Wise is beta-testing index fund investing with select customers

Money transfer giant Wise is gearing up to launch its long-awaited investment product, a year after the group secured a green light from the FCA.

According to an email sent to select customers, and seen by Yahoo Finance,Wise is beta-testing what it calls its new “Assets” feature with certain UK consumers and businesses.

The feature works by letting customers easily move cash into an index fund, specifically BlackRock’s iShares World Equity Index Fund.

During the beta period, Wise is only charging a fund fee of 0.15 per cent annually, although once the Assets feature launches this will be joined by a platform fee of 0.55 per cent per year.

The wording of the email said: “Banks invest the money you hold with them to make money for themselves. They use it to fund mortgages, business loans and credit cards for other customers — you’re effectively supporting their business for free, and we don’t think that’s fair. So we built Assets to let you choose how to hold your money.”

AltFi understands that a formal announcement of Assets is coming soon, however the details of the current beta-testing are all subject to change.

While that’s true, news of the beta clarifies what we should expect when the feature does launch, namely low-cost tracker funds from established providers.

Last year Wise’s CEO and co-founder Kristo Käärmann said: “TransferWise is evolving from being a pure payments provider, to the number one alternative for the banking needs of those living and working between countries.”

“With £2bn in deposits we know that people want to hold their money with TransferWise, so we’re very happy to soon provide a way to make a return on that money.”