Wise PLC (LSE:WISE), a global technology company building the best way to move money around the world, saw 5.5mln active customers move £27bn across borders in its second quarter, a 50% increase on the same period last year.
In a statement, Kristo Käärmann, Wise CEO and co-founder said: "This quarter 5.5mln customers moved £27bn with us, 50% more than in Q2 last year and for the second consecutive quarter more than half our payments were instant. The Wise Account and Wise Business products continue to see good levels of adoption and this increased engagement with our product, higher volumes and faster speeds are a result of the longer term investments that we have been making.
"We've seen extreme macroeconomic conditions persist throughout the second quarter, and whilst unfortunately this meant we had to raise prices slightly for some customers, we've been working hard to limit these increases and are working to bring them back down again."
During the second quarter, the company said, high levels of forex volatility led to higher costs and as a result, the average customer price increased to 0.64% compared to 0.61% in the first quarter of 2023 and 0.62% in the second quarter of 2022. However, it was also able to lower fees for some currency routes through new partnerships and licences which reduced the cost to deliver.
The company noted the 5.5mln customers that transacted on Wise in Q2 2023 was an increase of 40% year-on-year (YoY) and 10% quarter-on-quarter (QoQ), comprising 5.2mln personal and 300,000 business customers. The increase in active customers was mostly driven by greater adoption of the Wise Account and Wise Business products, where customers tend to transact more frequently and use more features.
Regionally, the growth in active customers across its established markets has been consistent, and the company said it is seeing strong growth in newer markets where it currently has a smaller share.
Wise said its total cross-border volumes for Q2 FY23 were £27.0bn, 50% higher YoY and 11% higher QoQ. Personal volumes increased 49% YoY to £20.1bn and business volumes increased 55% YoY to £6.9bn. Revenue for Q2 FY23 was £211.5mln, growing 59% YoY and 14% QoQ. Revenue for the first half of FY23 was £397.4mln, 55% higher than the first six months of FY22, it added.
Total income - revenue plus net interest income on customer balances - for Q2 FY23 was £229.0mln, a 73% increase on last year which included £17.5mln of net interest income. Total income for H1 FY23 was £416.1mln, 63% higher than the same period last year, Wise said.
As a result of the continued strong momentum, and as outlined on 29 September 2022, the company's financial guidance for the year has been upgraded to total income growth of between 55%-60% in FY23, greater than 20% (CAGR) over the medium-term, and adjusted EBITDA margin over the medium term at or above 20% of total income.
Co-founded by Kristo Käärmann and Taavet Hinrikus, Wise launched in 2011 under its original name TransferWise. It is one of the world's fastest-growing tech companies and processes on average over £9bn in cross-border transactions every month, saving customers over £1bn a year.
In morning trade on Tuesday, Wise shares were up 1.7% at 727.00p.