Wise plc: Wise is a public cross-border payments company. It reported FY2026 net revenue of $2.5B, income before tax of $660.4M, and became primarily listed on Nasdaq under WSE in July 2026.
Wise plc: Key Facts
| Company Name | Wise plc |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2011 |
| Founder(s) | Kristo Käärmann and Taavet Hinrikus |
| Headquarters | London, United Kingdom |
| Industry | Cross-Border Payments, Multi-Currency Accounts, and Financial Technology |
| CEO / Lead Executive | Kristo Kaarmann |
| Employees | about 9,000 |
| Revenue | $2.5B in FY2026 |
| Income Before Tax | income before tax of $660.4M |
| Status | Public |
| Stock Symbol | WSE (Nasdaq) |
| Website | https://wise.com |
Wise is no longer just a money-transfer app. The FY2026 profile is a dual-listing fintech with $2.5B in net revenue, $187.7B in cross-border volume, 17.7M active customers, a growing multi-currency account base, and a platform business embedded into banks, marketplaces, and enterprises.
What Is the History of Wise plc?
Wise began as TransferWise in 2011, solving a specific frustration: moving money between countries without losing value to opaque exchange-rate markups.
The company expanded from consumer transfers into multi-currency accounts, business accounts, cards, and Wise Platform infrastructure that partners can embed inside their own products.
By 2026, Wise had become a public fintech with a Nasdaq primary listing, $2.5B in FY2026 net revenue, and a strategic goal of taking a much larger share of global cross-border money movement.
How Does Wise Make Money?
Wise makes money by charging transparent fees for moving, converting, holding, and spending money across currencies. It also earns from card usage, business accounts, platform integrations, and selected balance-related products.
The company reinvests scale efficiencies into lower prices and faster transfers, using local rail connections and compliance infrastructure to reduce dependency on slow, expensive correspondent banking routes.
Wise Revenue and Financials
Wise reported FY2026 net revenue of $2.5028B and income before tax of $660.4M. Q1 FY2027 net revenue grew to $702.7M, while active customers reached 17.7M and cross-border volume reached $57.7B in the quarter. The main financial question is whether Wise can keep growing volume and account adoption while interest-rate normalization and customer pass-through reduce balance-income contribution.
Wise Strategy
Wise strategy is to move from a consumer transfer brand into infrastructure for global money movement. The company is expanding Wise Account usage, Wise Business, Wise Platform, local rail connections, instant payments, and global account functionality while using operational efficiency to reduce prices and defend trust.
Wise is likely to keep investing in direct rails, business accounts, platform partnerships, U.S. public-market visibility, and lower pricing. The upside is a larger share of global money movement; the risk is that regulation and rate declines compress a profit pool that has helped fund rapid expansion.
Wise Timeline
Kristo Kaarmann and Taavet Hinrikus found TransferWise in London to reduce hidden bank FX markups. [source]
The company expands beyond one-off transfers into multi-currency account functionality. [source]
TransferWise becomes Wise and completes a London direct listing as its product set moves beyond transfers. [source]
Wise announces its intention to move the primary listing to the United States while retaining a London presence. [source]
Wise reports FY2026 net revenue of $2.5028B and income before tax of $660.4M. [source]
Wise becomes primarily listed on Nasdaq under ticker WSE while retaining LSE ticker WISE as a secondary listing. [source]
Wise reports 17.7M active customers and $57.7B in cross-border volume in Q1 FY2027. [source]
