Wise

Wise is a cross-border payments business: it moves money between countries and runs a multi-currency account for people and companies. Transfers are converted at the mid-market exchange rate rather than at a bank's marked-up rate, and the fee is charged separately, so what the recipient will get is visible before the transfer is sent. The account holds balances in more than 50 currencies and comes with a debit card for spending abroad, and a business version of the account sits alongside it.

By Wise's own count, 18.9 million customers, businesses and banks use the service and move $16 billion through it every month, with delivery to more than 140 countries. 74% of transfers arrive in under 20 seconds and 95% within a day, and the exchange rate can be locked for up to 24 hours. Wise holds 65 licences worldwide, keeps customer money in safeguarded accounts separate from its own, and runs around 7 million fraud checks a day with over 1,000 people working on that side; support is staffed 24/7/365 by phone, email and chat.

The company started in 2011 as TransferWise, founded by Taavet Hinrikus, Skype's first employee, and Kristo Käärmann, then at Deloitte, both Estonian and both living in London at the time. It began as a workaround the two of them ran for each other at the mid-market rate, then added the multi-currency account, debit card and business account and renamed itself Wise. It operates from the United Kingdom, and its partners include Monzo, Bolt and GoCardless.