That's why TransferWise is giving itself a new name

From now on, TransferWise is simply called Wise - officially, so that the brand better reflects the product. But there may be another reason altogether.

It's been ten years since TransferWise launched - back then as a pure remittance platform for private customers. But over the years, the London-based fintech, which is also very active in this country, has continued to evolve. It now sees itself as a global payments network, offering international banking to a good ten million customers.

With the simple name change from TransferWise to Wise, the start-up wants to do justice to the changed business. At Wise, foreign money transfers and multi-currency features, among others, will be merged. In the Wise account, the fintech offers 55 currencies in which balances can be held. Direct debits, meanwhile, can be instructed in three currencies (euros, pounds and US dollars).

According to Handelsblatt

, however, the start-up is mainly fuelling rumours of an IPO. In January, Sky News had already reported that Wise had engaged US banks Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley for the possible IPO. Prime Minister Boris Johnson is said to have encouraged it himself. The fintech is among the most valuable in Europe, with a valuation of five billion US dollars.