Wise Unveils Assets Feature

By June Ramli

Sydney, Sept 9: Wise, the global payments app, has been granted an Australian Financial Services Licence (AFSL) for Investments from the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC).
This new licence will allow Wise to introduce its popular investment product, Assets, to Australia later this year, following strong demand from its customers.
With Assets, Wise’s personal and business customers will be able to invest their A$1 billion in balances into money market funds across multiple currencies, with no minimum balance requirements or lock-up periods.
This move provides an opportunity for customers to earn a return on their balances while maintaining instant access to their funds for transactions and transfers.

Globally, Wise has already facilitated £2.9 billion GBP (A$5.6 billion) in investments through Assets, available in the UK, Europe, and Singapore.
Tristan Dakin, ANZ Country Manager at Wise, said: “We’re thrilled to have completed this first important step in bringing Assets to Australia. We’ve seen great uptake among our customers in other regions, and with more personal and business
customers in Australia choosing to hold their money with Wise, we want to give them a way to
make that money work for them.”

This latest achievement coincides with Wise surpassing one million active customers in Australia, who are now holding over A$1 billion in balances.
Wise has found a niche for Australians with financial needs beyond the country’s borders, with products such as the Wise Account and Wise Business playing a pivotal role in this growth.

Wise’s Mission and Growth

Wise, founded in 2011 as TransferWise, is a global technology company with a mission to make moving and managing money internationally easier, faster, and cheaper.
Over 12.8 million people and businesses use Wise, processing over £30 billion in cross-border transactions every quarter, saving customers £1.5 billion annually.
Wise operates with transparency, charging customers as little as possible for currency conversions at the mid-market rate and without hidden mark-ups.

More than 60 per cent of payments made via Wise are completed in under 20 seconds.
Wise’s Australian journey began in 2016 with its international money transfer service.
Since then, Wise has launched multiple products tailored to personal and business users, such as Wise Business, which supports small- and medium-sized enterprises with cross-border financial needs.
Wise also continues to push for greater transparency in foreign exchange fees in Australia, aiming to prevent customers from being misled by banks offering “$0 fees” with hidden mark-ups in exchange rates.

Last year, Wise became a direct participant of the New Payments Platform (NPP) in Australia, gaining the ability to settle payments in real-time through its own exchange settlement account with the Reserve Bank of Australia.
This advancement makes Wise one of the fastest and cheapest ways to send money in and out of Australia.
As Wise prepares to roll out its Assets feature in Australia, it continues to champion the cause of transparency in international payments, advocating for the Australian Government and the ACCC to mandate clearer pricing for consumers.