TransferWise rebrands as ‘Wise’ to reflect brand expansion

Having built a strong initial reputation as being one of fintech’s leading money transfer companies, Wise has reflected that “customers now need [it] for more” and sought to capture this transition with a clear separation from its past identity.

Now over a decade since it was founded, the company has broadened its capabilities to include international currency accounts, business accounts and platforms for fintechs to execute cross-border payments. 

As such, Wise views itself more like a community of 10 million users/businesses that are united by a desire to change modern banking and eliminate hidden fees, markup rates and small print.

“For generations, banks have been defined by borders. Traditional bank accounts trap our money in one country, making international lives more difficult and expensive than they need to be. We shouldn’t have to accept this status quo,” the company stated.

Preparing for an IPO?

In relation to the rebrand, CEO and Co-Founder Kristo Kaarmann commented, “Today our name catches up with who we’re already building for – a community of people and businesses with multi-currency lives. That community now even includes the banks themselves.

“We’ve evolved to fix more than just money transfers, but the core experience of using Wise will remain faster, cheaper, and more convenient than anything else.”

Wise released its Q4 results at the end of January, which indicated that, despite operating at a busy and challenging time, the company still managed to make several significant progressions. Results included:

• A reduction on average fees from 0.71% to 0.69%
• Expansion in the Asian market to Indonesia
• Enhanced multi-currency account capabilities in Turkey, Canada and Romania 

The market expectation is that Wise is preparing to launch a US$5bn IPO in 2021. Further details are minimal at this time, although it has been tipped that Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley will act as joint coordinators.

With 2020 and the beginning of 2021 marking a period of strong fintech IPO showings, it is not difficult to imagine that Wise, one of the UK’s leading offerings in the sector, would net substantial support.

Image credit: Wise