Wise brings cross-border payments to Wealthsimple customers

Wealthsimple is partnering with the United Kingdom (UK) FinTech Wise to streamline international transfers for its users as demand for inexpensive and fast cross-border payments grows in Canada.

“Our partnership with Wealthsimple is a direct response to meet customers’ evolving expectations.”

The Toronto-based FinTech, now among Canada’s most valuable private tech companies with a $10-billion valuation, has announced a partnership with Wise to introduce cross-border payment services. In a news release, Wealthsimple said that it now supports payments to 30 countries in more than 10 currencies, directly from users’ chequing accounts. Users can send up to $1 million CAD per day.

Wise Platform, the British company’s enterprise payment division, will power the new service by connecting its infrastructure and payments network. Hanna Zaidi, Wealthsimple’s chief compliance officer and vice-president of payments strategy, said in a news release that the product will give customers a “faster, more affordable, and seamless way” to send money internationally, with “no hidden markups.” Zaidi is also a member of BetaKit’s board of directors.

“Our partnership with Wealthsimple is a direct response to meet customers’ evolving expectations,” Lauren Langbridge, commercial director for Wise Platform, said in a statement.

Wise was formerly known as TransferWise. The company first rolled out its Wise Account offering to Canadians in 2017 and introduced a Wise card in 2021. In an email, Langbridge told BetaKit that Canada is a “key part” of its strategy in North America, which is home to 700 employees. The London Stock Exchange-listed company has £9.7 billion ($17.9 billion CAD) in market capitalization.

Foreign exchange fees and payment timelines have become increasingly frustrating for a growing number of Canadians who send money abroad through retail transactions or remittances. In 2024, about half of Canadian adults under 35 sent money internationally once a month, according to data from Payments Canada. For younger men working in the gig economy, that proportion jumped to over 90 percent. Overall, the study found a 33-percent increase in cross-border payments from Canadian bank accounts in just one year.

Most transfers will take a few hours to reach their recipients, according to Wealthsimple, although it cautions that some could still take days. For example, sending money to India or the Philippines will take a maximum of one business day, while transferring to the United States or Japan could take up to five business days. The company notes that transfers can’t be cancelled once they are sent.

The company said that transfer speeds can vary depending on the currency route, amount sent, payment method, and in some cases, the processing times of the receiving bank or additional verifications.

“We make sure every detail is upfront: what it costs, how much your recipient will get, and when it will arrive,” Zaidi said in an email.

Founded in 2014 as a robo-adviser, Wealthsimple has broadened into investment management and banking services, attracting wealthier clients and more sophisticated traders as part of its quest to build “a full-service financial solution” for Canadians. The company serves more than 3 million customers and is targeting $1 trillion in assets under administration (AUA) by 2034.

This month, the now-profitable company crossed $100 billion in AUA, three years ahead of schedule, and signed a new financing agreement of up to $750 million CAD. It was also named as part of the Bank of Canada’s first batch of registered payment service providers, subjecting the firm to new reporting rules.

Wealthsimple’s foreign exchange push comes as the Canadian government announced intentions to bring a Real-Time Rail (instant payment system) live in 2026 and to legislate the issuance of st a blecoins (digital assets pegged to a traditional currency). The FinTech industry has advocated for both measures as levers to increase competition in the country’s financial sector. Zaidi said Wealthsimple is exploring how stablecoins can improve money transfers and is “closely following” the government’s work on related legislation.

“Our focus is on understanding where they can add real value: whether that’s improving back-office settlement and liquidity, or eventually creating new client-facing ways to move and hold money more efficiently,” she said.

Feature image courtesy Wealthsimple.