Global payments company Wise has announced today (Oct 19) that it is bolstering its ambitions in Asia, and plans to raise its headcount in Singapore. The company is on track to hit over 400 employees in Singapore by the end of the year, which would double the size of its Singapore team.
Wise, which was founded as TransferWise in 2011 and rebranded to Wise early last year, operates a cross-border payments network for consumers and businesses. The company had opened a new office in Singapore, at the same time.
With this latest expansion, its Singapore office will account for 10 per cent of Wise’s global workforce, which has grown from 2400 to 4000 people globally over the past 18 months. The Singapore office also functions as Wise’s APAC hub.
The company also operates in Australia, the US, UK, Switzerland, the European Economic Area, Japan, and Malaysia.
Partnerships and service expansion
While Wise started out as a money transfer service for consumers, it has expanded its services significantly since its founding.
Customers are able to hold multiple currencies within Wise, and in 2019, Wise launched a debit card for travellers to help them better manage their currencies when overseas.
Wise has also partnered with investment platforms Tiger Brokers and GoTrade, based in Singapore and Malaysia respectively. The partnership with Tiger Brokers will allow investors to transfer funds from their overseas bank accounts to SGD, and execute trades within the Tiger app.
In addition, Wise has also launched its Linked Bank Account feature in Singapore, which harnesses eGIRO to enable individual customers to complete transfers and payments seamlessly without leaving the app.
The company has also integrated into FAST, Singapore’s real time payments system.
According to Harsh Sinha, Chief Technology Officer at Wise, “It’s been a significant year for Wise in this region and globally, but there’s still a huge amount of work to do to achieve our mission of money without borders. Wise’s strong business fundamentals and product proposition coupled with continued demand for better cross-border payments gives us a strong opportunity to continue doubling down on our growth.”
Wise has also been focusing on serving businesses. Earlier this year, Wise Platform also announced a new International Receive service for banks, which allows bank customers to receive transfers through the SWIFT network, even if their bank is not connected to SWIFT.
Wise Platform is now live with more than 50 bank and non-bank partners across the world, including Aspire in Singapore and Shinhan Bank in South Korea.
Featured Image Credit: PYMNTS.com
