Payment firm Wise says Q2 revenue up 25%

[LONDON] Money transfer company Wise said on Tuesday that its revenue was £132.8 million (S$246.1 million) in the second quarter, a rise of 25 per cent from the same period last year.

Wise, which listed on the London Stock Market in July, said in a trading update that the growth was due to a rise in customer numbers attracted in part by lower prices. It said almost 4 million customers transferred £18 billion in the second quarter, up 36 per cent from the previous year.

The company, which specialises in cross-border transfers and is one of Britain's most well-known fintech "unicorns", said it reduced costs for 1.7 million customers by 8 basis points from the same period last year, to an average of 0.62 per cent.

That meant its "take rate" - the percentage of money being transferred over its platform that it books as revenue fell to 0.74 per cent from 0.8 per cent a year earlier.

Wise said it expects its take rate for the second half to be slightly lower than in the first half, but still anticipates revenue growth for the year to March 2022 to be in the low- to mid-20 per cent range over the previous year.

Wise will release full interim results on Nov 30.

REUTERS