The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author and should not be attributed to the European Payments Council.

We spoke with Lillie Wall, Head of Payments, Europe at Wise, about the company’s role in shaping modern cross-border payments and the evolving European payments landscape. In this interview, she shares insights into Wise’s mission, key developments in retail payments, and the company’s engagement with the European Payments Council (EPC).

Could you tell us about Wise and what makes it special? 

Fifteen years ago, we set out with a simple but ambitious vision: our money should work the same abroad as it works at home. Paying someone in another currency shouldn’t cost us extra. It shouldn’t be more expensive to use our cards when travelling. It should be as cheap and convenient for businesses to sell to their clients abroad as it is to sell at home. Money should work without borders.

Guided by this singular vision, we have built the next-generation cross-border money infrastructure that today powers payments from over 50 countries. Our company has moved 145 billion pounds sterling for over 15 million people and businesses in the last year alone – saving them around two billion pounds sterling in fees along the way.

We started with fixing overseas transfers and went on to develop the international Wise account for a truly borderless banking experience for our customers. We now also make this infrastructure directly available to banks through our application programming interfaces (APIs). 

In order to build the network for the world’s money, we are building something unique: a new global payments network that directly connects local banks and payment systems at both ends of every transaction, bypassing the traditional correspondent networks used by banks and other payment services, eliminating costly intermediaries and outdated processes. The result: seventy-four percent of all payments processed on our infrastructure arrive in under 20 seconds at an average cost of just 0.53 percent per transaction – and we’re working hard to make it even faster and bring down the costs still further. 

What are the perceived strategic challenges and opportunities in the retail payments market, and how do you see the evolution of account-to-account (A2A) payments across Europe?

As a global company, we have the privilege of experiencing this shift first-hand. We’re seeing more and more payment flows moving away from card-dominated systems to account-to-account. The success of Brazil’s Pix shows how A2A can become ubiquitous if there is enough buy-in from policymakers, regulators, and industry.

In Europe, successful A2A initiatives have mainly been domestic, not allowing for interoperability even within the eurozone. Luckily, we are starting to see this change, and the full rollout of SEPA Instant Credit Transfer (SCT Inst) is crucial to this development. It’s a necessary layer for making A2A a viable alternative to card payments. Now these domestic A2A payment methods are becoming increasingly interlinked, including through initiatives like the European Payments Alliance (EuroPA) and the European Payments Initiative (EPI). 

We might have reached a more mature stage of interoperability if SCT Inst had been rolled out sooner to more clients, but nonetheless the momentum is palpable. The challenge will be to ensure that people and businesses around the EU experience the same level of convenience whether they pay locally or internationally. With the surge in international commerce, different and innovative payment solutions will need to transcend borders and currencies and One-Leg Out Instant Credit Transfer (OCT Inst) can play a pivotal role.

What were the key motivations behind Wise’s decision to join the EPC, and how does EPC membership support Wise’s strategic objectives?

Wise has spent the last 15 years building the pipes to make money move around the world. That infrastructure is global but relies on local payment systems, local rules, and – crucially – local innovations. 

EPC membership will allow us to help shape the rules and standards of the EPC schemes by drawing on our customers’ needs and on best practices from countries all over the world.

Wise is a non-bank and we are excited to elevate the voice of that community. We will advocate for non-bank payment services providers (PSPs) to ensure the rules work for all participants, not just those with a banking license. In addition, EPC membership will also support Wise’s goal of interoperability that’s safe, convenient, and efficient. We will be contributing to successful overlay services, such as Verification Of Payee (VOP), as well as other rulebooks and developments that can further facilitate the most efficient access to European payments. This will directly support us in achieving our mission of instant, convenient, and low-cost money movement everywhere.

To which ongoing and future EPC activities does Wise expect to contribute most?

Wise has a unique dual perspective, which focuses both on initiatives that enhance European payments and innovation, and on bridging the gap between European rails and the rest of the world. 

Recent legislation, as well as upcoming regulatory initiatives, present a great opportunity for the EPC to deliver the rails and safeguards that can help power further growth, efficiency, and excellence in European payments.

In addition, VOP remains of interest. Having implemented multiple VOP-style schemes around the world, we are excited to see how we can further develop VOP to ensure it meets its objectives of reducing fraud and misdirected payments.

Looking ahead, what major developments, regulatory changes, or technological challenges do you believe will most impact digital banks and payments players like Wise in the near- to medium-term?

We believe that the EU has taken a huge leap in payments innovation that will power growth and innovation by opening up access to payment systems (via the Instant Payments Regulation) to a wider range of participants. This will increase competition, lower costs, increase speeds and put pressure on other industry participants to speed up the adoption of new technologies.

In addition, the deployment of AI will help ensure that instant becomes and remains the standard consumers and businesses can expect. They should not only get access to instant customer service, but also feel that their whole experience is instant. Screening and monitoring will have to move to sub one-second service level agreements – and the complementary use of AI technology in addition to our teams will be a key enabler in achieving this.