Rising interest rates push Wise income up by 66%

Money transfer firm Wise reported a strong start to its new financial year this morning, with a huge 66 per cent jump in its income for the first quarter of 2024 to £311m.

The increase was driven by active customers increasing by a third year-on-year to 6.7 million, plus higher interest income on customer balances.

As well as international exchange, Wise in recent years has begun offering interest and cashback on balances held with the company, balances which have subsequently grown to £11.5bn.

During the last quarter, Wise expanded the interest it pays into new markets including Germany, Sweden and Norway, taking the total to 11 countries.

"As our customer proposition continues to improve, more people and businesses are choosing Wise, and it is this growth in customer adoption that will underpin our long-term success,” said CEO and co-founder Kristo Kaarmann.

Sending money abroad remains the bread and butter of Wise’s business, with £28.2bn sent in the company’s last quarter, a 16 per cent increase year-on-year in the volume of money sent.

Looking ahead to the rest of its financial year, Wise left its outlook unchanged with income growth of 28-33 per cent expected.

Last month Wise saw its share price jump by 17 per cent after reporting a tripling of annual profits for its last financial year, from £43.9m in 2022 to £146.5m for the year ending March 2023.