Wise Plc, a digital money transfer company, will join an Australian payments network, which will allow transfers to be completed in the country faster and at a reduced cost, according to Chief Executive Officer Kristo Kaarmann.
According to Kaarmann, the company will be a direct participant and shareholder in Australia’s New Payments Platform (NPP).
By avoiding middlemen and clearing and settling real-time payments instantaneously, Wise claims that joining the NPP will cut the average price of money transfers in and out of Australia.
Kaarmann did not specify how much its rates will be reduced as a result of joining the NPP. According to the company, it presently charges 0.56 percent on Australian transactions.
According to Wise’s figures, the average rate charged by the country’s biggest banks is between 5% and 6%.
The 10-year-old financial technology firm is regulated in the United Kingdom, the United States, Singapore, and Australia, among other places. It also has a banking license in Australia. Wise, on the other hand, partners with banks to retain deposits in many of the over 80 countries where it offers remittances, which raises its costs and prices.
“Our average cost… is already several multiples less than the banks,” said Kaarmann, who is based in London. “In terms of cost, we want to get as close to zero as feasible.”
The company, whose market debut in July made it the largest ever tech IPO on the London Stock Exchange, reckons it handles approximately 1% to 2% of all consumer and small and medium-sized corporate transfers internationally.
