London-based financial technology company, Wise (formerly TransferWise), has announced a partnership with Israeli payments firm, Max, to open up the latter’s customers “to cheaper, faster transfers abroad at their fingertips from the convenience of the Max app.”
Wise, which made the announcement on Monday, said the collaboration will allow Max customers to send money abroad in 32 currencies such as the United States dollar, Euro, Pound Sterling and Canadian dollar.
Additionally, the fintech company late last year signed a partnership deal with e-commerce marketplace, Fruugo, to allow the online marketplace's customers to use Wise Business account details to receive earnings in many currencies.
The Head of Product at Wise, Steve Naudé, expressed excitement at the fintech’s partnership with Max.
“For too long, transferring money has been a slow, expensive and confusing experience. Customers deserve better. By working with Max, we’re giving customers across Israel access to fast, cheap and transparent payments ,” Naudé added.
The CEO of Max, Ron Fainaro said the payments provider will be the first in Israel to allow its customers to transfer funds directly from their credit cards into bank accounts overseas.
“This is through a quick, simple, secure transaction with full transparency to customers. I’m sure this service will assist many Israeli families to transfer funds to their dear ones and for various needs overseas,” Fainaro added.
On his part, Meir Aharoni, the Executive Vice President of Technologies, Business Development & Innovation at Max, said the partnership will give its customers control and save them time and money on their international transfers.
“It's been brilliant to work with the Wise Platform team and to create this partnership together. The speed, efficiency and the support from the delivery team [have] been a particular plus, allowing us to offer this service to our customers only several months on from first speaking to Wise,” Aharoni added.
Israel’s Rising Fintech Industry
A recent report from Viola Group, an Israeli investment firm, showed that the country’s local fintech sector saw a significant rise in funding in 2021.
Startups in the industry received 17% of Israeli tech investment and fintech companies accounted for 23% of all Israeli initial public offerings, and special purpose acquisition company mergers in 2020 and 2021.
In contrast, Wise’s partnership with Max comes on the heels of its good financial posturing last year. In February last year, the firm rebranded itself to ‘Wise’ to allow the company to expand its services beyond remittance.
In its recently published financial results for the third quarter of the fiscal year 2021, Wise posted a 34% year-on-year jump in revenue from £111.9 million in the third quarter to £149.8 million in the last quarter.
Wise had recently announced plans to add up to 150 new employees to its Singapore office in a country it considers its Asia-Pacific hub.
