Wise reports solid Q3, warns of some currency headwinds
By Josh White
Date: Thursday 16 Jan 2025
(Sharecast News) - International money transfer specialist Wise reported a strong third-quarter performance on Thursday, with cross-border volumes rising 24% to £37.8bn, or 27% on a constant currency basis, although it warned that currency headwinds would limit its full-year income growth.
The company said over nine million active customers used Wise's platform during the quarter, making for a 20% rise compared to the previous year, as it progressed toward its goal of becoming a global money network.
Its underlying income grew 13% year-on-year to £349.5m, with year-to-date growth at 17%.
On a constant currency basis, income growth was stronger at 20%, though currency headwinds were expected to result in full-year reported growth at the lower end of the 15% to 20% guidance range.
Wise also reported a 39% year-on-year increase in card and other revenue, driven by continued adoption of its Wise account.
Account balances grew 26% year-on-year to £16.2bn.
Despite lowering prices during the first half of the 2025 financial year to reflect reduced unit costs, which brought the cross-border take rate down by 11 basis points to 0.56%, the company maintained its solid growth.
Instant transfers accounted for 65% of all transactions, a four percentage point increase on the year.
The firm remained optimistic about its growth trajectory, attributing it to disciplined cost management, expanding customer adoption, and its commitment to offering affordable and efficient global money transfer services.
"This quarter saw us take another step closer to achieving our mission, most notably through extending the availability of Wise to even more customers," said co-founder and chief executive officer Kristo Käärmann.
"Having seen rapid customer growth from the popularity of the Wise account for individuals in Brazil, we were pleased to also launch our service for micro-businesses based in Brazil during the quarter.
"This comes as we work towards integrating with Brazil's payment system - PIX - which will further enhance the quality of our proposition in the country."
Käärmann said the Wise platform continued to bring "the power of the Wise infrastructure" directly to partners and customers.
"We were delighted to announce that Morgan Stanley is now using Wise for international settlements capabilities for its corporate customers.
"Additionally, we announced that Wise will soon power faster and cheaper international payments for Standard Chartered's cross-border payment service, SC Remit."
Kristo Käärmann said such partnerships provided more people and businesses with easy access to a service that was still becoming faster and lower cost.
"Given their scale, entering into relationships with such leading global institutions represents important milestones in our journey as we move closer towards achieving money without borders."
At 1035 GMT, shares in Wise were down 2.75% at 1,026p.
Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.
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