Wise has put out its Q1 24 trading update, covering calendar Q2 23, with strong growth across a number of metrics. Revenue has increased 29% YoY to £240m, while income has increased 66% to £311m – headlines that have pleased investors, prompting a share price rise.

While it is not providing updates to the market beyond the core release document, Wise has said its increase in income is due to higher income from interest and the growth in active customers, which climbed 33% YoY to reach 6.7 million in the quarter.

The company also provided an update to its speed goals, with 57% of payments through Wise now delivered in less than 20 seconds – up from slightly over half a year ago. Here, the company has in particular made improvements in Brazil, Australia and parts of Asia.

Beyond its core money transfer service, Wise continues to develop its account-related offerings, with Wise account balances reaching £11.5bn at the end of Q1 24. The company has also expanded its Interest feature to Germany, Sweden and Norway, bringing the total number of countries with the product to 11.

However, while Wise has also grown volumes by 16% to £28.2bn, the rate of volume growth has not kept up with customer growth, meaning that volume per customer has fallen by 14% YoY. Notably, this contraction has occurred across both business and consumer, although more sharply for the latter. 

Despite this, Wise’s outlook for FY 24 remains the same, with the company projecting income growth of 28-33% and an adjusted EBITDA margin of over 20%.

How is Wise competing against other money transfer players on speed?

Lucy Ingham

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Lucy is Head of Content & Editor-in-Chief at FXC Intelligence, overseeing all content and taking deep dives into the trends and data driving changes in payments. Before joining FXC Intelligence, Lucy worked as a technology journalist and editor, interviewing CEOs and major names across enterprise technology, including fintech. She has an MSc in Development Anthropology from Durham University.