TransferWise rebrands to Wise, enters next phase growth

• Appoints Lim Paik Wan as new local country manager for Malaysia
• Processes £4.5 billion in cross-border transactions monthly

MONEY transfer fintech company TransferWise has rebranded itself to Wise and has appointed Lim Paik Wan as its new country manager for Malaysia.

TransferWise originally launched in 2011 as a money transfer service before expanding into cross-border payments that the company claims to help make international banking cheaper and more accessible for its 10 million customers.

The company processes £4.5 billion (RM25.2 billion) in cross-border transactions every month, and claims that customers save themselves a total of approximately £1 billion (RM5.6 billion) a year compared to when making the same transactions with their bank, the company said in a statement.

Kristo Käärmann, chief executive officer and co-founder of Wise wrote in the company’s blog that not too much will instantly change for its existing customers.

“We become ‘Wise’ or ‘Wise Business’ — depending how you use us. You can access your exact same account via 'wise.com' using your current email and password. You won't need a new account. In a few weeks we will start to redirect transferwise.com to wise.com,” he wrote.

“Our logo has changed, and our apps will be renamed. But our icon — the fast flag — remains as a symbol for money without borders. Beyond that, you’ll notice some new colours, words, and designs,” he said, adding that the core experience of using Wise will be “faster, cheaper and more convenient than anything else, with its mission remaining the same.”

 The appointment of Lim Paik Wan (pic, left) as the Malaysia country manager for Wise part of its plans to bolster its Malaysian presence. Lim will be responsible for leading and expanding Wise’s presence and growth in the country.

 “I am excited to be a part of the team working towards the Wise mission — to make cross-currency payments as fast, easy, transparent and cheap as possible. A recent survey we conducted noted that 50% of Malaysians are keen to save on remittance costs and 57% would appreciate transfers reaching its recipients more quickly, and we are determined to meet their concerns,” said Lim.

 “We are also thrilled to expand the availability of international money transfer services to foreign workers, who can also benefit from a low-cost, secure and completely online option for their remittance needs.”

Adding to this, Käärmann, said: “Today our name catches up with who we’re already building for - a community of people and businesses with multi-currency lives.

“That community now even includes the banks themselves. We’ve evolved to fix more than just money transfer, but the core experience of using Wise will remain faster, cheaper, and more convenient than anything else. Our mission remains the same. We’re still making — and always will be making — money work without borders.”

Customers can now opt into the new website at wise.com. The final switchover for all customers to the Wise brand will take place in March.