Proactive Investors - Wise PLC (LON:WISEa), the FTSE 100 listed cross-border payments group, added 23% more customers in its latest quarter but had to cut its fees to maintain its growth.
Customer numbers totalled 8.9 million at the end of September, which it said came largely from existing customers recommending its services.
That drove a 20% year-on-year increase in cross-border volume to £35.2bn, a 20% YoY increase in customer deposits and a 49% increase in card and other revenue, said the statement.
Wise added that it cut its cross-border take rate for the quarter was 59 basis points, down by 8% offset partially (bps) by other services.
Second quarter underlying income grew by 17% to £337 million and by 19% over the first half.
“For FY25, we continue to expect underlying income growth of 15-20%,” said the statement.
Margins will be lower again in the second half and closer to its expected medium-term range of 13-16%, said the statement but ‘no further material reductions’ are expected this year.
Kristo Käärmann, chief executive, said the price cuts were needed to boost its market presence.
“In the short term, our investments drive growth through a better proposition and sustainably lower prices, which we expect over time to take us from moving billions to moving trillions of cross-border volume.
“Platform partnerships will be an important part of this journey and we were pleased to join forces with AbbeyCross this quarter, bringing the power of the Wise infrastructure directly to their customers via Wise Platform.”