Wise boosted by higher interest rates, lifts FY guidance

Payments firm Wise lifted its full-year total income growth guidance on Tuesday as it benefits from higher interest rates.

Wise said net interest income in the latest quarter was up 148% on the previous quarter to £43.5m due to higher rates on invested assets and continued growth in customer balances. Meanwhile, revenues ticked up 6% on the quarter to £225.2m in Q3.

Co-founder and chief executive Kristo Kärmann said: "As interest rates increase, our customers expect a return on the balances they hold with us, and we intend to share much of the benefit of higher rates with customers.

"This quarter we launched 'Interest' within our Assets product in the UK; a whole new way for our customers to hold their money and earn a return. I'm also pleased that for the third consecutive quarter, more than 50% of cross-border payments were completed instantly."

The company now expects FY23 total income to grow by 68% to 72%, up from previous guidance of between 55% and 60%.

Wise said it’s made good progress in beginning to share the benefit of higher income with customers, but there is "still work to do" to scale up these initiatives and that until these are fully operational, it expects a higher proportion of this net interest income to flow to EBITDA in the short-term.