Wise said today
(Monday) its cross-border payment volumes climbed 26% in the final quarter of
fiscal 2026 to £49.4 billion, as the London-listed fintech prepares to shift
its primary listing to Nasdaq on May 11 and reshape how it reports its numbers
to investors.
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Active
customers reached 11.3 million in the three months to March, up 22%, while
underlying income rose 24% to £435.3 million. For the full year, Wise processed
£181.7 billion in cross-border transfers, a 25% increase, and served 18.9
million active customers.
The
cross-border take rate slipped another basis point to 51, down from 53 a year
earlier, which the company described as a balanced approach to pricing and
reinvestment. Wise has run this playbook consistently, including when it reported 20% volume growth in Q2 of
fiscal 2025
alongside an eight-basis-point drop in take rate.
“We
are making good progress on building the network for the world’s money,”
Chief Executive Kristo Käärmann said in the trading update. In January, Wise
became one of the first payment institutions granted membership to Payments
Canada, and last month it launched a UK current account with a physical branch
concept on Oxford Street.
Dual
Listing Set for May 11 on Nasdaq
Wise
confirmed it remains on track to complete its listing transfer this quarter,
with an expected debut date of May 11 on Nasdaq. The London Stock Exchange will
retain a secondary listing. A registration statement has been filed with the US
Securities and Exchange Commission, though the company noted it has not yet
been declared effective.
Shareholders
approved the move last July, after Käärmann first outlined the Wall Street plan in June 2025, arguing the switch
would give Wise better access to its largest market.
As part of
the transition, Wise said its full-year fiscal 2026 results will be presented
in US dollars under US GAAP, abandoning the “underlying” profit
framework in favor of reported income before tax. The company translated its
medium-term guidance into the new framework, keeping a 15%-20%
constant-currency net revenue CAGR target and setting an income-before-tax
margin target of 15%-20%. It said reported margins would likely run at 20%-25%
in the near term until it can pay more interest to customers.
Cross-Border Rivals Step
Up
Wise
operates in a market where rivals are moving on similar ground. Revolut, whose
valuation recently overtook Barclays, expanded its international transfers with
14 new payment corridors across nine
African countries,
plugging into Airtel Money, Orange Money and MTN.
Nubank’s global account runs on Wise
Platform, the
firm’s infrastructure arm that also powers Morgan Stanley, Standard Chartered
and Google Pay, taking its partner tally above 85.
Wise leans
on a fee-compression model funded by scale and interest income on safeguarded
balances. Customer holdings grew 37% to £29.4 billion, card and other revenue
rose 29%, and Wise Business volumes jumped 35%.
Instant
transfers, defined as arriving in under 20 seconds, climbed to 75% of flows
from 65%, a capability the company has long pushed in its broker partnerships
with Interactive Brokers, Tiger Brokers
Singapore and Gotrade.
Wise
estimated that a 25 basis point change in central bank rates would move net
interest income by around $40 million a year, based on customer balances of
$26.4 billion at the end of the first half of fiscal 2026.
This article was written by Damian Chmiel at www.financemagnates.com.
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