06-19-2021, 02:33 AM
So, there is this absolutely AMAZING financial service company: Wise.
Long story short: The original idea was a regular bank account meets western union and then they put the whole thing on steroids. Result: You can send money from your account in pretty much any currency (which you can also hold on your account... and for a lot of currencies you can even get banking details with one click) to anywhere in the world. The real kicker? It's fast (usually seconds, sometimes hours), they are using actual exchange rates (with a small currency conversion fee), and the cost of the transfer has always been less than $2 for me.
It's also pretty nice to have their debit card that is linked to your account. Yes that account with as many different currencies as you want. That means bye-bye to around 95% of the currency fees I used to pay when traveling. It has been a game changer for me, in terms of money and hassle saved.
Combine this with very good transparency and a truly top-notch customer service team.. and we have a winner. I have been a customer for maybe 5 years now? I've done hundreds of cross-currency transactions with them during that time, used their debit card as my main card for the past couple of years... 100% satisfied. Always. Easily the best bank I have ever used.
And they are planning on a direct listing to the London stock exchange.
Not too much info yet, found some stuff on their website: https://wise.com/owners/
Valuation will probably be skyhigh as it usually is with these types of companies. It's a direct listing (awesome!) and as far as I can tell they aren't issuing any new shares, so this looks like a combination of them expanding their shareholder base and some of the owners/employees cashing out.
Not too much financial data yet but the growth has been there, the company is very profitable (and has been for years), and I'm guessing debt isn't a huge issue either since they aren't creating new shares to raise cash through this listing.
Still need some more info on this but if the valuation isn't absolutely insane then I will definitely be diving into this one head first.
Long story short: The original idea was a regular bank account meets western union and then they put the whole thing on steroids. Result: You can send money from your account in pretty much any currency (which you can also hold on your account... and for a lot of currencies you can even get banking details with one click) to anywhere in the world. The real kicker? It's fast (usually seconds, sometimes hours), they are using actual exchange rates (with a small currency conversion fee), and the cost of the transfer has always been less than $2 for me.
It's also pretty nice to have their debit card that is linked to your account. Yes that account with as many different currencies as you want. That means bye-bye to around 95% of the currency fees I used to pay when traveling. It has been a game changer for me, in terms of money and hassle saved.
Combine this with very good transparency and a truly top-notch customer service team.. and we have a winner. I have been a customer for maybe 5 years now? I've done hundreds of cross-currency transactions with them during that time, used their debit card as my main card for the past couple of years... 100% satisfied. Always. Easily the best bank I have ever used.
And they are planning on a direct listing to the London stock exchange.
Not too much info yet, found some stuff on their website: https://wise.com/owners/
Valuation will probably be skyhigh as it usually is with these types of companies. It's a direct listing (awesome!) and as far as I can tell they aren't issuing any new shares, so this looks like a combination of them expanding their shareholder base and some of the owners/employees cashing out.
Not too much financial data yet but the growth has been there, the company is very profitable (and has been for years), and I'm guessing debt isn't a huge issue either since they aren't creating new shares to raise cash through this listing.
Still need some more info on this but if the valuation isn't absolutely insane then I will definitely be diving into this one head first.