Worth it Stage 1
Wise was founded explicitly to expose and undercut the hidden FX spreads that banks charge on international transfers. The product shows you the mid-market rate, the fee, and what the recipient gets—in that order—before you confirm. Post-IPO and profitable, it has increased fees modestly but the transparency model remains structurally intact. No hidden spreads, no bait-and-switch rates. For a publicly traded fintech, retaining stage 1 behavior this long is genuinely unusual.
The promise
Its first promise, and how much is kept · Scoring
100% kept
“Banks charge a lot for foreign-currency transfers. We don’t.”
Why it’s rated 1
The criteria it meets, with sources · Method
- Alignment 1 of 3
-
- A1 Paid for without surveillance
- Lock-in 0 of 4
- None
- Extraction 0 of 7
- None
- Decline 0 of 3
- None
Result An alignment criterion, no lock-in, and at most one extraction criterion, so stage 1.
News signals
Sourced reporting, tagged by strategy
May 11, 2026
Wise begins trading on Nasdaq, shifting its primary listing to the U.S.
Investor pressure