- Wise has transferred its primary stock market listing from London to New York, making its NASDAQ debut after first listing in the UK in 2021
- The fintech handled $243B in cross-border volume in the year to March 31, up 31% year-on-year
- The move raises fresh questions about London’s ability to retain major technology companies, as the US market offers deeper liquidity
Wise has made its NASDAQ debut, shifting its primary listing from London to New York, reports Reuters.
Its main public-market home will now be the US, where Wise believes it can access deeper capital markets, more investors, and better liquidity, the same report says.
The move comes as UK fintech shows fresh signs of momentum, but it also raises questions about London’s stock market, which has struggled to attract major technology companies that are looking across the Atlantic.
Founded in 2011 by Kristo Käärmann and Taavet Hinrikus, two Estonians living in the UK who were frustrated by the cost of moving money between currencies, Wise helps consumers and businesses send, hold, and spend money across currencies.
The company helps consumers and businesses send, hold, and spend money across currencies through its app and business accounts. It works by holding local currency pools in multiple countries and matching transfers internally rather than routing money through correspondent banks, which helps keep costs low and speed up transfers.
Wise competes with traditional banks, Western Union, and PayPal’s Xoom on the consumer side, and with Airwallex, Revolut, and Corpay on the business side. Its edge is pricing transparency and its direct-connection model, which it is now extending into the US banking system.
If approved, the charter could help Wise connect more directly to US payment systems, reduce reliance on intermediary banks, cut costs, and speed up dollar transfers. The company also plans to seek a Federal Reserve master account. Such accounts allow eligible financial institutions to move money directly through the Fed’s payment rails.
Wise’s US hub will be in Austin, Texas. The company has more than 750 employees in the country, according to Reuters.
