Emmanuel Thomassin, chief financial officer of Wise (WISEa), said at the Goldman Sachs Communacopia + Technology Conference 2026 that the company is operating in a cross-border payments market estimated at $43 trillion annually. Wise cross-border volume reached GBP 253 billion, up 31% year over year, while customer count rose 21% to 19 million. In the first quarter, 77% of transactions were completed in under 20 seconds, and the average take rate across the cross-border business was 50 basis points. Customer deposits reached $41 billion at the end of the quarter. Thomassin described the company’s volume as small relative to the total market but called it a significant opportunity.
Thomassin said non-cross-border revenue accounted for 51% of net revenue. The company’s platform volume share has moved from 0% at its direct listing to 6% of total cross-border volume, a threefold increase, and is expected to reach about 10% within three years. The company listed partner and platform names including BlackRock, JP Morgan, Visa, Mastercard, Currencycloud, Revolut and DuitNow.
On cost discipline, Thomassin referenced a GBP 2 billion operating expense investment plan announced at Owners Day over two years. The marketing budget rose to GBP 170 million from GBP 66 million a few years ago. Wise has a share buyback program of more than GBP 500 million and repurchased 1 million shares in August. The company also cited a past M&A cost of GBP 2.8 million for an India license and said it has more than 900 employees in Austin.
Operationally, Wise said it has nine direct domestic payment connections, up from eight, covering the UK, EU, Hungary, Australia, the Philippines, Brazil and Malaysia. It has more than 90 partner banks and over 80 licenses globally. Customer payback targets are 15 months for retail customers and 22 months for business customers. Users can hold up to 40 currencies in one account, and business invoicing supports 23 languages.
Regulatory developments were also discussed. Wise’s U.S. OCC banking charter application was denied about a year earlier due to compliance control concerns. The company said it has resolved remediation orders tied to a U.S. consent order and is awaiting state confirmation, while Belgium remediation is expected to be delivered by the end of the year. Wise plans to submit a new OCC application under the GENIUS Act framework.
