TransferWise gets a new name; expands APAC presence with new Singapore office

TransferWise, which has a global network allowing its users to make cross-border payments, announced on Feb 22, that it will now be known as Wise.

The company was formed in 2011 by co-founders Taavet Hinrikus and Kristo Käärmann, when they realised the tedious and expensive process when it came to transferring their money abroad.

On the name change, Kaarmann, who is also the CEO, says, “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 transfer, but the core experience of using Wise will remain faster, cheaper, and more convenient than anything else. Our mission remains the same. We’re still making — and always will be making — money work without borders,” he adds.

Samarth Bansal, Asia Pacific (APAC) business development lead at Wise says the change “reflects the growth of the platform and products we’ve built over the last 10 years – because we’re much more than transfers today”.

Today, the company processes some £4.5 billion ($8 billion) in cross-border transactions monthly, enabling customers to save about £1 billion a year compared to making the same transaction with their bank.

Following the rebranding, Wise is now home to three products, namely Wise, Wise Business and Wise Platform.

Wise enables its users to spend and send money around the globe, hold money in 55 currencies and get real account numbers in nine currencies.

Wise Business, the, well, business edition of Wise, has all the features of the personal account, including extra features such as bank feeds, mass payouts and multi-user access.

Wise Platform enables platform banks and companies like Monzo and Xero to tap into its infrastructure to provide their customers with cheaper and faster payments, and international banking features.

In addition, Wise announced the opening of its new, larger office space in Singapore, expanding its global footprint in the APAC region.

Over 70 people will be hired in Singapore in 2021 for roles including expansion, engineering, product and operations.

The new office will be located at PLQ 2 at Paya Lebar

“Beyond deepening product availability, we’re significantly investing in our infrastructure to offer an even better payment experience. I’m happy to share that after months of investment and commitment to building a highly resilient system and undergoing rigorous testing, we’re officially one of the first non-bank financial institutions to connect to FAST, Singapore’s real time payments system,” says Bansal.

“This integration means we can make transactions even faster and cheaper for customers in Singapore over time, and overall takes us closer to our mission of making money move across borders — instant, convenient, transparent and eventually free,” he adds.