Wise Group Posts 19% Revenue Growth as Platform Business Hits 5% of Volume, Announces $500 Million Buyback
FY 2026 Results, June 25, 2026
Wise Group reported net revenue growth of 19% to $2.5 billion for fiscal 2026 in its first earnings call since completing its dual listing, while announcing a $500 million share repurchase program and maintaining its medium-term guidance despite continued aggressive investments in pricing and infrastructure. The company's income before tax margin came in at 26%, at the high end of management's target range when adjusting for the fact that the company still cannot pay interest to U.K. customers who represent over 50% of unpaid interest income.
Platform Business Accelerates as New Banking Partnerships Go Live
The most significant development in the quarter was Wise Platform's expansion to 5% of total cross-border volume for the full year, driven by new partnerships with major banks including Raiffeisen, UniCredit, MBSB in Malaysia, and notably Capitec in South Africa, which went live during the period. CFO Emmanuel Thomassin emphasized that Capitec, the number one bank in South Africa, represents the company's first customer from the African continent and is not yet included in the 5% figure. The company reiterated its medium-term guidance for Platform to reach 10% of cross-border volume and 50% in the long term.
When pressed on whether new platform partners are ramping faster given existing reference customers, Thomassin acknowledged that "at the beginning, the ramp-up, you could assume that customers, platform partners will first test our product and test the quality and then over time, have new routes." However, he noted one exception where a partner is ramping up faster than typical, though declined to provide specifics. CEO Kristo Kaarmann expressed enthusiasm about the pipeline, noting that investors would "be hearing about new names that will be coming out" and emphasizing that growth comes from both new partnerships and deeper embedding with existing customers.
Aggressive Hiring Continues with 2,000 New Employees Added
Wise added over 2,000 employees during fiscal 2026, driving operating expenses up 39% year-over-year to $1.9 billion, a remarkably aggressive pace that management defended as necessary to serve accelerating customer growth. The company now has over 1,000 engineers deploying code 6,000 times per month on average. Thomassin noted the hiring surge reflects "a combination of low attrition, which allows us to focus on resources into filling new roles and through refining our recruitment processes."
When questioned about whether hiring would moderate, Thomassin was blunt about the strategy: "Assuming that we continue to have this return in terms of growth and we're monitoring our investments very, very closely, I think it's fair to say that we will also continue to invest for this year." He pointed to the 7 million new active customers who completed their first cross-border transaction as validation of the investment approach, though he indicated hiring would grow "at a slightly lower pace" in fiscal 2027 to allow for more investment in pricing reductions.
Take Rate Compression Accelerates with More Aggressive Guidance
The company's average take rate declined 6 basis points year-over-year from 58 basis points to 52 basis points, though most of this reflected pricing changes implemented in fiscal 2025. More importantly, Wise is signaling accelerated pricing cuts ahead, with management guiding to 1 to 2 basis points of reduction per quarter in fiscal 2027 compared to just 2 basis points for the entire prior year. Thomassin revealed that the company already reduced take rates by 1 basis point in the first quarter of fiscal 2027, with "a slight acceleration" expected in the second quarter.
When questioned about the ROI evidence for price cuts and whether there's a floor, Thomassin pushed back on the premise: "We don't put any floor, any limits. And we think that the price, if you want to talk about price elasticity is a long-term game. So we don't expect immediate return of a price reduction, but we know that at the end, on the long term, price matters for every single customers that are using us." The company continues to view pricing as a cost-plus exercise across all routes and services, targeting consistent margins while passing through operational efficiencies.
Card and Account Adoption Diversifies Revenue Mix
The non-cross-border revenue streams are growing faster than the core remittance business, with card spending up 37% to $44 billion and customer holdings up 40% to $39 billion. Card revenue reached $392 million, up 40% year-over-year, driven by strong adoption in the European Union, Australia, and the U.K. Other revenue including domestic transactions and Wise Assets grew 26% to $245 million. Together, these non-cross-border sources now represent roughly one-third of the company's $1.9 billion in transaction revenue, up from under 30% the prior year.
Customer balances held on the Wise Account grew to $30 billion at year-end, up 36%, with $9 billion held in Wise Assets, the company's interest-bearing product. However, interest income growth lagged significantly at just 6% to $806 million due to declining gross yields from 3.9% to 3.0% as central banks cut rates. The company paid out $197 million to customers during the year, roughly half of its 80% target payout ratio, with the shortfall entirely due to regulatory restrictions in the U.K. that prevent interest payments on over 50% of the balances.
Transaction Expense Volatility from U.S. GAAP Adjustments
Transaction expenses rose 35% to $527 million, but this included a one-off $70 million U.S. GAAP adjustment related to FX movements on certain government bonds that increased expenses while being offset in other comprehensive income. Excluding this impact, transaction expenses grew just 17%, below both cross-border volume growth of 31% and transaction revenue growth of 22%, demonstrating improving unit economics. Thomassin noted that "going forward, we have changed our investment strategy to take into account the U.S. GAAP implications" and expects "to see further efficiencies in transaction expenses during the year."
The company's direct connections to domestic payment systems continue to drive these efficiencies, with 75% of transfers now completed in under 20 seconds. New connections to Pix in Brazil and Zengin in Japan went live during the year, with Kaarmann noting the contrast: "Pix is a very advanced, very new system and very well-adopted system in Brazil. In some ways, Japan is the opposite. Zengin is a 50-year-old system and connecting to that was also a fascinating experience."
Fiscal 2027 Guidance Shows Front-Loaded Growth and Margins
Management guided fiscal 2027 net revenue growth to "around the middle" of its 15% to 20% medium-term range, implying roughly 17% to 18% growth. More importantly, the company provided unusually specific commentary on phasing, noting that growth will be "more pronounced in the first half of the year" due to the timing of pricing investments. Similarly, income before tax margins are expected around the high end of the 20% to 25% range for the full year, but "slightly above this target in H1" due to the scheduling of reinvestments.
This guidance assumes stable interest rates with no material changes from central banks, though it does reflect recent moves including the European Central Bank's increase from 2.0% to 2.25%. The company maintained its medium-term targets of 15% to 20% CAGR for net revenue using fiscal 2024 as the benchmark, and income before tax margins of 15% to 20% if the 80% interest payout target is met, or 20% to 25% otherwise.
Capital Deployment Strategy Becomes More Aggressive
Wise announced a new share purchase program exceeding $500 million, its largest ever, with 40% allocated to the recurring employee share trust program and 60% for treasury buybacks. This follows the repurchase of nearly 36 million shares for over $450 million in fiscal 2026, including about 25 million shares related to historical stock options. When asked if buybacks would become regular, Thomassin emphasized flexibility: "We will revisit on an annual basis our buyback, but this is clearly a clear component of our capital allocation. We want to remain opportunistic with our cash in terms of which decision we can take and any opportunity that may come up in the future."
The company maintains what it describes as a buffer above regulatory capital requirements "to allow for flexibility, for example, for future product expansion or license applications." Kaarmann provided an update on the company's U.S. banking charter application, noting that "the OCC has a well-established process for reviewing applications, and we're continuing to follow that process," while emphasizing that the company continues to operate successfully with 48 state money transmitter licenses.
Market Share Remains Tiny Despite Scale
Despite moving $243 billion cross-border for 19 million customers in fiscal 2026, Wise still captures just 5% of global individual cross-border payments and less than 1% of small and medium business volumes in what management characterized as a $43 trillion total addressable market. Kaarmann framed the opportunity starkly: "In just 15 years, we've grown from 0 to now moving $0.25 trillion cross-border. We remain focused on this opportunity and our mission of building the network to move and manage the world's money."
The company added 7 million new active customers during the year, representing 20% growth in new customer acquisition, which management cited as validation of increased marketing spend that rose over 60% to $172 million. The company targets a minimum 20% return on marketing investments while maintaining strong 70% customer acquisition through word-of-mouth, a rare combination that suggests the paid marketing is opening new customer segments rather than cannibalizing organic growth.