The UK’s online banking giant Wise recently signed Standard Chartered, a Tier 1 global bank, to use its platform for international remittances. Specifically, the bank will allow users to send remittances to the Middle East and Asia.
Benefits of The Partnership
According to the banks, the new partnership will allow Standard Chartered’s SC Remit customers throughout the Middle East and Asia to send money in 21 currencies. Some of the biggest supported currencies include USD, EUR, JPY, GBP, CAD, SGD, and HKD, and the transfers will be completed in mere seconds.
Not only that, but the users will get the mid-market rate, with no markups. To achieve this, Standard Chartered will integrate Wise’s infrastructure using the Wise Platform API. With that done, the bank will be able to provide a quick and easy experience in sending remittances to SC Remit users in the coming quarters.
Additionally, there is a further expansion on the horizon, both when it comes to the number of supported currencies and the number of markets where Standard Chartered will operate.
Commenting on the matter, Standard Chartered’s global head for wealth solutions, deposits, and mortgages, and also its chief client officer, Samir Subberwal, stated that the bank chose to join with Wise Platform due to its extensive currency coverage. Standard Chartered was also impressed by Wise’s stellar international payment experience which is well-known.
“This collaboration is a key step in enhancing our international payment services as we offer an even more seamless, faster, and efficient digital global payments experience to our clients,” he explained.
Standard Chartered’s Partnership With Wise Is The Easiest Solution
Wise holds over 65 licenses and six direct connections to various payment systems. As a result, as much as 63% of all cross-border payments made through Wise’s network are completed within 20 seconds, instead of taking 3-5 business days or more, which is what many banks still offer.
However, bigger banks have mostly stayed away from Wise after years of the company’s bank-bashing. There have been some, such as HSBC, who tried to take on the vendor by creating a similar platform of their own, but plans like these saw limited success.
Standard Chartered’s move shows that the easiest solution by far is to respond to Wise’s competence with a partnership that allows everyone to benefit.
Wise Platform’s managing director, Steve Naude, acknowledged Standard Chartered as one of the biggest banks in the world, and for Wise, this partnership represents a significant milestone. It is also a big milestone in financial institutions investing in building a better international payment experience for the users.
Standard Chartered and Wise share the same vision — that of creating frictionless payment experiences for customers. With that being the case, Naude noted that Wise is thrilled to work together with the bank and help SC Remit customers access fast, secure, and low-cost cross-border payments.