Wise (LSE:WISE), the tech company building the “best” way to move and manage the world’s money has been granted direct access to InstaPay, the Philippines’ real-time payment system, and can settle with the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ (BSP) real-time gross payment system, PhilPaSS Plus.
Wise claims that it has spent the past 14 years focused on building an alternative to traditional correspondent banking.
With over 65 licenses globally and now six direct connections to domestic payment systems, this infrastructure enables “over 63% of all Wise transactions to be completed instantly (under 20 seconds), with an average fee of 0.62%.”
Wise’s direct connection to InstaPay will enhance the cross-border payment experience for Wise customers, and more users of some of the largest banks and financial institutions, such as Bank Mandiri, who offer their customers international payments through Wise Platform.
The benefits include:
- Instant transactions when sending up to 50K Pesos from 28 currencies: Wise customers worldwide, including customers of Wise Platform partners, can now send up to 50,000 PHP (InstaPay’s limit) to the Philippines instantly. Customers can still send larger sums, and while these won’t be processed via InstaPay, 94%3 of all transactions on Wise arrive in 24 hours.
- Fast and convenient withdrawals: Wise customers in the Philippines moving funds from their Wise account to their local banks or e-wallets will see the money4 arriving in under 20 seconds.
- Top-ups for the Wise account and card in the Philippines: Filipino customers can now fund their Wise account and Wise card transactions quickly, affordably, and conveniently via bank transfers or e-wallets. This feature broadens access to the Wise Account, making it even easier for people to send and spend globally with Wise’s competitive exchange rate and low fees.
- Helping Wise Platform partners deliver efficient payment experiences: Providing Wise Platform partners quicker, cheaper, and more reliable payouts to the Philippines with high straight-through processing rates.
Wise has continued to invest in building direct connections to payment systems starting with the UK in 2018 where Wise was the “first non-bank to connect to the Faster Payment System (FPS).”
That set the precedent for Wise to be granted direct access “to payment systems in the EU in 2020, as well as Singapore and Australia in 2021.”
Last month, Wise received approval to join Japan’s domestic payment network, Zengin, and secured “a Payment Institution license to connect directly to Brazil’s instant payment system PIX.”
Wise is a global technology company, building the “best way” to move and manage the world’s money.
With the Wise Account, people can hold “over 40 currencies, move money between countries and spend money abroad.”
Large companies and banks use Wise technology too; an “entirely new network for the world’s money.”
Wise launched in 2011 and is listed on the London Stock Exchange under the ticker, WISE.
In fiscal year 2024, global Fintech Wise claims that it supported around 12.8 million people and businesses, processing “approximately £118.5 billion in cross-border transactions, and saving customers over £1.8 billion.”