Wise: London darling feels benefit of higher interest rates on bottom line

A higher interest rate environment and continued customer growth helped Wise to post a strong end to the 2024 financial year.

The London-listed fintech, which offer current accounts and allows customers to send cash overseas, said active customers grew 29 per cent year-on-year to 7.9m in the final quarter of the year.

Cross-border volumes for all customers rose 14 per cent to over £30bn with “strong growth” in the smaller personal volume.

This jump in users contributed to significantly higher revenue. Revenue rose by 24 per cent in the final quarter of 2024, climbing to £277m from £223.5m previously.

The payments firm also benefited from a higher rate environment, with interest income growing by 86 per cent year-on-year to £104m.

“Customers are holding more of their money with Wise, with Wise account balances increasing 24 per cent year-on-year,” the firm said.

Nearly half of personal customers and 60 per cent of business customers use Wise for more than sending money across borders, such as spending on a Wise card.

Wise said that strong customer growth combined with a higher rate environment contributed to an “exceptional level of profitability” in the financial year.

“With an elevated level of interest income being retained, and lower levels of transactional costs, our gross profit margin is expected to be higher in H2 FY24 than the 74 per cent in H1 FY24,” it said.

“I am pleased that we have ended the financial year with another solid quarter. Active customer growth remained strong at 29 per cent as personal and business customers find our growing set of features and products increasingly useful in helping to move and manage their money,” Kristo Käärmann, co-founder and chief executive officer at Wise said.

“Our continued customer growth laps strong results and tells us that the investments that we’re making are meeting real needs, giving me confidence that we’re progressing well on our mission,” Käärmann continued.