Wise cashes in on cross-border payments' big moment

• Key insights: Wise grew its net revenue 19% year over year to $2.5 billion in its fiscal 2026, aided by increased deposits, cross-border volume and spending on the Wise card.
• What's at stake: Cross border payments have become an increased focus of payment companies and investors, evidenced by Nuvei's acquisition of Payoneer and Airwallex's $320 million fundraise. 
• Forward look: In 2027, Wise expects net revenue growth in the middle of its medium-term guidance of 15% to 20%, Chief Financial Officer Emmanuel Thomassin said on a call with analysts.

Networks for sending money abroad are becoming an increasingly valuable commodity. 

Wise — which reported its fiscal 2026, full-year financial results for the first time since being listed on the Nasdaq — is the latest fintech to reap the benefits afforded by the increased interest in cross-border payments. 

"In fiscal year '26, we helped 19 million customers to move $243 billion internationally," Wise co-founder and CEO Kristo Kaarmann said on the company's earnings call with analysts. "And our customers are using us for more than just cross-border transfers." 

Net revenue jumped 19% year over year to $2.5 billion, aided by a 31% increase in cross-border volume to $243.5 billion, a 37% increase in spending on the Wise Card to $43.6 billion, and 40% increase in customer holdings to $39 billion.  

More than 7 million active customers completed their first cross-border transaction with Wise during its fiscal year, an increase of 20% year over year, Chief Financial Officer Emmanuel Thomassin said during the call. 

The growth comes amid wider pressure on fintech stocks, according to William Blair analyst Cristopher Kennedy. Shares of Wise are down as much as 25% since it listed on the Nasdaq exchange on May 11. As of 3 p.m. in New York on Monday, shares were sitting at $12.17 down 21%, or $3.25, from its May 11 listing price. 

Kennedy also attributed the pressure to Wise's financials, which have been complicated as it looks to convert its accounting to U.S. GAAP from the International Financial Reporting Standards, U.S. investors' ability to understand and embrace the company's strategy and financial model, and an anti-money-laundering investigation in Belgium. 

Still, the investment bank is bullish on Wise. 

"Wise is disrupting the $43 trillion cross-border payments market for consumers, small and medium-size businesses, and enterprises," Kennedy said in a research note. "Unlike some peers, Wise is not trying to reinvent money; rather, it is capturing this opportunity by re-imagining the correspondent banking industry via a proprietary global network that leverages existing infrastructure." 

Cross border payments have become an increased focus of payment companies and investors, evidenced by Nuvei's acquisition of Payoneer, Airwallex's $320 million fundraise and Mastercard's $300 million investment in Corpay that netted the payments giant a 3% stake in the payment fintech. 

Wise expects its growth to continue in the year ahead, Thomassin said. In 2027, Wise expects net revenue growth in the middle of its medium-term guidance of 15% to 20%, and full-year margins to be on the high-end of the 20% to 25% range, weighted to the front half of the year. 

The fintech also announced a new $500 million share repurchase plan, its largest ever, which it will revisit annually.