build our newest integration, SWIFT Receive, which allows financial institutions to benefit from Wise’s expertise for outgoing or incoming payments via FAST by making Wise their correspondent.

From a personal perspective, I am taking maternity leave and I feel very fortunate to be working for a team that I know will achieve many more successes in the months ahead. I’m already excited to catch up on all the latest developments when I get back!

How would you describe the culture in your company?

Today, Wise is a listed company with more than 3,000 employees worldwide. But just over a decade ago, we were a small business.

Many things have made this growth possible. The system we’re trying to fix was (and still is) very broken, so there was a clear need for our product. But internally, there’s something else that makes us distinct and has allowed us to grow quickly: it’s the fact that Wise doesn’t operate like a traditional business.

We embrace an autonomous team structure here at Wise, meaning each team operates independently and is trusted to get things done. We set clear goals, but then give teams the autonomy to achieve them. The company operates as a collection of start-ups under one roof, rather than as a large giant. This approach is supported by giving our employees ownership of the company and high levels of support.

This way of working may not work for everyone – but it’s what makes Wise work.

What is in store for the future?

In a decade, we have created a global network that allows us to move money across national borders cheaper, faster and more conveniently. It is used by banks and businesses as well as people. But we are only just getting started. We have seen steady progress not only at Wise, but in the wider sector in terms of currency payments, but there is still a long way to go to make international transactions completely free for customers worldwide.

Looking ahead, we have many exciting partnership announcements on the horizon, with partners around the world. Our latest partnership with an Israel-based credit card company Max and the Turkish bank Fibabanka introduced the Wise Platform in new markets, and we look forward to further expanding its reach. Together with the launch of new services such as SWIFT Receive, we are making steady progress towards our goal of working with many more partners, of all sizes, across both banking and fintech.