Wise (LSE:WISE), a leading UK-based Fintech, published annual results this week, showing a 23% increase in cross-border volume to £145.2 billion, driven by customer growth and greater adoption of the Wise account.
Wise started as a platform for transferring money globally, aiming to be a low-cost provider with fast global transfers at superior exchange rates. Today, Wise is more of a neobank offering IBAN accounts and, in the UK, interest-bearing vehicles.
For the year ending on March 31, 2025, Wise reported:
- 15.6m active customers served, an increase of 21% year over year, with Personal customers growing by 22% and Business customers up 11%.
- Users are now holding more than £21.5 billion on Wise, an increase of 33% year over year.
Wise said that customer growth and higher interest rates drove underlying income up 16% to £1.4 billion (FY2024 at £1.2 billion) and revenue up 15% to £1.2 billion (FY2024 £1.1 billion). After accounting for costs and reinvestment, Wise said it generated £282 million of profit before tax, a 17% increase, or £565 million
Wise currently trades on the London Stock Exchange. The company now intends to dual-list its shares and trade in the US as this will “help accelerate their mission.”
The company explains:
“The Board has concluded its review of our listing arrangements and, having assessed in detail the optimal listing structure to accelerate our vision and maximise value for our stakeholders, we intend to transfer our primary listing from the equity shares category on the London Stock Exchange to a US stock exchange, and to maintain a secondary listing on the LSE. This would allow Wise’s shares to trade on both a US stock exchange and the LSE. The new listing arrangements are expected to include a structure that aligns with US market practices, including those of our US-listed tech peers, which we believe allows us to remain laser-focused on delivering our mission, thus creating long-term value for shareholders.”
Wise believes this is the best move for its shareholders as it would boost the pool of investors, specifically US institutions and retail investors.
Liquidity is also expected to be enhanced.
The company hopes to have the opportunity to include Wise shares in a major US index.
Wise said they remain confident about the UK tech ecosystem and they plan to grow their presence in the UK, where they currently have 1/5 of their employees.
The move of Wise shares is a significant blow to the LSE and the UK in general, as policymakers have recognized the declining number of listed shares and are seeking ways to enhance UK exchanges and their appeal to issuers. At the same time, it is difficult to compete with the larger size of the US market. Wise currently has a market cap of around $11.5 billion.
Kristo Käärmann, Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer, commented on the results:
“Our growth over the past financial year is a testament to the team’s laser focus on our vision to build money without borders. We moved £145.2 billion across borders for 15.6 million people and businesses, a 23% increase compared to last year. This growth has been generated by the investments we’ve made in our underlying infrastructure, delivering lower fees and faster speeds for our customers: we reduced our take rate by 14bps over the year, to 53bps in Q4 FY2025. More customers also benefited from instant payments, with approximately 65% of transactions being completed in under 20 seconds.”
Käärmann said that listing shares in the US will drive greater awareness of the platform in the country, which is the largest opportunity for Wise.
“A dual listing would also enable us to continue serving our UK-based Owners effectively, as part of our ongoing commitment to the UK. The UK is home to some of the best talent in the world in financial services and technology, and we will continue to invest in our presence here to fuel our UK and global growth.”